In what some refer to as "the Wild West" environment, when "engaging" in any way with the new digital asset class being built on blockchain technology, we have all likely had at least a little personal experience with that ourselves. Not for the timid and fearful ...
It is nice today then, to present an example of what can be, when an organization puts in the time and effort to "do it right." Specifically, I am referring to my just completed experience with setting up a new wallet / account on the decentralized exchange launched by Binance on April 23rd - two days ago.
Source: Binance Chain Press ReleaseIf you have any investments in the Binance Token - BNB - then you will want to read through this post on what I have experienced this morning. Particularly if, like me, you own a Ledger Nano S.
Background
I count myself fortunate to have first purchased the Binance tokens - BNB - back in late 2017, when I first heard about them. Like many blockchain projects, it "started life" as an ERC20 token on the Ethereum blockchain. I moved our investments into our MyEtherWallet accounts, locked by a Ledger Nano S, and never looked back.
If I have any regrets, it is that my busy work life (bane of my existence at that time) got in the way of me buying as much as I had originally intended, before it exceeded the maximum price I wanted to pay. BNB quickly rose in value and never has come back even close to those original prices in that brief window I had open to me ...
It has been one of the most successful "crypto currencies" issued.
Binance Chain and Decentralized Exchange
The link above will take you to the major announcement, earlier this year, that Binance was going to establish its own "mainnet," i.e. its own blockchain. And on this blockchain, they were going to make their own run at what some refer to as a "holy grail" objective of the digital asset class - a decentralized exchange.
Source: Binance Public Images DriveThey succeeded in launching this on April 23rd. Just two days ago ...
Ledger and the Binance DEX Token
Once this announcement was made, any owners of the original ERC20 BNB tokens needed to get them moved to the Binance CEX for their painless conversion to the new BEP2 (native) BNB tokens, as announced here.
As can happen in "the Wild West," I unfortunately experienced technical difficulties for the first time, when attempting to transfer my BNB tokens out of MyEtherWallet to Binance. I filed a support ticket with Ledger, but did not hear back from them in time for the April 23rd "painless" conversion on the Binance exchange.
I am very pleased to say 'No problem!" on what their "Plan B" was, as shown below:
You simply send your BNB tokens to the Ethereum address Binance has established for your account!
- Note: For full reporting on my experience, I did not know this, until going through a "chat session" with a Binance support person. This was the "weak link" in my morning, as this person clearly did not have a particularly good command of the English language, unable to reply effectively and efficiently to the simplest of requests ...
But ... While painful, we did eventually get there ...
Within minutes of setting up the withdrawal transaction in MyEtherWallet, I had my new BEP2 BNB tokens in my Binanace account.
- Note: "Best practice" is to send a small "test" amount the first time. That is what I did and it all went very smoothly, so I will finish up getting all of my remainining ERC20 BNB tokens converted and the new BEP2 BNB tokens moved into my new Binance DEX wallet, once I finish writing this post.
You do not ever want to leave your tokens on a CEX, even Binance, unless you have absolutely no other alternative.
From there, if you have any experience at all with Ledger and setting up wallets, it was a very simple matter to get my new wallet set up with Ledger. Binance has provided excellent step-by-step instructions right here.
After opening the Binance DEX website and clicking on the "Unlock Wallet" option, you are presented with this:
You simply 1) Select the "Ledger Device" option, and 2) Click on "Connect to Ledger." This assumes you have followed the directions (linked to above) to get the Binance Chain app installed on your Ledger Nano S.
- Note: One pretty significant "Gotcha!" to be aware of, when setting up Binance on your Ledger Nano S. 😧 It must be a huge app, as I had to erase every other app I had on mine, except BTC! 😞
It will interesting to see what the new Ledger Nano X does in handling this ...
- Note: When setting up your withdrawal transaction and following "best practices," I created a new address linked to my new Binance DEX wallet. While I did not think to capture it at the time, there was a red box round the "BNB Withdrawal MEMO" box, indicating it was required. Not really finding that helpful, for my purposes, I took the chance the checking the "No MEMO" box would work.
I am happy to report it does! So ... No need to enter a MEMO, unless that has value for your accounting.
So ... At the end of a successful morning's "adventure," my test amount of BNB has been successfully transferred from an ERC20 token in MyEtherWallet, through the painless conversion process on Binance CEX, into a BEP20 (native) BNB token and stored in my new Binance DEX wallet.
All starting out fully backed by my Ledger Nano S and ending up the same way. 😊 👍
Source: Binance Public Images DriveTo finish up with more great news, once you go through all of this process, you will find the interface in your new DEX wallet to be very familiar to you, if you have done any transacting on Binance at all. They have "mirrored" that interface, in many ways. You will quickly be very comfortable with it.
Closing
To this "old war horse," it is not difficult to understand why Binance is the number one exchange in the world. They quickly overtook their rivals, when they first entered "the crypto space," and they have outpaced them ever since.
Their new decentralized exchange is a work-in-progress, to be sure, but I would be very surprised if they don't make excellent progress over the coming months with it. Judging from my experience with it today, I am definitely thankful to "be on board" with them, going back months. It is one of the single most profitable investments I have made and I expect that to only get better over time.
One can only wish that those involved with "moving us forward" on the Steem blockchain were making similar progress. Yes, I had to say it ... 😉 I’d love to hear any feedback you may be inspired to provide.
Until "next time," all the best to you for an even better tomorrow, as we all work together to build our Steem Community! 👍 😊
Respectfully,
Steemian @roleerob
Posted using SteemPeak and “immutably enshrined in the blockchain” on Thursday, 25 April 2019!
Interested to read more of my “technical aide” posts? Great!
- Welcome to the Steemisphere! Getting Off to a "Flying Start," Version 1.0 – Covers the full spectrum of what a new Steemian needs to know to get off to a “flying start.”
- User's Guide to the Steemisphere, Version 1.0 – Covers the recommended apps and tools a new Steemian needs as they begin to engage with our Steem blockchain.
- Tech Aide: Investing in the Steem Blockchain on Binance and Bittrex - Covers investing in STEEM and SBD on these popular exchanges.
- Tech Aide: Added Security Steps for Downloading Open-Source Software - Covers additional security steps you can take when downloading and installing open-source software.
