Owning cryptocurrencies is different from owning tender. Unlike, say, Euro or Dollar, you don’t have currency bills for Bitcoin or Ethereum (or any other cryptocurrency, for that matter).
You can’t safeguard it by putting it in the bank or stashing it away in that locker behind the painting. Luckily, transactions on the blockchain are secure – as long as your private key is secure.
So how do you ensure that your private key doesn’t get leaked? How do you keep it safe?
SafePal Wallet Application
While it might be tempting to simply write the private keys down on paper, I would advise against it. The chances of you losing out on that piece of paper is very high. Even if you don’t lose the piece of paper, it could easily be destroyed and you would end up losing out on all of your crypto assets.
To protect yourself (and your crypto assets) from that, you need a better way to store your private keys. And that is where specialized crypto wallets come in.
Regardless of whether you go for a hardware wallet or a software wallet, they would be a lot safer than a piece of paper.
To keep all of those crypto wallets together, we have the SafePal Wallet Application. Available both on Android and iOS, it is the only app you would ever need to manage your crypto assets.
So, let’s go through how you can use the app, step-by-step. Quick heads-up, this is going to be a bit longer than you would expect since I don’t intend to withhold any information assuming you guys would know about it. But I totally understand that some of you might be short on time.
So here’s a quick rundown of everything you need to know to get, set, and invest using the SafePal app. Feel free to skip to any section that you’re interested in. That said, I would recommend beginners to go through every section to make the best out of this brief beginner’s guide to the SafePal app.
- How to download and install the SafePal App?
- How to set up the SafePal App?
- How to create a software wallet within the SafePal App?
- How to transfer your crypto assets into your SafePal Software Wallet?
- How to add other coins and tokens on your Software Wallet Display?
- How to recover a SafePal Software Wallet?
Now that you know what this guide is going to be all about, let’s start talking about how you can use the SafePal app to keep your crypto assets safe!
How to Download and Install the SafePal App?
The first step to using an app is to download and install it. To download the SafePal app, you have two options. One of the options is to go to the app’s website and visit its download page.
From here, you could either choose your operating system and download the app on your device or if you are an Android user without access to the play store (happens in some rooted devices; been there, done that), you could choose to download the APK and install the app using it.
Alternatively, you could simply download the app directly from the Google Play store or the Apple App Store (depending on the device you are using).
When the app asks for permissions, please grant the required ones for it to function properly.
Once downloaded and installed, you are ready to set the app up!
How to Set Up the SafePal App?
The process of setting the SafePal app up is pretty simple—much like downloading and installing it was. You perform the simple tasks, and the app takes care of the heavy lifting.
Every new user would see the following page the first time they open the app:
As you can see, you have two options out here to choose from. When it comes to software wallets, you could either create a new wallet or import a previous one. For hardware wallets, on the other hand, you can only pair hardware wallets – which is extremely useful if you’ve invested in buying SafePal’s hardware wallet.
You now need to tap on “Software Wallet”. This would lead you to a screen that welcomes you. All you need to do here is tap on the “Next” button. Honestly, there’s nothing else you can do on this screen, so might as well move to the next screen.
If you’re a first time user on the app, you’ll be led to a page that asks you to set a security password for your SafePal software wallet.
Much like any other platform, you would need to input at least 8 alphanumeric characters to make your password. Enter the password, confirm it, and read the terms of use before checking the bullet to confirm you’ve read them. Let’s face it, nobody reads terms of use.
Nevertheless, I urge you to do so every time you sign up for something. Especially when there’s your hard earned money involved in it.
As an added layer of security for your crypto assets, you would need to add your fingerprint to it and then create a pattern password to supplement your security password.
But if you’re feeling lazy, you could always skip the pattern. Or, if you want, you can ask to be reminded about it the next time you open the app. I would strongly suggest you to set it up while you’re setting up the wallet because you really need that security if you’re planning on moving all of your crypto assets into the wallet.
Upon setting up both the security password and pattern password properly, you’re now officially in the system and “ready to start the SafePal journey”.
All there’s left to do now is to set up the Software Wallet on SafePal and use it with all the rings and bells.
How to Create a Software Wallet within the SafePal App?
This is the bit where most users get confused and give up on the process entirely. Fret not, we’re here to guide you through it and ensure you’re using the app properly.
From the main screen, tap on Software Wallet again and you’ll be led to a screen that gives you the option to either create a wallet or import one. We’ll be focusing on creating the wallet, but just so that you know what importing is all about, let’s discuss it as well.
For importing a wallet, you have multiple options. You could import it using a mnemonic phrase (which we’ll discuss later), a private key, a keystore (which is where you store your keys), or in observation mode (which allows you to only observe the balance and transaction details of public address; you can’t make transactions in this mode).
Importing is very useful when it comes to recovering an old wallet. There are many reasons why you would need to recover a wallet, but the most prominent one is losing the phone (and hence access to the app). We’ll discuss how you can recover your SafePal Software Wallet later, but for now, let’s focus on creating it.
Now, to create a software wallet within the app, you need to tap on Create Wallet.
Once you tap on it, the app would request you to enter your security password. This is the same password you’ve used in the previous step. Make sure that you enter the password exactly how you entered it in the last step.
Once done, you’re taken to a screen where you’re asked to name the Software Wallet you want to create.
It is on this screen that you would need to select the number of mnemonic phrases you intend to use. Choose this carefully since these phrases have the potential to be really important later on. That said, this doesn’t mean that you need to choose the lowest number possible.
Sure, even 12 wouldn’t be easy to crack, but still to be on the safer side, choose 24. Unless you choose to share the phrases with someone, there’s absolutely no way for anyone to figure it out (regardless of how sophisticated the cracking methods used are).
I can’t emphasize on the importance of safeguarding these phrases enough. If you ever end up losing them, you would end up losing all the assets you have stored in the software wallet. You don’t want them to end up with the wrong person.
On this screen, you also have the option to enter a passphrase. This can be used to create hidden wallets under the mnemonic phrase you have. Once set, you need both the mnemonic phrase as well as the passphrase for recovering the wallet. Needless to say, you need to store both in a secure location—preferably in separate secure locations to maximize security.
You now need to tap on “Done” after which you’ll be taken to a screen that informs you that your software wallet has been created.
This screen would also give you an option to back your mnemonic phrases up. Now, instead of writing it down on a piece of paper that you’ll eventually lose in the laundry, you should write it down in a secure text editor.
I normally write it down in Notepad and save it as a batch file. This way, if anyone chooses to use my computer without my permission, they wouldn’t find it out.
Upon choosing to backup the mnemonic phrases, a popup would appear informing you about the importance of the phrases. It is worth noting here that deleting the app WILL lead to a loss of all of the wallet data.
All there’s left to do now is to acknowledge the pointers and tap on “Understood” to move forward. I can’t share the screenshots of what happens after this for security reasons. The thing is, tapping on “Understood” leads you to a page that shows you the phrases, asking you to note them down.
Once noted down, tap the “Next” button and you would be asked to tap on the words in the correct order. This verifies that you’ve backed the mnemonic phrases up properly.
And voila! Your software wallet has been created.
If you wish to do so, you may pat your back. While it hasn’t been extremely difficult so far, it hasn’t been overly easy either.
How to Transfer your Crypto Assets into your SafePal Software Wallet?
With your SafePal Software Wallet created and ready to use, it would now be a good time to transfer your crypto assets into the wallet.
By default, you would have Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), and SafePal (SFP) as the listed assets. But you can always add more assets to your wallet.
Now, for participating in any DeFi protocol, you would need to pay the GAS fee. And for that, you would need to have some ETH in your wallet. So, it is advisable to start with transferring some ETH into your wallet and then go ahead and add other cryptocurrencies.
To add ETH into your wallet, all you need to do is tap on ETH and you’ll be taken to the ETH wallet page. This page would contain all the necessary details about the ETH transactions that have occurred using the wallet.
To transfer ETH to your wallet, you need to tap on the “Receive” button. You could either use the QR code shown to receive ETH from wherever you’re transferring it or use the address provided to do so.
Alternatively, you can buy ETH from the platform itself. And not just ETH, you can buy most of the cryptocurrencies right from the platform should you feel the need to do so.
To receive other assets, you need to do just the same.
How to Add other Coins and Tokens on your Software Wallet Display?
To add any other asset to your wallet, you need to first visit the Wallet Coin Management page. To do that, simply tap on the pencil icon on the right (shown in the screenshot below) and search for the asset.
For this example, we would be adding DAO to our wallet. So how do you go about doing it? Go to your wallet and tap on the pencil icon to go to the Wallet Coin Management page. Out here, you need to search for DAO. Once you’ve found it, you need to tap on the “+” sign on the right to add it to your asset list.
As you can see in the screenshot below, it has been added to my list of assets.
All there’s left to do now is to tap on DAO and receive some of it from my other wallet. The process to do so is pretty much the same as the process we used to add ETH to our software wallet.
How to Recover a SafePal Software Wallet?
Mobile phones are vulnerable to a host of problems. From getting stolen to getting bricked by rooting it the wrong way (yes, I’m talking about my experiments), there’s a lot that could go wrong.
So if you’re ever in a situation wherein your mobile phone is either lost or is in no state to be used anymore, you won’t be able to access the app. Without the app, your SafePal Software Wallet won’t be accessible anymore.
And that leaves us with an important question—are all our assets lost?
No. They aren’t lost. You can always recover them as long as you have your mnemonic phrases stored safely. So let’s talk about how you can recover your SafePal Software Wallet (and not spend countless nights thinking you’ve lost all of your assets)!
To start with, you would need to download and install the SafePal app on your mobile phone. You would then need to tap on “Create Wallet”, and just like you previously did, you need to complete the security settings.
Once done, you need to tap on “Import via Mnemonic Phrase”. The app would now show you a prompt to enter your security password, after which you’ll see the screen shown in the screenshot below.
Out here, you need to enter either 12, 15, 18, 21, or 24 words from the mnemonic code that you backed up in one of the previous steps.
Now, if you’ve written it down on paper and your handwriting isn’t legible, don’t worry. The box would turn red if you enter a word that isn’t a part of the set of mnemonic phrases present in the app.
If you had chosen to set a passphrase in addition to the mnemonic code previously, you need to input that as well.
All there’s left to do now is enter the wallet name and you’re good to go.
Before You Go…
Much like any other investment, you need to ensure that your crypto assets are safeguarded as best as possible. And SafePal makes it happen.
While it is already one of the best software wallets out there, we can still expect it to get better over time. The community has high hopes from the app and so do we.
