Set up a wallet
If you've never touched crypto, this is the only genuinely unfamiliar part. It takes about five minutes and you only do it once.
What a wallet actually is
It's an app that holds a key. That key proves things are yours and signs your approval for transactions. Nobody can move your tokens without it — including us. We never see it, never store it, and cannot recover it for you.
Your recovery phrase is the wallet. Anyone who has it has everything in it, permanently. Write it on paper. Never type it into a website, never photograph it, and never send it to anyone claiming to be support. We will never ask for it.
Getting one
1. Install Phantom or Solflare. Browser extension or phone app, either is fine. Get them from those official sites — search results for wallet names are a well-known place to get robbed.
2. Write down the recovery phrase. On paper. This is the bit people skip and regret.
3. Put some SOL in it. You can buy SOL inside both wallets with a card, or send it from an exchange. You need enough for whatever you plan to do plus a little for network fees — see Fees.
4. Connect it here. Hit connect, pick your wallet, approve. Then sign in — a second step that costs nothing and proves the wallet is yours.
Connecting versus signing
Two different things, and worth understanding:
- Connecting lets a site see your public address. It's like showing someone your house number. It cannot move anything.
- Signing approves a specific action. Signing in costs nothing and just proves you hold the key. Signing a transaction is what actually spends money.
Your wallet always shows you what you're approving before you approve it. Read it. If a transaction looks like it does something other than what you expected, reject it.
Both wallets have proper guides on the basics — Phantom's and Solflare's — and they explain custody better than we would.