Binance, as one of the largest cryptoexchanges in the world, released its own blockchain some time ago. In response to the high transaction costs of the Ethereum Blockchain, Binance released the Binance Smart Chain. This blockchain uses the protocol and language of Etheruem, but with different parameters, so that the transaction costs are much cheaper.
So, since the Binance Smart Chain is based on the Ethereum Blockchain, it happens from time to time that you don’t pay proper attention and send ERC20 tokens to a BEP20 Binance Smart Chain address.
Now the question arises — Are these cryptocurrencies now lost forever?
The correct answer is: No, they are not!
Since both blockchains have similar programming and use the same address/wallet format, you can use your Etheruem wallet backup phrase to restore a Binance Smart Chain wallet and access your cryptocurrencies again.
We will now show you how exactly this works using our PEAKDEFI wallet as an example.
- You need to install MetaMask wallet in order to access Binance Smart Chain with our guidance. So please download MetaMask wallet extension from your web browser.
- When you start MetaMask for the first time, it´s gonna ask you if you want to import a wallet or create a new one. Click IMPORT a wallet. MetaMask will now ask you to provide the SEED phrase (12 words).
3. Please open your PEAKDEFI wallet app and click on the “Your private key” button on the left hand side. After that, click on “Backup mnemonic” and type the 12 words from the PEAKDEFI app into your MetaMask extension. After that, set a password and you can click on import.
You have now successfully imported your Ethereum Wallet to MetaMask. Now you have to integrate Binance Smart Chain´s network to MetaMask in order to access your BEP20 tokens.
4. Click on “Settings” within your MetaMask extension, scroll down to “Networks” and click on that and click on “Add Network”
5. Now you have to type in the parameters for Binance Smart Chain blockchain which are the following:
Network Name: Smart Chain
New RPC URL: https://bsc-dataseed.binance.org/
ChainID: 56
Symbol: BNB
Block Explorer URL: https://bscscan.com
After you have successfully integrated Binance Smart Chain network to your MetaMask account, you can now switch between the different blockchains via clicking on the Blockchain name on the top
MetaMask will not show you all tokens on its own. You have to tell MetaMask to search the blockchain for your assets and you have to provide each token contract individually. So for example if you have PEAK on your Binance Smart Chain wallet, you need to tell MetaMask to search for PEAK. You can do that by clicking “Add token” on the bottom of your assets overview and then “Custom token”.
There you have to enter the PEAK Contract address which is: 0x630d98424efe0ea27fb1b3ab7741907dffeaad78
And MetaMask will then show you your PEAK token as well.
And that´s it! You are all set and have successfully recovered your ERC20 token as BEP20 token.
If you want to spend your BEP20 token, remember to top up a few dollar worth BNB, as you have to cover the network cost on Binance Smart Chain with BNB.
And if you are not using our PEAKDEFI wallet yet, feel free to have a look at your app store or follow this link: https://app.peakdefi.com/download
