Unsplash

Yesterday, Moonriver announced that the Glimmer (GLMR) token transfers and staking were live for the Moonriver network. This made it the first of the parachain auction slots from the first round to be up and running. This wasn't too much of a surprise as it was one of the big leader projects from the first batch of 5 parachains, plus they already had a popular and tested version on the Kusama testnet running for quite some time.

So, I figured I would just drop into Polkadot.js.org and check out how to claim the GLMR tokens that were the rewards from participating in the crowdloan. Apparently 30% were immediately liquid and already sent to the participating address with the 70% remainder being distributed over the lifetime of the parachain lease.

... and this is not really the sight that you want to greet you! Of course, I had already set up the Polkadot.js extension to be viewable on the Moonbeam network... and jumping back to Polkadot mainnet, I could see that this account HAD contributed to the Moonriver crowdloan. So... what was going on here?

So... as Moonbeam is aim to form a seamless experience across Substrate (Polkadot-based) and Ethereum type blockchains, it means that each Substrate address is also linked to an Ethereum type address that shares the same seed. So, no problem... heading over to the Moonbeam network dApp fires up Metamask, which is going to be the Ethereum version of the address. Getting the seed into Metamask is no problem... and VOILA! Still nothing...

Sigh... there is nothing more annoying than hunting down missing tokens. This is something that I've had to do with Polkadot more than any other chain. There is something a bit skew-whiff and not so intuitive about the Polkadot implementation of things that is just a little bit less fluid than other chains... it is really annoying, and something that will need to be improved. I know that if I run into problems then there will be many other people who will have more problems and less patience with it!

Anyway... at this point, I gave up for a bit. The best thing to do when faced with this situation is to just sleep on it. I know that the tokens are out there somewhere in the blocko-verse... just finding the right key and place is the problem. But when I do, they will be just sitting there waiting!

Now, in the completely and utterly hazy past of about a month ago when I did the parachain contribution... I vaguely remember now that I had to do it via the Moonbeam Crowdloan portal. Most of the others I had done directly on the Polkadot.js substrate interface. Moonbeam threw you out to this particular dApp... and now I remember why... you had to specify an Ethereum address to which the crowdloan rewards would be sent to... and for some reason, I had given a different Ethereum address with a different seed.

Sigh... this is another sticking point that really needs some resolution. The crypto-verse, despite being much more evolved than a few years back, is still pretty damn clunky in some spots (ahem, Polkadot...). Having too many wallets/keys and places to stash things might be good for security... but is a pain in the arse to remember for a regular human. Meanwhile, keeping things simple is not so great for security and privacy. Well, that is a pain in the arse, and I hope that there are projects that are going to fix this particular pain point... otherwise the majority of people will just start running back to centralised custody platforms to handle things for them!

So, heading back to the original crowdloan contribution page... and the ability to lend to the auction is gone... and replaced by a tool that allows you see what Ethereum receiving address was linked to your Polkadot lending address! YESYESYESYES! This was exactly what I was looking for... and allowing the polkadot.js extention to connect showed the Ethereum address that was the reward address.

Jumping back to the Moonbeam staking/wallet dApp with the right Ethereum address in Metamask... and, yes! There were my GLMR tokens... happily sitting for me, waiting to be found in a merry little goose chase!

So, again... this is not the best experience... even for a person who a bit puzzle minded like me. I can imagine that the regular person would be horrified about this sort of experience... especially when it involves "money" and digital assets. It is something that needs to be addressed before we really get mass adoption... or it will be leading to many people losing digital assets. Already, most people can't remember their own passwords and phone numbers... and we expect them to remember and handle multiple blockchain addresses? Not going to happen... not like this!

I can also be found cross-posting at:
Hive
Steem
Publish0x

Handy Crypto Tools

Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
Kucoin: My second choice in exchanges, many tokens listed here that you can't get on Binance!
FTX: Regulated US-based exchange with some pretty interesting and useful discounts on trading and withdrawal fees for FTT holders. Decent fiat on-ramp as well!
MXC: Listings of lots of interesting tokens that are usually only available on DEXs. Avoid high gas prices!
Huobi: One of the largest exchanges in the world, some very interesting listings and early access sales through Primelist.
Gate.io: If you are after some of the weirdest and strangest tokens, this is one of the easiest off-chain places to get them!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.
Stoic: A USD maximisation bot trading on Binance using long-term long strategies, powered by the AI/human system of Cindicator.
StakeDAO: Decentralised pooled staking of PoS assets.
Poloniex: One of the older regulated exchanges that has come into new ownership. I used to use it quite a lot, but have since stopped.
Bitfinex: Ahhh... another oldie, but a goodie exchange. Most noted for the close affiliation with USDT and the Basic "no-KYC" tier!