MyEtherWallet Review ▷ Our experiences with the MEW! [2019]
Our Myetherwallet Guide aims to give you simple information on how to set up and use the most popular Ethereum and give ERC20 Token Wallet. In the crypto market, over 80% of tokens are ERC20 tokens. This makes a wallet like Myetherwallet invaluable to almost any crypto investor. We always advise you to exercise great caution before using cryptocurrency wallets, you should always do your research.
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What is Myetherwallet?
MEW is a website where you can post your Generate your own Ethereum and ERC20 wallet and can access it. It is the most widely used Ethereum wallet. ERC20 tokens are tokens for crypto projects based on the Ethereum network. Over 500 crypto projects are currently being built on Ethereum and are ERC20 tokens.
Don't think of MEW as a bank: they don't have access to your token or wallet details. Think of Myetherwallet as an interface through which you can interact with your personal wallet. This means that you and you are solely responsible for keeping your crypto secure and controlling your wallet. MEW will not be able to help you if something goes wrong.
Why could you use Myetherwallet?
Exchanges are essentially unregulated banks that hold your tokens for you as a third party. It's a matter of trust.
You can see crypto in a similar way to gold, you only “own” it if you have the assets. In our opinion, it is best to control your own cryptocurrencies and not rely on exchanges. This is where Myetherwallet comes in. In addition, many ICO's use ERC20 tokens and you can only participate if you have your own ERC20 wallet.
Terminology You Should Know
Private key: Think of this as a complex password that proves that you own the tokens and are authorized to access your wallet. It is extremely important that you never share the private key with anyone. If someone finds out your private key, they can access your wallet and do whatever they want. A private key is essentially the same as the pin to your bank account; You should treat him the same way.
You will receive a private key for your wallet. Don't lose it. Otherwise, you will likely lose access to your wallet.
Public key: A public key is essentially the same as your bank account number. The public key is required for someone else to transfer money to your wallet.
Keystore File: This is an encrypted file that stores your private key. Your password protects this file when creating a wallet on Myetherwallet. Make sure to keep it safe and never share it with anyone.
How do I set up and use Myetherwallet?
1) Go to Myetherwallet. First, make sure you see “Sure” next to the URL bar, meaning you are on the real website. Make sure you bookmark the page as there are plenty of Myetherwallet phishing sites out there trying to get access to your money.
Create a wallet on MEW. Make sure you are on the official website.
2) Enter a strong password. This password protects your keystore file, which stores your private key. Make a note of this password. We recommend that you write this down on paper to be as sure as possible. For security reasons, do not save this password on your computer.
3) Click on “Create New Wallet”. You will then be prompted to download your keystore file. Download it and keep it safe. For maximum security, we personally move the keystore file to flash memory and delete all traces of it on our computer.
When you're done, just click the "I Understand Next" button.
4) You will then see your private key. We recommend that you do NOT save this on your computer.
Find your private MEW key and create your paper wallet.
Instead, print out a copy or two of the paper wallet. Laminate it, keep it safe. “Your Address” is your personal public key and “Your Private Key” is your private key.
5) You will then be asked how you would like to access your wallet. We recommend a hardware bag like Trezor or Ledger for maximum security. Why are hardware bags safer? The private key is securely stored in your hardware wallet. Another advantage is that access to your wallet is much easier and faster.
We'll show you how to integrate Trezor and Ledger with Myetherwallet later in this guide. For now, we're assuming you want to use the completely free Keystore / JSON File method. Choose this option.
Upload your keystore file by clicking “Select Wallet File”, entering your password and clicking “Unlock”.
Unlock your MEW wallet with your keystore file and your password.
6) You will then see your crypto balance. If you would like to see your other ERC 20 tokens, you will need to click “View All Tokens” to view them in MEW.
Top tip: To ensure maximum security, it is best to access your Myetherwallet as infrequently as possible. If you save your public address on your computer, you can see your wallet balance at any time without having to access your wallet:
This is how you can see your wallet balance with your public key:
- https://ethplorer.io/
- Unserer Öffentlicher Schlüssel: 0xC34aCa9F36B3963c924F0FFA06C311004EC9D404
- In this example the URL to display your token balance would look like this: https://ethplorer.io/address/0xC34aCa9F36B3963c924F0FFA06C311004EC9D404
Keep your MEW wallet as safe as possible by using Ethplorer to check your token balances.
7) To send Ethereum or ERC20 tokens, simply click on the “Send Ether & Token” tab on Myetherwallet. Upload your keystore file and enter your password as described in step 5 of these instructions.
- To address: is the public key for the person you want to send Ethereum or other tokens.
- Amount to send: You can select the token type from the drop-down list if you want to send a specific ERC20 token.
- Gas limit: Gas is the fee paid to the miners of the Ethereum network to process your transaction. Unless you're at one ICO we recommend that you limit the gas limit to 21.000. Don't worry about the big gas number. At the time of this writing, 21.000 gas equates to a fee of $ 0,055 for fiat transactions.
Top tip: You can add the USD / EUR cost of an Ethereum transaction Ethgas station check.
How do you use a Ledger Nano S with Myetherwallet?
If you are thinking of buying or setting up a ledger, please check out our dedicated ledger guide. If you already have your ledger up and running, please read on.
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In order for your ledger to work with MEW, you need to activate browser support on your device. If you activate browser support, you will not have access to the Ledger Ethereum app. To switch between using the Ledger Ethereum app and MEW, just toggle browser support on and off. If you deactivate browser support, you can use the Ledger Ethereum app again.
1. Unlock your ledger.
This step is self-explanatory and is therefore not listed here.
2. Choose Ethereum.
Source: https://kb.myetherwallet.com/images/ledger-migration/ethereum-app.jpg
Open the Ethereum app in your ledger.
3. Press both buttons when you see the “Use wallet to see account” screen.
Self-explanatory.
4. Select settings.
5. Browser support
Selection of browser support in the ledger for MEW compatibility
6. Choose Yes.
Activate browser support. This enables you to use MEW with your ledger.
When you log into Myetherwallet, simply select the Ledger Wallet option. The next step is exactly the same as using a keystore file.
How do you use Trezor with Myetherwallet?
Trezor made it very easy for users. All you have to do is select Trezor as the method to access your Myetherwallet account. You will be asked to export the public key for Ether Account # 1, select Export.
The further steps with Myetherwallet and how it works will be exactly the same as described earlier in this guide.
Don't have a Trezor yet? In this buying guide you will find all the important information.