Create a wallet
How to set up a crypto wallet
Last updated
How to set up a crypto wallet
Last updated
What is a crypto wallet?
A crypto wallet is like a regular wallet, except it’s not made of leather, and you don’t carry paper money or metal coins in it. Your crypto wallet stores your cryptographic keypair: a public key, which is your wallet address, and a private key, which you need to sign transactions on the blockchain. We’ll explain more below about how to keep your private key safe.
Smartphone or Desktop?
Most crypto wallets are available for mobile (iOS or Android) or for various browsers like Chrome, Brave, Edge, or Firefox. Mobile and desktop wallets are basically the same, aside from being on different devices. In both cases, you download and install the wallet to your device. They are non-custodial, meaning that you have sole custody of your private keys. They are typically hot wallets, meaning that they are connected to the internet whenever the device is on. And they’re free!
If you want extra security, you might invest in a hardware wallet like a Nano X, which plugs into a USB port on your desktop, or can be accessed from a smartphone via Bluetooth. This is an offline, cold wallet solution.
Which Wallet?
There are several popular wallets for storing Solana-based tokens and NFTs, such as Phantom, Solflare, or Atomic. For illustration purposes, we’ll show you how to download and install the Phantom wallet for iPhone or laptop. Other wallets can be installed in a similar manner.
Wallet Safety tips
Download and install from the official source.
Follow the setup guide carefully.
Back up your recovery phrases.
Never share your recovery phrase with others.
Phantom for Mobile
If you want to download the wallet to your smartphone, go to https://phantom.app/download and select either ‘Download from the Apple Store’ or ‘Get it on Google Play’, depending on what kind of phone you have. Follow the steps to download and install the application on your device. After installing, open the app and you will see the Phantom onboarding screen to set up a new wallet.
Select "Create a new wallet" and enable the device authentication (such as face ID) to protect your wallet from unauthorized access. Finally, store your "Secret Recovery Phrase" in a safe, secure location. It is the only way to recover your wallet if anything goes wrong. Don’t lose it! You’re now ready to start using your new crypto wallet.
Phantom for Desktop
You can also install a Phantom wallet on a desktop. Just go to https://phantom.app/ and download the wallet for the browser of your preference (Chrome, Brave, Firefox, Edge). Click ‘create new wallet’ and create a password.
Next, you’ll be prompted to create a secret recovery phrase consisting of twelve words that are generated by the wallet. Write them down and store them in a safe, secure location. Anyone who knows your secret phrase can access your funds, so keep it secret! This recovery phrase is the only way to access your wallet if you forget your password.
Now you’re ready to go. Once installed on your desktop, the wallet resides in the extensions on your browser’s tool bar at the top of the screen. For Chrome or Edge browser, you can see it by clicking the puzzle piece to the right of the address bar. If you click the ‘puzzle piece’ you’ll see the phantom wallet in your list of extensions, like this:
How to access Phantom in your Browser
You can access your wallet by clicking on the Phantom icon pin or by using the keyboard shortcut option + shift + P. Just log in with your password and you’re ready to go!
Wallet Features
Congratulations! You now own a crypto wallet that will allow you to store, buy, send, receive, swap tokens and collect NFTs on the Solana Blockchain. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the features of your wallet before we continue.
