MetaMask wallet: what it is, who makes it and how it works

What MetaMask is and who makes it

MetaMask is a self-custodial crypto wallet that runs as a browser extension and as a mobile app. It stores the keys that control your addresses on your own device and lets you sign transactions and connect to decentralized applications (dapps). It is not an exchange and does not hold your coins for you.

The wallet is built by Consensys. MetaMask's terms of use (last updated June 2026) name the contracting party as Consensys Software Inc., doing business as MetaMask, and say it is a different entity from Consensys Incorporated. The terms give a Fort Worth, Texas address. Consensys's company page dates its founding by Joseph Lubin, a co-founder of Ethereum, to November 2014, says MetaMask launched as a browser extension in 2016 and later as mobile apps, and describes a remote-first team of more than 700 people. The same company builds the Infura API service and the Linea layer-2 network.

What you can do with MetaMask

The core of MetaMask is an account that holds addresses on several networks. Since multichain accounts arrived, each account carries an address for Ethereum-compatible (EVM) networks plus addresses on non-EVM networks, and MetaMask announced TRON support on 15 January 2026. Around that wallet, Consensys has added a set of services, most of them run by third parties:

• Swaps and bridging: MetaMask gathers quotes from aggregators and liquidity sources and shows them in the wallet. The help center lists bridging quotes from Li.fi and Socket and providers such as Hop, Celer cBridge and CCTP.
• Buying crypto: purchases go through third-party on-ramp providers; for US users the help center lists, among others, MoonPay, Transak, PayPal, Robinhood, Coinbase Pay and Stripe. Which ones appear depends on your location.
• Perpetual futures: leveraged perps trading inside the wallet, powered by Hyperliquid and collateralized in USDC.
• Other in-app markets: MetaMask's homepage lists prediction markets powered by Polymarket and tokenized stocks powered by Ondo Global Markets.
• MetaMask Card: a Mastercard debit card that spends tokens you delegate from your wallet.
• Staking and Money Account: staking with third-party validators, including Lido, and a stablecoin yield account whose infrastructure the terms describe as third-party services.
• MetaMask USD (mUSD): a dollar stablecoin carrying the MetaMask name. The terms treat mUSD as issued by a third party, not by MetaMask.

For developers, Consensys offers MetaMask Snaps (add-ons that extend the wallet), MetaMask Connect, a Smart Accounts Kit and embedded wallets. The terms disclaim responsibility for losses arising from third-party services, which include Swaps, Bridging, Staking and Snaps, so the wallet maker is not standing behind the protocols you reach through it.

How MetaMask works

1. Install from the official source. The download page lists extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Opera and Edge, and apps for iOS and Android, and tells users to install only through official stores because cloned apps exist to capture recovery phrases.
2. Create or import a wallet. MetaMask generates a Secret Recovery Phrase (SRP) that can rebuild every address in the wallet. You can back it up yourself or use social login, which, according to MetaMask, encrypts the phrase and splits it across five servers so that only your Google, Apple or Telegram account plus your password can decrypt it.
3. Fund it. Send crypto from another wallet or exchange, or buy through an on-ramp provider in the app.
4. Sign transactions. When you send, swap or interact with a dapp, MetaMask shows the request and you approve it. Each transaction pays the network's own fee (gas), which MetaMask does not set; our guide on how gas works explains why it varies.

MetaMask fees

MetaMask's homepage describes the app as free on iOS, Android and the web, and every transaction pays its network fee. MetaMask's own fees appear when you use the built-in services. The terms say fees are shown on the site or in the interface and that some combine a MetaMask fee with a third party's fee.

As a worked example, swapping the equivalent of $1,000 of ETH for a stablecoin through MetaMask Swaps includes $8.75 for the MetaMask fee, before the network fee and any price difference between the quote and the underlying market. Gasless swaps, where MetaMask includes gas costs in the quote, are available on Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Linea, Arbitrum and, on the extension only, Base.

Countries and access restrictions

As self-custody software, MetaMask does not open an account in your name, so there is no identity check to install it. Restrictions attach to the services instead.

• Sanctions: the terms bar use by people subject to US or equivalent sanctions and by people in countries under comprehensive US sanctions programs.
• Perps: the help center says perps are not available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ontario (Canada), Belgium or countries on the US sanctions list.
• MetaMask Card: sign-up requires proof of residency in an eligible region; ineligible regions limit sign-ups, not where the card can be spent.
• Money Account and on-ramps: availability varies by jurisdiction and locale.

Disputes are governed by Texas law with arbitration for US users, English law for UK users and Irish law for most others, and the terms include a class-action waiver with a 30-day opt-out from arbitration.

Security model and risks

MetaMask is self-custodial: the company states that it cannot access your SRP or your assets, and the terms say it does not store a backup of your private key or phrase and cannot recover it. That cuts both ways. Nobody at MetaMask can freeze or move your funds, and nobody can help if the phrase is lost or stolen. Our guide to backing up a seed phrase covers the practical side.

The main risks are the ones common to hot wallets: a compromised computer or phone, a malicious browser extension, signing a transaction you did not read, and phishing. MetaMask says it will never ask for your SRP, private keys or password, so any "support" contact, airdrop claim or verification page that does is not genuine; see our guide to avoiding wallet phishing. MetaMask can also be paired with a hardware wallet, which keeps signing keys off the computer; hardware accounts in MetaMask remain EVM-only for now. The homepage cites a Coinspect rating calling it the most secure wallet; that is the company's own marketing claim.

Is MetaMask open source?

The extension's code is public on GitHub, but its LICENSE file is a custom ConsenSys Software licence that permits use "solely for Non-Commercial Use". It counts as non-commercial individual learning and side projects, non-profit and public bodies, and any derived program with no more than 10,000 monthly active users, with Consensys deciding in its sole discretion. Anyone can read and audit the code, but this is not an open-source licence in the usual sense.

Regulatory record

On 28 June 2024 the SEC sued Consensys Software Inc. in the Eastern District of New York, alleging that it operated as an unregistered broker through MetaMask Swaps and MetaMask Staking and sold unregistered securities through the staking service, which routed to Lido and Rocket Pool. On 27 February 2025 Consensys announced that it and the SEC had agreed in principle that the case should be dismissed, subject to Commission approval and a stipulation filed with the court. The SEC litigation release on the case carries no update about the dismissal.

Alternatives by function

These are categories, not recommendations.

• Another EVM browser wallet: Rabby Wallet is a browser and mobile wallet focused on EVM networks; see our Rabby Wallet profile.
• Keeping keys off an internet-connected device: a hardware wallet, which MetaMask can connect to. Our hardware wallet ratings cover the devices we track.

MetaMask is also assessed separately in our MetaMask review; this profile describes the wallet and its maker and does not grade it.