6.0.2. How to Swap with a Decentralised Exchange
After setting up your Metamask wallet, you can start to use it by connecting it to the decentralised market via a Dex. For this exercise, we will use Pancakeswap, which is the most widely used Dex on BNB Smart Chain.
Step 1: Click on the link to open Pancakeswap: pancakeswap.finance
Step 2: Click on “Connect” to link your wallet.
This will prompt you to select a wallet from the list of all compatible wallets.
Step 3: Select Metamask and follow the prompt by entering your Metamask login details to unlock your Metamask wallet.
To “unlock” a wallet means to open it while to “lock” is to close it.
Once your Metamask is unlocked and connected to Pancakeswap, you will see your wallet address at the extreme right corner of Pancakeswap.
Step 4: To swap, click on Trade and then on Exchange.
This will unveil the swapping platform where you will see swapping from BNB to a selected crypto currency.
Step 5: Click on “BNB” to change it to the crypto you want to swap from, and then click on “Select a Currency” to type in the crypto you want to swap to.
Note if the crypto does not appear in the selection, you can get its contract address from any of the market aggregators such as CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, and CoinRanking, or you can get the contract from BscScan.com.
Step 6: Type in the amount you want to swap, and click “Swap.”
This will request confirmation of the transaction in Metamask. Once you approve it, the transaction will be completed and you will see the crypto you just bought in your Metamask account.
Note you can swap from a crypto other than BNB to any other crypto as long as you have a few BNB to pay the gas fees.