How to claim your EOS coins without pulling your hair out!

How to claim your EOS coins without pulling your hair out!

So since the EOS main net launch I had not claimed my EOS coins. My EOS ERC-20 tokens sat frozen in my Metamask account. A client wanted me to show him how to vote for EOS block producers but he had not claimed his EOS coins yet, though he had registered his tokens with EOS, previously, as had I. So I thought let me claim my coins and vote myself so I can teach him how to do the same.

I first looked at Cleos a command line interface allowing users to sign transactions and make API calls. This method seemed super complicated and I wanted to find something easier. Next I tried a browser extension called Scatter which interacts with EOS portal. It had me creating identities and key pairs. It seemed overly complicated as well and I decided to look for an easier method. I had heard good things about the Simple EOS Wallet so that was my next stop. https://eosrio.io/simpleos/ This is the method I wound up going with. Once you download the wallet to your computer (click the link above and scroll down) and launch it, you should see this:

I needed to import an existing key and promptly logged into Metamask. This is where I got hung up. I still had ERC-20 on the brain and had forgotten that when I registered my Etherium address with EOS that they had given me an EOS Mainet public and private key! None of the articles or videos I was reading and watching said "Hey Dufus, if you already registered your ETH address you already have EOS public and private keys." So after a while of pulling out hair I remembered this fact. After clicking on Import Existing Key you will be prompted to enter the private key given to you by EOS when you registered your ETH address. Next, you will check a box that you agree to the EOS Constitution. That's it!

If your EOS tokens were in an Exodus Wallet during the mainet launch you will need to click Import Exodus Wallet. Here is a good walk-through for that method: http://www.thecryptocoinauthority.com/how-to-set-up-simpleos-wallet/

If you need to create an EOS account due to not already owning any EOS coins you click Request New Account. Here is a good walk through for this method: https://steemit.com/eos/@angelol/eos-account-creator-now-supports-simpleos-account-creation-codes

Cheers, Peter Chiodo