If you want to use cryptocurrencies, you need a digital wallet or a wallet app to store their private keys and manage them. In this article, I will guide you through the steps of creating and using a popular and user-friendly wallet app called Trust Wallet.
Trust Wallet is a software wallet that supports many different cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, and more. It also has some features that make it stand out from other wallets, such as:
- The ability to swap some coins and tokens with each other, like an exchange (swap).
- The ability to buy some cryptocurrencies with fiat currencies of several countries, such as US/Canada/Australia dollars, euros, Turkish liras, Chinese yuan, and more. You can use payment methods such as MoonPay and Mercuryo to do this.
- The ability to access the decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) sectors, where you can lend, borrow, stake, or trade your assets in a peer-to-peer way.
To create a Trust Wallet, you need a mobile phone or a tablet with an internet connection. For security reasons, you should disable any VPN or proxy service that you might be using.
Depending on your device’s operating system, you can download the Trust Wallet app from the App Store (for iOS) or the Play Store (for Android). Just search for Trust Wallet and download the official app. Be careful not to download any fake or fraudulent apps that might look similar. The official apps usually have a lot of downloads and user reviews. You can also consult a computer or software expert to help you with this.
After installing the Trust Wallet app on your device, tap on its icon and launch it. Then tap on Create a new wallet to make a new wallet.
On the next screen, you will be asked to backup your wallet. This means that if you lose access to your wallet in the future, for example, if the app is deleted from your device or your device is lost or stolen, you can restore your wallet and recover your cryptocurrencies using a special phrase.
So tap on the box next to “I understand that if I lose my recovery words…” and then tap on Continue.
At this stage, prepare a piece of paper and a pen (a pencil is also recommended) and write down all the words that you see on your device’s screen in the same order and with the same numbers (the number of words may vary in different wallets. Usually you have to write down 12 or 24 words):
This phrase (a set of words) is needed when you want to restore your wallet in the future or when you want to activate or recover your wallet on another device. That’s why they are called recovery words or mnemonic phrase or seed phrase. They are your digital signature in the blockchain world because these words are eventually converted into an encrypted signature similar to this string:
8rtt7v4pcxbvbmcxbvbmjhiod3jhiod345rtghfg9v7mbn265v7bfhjghjm18vb68rthcb68cv76n8cvn5hbn26js8cxbvbmjhiod39pkjdk5uy9u7678rtwe574bn26a54ccxbvbmjhiod3z345vrtfyhtfsasczxvxspcxbvbmjhiod32tghfg9v73rcewt657658bn26r5dcxbvbmjhiod3rg57g¹[1]
This code, which is generated by the mnemonic phrase, is called private key and it is your signature in the digital currency world. Of course, you usually don’t see this signature in your wallet but you can find it by exploring different menus of the wallet.
When you want to send some cryptocurrency to someone else, the wallet signs and sends the transaction with your confirmation. In other words, with this signature, you transfer the ownership of your sent cryptocurrency to the recipient.
Remembering the private key for humans (unlike computers) is almost impossible and reusing the private key for recovering the wallet is also very difficult. Because for security reasons, we are not allowed to copy it! Writing it down is also very tedious and time-consuming and likely to be accompanied by writing errors and spelling mistakes. That’s why cryptography experts invented a method years ago that allows us to generate private keys using a number of words called mnemonic phrase so that writing down and reusing them for humans would be easier, safer and more human-readable.
- To increase the security of your wallet and protect your digital currencies inside it, never take a picture or screenshot of these words from your device’s screen. It is better to use both pen and pencil on regular writing paper.
- To increase the security of your wallet and protect your digital currencies inside it, never copy these words or private key. Because when you copy or duplicate a text or image on an electronic device such as a mobile phone or computer, it will remain in the device’s memory for a while and this information may easily be accessed and exposed to a hacker (a digital information thief).
- Always remember that the mnemonic phrase is the key to enter your wallet and all the cryptocurrencies inside it. So take care of it as you take care of your bank account password. Even more, because your internet banking password can be changed but changing the mnemonic words is not possible!
- No person or company, even the wallet manufacturer, will ask you for these words or inquire about them by any means or through any communication channel. Even if you contact the wallet’s support unit yourself, they will not ask you for these words or inquire about them.
- If any person or company (even the technical service or support unit of the wallet app) asks you for these words, be aware that you are exposed to a hacker or a scammer, even if the request and inquiry is made from their official email, address or phone.
- If these words are lost or forgotten or otherwise unavailable, no one, even the manufacturer or designer or developer team or technical support unit of the wallet, can recover them by any means or under any circumstances. So be careful of greedy people or scammers who might try to deceive you or harm you in any way with tempting offers.
After writing down those vital and very confidential and important words, tap on Continue and on the next screen, use your handwritten notes to select the words in the correct order (see image above) and finally tap on Continue. (This step may vary in different wallets. You may need to write each word in order or with spaces or in empty spaces with the keyboard or keypad of your mobile phone).
If you have selected the words in the correct order, by tapping on Continue, the wallet will be created and you will see the main screen of the wallet.
One of the best ways to write down or store the mnemonic phrase is to write and engrave it on special metal sheets for this purpose. Similar to what our ancestors did: engraving on stone!
After buying these metal sheets, you should also buy a special pen or metal letter stamps or an engraving machine and engrave the mnemonic phrase on the sheet with safety precautions.
Paper may tear, burn or get wet. But there are special steels that are very resistant to fire or moisture. Usually in a fire in a residential apartment, the fire temperature rises up to 500 degrees Celsius, but the sheets and molds mentioned here can withstand higher temperatures.
I myself tested some types of these sheets and molds in an industrial furnace and only recommended those that proved to withstand temperatures above 500 degrees Celsius to my colleagues, acquaintances and students.
From now on that you have joined me, do it right and do not use another method to backup your wallet unless you know what you are doing and what consequences it has. If you have found or invented or chosen a better method, share it with me or your friends or teach it. In the future, these methods and processes or features may change and we have to always keep our information and knowledge up to date.
If you are using another secure method or have a new idea in mind, share it with me and others in the comments section at the bottom of this page.
