Setting up MetaMask: the twelve words that control your coins

The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry a high degree of risk. Always conduct your own research.MetaMask is set up in ten minutes, and in those ten minutes you make the decisions that later determine what happens to your balance. This guide walks through installation, the recovery phrase, networks, approvals, fees and the German tax position.Setting up MetaMask takes less than ten minutes, and in those ten minutes you make the two decisions that determine what happens to your balance: where you get the software from, and what happens to the twelve words the setup wizard shows you once. Almost everything else you can change later. Those two points you cannot. This text walks you through the setup and explains the terms you meet in the wizard without being told what they mean there: recovery phrase, password, network, chain ID, approval. By the end you will know which steps are one-off, which ones you repeat regularly, and at which points the tax office and the regulator come into play in Germany. MetaMask is a self-custody wallet, also called a non-custodial wallet. That me...