Learn to keep a wallet safely

Short guides for people who are new to this, or who are helping someone who is. Read them before you install anything.

Guides

Each one takes about ten minutes. Start at the top if you have never used a wallet.

Your first wallet

Install, write down the words, run the first drill and make a test send to someone you know.

If you lose your phone

What to do in the first hour, how to restore on a new phone, and when to move to new words.

Scam alerts

Six tricks we see every month, and the tell for each.

Safety notes

Short, dated notes on what changed and what to watch for.

Words you will hear

Seven terms, explained in one line each.

Address

Where a payment is sent: a long string of letters and numbers. Compare all of it, in groups.

Clipboard

Where a phone keeps what you copied. Harmful apps can change it between copy and paste.

Network

The system a coin moves on. An address from one network does not work on another.

Recovery words

Twelve words that rebuild your wallet on any phone. Whoever has them controls the wallet.

Self-custody

Holding your own keys on your own phone, instead of leaving coins with a company.

Network fee

What the network charges to process a send. It goes to the network, not to the app.

Test send

A small first payment to a new contact, to prove the address works before the real one.

Setting it up for someone else

If you are helping a parent or a friend, sit with them and let them hold the phone. They write the words, they keep the paper, and they run the first drill while you watch.

Nobody genuine will ever ask for your recovery words: not support, not a friend, not a bank, not us.

Not sure about a message?

Do not reply and do not tap the link. Copy the text of the message, never your words, and send it to the scam desk. A person will tell you what it looks like within a working day (sample).