Expect to make mistakes when learning Electrum, especially if you’re new to Bitcoin. If you do, a very small transfer is recommended. If you already keep bitcoin on an exchange or elsewhere, you may now transfer those funds into your Electrum wallet. Otherwise, you’ll need to configure your network settings by clicking on the circle. If it is, you’re ready to start using Electrum. The circle in the lower-right corner should be green (or blue if you’re connecting through Tor). For now, leave the password fields blank and click “Next.”Įlectrum should present its main screen. Wallets intended for experimentation and learning benefit little from encryption. This protects not only your money, but your privacy in the event of an attack. Doing so encrypts all wallet contents, not just the seed. You may also encrypt the entire wallet file by selecting the “Encrypt wallet file” option. In the event that your computer is attacked, an intruder obtaining Electrum’s files will be unable to decrypt your seed. Click it.Įlectrum can, at your option, encrypt the copy of your seed stored to disk. When you have entered the correct words, the Next button will become active. Click inside the text area and type the words of your seed. The next window asks you to type your seed. The words displayed in your window should be different than that those in the figure below. Leave the default option “Create a new seed” selected and click Next. A keystore is the set of signing keys you’ll use to make Bitcoin transactions, and is controlled by a seed. The next screen asks about the kind of keystore to create. The next screen offers a choice of four types of wallet, with the default set to “Standard wallet.” Leave this option selected then click Next. The next screen prompts you to name your wallet file with the text “This file does not exist.” The Wizard offers the default name default_wallet. Although you can connect to a trusted server (and this is recommended for secure use), letting Electrum decide on a server is a good beginner option. Its first question regards your method of connecting to a server. Launch Electrum by double clicking its icon, or some other method. For more on the concepts behind this process, skip to the later sections of this guide discussing backups, security, and addresses. SetupĮlectrum gathers configuration data from a wizard when run for the first time. A series of posts will describe how to verify the signature of an Electrum download on Mac, Windows, and Linux systems. This step should be considered mandatory for any wallet that will hold significant money. Using the appropriate software, this signature file can be used to verify the authenticity of the software you downloaded. The downloads page provides two links: the first leads to the software package you downloaded and the second leads to a signature file. The best way to do this is to verify your package’s signature. One way to proceed is to trust Electrum’s lead developer, Thomas Voegtlin who has been building Electrum since 2011. Unless you audit every line of Electrum’s code, you run the risk of installing malware. However, Bitcoin creates new incentives to deploy malware through downloads. There’s a tendency to trust software downloaded from the Internet. The instructions given on the download page should allow you to install the latest release. The Software Center distributes Electrum, but this tends to be an outdated version. Select “Open” from the menu, then click the “Open” button on the popup. You may receive an error message stating that Electrum “can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.” Should this happen, locate Electrum in your Applications folder then control-click on it. Open the Applications folder and double-click the Electrum icon. This appears to the left of the window under Favorites. Drag the Electrum.app icon into your Applications folder. The features missing in the 2.9.2 release linked on the front page won’t be used here.ĭouble-clicking the downloaded file opens a mounted volume. Installation on MacĬhoose the download marked “Executable for OS X.” A bug prevents the most recent release of Electrum (2.9.3) from running on OSX. The one labeled “Windows Installer” is the most convenient. Three versions of Electrum are available for Windows. Operating system-specific installers and installation instructions are available from the download page. It is an excerpt from the upcoming book Electrum for Bitcoin Beginners. This guide will show you how whether you currently own bitcoin or not. No previous experience with either Bitcoin or Electrum is needed. This guide introduces Electrum with step-by-step examples highlighting the most important beginner features. It uniquely walks the fine line between beginner usability and expert functionality. Electrum is one of Bitcoin’s most popular wallets.
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