Entering the Monolith: how to recover tokens from Binance Smart Chain (2024)

The Monolith wallet has a number of killer features. One of them is the ability to receive tokens from any Ethereum address, allowing you to store and use ERC-20 tokens within our app. But as with all crypto-related activity, this process requires some level of caution. It’s particularly important to ensure that you use the Ethereum network to send any tokens to your wallet rather than trying with another blockchain. Binance Smart Chain is an example of a popular EVM-compatible blockchain. While it can’t be used to send tokens to Monolith, there is a way to retrieve your assets if you use the blockchain by mistake. This guide explains how to recover your tokens from Binance Smart Chain so that they arrive to your wallet safely.

Sending tokens from other blockchains

As Monolith is an Ethereum wallet, it cannot receive tokens from other Layer 1 blockchains like Bitcoin or Solana. It’s important to note that blockchain transactions are irreversible. If you make a mistake, you could permanently lose your tokens.

We’ve previously received questions from customers who tried to send tokens to their Monolith address from Binance. The exchange offers the option to send ERC-20 tokens using either Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain. When sending tokens from Binance to your Monolith address, you should always use the Ethereum network — not Binance Smart Chain’s BEP-20 token standard.

Recovering assets from Binance Smart Chain

You should always use Ethereum to send your assets to your main account (i.e. your EOA), but if you make a mistake and select Binance Smart Chain to send the tokens, there is a way to recover the funds with MetaMask. This is because Binance Smart Chain is EVM-compatible: it supports Ethereum-based ERC-20 tokens in the Binance-peg BEP-20 format. Just follow the steps below:

1. Install MetaMask

Download the MetaMask browser. Make sure you have the correct link — scammers often pose as crypto companies to carry out phishing attacks on users. MetaMask is compatible with Brave, Chrome and Chromium.

2. Import your Seed

Once you’ve opened MetaMask in your browser, select ‘Get Started’ followed by ‘Import Wallet.’ You’ll need your Monolith Seed to import your wallet — you can find it in-app by selecting the ‘Settings’ tab and hitting ‘Back up Seed’ under the ‘General’ menu.

The words from your Seed must be typed in the same order from 1 to 12. You’ll also need to enter a new password and make a note of it.

If you already have another MetaMask wallet, you may need to use it on a separate browser. It’s supported in Brave, Chrome and Chromium.

Important note: we recommend storing your Seed offline in a safe place. Avoid keeping it anywhere online, as it could be compromised.

3. Find the drop-down menu under “Ethereum Mainnet”

MetaMask will be set to the Ethereum network by default. To recover your tokens, you’ll need to connect to Binance Smart Chain. If you’ve previously used Binance Smart Chain with MetaMask, skip steps 4 and 5 and simply select “Binance Smart Chain”.

If you’ve not used Binance Smart Chain before, start by hitting the “Ethereum Mainnet” drop-down menu in the top right corner and select “Custom RPC”.

4. Enter the following details to add Binance Smart Chain.

Network Name: Smart Chain
New RPC URL: https://bsc-dataseed.binance.org/
ChainID: 56
Symbol: BNB
Block Explorer URL: https://bscscan.com

5. Select “Save” to connect to the network.

You will now be able to see your address on Binance Smart Chain.

6. Add tokens

If you can’t see the tokens in your “Assets”, select “Add Token” to add it manually. You’ll need to find the contract address. If you sent an Ethereum-based token, you will need to find the “Binance peg” BEP-20 version for Binance Smart Chain — we recommend BscScan to get info related to any token. In the example below, we find the BEP-20 version of SNX.

Copy the ‘Contract’ from the Info section on the token page and paste it into the ‘Token Contract Address’ field on MetaMask.

The Token Symbol and Token Decimal should automatically appear when you paste in the contract. Select “Next” then “Add Tokens” and the back arrow to go back to your account.

If you can already see the tokens you sent in your wallet, proceed to step 7.

7. Get BNB

To move tokens from Binance Smart Chain, you need Binance Coin (BNB) to interact with the network. BNB is the native currency for Binance Smart Chain — it plays a similar function to ETH on Ethereum.

You can buy BNB with USDT on the Binance exchange. As fees on Binance Smart Chain are very low, you should only need a few cents to make your transactions — but bear in mind Binance has a minimum withdrawal limit of 0.01 BNB.

If you already have BNB in your wallet, proceed to step 9.

8. Withdraw BNB to your address on Binance Smart Chain

Withdraw the BNB on Binance Smart Chain. You can do this through Binance, or alternatively to your wallet send BNB from another address. Binance charges a fee to make the transaction.

9. Find your recipient address on the Binance exchange

Visit the Binance exchange to find your recipient address. Go to your wallet overview followed by “Deposit” and select “Deposit Crypto”.

Select the coin you want to deposit then select “BSC” for Binance Smart Chain under “Select Network”. In the example below, we’re depositing SNX.

Your deposit address should appear under “Address”.

10. Send your tokens to the Binance exchange

Copy your recipient address, then head back to the MetaMask tab to send your tokens. Select “Send” on MetaMask, paste the recipient address, and choose your token from the dropdown menu. In the example below, we’re sending SNX.

You will also need to select a gas fee — check the fee estimate here and enter the amount of gwei according to your fee. In the clip below, we use 5 gwei.

11. Confirm your transaction

Select “Next” and “Confirm” to confirm your transaction. You’ll need to wait for 15 network confirmations before your transaction arrives to your recipient address, so it may take a few minutes.

12. Withdraw your tokens to your Monolith address

You’ll be able to see the token in your account overview on Binance. Once it’s arrived in your account, select ‘Withdraw’ and send it to your main Monolith address (i.e. your EOA). Enter your address, and make sure that the Ethereum network is selected. Note that Binance sets a minimum withdrawal amount — it’s higher for Ethereum than it is for Binance Smart Chain.

13. Check your transaction is confirmed

The tokens will appear in your Monolith wallet once the transaction has been processed.

You’ll also be able to view the tokens in the MetaMask browser by switching to “Ethereum Mainnet”.

Transactions on the Ethereum network can also be checked using Etherscan. Just copy your address into the search bar to find your transaction history. You can view transactions while they’re pending — they’ll show up as confirmed when the transaction is processed.

It’s a good idea to “Lock” your MetaMask account and log out of Binance when you’re done. And that’s it.

Important notes

You can also send assets from Binance Smart Chain to Ethereum using a bridge, but this process can be slower and more expensive, and bridges are sometimes less secure. If you already have a Binance exchange account, we would recommend using the steps above.

Please note if you are a legacy user trying to send tokens to your smart contract address on Binance Smart Chain, your funds will not be recoverable. It would be extremely time-consuming and costly for us to deploy our infrastructure on Binance Smart Chain. We therefore urge you to take extra caution when sending from Binance.

Conclusion

Interacting with the Ethereum network can take some getting used to, and that includes sending tokens to your Monolith wallet. Once mastered, however, you’ll be able to enjoy the benefits of a fully decentralised life. When sending tokens to Monolith, we recommend sending our supported ERC-20 tokens only, taking caution with the address fields, and making sure that you’re only sending tokens from another Ethereum address. Remember: blockchain transactions are irreversible, so always take extra care when sending tokens to your wallet.

Sign up to Monolith here.