MetaMask adds Stellar integration, but cross-chain bridges require manual setup

MetaMask added Stellar as a default network on Oct. 29, giving users a new route for stablecoin payments within the wallet.

Before an unfunded account can receive assets such as $USDC through MetaMask's documented flow, it needs $XLM funding and the receiving token activated.

The launch announcement says Stellar is live in MetaMask Mobile and Extension, with a Stellar address derived from the recovery phrase in existing users' multichain accounts. That brings the payments network into an account they already use, alongside assets on other networks.

Fund the account, then activate the token

MetaMask's Stellar instructions require a first deposit of at least 1 $XLM for a new, unfunded address.

To prepare for $USDC, users open Manage Tokens, enable the desired token, open its entry marked Inactive, choose Activate, and confirm the transaction. Merely adding the token to the visible list does not complete activation.

Under Stellar's current reserve rules, an ordinary unsponsored account must maintain 1 $XLM, plus another 0.5 $XLM for each ordinary trustline. Other account entries can increase the minimum, and transaction fees need spendable $XLM above the reserve. The locked balance remains in the account.

Stellar's network rules also allow another account to sponsor these reserves, including the base account reserve.

Users need spendable $XLM to complete activation: the reserve increase and network fee cannot come from the amount already locked.

A swap between tokens already on Stellar can automatically create a trustline in MetaMask. For a cross-chain swap into a non-$XLM token, MetaMask requires the receiving trustline to be activated manually first.

MetaMask says it prompts users before bridge confirmation and warns that bridged funds can be lost if the trustline is missing when they arrive.

That warning differs from an ordinary Stellar token send to a recipient without the required trustline. In that case, MetaMask says the send fails.