How do I add USDT to MetaMask?

If someone has already sent USDT to your MetaMask address, the USDT is already yours: adding it only makes the wallet show it. Switch MetaMask to the network the USDT was sent on, and if it doesn't appear by itself, import it with the USDT contract address for that network. TRC-20 USDT works too: since January 2026 MetaMask holds it on a separate TRON address that starts with T.

Why USDT can be at your address and still not show up

USDT is not a single coin that travels between networks. Every network has its own USDT, and each one is a contract: a small program that keeps a list of who holds how much. Your USDT is a line in that list, next to your address.

MetaMask doesn't keep USDT inside the app. It keeps the keys to your addresses and reads those lists on the networks it is looking at. If your USDT sits on BNB Smart Chain while the wallet is looking at Ethereum, MetaMask honestly shows zero. For the bigger picture of what the wallet does, there is a guide to how MetaMask works, from fees and funding to cashing out.

Two more facts explain most of the confusion:

• One 0x address serves many networks. Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon and Arbitrum run the same kind of software, so your MetaMask account has a single address beginning with 0x on all of them. The address is shared, but the USDT balance on each network is separate.
• TRON gets an address of its own. TRON is built differently, and its addresses begin with T. USDT sent to your T address lives only on TRON.

So before adding anything, find out which network the USDT came on. An exchange shows it in the withdrawal history, usually as ERC20, BEP20, TRC20 or Polygon; a person who sent it can simply tell you.

How to add USDT to MetaMask, step by step

The steps are the same in the browser extension and the mobile app; only the button names differ a little.

1. Update MetaMask. Versions from before January 2026 have no TRON address, so install the latest version from your browser's extension store or your phone's app store.
2. Show the network your USDT is on. Open the network selector above the token list and pick that network. If BNB Smart Chain or Polygon isn't in the list, find it under "Additional networks" in the network settings and add it with one click; you don't have to type any network details.
3. Look at the token list. MetaMask finds tokens on its own on Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum and several other networks, so USDT with a balance often appears without your help. If the list looks out of date, refresh it from the three-dot menu.
4. Search for USDT if it's missing. In the extension, open the three-dot menu, choose "Manage tokens", type USDT and switch it on. In the app, tap "+" in the tokens section, search for USDT, select it and tap "Next".
5. Import USDT by contract address if the search doesn't find it. In the extension, choose "Add custom token" at the bottom of "Manage tokens"; in the app, open the "Custom token" tab. Paste the USDT contract address for your network from the list below, then tap "Next" and "Import": MetaMask fills in the name and the number of decimals itself.

If an older version asks you to type the decimals, the answer is 6 for USDT on Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum and TRON, and 18 on BNB Smart Chain. A wrong number doesn't lose any money, but the balance shows with the decimal point in the wrong place.

There is also a shortcut. On CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap, the MetaMask fox icon next to a token's contract address adds that token to your wallet in one click; on a phone, this works only inside MetaMask's own browser.

USDT contract addresses for each network

The contract address is USDT's real identity on a network. Anyone can create a token and call it USDT; nobody can give it this address. These are the addresses to paste into MetaMask:

• Ethereum (ERC-20): 0xdac17f958d2ee523a2206206994597c13d831ec7. This is the original USDT issued by Tether, with 6 decimals.
• BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20): 0x55d398326f99059ff775485246999027b3197955. This USDT comes through Binance's bridge and uses 18 decimals instead of 6.
• Polygon: 0xc2132d05d31c914a87c6611c10748aeb04b58e8f. MetaMask may show it under the name USDT0.
• Arbitrum One: 0xfd086bc7cd5c481dcc9c85ebe478a1c0b69fcbb9. It may also appear as USDT0.
• TRON (TRC-20): TR7NHqjeKQxGTCi8q8ZY4pL8otSzgjLj6t. MetaMask supports USDT on TRON out of the box, so you rarely need to paste it, but it helps when you check a transfer in a TRON explorer.

Copy an address from a source you trust: Tether's own website lists the Ethereum and TRON contracts, and CoinGecko lists all of them. Compare the whole address, not just the first and last few characters: a lookalike can match those.

A token that says USDT but has a different contract address is not USDT. Strangers sometimes drop such tokens into wallets, and the balance looks real but is worth nothing. If one like that has appeared in yours, here is whether flash USDT is real and why it can't be withdrawn.

How to add BEP-20 USDT on BNB Smart Chain

BNB Smart Chain is in MetaMask's network list; if your wallet doesn't show it, add it from "Additional networks" as in step 2 above. Your address there is the same 0x address you use on Ethereum, so there is nothing new to create and nothing to set up.

USDT on BNB Smart Chain isn't issued by Tether directly. It comes through Binance's bridge, pegged one to one to USDT, and exchanges and wallets treat it as ordinary USDT. It is a separate token with a contract of its own, which is why its address differs from Ethereum's and why it counts in 18 decimals rather than 6.

Fees on BNB Smart Chain are paid in BNB, the network's own coin. Receiving USDT needs no BNB at all, but sending it normally does, so keep a small amount of BNB next to your USDT if you plan to move it.

Exchanges label this network in different ways: BEP20, BSC or BNB Smart Chain. If a withdrawal form offers more than one of these and you're not sure which is yours, here is what BEP-20 and BSC mean for a USDT transfer.

Adding USDT on Polygon and Arbitrum

Both networks are added the same way as BNB Smart Chain, and both use your same 0x address. What differs is the coin that pays the fee:

• Polygon: fees are paid in POL, the coin that used to be called MATIC.
• Arbitrum: fees are paid in ETH, just as on Ethereum.

On both networks MetaMask may label USDT as USDT0, a version of USDT designed to move between networks. If the contract address matches the list above, it is the right token.

How to hold USDT TRC-20 in MetaMask on TRON

MetaMask added native TRON support to its mobile app and browser extension on 15 January 2026. After the update, each account gets a TRON address next to its 0x address, and MetaMask handles TRX, TRON's own coin, and USDT on TRON without any setup.

Your TRON address is the one that starts with T. Check that first letter before you hand the address to an exchange or a sender: a 0x address is not a TRON address, and TRC-20 USDT can't be sent to it.

Before 2026 MetaMask had no TRON support of its own, so you may still come across advice to keep a second wallet just for TRON. With an updated app, you don't need one. USDT you already keep in TronLink can stay there too: both wallets hold it, and every move between them costs a network fee. If you're weighing which wallet to keep for TRON, here is what TronLink is and how it handles TRC-20 USDT, fees and security.

TRON pays for transfers differently from Ethereum-style networks, and four rules follow from that:

• Fees come from energy and bandwidth. A USDT transfer on TRON spends energy, a resource of the network. An account gets no free energy, so unless you have staked TRX to earn it, MetaMask burns TRX to cover the transfer.
• A new TRON address needs TRX before it can send. Receiving USDT doesn't activate a TRON account, while receiving TRX does. If the TRX balance falls below 0.1 TRX, the account can become inactive.
• Receiving costs you nothing. On TRON the sender pays for the transfer, so an empty account can still accept USDT.
• Staking TRX for energy works only in the mobile app. The extension can't stake, and TRX you unstake stays locked for about 14 days.

How to receive USDT on MetaMask

To send you USDT, the sender needs two things from you: your address and the network. They have to match, and the network decides which address you give:

• ERC-20, BEP-20, Polygon or Arbitrum: give your 0x address.
• TRC-20: give your TRON address that starts with T.

Receiving costs you nothing on any of these networks, because the sender pays the fee. How the address and network get to the sender depends on who is paying:

• Withdrawing from an exchange. In the withdrawal form, choose USDT, then the network, then paste the matching MetaMask address. Many exchanges take their withdrawal fee out of the amount, so slightly less may arrive.
• Getting paid by a person. Send the network and the address together in one message, for example "USDT on TRON, address T…", so neither gets lost.

Once the transfer lands, switch MetaMask to that network. If USDT doesn't appear, import it as in the steps above. And if you get to choose the network yourself, it's worth comparing which USDT network is best for a sender and which for a merchant.

You can also buy USDT inside MetaMask through its partner providers, where your region allows it. The USDT arrives on whichever network you pick at purchase.

How to send USDT from MetaMask

Sending takes four steps:

1. Open USDT on the network you're sending from. Select the network first, then tap USDT in the token list.
2. Tap "Send" and paste the recipient's address. Make sure the recipient expects USDT on this exact network: a 0x address looks identical on Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain, so MetaMask can't catch that mistake for you.
3. Enter the amount and check the network fee. MetaMask shows the fee before you confirm.
4. Confirm and keep the transaction hash. The hash is the transfer's receipt, and the recipient can look it up in a blockchain explorer.

Every network charges its fee in its own coin, so keep a little of that coin next to your USDT:

• Ethereum and Arbitrum: ETH.
• BNB Smart Chain: BNB.
• Polygon: POL.
• TRON: energy, or TRX burned in its place.

On Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon and Arbitrum, MetaMask can also take the fee in USDT itself; the questions at the end explain how. On TRON there's no such option, and the common trap is an address full of USDT with no TRX on it at all. If that's where you are, here is how much TRX a USDT transfer needs and what to do right now.

Why USDT is not showing in MetaMask

Most of the time the USDT is safe and the wallet is looking in the wrong place. Go through these causes in order:

• MetaMask is showing another network. The USDT arrived on BNB Smart Chain while the wallet shows Ethereum, or the other way round. Switch the network and look again.
• USDT isn't added on this network yet, or it was hidden. Search for USDT or import it by contract address, as in the steps above. A hidden token comes back the same way.
• The app is out of date. A version without TRON support has no T address, so it can't show TRC-20 USDT.
• The transfer hasn't arrived. Ask the sender for the transaction hash, or look up your address in that network's explorer. If someone says they've paid but can't give you a hash, treat the payment as not made until you see it.
• The USDT went to a network MetaMask doesn't show. If someone sent USDT on another Ethereum-style network to your 0x address, your key controls it there too. Add that network to MetaMask with its official details, then import USDT with that network's contract address.

An explorer page answers the question in a minute: it shows whether the transfer is confirmed or failed, on which network, and to which address it went. If you've never read one, here is how to read a crypto transaction in a blockchain explorer.

In short

USDT never needs to be moved into MetaMask: it sits on a network, and MetaMask shows it once it looks at that network with the right contract address. Find out the network first, then switch, search or import. For TRC-20 USDT, update the app and use your TRON address, and keep some TRX on it before you try to send.

Questions people ask next

Which network should I pick when sending USDT from MetaMask to Binance?

On Binance's deposit page, choose USDT and then the same network your USDT sits on in MetaMask: if it's on BNB Smart Chain, that's BEP20. Copy the deposit address shown for that network, not one you saved earlier. Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain addresses both start with 0x, so the form won't stop you from mixing them up; the network label is what you check.

Can I send USDT from MetaMask without paying a gas fee?

Every transfer pays a fee, but on Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, Linea and Base, MetaMask can take it in USDT instead of the network's own coin. On the confirmation screen, open the list next to "Network fee" and pick USDT; if you have no ETH, BNB or POL, MetaMask picks an eligible token for you. The estimate includes a small MetaMask charge, and the option needs Smart Transactions and balance-change estimates switched on in settings. TRON transfers aren't covered.

How much does it cost to send USDT from MetaMask?

If you pay the fee in the network's own coin, a send costs only the network fee; if you pay it in USDT, the estimate also includes a small MetaMask fee. On TRON without staked energy, a USDT transfer burns about 7 TRX, and roughly twice that if the recipient's address has never held USDT. On Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain and Polygon the fee depends on how busy the network is at that moment, and here is what a USDT transfer costs on each network and how long it takes.