This is a continuation of a previous blog post. See that post here.
Stuck Without Gas
My crypto was stuck in my MetaMask wallet, and I couldn’t move it. I didn’t have enough BNB to cover gas fees for a transfer or swap. My only option was to buy more BNB, but that meant creating another exchange account, going through verification, and paying additional fees. Worse, the buy quote I got from PancakeSwap was outrageous—$13 in fees just to buy $2 worth of BNB.
Good Samaritan
After struggling to find a solution, I gave up on fixing it myself and turned to Reddit for help. I posted anonymously, explaining my situation and asking if someone could spare a small amount of BNB. Almost immediately, I was flooded with messages from scammers claiming they could “help.” At first, I thought they were legitimate, but a quick search showed that the links they sent me would drain my wallet the second I clicked them.
Eventually, I got lucky. A kind stranger from Europe offered to help—no scammy links involved. He said he’d send me a few dollars worth of BNB if I sent him the same amount, plus $2 to cover his transaction costs. That sounded fair, so I sent him $4 in USD, and, sure enough, a few bucks of BNB appeared in my MetaMask after a few hours.
Finally, I had enough gas to transfer and swap my crypto!
Home Free
With enough BNB in my wallet to pay for gas fees, I was finally able to get my crypto to an exchange:
- Using Pancakeswap – I swapped my USDT for USDC on the Binance Smart Chain
- Using Synapse Protocol – I was able to bridge my USDC on the Binance Smart Chain to the Avalanche (AVA) network.
- Using MetaMask – I was able to transfer my USDC on AVA network over to my Coinbase wallet!
I enjoy experimenting with technology, so this was an interesting challenge. But at the end of the day, I’m very anti-crypto, and this process was comically overcomplicated. Anyone who thinks this is the future of finance is, frankly, naïve. And no, we’re not early—somehow, this technology has only gotten worse over the last ten years!