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Setup
If you don’t have one yet, you’re going to need an Ethereum wallet to use Perpetual Pools. A wallet lets you do things on the Ethereum blockchain (and its networks) like send, receive, and store cryptocurrencies, as well as use the many applications powered by Ethereum. Think of a wallet as your universal log-in for web3 – the internet of assets. Download one here:
Metamask is the easiest wallet to use, but there are plenty to choose from. Once you’ve found the right wallet and are finished setting it up, you’re nearly ready to start using Perpetual Pools. All that’s left to do is get some cryptocurrency.
Ether (ETH) is the fuel of Ethereum. Without it, you won’t be able do anything on the blockchain except look around. This is ether's symbol:
You might have seen it before. It's Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency. Metamask has built in ways to buy ether, so you can purchase some directly to your wallet with a single bank deposit. Otherwise, you can buy ether on an exchange like Binance or FTX and send it to your Ethereum address.
Your Ethereum account has a unique 42-character address. It’s a string of letters and numbers that you’ll use to tell applications where to request funds from and where to send funds to. Metamask displays your address beneath the account’s name:
Together, an address and a private key form an account. Often, private keys are given to you as a seed phrase (a list of 12 words). Though it’s safe to give other people and apps your address, never give anyone your seed phrase.
Now you’ve got a wallet and some ether, you’ll be able to use Perpetual Pools. When you interact with Perpetual Pools, you are actually asking to update the blockchain according to some instructions.
These instructions are used to make leveraged tokens, and they are written down in smart contracts that anyone can use. Smart contracts are uploaded to the blockchain but they can’t do anything by themselves. They need people to interact with them.
By connecting your wallet to the app, you are telling Mycelium's smart contracts which address to request ether from. If you choose to use Perpetual Pools, you’ll have to pay block miners in ether to run through all the instructions contained in the smart contracts and record the result on the blockchain.
That's it for the basics. Next up we'll learn how to bridge.
Last modified 9mo ago