Business,Operations,Guide,Module 2.4
Module 2.5
Funding and Managing Transactions
Once you have a new wallet, you’ll need to add cryptocurrency to it to participate in transactions (such as purchasing membership tokens, paying for gas fees, etc.). The most common crypto currency used on Ethereum is Ether or ETH. This is because you need to pay for the data cost of the blockspace when you sign most smart contracts. There are a few common ways to fund a self-custody wallet:
Transfer from an Exchange or Custodial Account: If you have crypto (e.g., ETH) on an exchange like Coinbase or Binance, you can withdraw it to your new wallet address. This involves initiating a withdrawal from the exchange, pasting your Rabby public address (0x...) as the destination, and confirming. The exchange will then send the crypto to your address on the blockchain. Within a few minutes (or possibly longer, depending on network congestion), you should see the funds arrive in your Rabby wallet. Always double-check the address carefully; blockchain transactions are irreversible – sending to a wrong address can result in permanent loss. A tip: you can send a small test amount first to confirm everything is working before a larger transfer.
Fiat-to-Crypto On-Ramp (Buy with Card/Bank): Some wallet apps allow you to purchase crypto with a credit card or bank account directly to your wallet. These services are convenient for new users without existing crypto. They do charge fees and usually require an identity verification (KYC) process. Bittrees onboarding might sometimes recommend a quick buy of a small amount of ETH via such services to cover initial as fees if you have none. Keep in mind fees can be a few percent for the convenience.
Receive from Another Wallet: If a colleague or friend is sending you crypto, simply provide them your public address. They initiate a transaction on their side to send to your address. This is commonly how internal transfers in a DAO might occur (e.g., the treasury sending you a stipend in crypto).
Funding via Safe or Internal Transfer: In some cases, if you are being onboarded and need initial funds for transactions (like to mint an NFT membership), the organization might send you a small amount from its treasury to get you started. This would appear as an incoming transfer in your wallet.
After initiating a transfer into your wallet, give it a few minutes (or longer, depending on the blockchain and fee paid) to complete the transaction . Ethereum transactions normally confirm within seconds to a few minutes, but times vary. Don’t panic if it’s not instant. Remember, in comparison, a traditional bank wire might take 1–3 business days – so even 10 minutes is blazingly fast relatively! Most wallet apps will show a pending status until final confirmation. You can also use a block explorer (like Etherscan) to track the transaction by its hash ID (we’ll explain how in Module 4).
Gas fees: To send any transaction from your wallet (including funding it from an exchange), the sender must pay a network fee (gas on Ethereum). If you are withdrawing from an exchange, the exchange typically deducts a fixed fee or the necessary gas from your balance. If you are sending from your own wallet, you will need a little ETH in that wallet to pay for the gas. Plan to keep a small balance of ETH in any wallet that you intend to use on Ethereum for transactions, to cover fees. If your wallet is on another network (like Polygon), you need that network’s native token for gas (MATIC for Polygon, ARB for Arbitrum etc.).
Transaction times and confirmations analogy: If you’ve ever waited for a check to clear or an international bank transfer, you know it can be slow. Blockchain transactions settle much faster but still can take some time to be confirmed by the network (miners/validators adding it to a block). It’s like dropping a letter in a mailbox – it might not arrive instantly; it has to be picked up and delivered. On a blockchain, once your transaction is included in a block and enough subsequent blocks confirm it, it’s finalized. The more congested the network (lots of letters in the mailbox), the longer it might take unless you paid a premium for faster handling (higher gas fee prioritizes your transaction).