[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":335},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page:creating-a-wallet":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":316,"extension":329,"meta":330,"navigation":331,"path":332,"seo":333,"stem":12,"__hash__":334},"pages\u002Fcreating-a-wallet.md","Creating a wallet",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":315},"minimark",[9,13,29,33,36,41,55,58,61,63,67,80,83,86,89,91,95,100,109,150,154,167,238,242,245,260,264,267,281,285,294],[10,11,5],"h1",{"id":12},"creating-a-wallet",[14,15,17,18,17,25],"fig",{"desktop":16},"half,right","\n\t",[19,20],"fig-img",{"src":21,"width":22,"height":23,"alt":24},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fbitcoin-core-launch.png",1516,1066,"Bitcoin Core wallet - initial launch",[26,27],"fig-cap",{"caption":24,"link":28},"https:\u002F\u002Fbitcoin.org\u002Fen\u002Fdownload",[30,31,32],"p",{},"One of the first things any cryptocurrency user needs to do is to set up a wallet. Many times, wallet software will automatically create a new wallet during the first launch without even letting the user know. Before jumping in, let's talk about what a wallet is, since some of the terms are used loosely and may actually describe different things.",[34,35],"hr",{},[37,38,40],"h2",{"id":39},"shared-or-personal","Shared or personal?",[14,42,17,44,17,50],{"desktop":43},"third,right",[19,45],{"src":46,"width":47,"height":48,"alt":49},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-new-wallet-types.png",798,1254,"Copay wallet - new wallet options",[26,51],{"caption":52,"title":53,"link":54},"Options for setting up a new wallet.","Copay wallet","https:\u002F\u002Fcopay.io\u002F",[30,56,57],{},"There are many uses for wallets with multiple owners, where each owner has their own key. This is typically called a multi-sig (or multi-signature) wallet because transactions require consent (via crypographic signature) from more than one owner. Shared wallets can be useful to improve security in business contexts, so a lost or compromised key does not result in a catastrophic loss. But they can also be useful in everyday life. For example, when a child has a wallet for allowance, but requires a parent or guardian to approve transactions.",[30,59,60],{},"The setup process for shared wallets is more complex, because all owners need to participate in the wallet creation and exchange information with each other. More on this will be added soon in a dedicated page in this handbook.",[34,62],{},[37,64,66],{"id":65},"seed-phrase","Seed phrase",[14,68,17,69,17,75],{"desktop":16},[19,70],{"src":71,"width":72,"height":73,"alt":74},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Flightning-new-app-seed.png",1760,1226,"Lightning desktop wallet - new seed",[26,76],{"caption":77,"title":78,"link":79},"Generating a new seed in the Lightning wallet.","Lightning wallet","https:\u002F\u002Fgithub.com\u002Flightninglabs\u002Flightning-app",[30,81,82],{},"The majority of wallets are deterministic. That means that all addresses used for sending and receiving are generated from a seed phrase. That seed phrase is a list of 12 or more words. Because that seed phrase is so important, it should receive a lot of attention during the wallet creation and users should receive clear instructions on what it is and how to protect it.",[30,84,85],{},"Seed phrases may also be called recovery phrases, mnemonic seeds, paper keys and other terms. While it's tempting to use the technical term, a more easily understandable term like \"recovery phrase\" that users already know from other software can be the smarter choice.",[30,87,88],{},"Another element to consider is that multiple wallets for different cryptocurrencies can be generated from the same seed phrase. For example, a user can have Savings and Business Bitcoin wallets, as well as a Monero wallet, that were generated from the same seed phrase. This is more convenient, but also less secure.",[34,90],{},[37,92,94],{"id":93},"examples","Examples",[96,97,99],"h3",{"id":98},"ethos","Ethos",[30,101,102,108],{},[103,104,99],"a",{"href":105,"rel":106},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ethos.io\u002F",[107],"nofollow"," calls itself a universal wallet. It's goal is to allow users to manage all their digital assets in a central interface. Many wallets focus on a single cryptocurrency or on tracking a portfolio of multiple assets, so Ethos is quite ambitious. Their first-time user experience is well thought out and spans at least a dozen screens. While there is usually a tendency to reduce the number of screens and amount of copy users see when getting started, Ethos goes the opposite route, as you can see in the screenshots (from August 2018) below. This is a sharp contrast to the majority of desktop wallets that don't show any of these screens but simply create a new seed in the background during first launch without informing the user at all.",[110,111,17,113,17,121,17,126,17,130,17,134,17,138,17,142,17,146],"image-grid",{"count":112},"8",[114,115],"image-grid-img",{"src":116,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":119,"caption":120},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fethos-onboarding-1.png",1440,2560,"Getting started with the Ethos mobile wallet","The first screen clearly explains what is about to happen.",[114,122],{"src":123,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":124,"caption":125},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fethos-onboarding-2.png","Ethos wallet app user onboarding","Another heads-up what users will have to do so they don't get caught off-guard.",[114,127],{"src":128,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":124,"caption":129},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fethos-onboarding-3.png","A fun idea to use motion to create random data, although it may not be obvious how or why this works to a general audience.",[114,131],{"src":132,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":124,"caption":133},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fethos-onboarding-4.png","Another primer on what is asked of the user next.",[114,135],{"src":136,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":124,"caption":137},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fethos-onboarding-5.png","One of the four screens showing the unique seed.",[114,139],{"src":140,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":124,"caption":141},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fethos-onboarding-6.png","Another clear statement of what is expected of the user.",[114,143],{"src":144,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":124,"caption":145},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fethos-onboarding-7.png","This overlay may unnecessarily include technical terms like 'handshake'.",[114,147],{"src":148,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":124,"caption":149},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fethos-onboarding-8.png","Final confirmation that the software is now set up for use.",[96,151,153],{"id":152},"copay","Copay",[30,155,156,160,161,166],{},[103,157,153],{"href":158,"rel":159},"https:\u002F\u002Fcopay.io",[107]," is an open-source Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash wallet created and maintained by ",[103,162,165],{"href":163,"rel":164},"https:\u002F\u002Fbitpay.com\u002F",[107],"bitpay",". It includes quite a few features and also provides a hosted service for communication between wallet users (for things like creating and transacting via shared wallets).",[110,168,17,169,17,174,17,179,17,184,17,189,17,194,17,199,17,204,17,209,17,216,17,223,17,228,17,233],{"count":112},[114,170],{"src":171,"width":47,"height":48,"alt":172,"caption":173},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-onboarding-1-info-1.png","Copay wallet intro - Bitcoin is digital monei","The first three screen explain very basic features of Bitcoin.",[114,175],{"src":176,"width":47,"height":48,"alt":177,"caption":178},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-onboarding-2-info-2.png","Copay wallet intro - Bitcoin is a currency","These info screens provide a simple framework for Bitcoin use cases.",[114,180],{"src":181,"width":47,"height":48,"alt":182,"caption":183},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-onboarding-3-info-3.png","Copay wallet intro - security","An important point about security, but the note about the app 'storing' bitcoins can be misleading.",[114,185],{"src":186,"width":47,"height":48,"alt":187,"caption":188},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-onboarding-4-info-4-password-question.png","Copay wallet password protection","Users can choose whether to encrypt their local wallet data with a password",[114,190],{"src":191,"width":47,"height":48,"alt":192,"caption":193},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-onboarding-5-backup-wallet.png","Copay wallet backup information","Another important reminder about the user being responsible for their keys.",[114,195],{"src":196,"width":47,"height":48,"alt":197,"caption":198},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-onboarding-6-privacy-hint.png","Copay wallet privacy reminder","A playful screen for reinforcing the points about security & privacy.",[114,200],{"src":201,"width":47,"height":48,"alt":202,"caption":203},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-onboarding-7-privacy-hint-screenshot-warning.png","Copay wallet screenshot privacy warning","Some mobile apps disable screenshotting for screens with sensitive informtion.",[114,205],{"src":206,"width":47,"height":48,"alt":207,"caption":208},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-onboarding-8-backup-encryption-password.png","Copay wallet encryption password input","The password users enter here is used to encrypt the local wallet data.",[114,210],{"src":211,"width":212,"height":213,"alt":214,"caption":215},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-onboarding-9-seed-phrase.png",800,1256,"Copay wallet seed display","Display of the recovery phrase of the newly created wallet.",[114,217],{"src":218,"width":219,"height":220,"alt":221,"caption":222},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-onboarding-10-seed-phrase-verification.png",400,628,"Copay wallet seed verification","Users are asked to verify that they copied the recovery phrase by tapping the words in the correct order.",[114,224],{"src":225,"width":219,"height":220,"alt":226,"caption":227},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-onboarding-11-seed-input-complete.png","Copay wallet backup confirmation","Final confirmation that the wallet is set up and backed up.",[114,229],{"src":230,"width":219,"height":220,"alt":231,"caption":232},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-onboarding-12-review-terms.png","Copay wallet creation review","Copay specifically requires users to tick off that they understand their responsibilities.",[114,234],{"src":235,"width":219,"height":220,"alt":236,"caption":237},"\u002Fimages\u002Fuser-onboarding\u002Fcopay-onboarding-13-home-screen-ready-message.png","Copay wallet home screen","The home screen nicely confirms that the wallet us now ready.",[96,239,241],{"id":240},"ark","Ark",[30,243,244],{},"While Ethos uses motion data from shaking the phone, the Ark wallet lets the user randomly draw curves on the screen to create unique, random data to generate the new seed. While Ark uses much fewer screens, the big, red message about storing the 'secret passphrase' is pretty clear.",[110,246,17,248,17,252,17,256],{"count":247},"3",[114,249],{"src":250,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":251},"\u002Fimages\u002Ffirst-use\u002Fark-create-wallet-entropy.png","Entropy creation in the Ark mobile wallet",[114,253],{"src":254,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":255},"\u002Fimages\u002Ffirst-use\u002Fark-create-wallet-ready.png","Recovery phrase display in the Ark mobile wallet",[114,257],{"src":258,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":259},"\u002Fimages\u002Ffirst-use\u002Fark-create-wallet-encrypt.png","PIN encryption in the Ark mobile wallet",[96,261,263],{"id":262},"bread","Bread",[30,265,266],{},"The bread goes also has a thorough process for ensuring that users correctly write down their seed phrase (they call it 'paper key'). There's one word per screen, and users have to click through all 12 of them before they can continue.",[110,268,17,270,17,277],{"count":269},"2",[114,271],{"src":272,"width":273,"height":274,"alt":275,"caption":276},"\u002Fimages\u002Ffirst-use\u002Fbread-app-paper-key.png",750,1334,"Bread app - paper key","The bread app calls the mnemonic seed a 'paper key'.",[114,278],{"src":279,"width":273,"height":274,"alt":275,"caption":280},"\u002Fimages\u002Ffirst-use\u002Fbread-app-paper-key-word.png","As with Ethos, users are asked to write down each word with pen and paper.",[96,282,284],{"id":283},"iota-trinity","IOTA Trinity",[30,286,287,288,293],{},"These are some screens from the wallet creation flow in the ",[103,289,292],{"href":290,"rel":291},"https:\u002F\u002Fplay.google.com\u002Fstore\u002Fapps\u002Fdetails?id=com.iota.trinity",[107],"IOTA Trinity wallet"," to show to what lengths wallets go to guide users through proper security measures. Note that the screens showing the actual seed are not included here.",[110,295,17,296,17,300,17,303,17,306,17,309,17,312],{"count":269},[114,297],{"src":298,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":299},"\u002Fimages\u002Ffirst-use\u002Fiota-trinity-create-wallet-1.png","Security settings screen in the IOTA app.",[114,301],{"src":302,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":299},"\u002Fimages\u002Ffirst-use\u002Fiota-trinity-create-wallet-2.png",[114,304],{"src":305,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":299},"\u002Fimages\u002Ffirst-use\u002Fiota-trinity-create-wallet-3.png",[114,307],{"src":308,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":299},"\u002Fimages\u002Ffirst-use\u002Fiota-trinity-create-wallet-4.png",[114,310],{"src":311,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":299},"\u002Fimages\u002Ffirst-use\u002Fiota-trinity-create-wallet-5.png",[114,313],{"src":314,"width":117,"height":118,"alt":299},"\u002Fimages\u002Ffirst-use\u002Fiota-trinity-create-wallet-6.png",{"title":316,"searchDepth":317,"depth":317,"links":318},"",2,[319,320,321],{"id":39,"depth":317,"text":40},{"id":65,"depth":317,"text":66},{"id":93,"depth":317,"text":94,"children":322},[323,325,326,327,328],{"id":98,"depth":324,"text":99},3,{"id":152,"depth":324,"text":153},{"id":240,"depth":324,"text":241},{"id":262,"depth":324,"text":263},{"id":283,"depth":324,"text":284},"md",{},true,"\u002Fcreating-a-wallet",{"title":5,"description":316},"GIM1KEjZy0LYEmsFcFDwI0F_pqM0XLaMIEbALcD-R4A",1791459950526]