This guide will cover, in order:

• Installing the mobile application.

• Creating a Bitcoin wallet.

• Creating a passphrase-protected wallet.

• Password and biometrics security.

• Creating a backup.

• Dummy wallet for plausible deniability.

• Receiving Bitcoin payments.

• Sending Bitcoin payments.

• Additional settings and options.

By the end of this guide, you will have a Bitcoin wallet installed on your mobile device which lets you receive, send and store bitcoins. Your wallet will be encrypted with a password, protected with a passphrase and you will have proper backups in case your phone is damaged, lost or stolen. You will know how to use the security features of your Bitcoin wallet to maintain plausible deniability.

This is perfect if you want to buy bitcoins and store them securely, if you want to make payments using Bitcoin, and if you don't mind using a phone.

Although BlueWallet is on your phone, the risks of losing funds by getting hacked are very low, unless you are specifically targeted by a highly skilled attacker. The most common causes of people losing their bitcoins are the following:

• Someone finds your backup.

  • This person is often someone in your close surroundings.

• You leave your phone open and someone has access to your password.

• Your phone stops working or you lose it and you are missing your backup and passphrase.

• You brag about your holdings and someone attempts to take them from you through coercive means.

Be careful how you store your seed phrase and passphrase, these are crucial for the recovery of your funds, but are also targets for someone wishing to steal your funds.

• One of the following devices:

  • iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iOS 13.0 or later

  • Android device

• Paper and pen for the wallet backup process

• 30 minutes of your time

• An internet connection

1. Download BlueWallet from the App Store for iOS users or the Google Play Store for Android users.

2. Click on the Add now button or the + icon in the top right corner, this will take you to a new screen.

3. Enter a name for your wallet and click on the Bitcoin wallet option.

The next step involves creating a passphrase. This prevents you from getting your funds stolen if someone gets access to your device and its PIN or to your 12-word backup.

What is a passphrase?

• It acts as a password that you add on top of your wallet backup (12-word seed phrase).

• You can create as many passphrase-protected wallets as you like, with each new passphrase generating a completely new wallet.

• It serves to protect your funds in case your 12-word backup is compromised (stolen, someone else sees it), since it is required to gain access to your funds.

• The default wallet does not have a passphrase, adding one gives you plausible deniability, since little to no funds can be held on the default wallet, with the majority held on the passphrase-protected wallet.

• If someone comes into contact with your 12-word seed or digital backup, they won’t be able to steal your funds since they also need the passphrase to unlock the funds.

To send bitcoins using Blue, all you need is the Bitcoin address of the recipient.

Blue offers Coin Control. When you are sending transactions, you can select the individual coins available in your wallet, also known as Unspent Transaction Outputs (UTXO), that you wish to send. You can select several at a time if the balance you wish to send exceeds the balance of any one coin.

Think of bitcoins as actual physical coins of different amounts in your pocket. When you spend them, you will combine the change, and you will get some new change back.

BlueWallet is a free and open-source, Bitcoin-only wallet for mobile and Mac. Create a Bitcoin wallet and backup in a few clicks. It is easy to use, with a very gentle learning curve. The Bitcoin wallet is fully non-custodial, allowing for complete control over use of funds. Advanced features are available for enhanced usability and security. As mobile wallets go, this one is very secure.

This is a great choice for individuals that are beginning their self-custody journey or those that use Bitcoin on a daily basis.

Read about the benefits of self-custody

BlueWallet benefits and limitations

• ✅Good security with password and biometrics

• ✅Easy backup and recovery

• ✅Very simple to use

• ✅Advanced transactions features

• ✅Beginner friendly

• ✅Compatible with hardware wallets

• ✅Reputable and renown

• ✅Setup time: 30 minutes

• ❌Not available on Linux or Windows

• ❌Less secure than a hardware wallet

What is this all for?

• Buying bitcoin from a non-custodial exchange.

• Ability to transact with Bitcoin on mobile (funding exchanges, making payments).

• Storing bitcoin with backups for long-term before upgrading to a hardware wallet.

• Managing different wallets for different purposes.

• Transacting easily using the QR code capabilities.

BlueWallet is one of the safest ways you can use Bitcoin if you are not using a hardware wallet or a "multisignature" custody setup.

• The wallet is open-source and has been reviewed independently to make sure there is no malware or backdoor.

• The developers cannot have access to your Bitcoin wallet.

• The private keys that control the bitcoins are encrypted on your phone and protected with a passphrase. To spend money each time you must decrypt your device with your app's password or with your biometrics.

• BlueWallet protects you well against non-hacker people that gain access to your phone.

• BlueWallet is more vulnerable to malware and hackers than hardware wallets.

• BlueWallet lets you create backups easily and securely which let you recover access to your money if your computer is damaged, lost or stolen.

On the main menu, go to the three-dot menu in the top right corner, select Network, then select Electrum Server:

• Enabling offline mode will disconnect your wallet from the Bitcoin network. You can still receive funds, but your balance and transaction history will not update, nor will you be able to send funds.

• Connect to your own node by entering its IP address and its Port. If you don't, your wallet will automatically connect to the BlueWallet servers.

• Write down the passphrase you want to use before entering it in your device.

• Use a combination of words as a passphrase to have less trouble remembering it.

• Use at least 12 characters in your passphrase, 24 characters offer more security.

• If someone has access to your seed phrase, the passphrase will prevent them from taking your bitcoins.

• Create a unique passphrase that nobody can guess but that you can remember.

• If you lose the passphrase, you lose access to your bitcoins forever (if you also lose access to your device).

• You cannot change your passphrase. You can only create a new one, which in turn will generate a new wallet.

• The passphrase is required to recover your access to your bitcoins if your device is damaged, lost or stolen.

1. Tap on the wallet you wish to send from.

2. Select Send.

   • To select specific UTXO’s, tap on the 3-dot menu in the top right corner:

     1. Select Coin Control.

     2. Select the coins you want to spend.

3. Paste the Bitcoin address of the recipient in the address field or scan their QR code.

4. Write a note for this transaction, so you know what the transaction was for, or who you sent it to.

5. Enter the amount to send. It must be lower than the total value of the coins that were selected for spending or the wallet balance.

   • Press the Total button to send the whole selected amount (if you want to move the funds to another wallet you control).

   • The amount you enter must be in Bitcoin. BlueWallet provides an estimated value in fiat currencies.

6. Adjust the fee you wish to pay by tapping on it.

   • By default, you will be faced with 3 options: Fast, Medium and Slow. You can enter a custom amount as well. There are several methods of looking up the current fee rate, one being mempool.space.

7. The outbound transaction will appear in the Transaction history and the coins will be deducted from the available balance in your wallet.

   • Your change is only visible when sending and using Coin Control, it does not appear in the transaction history.

Read about the benefits of Bitcoin privacy

1. Go to the Settings menu by clicking on the three dots in the upper right corner.

2. Click on General.

3. Enable Advanced Mode.

4. Go back to the wallet dashboard and select Add now under Add Wallet.

5. Select Import wallet.

6. Enter your 12 word seed phrase.

   • Separate each word with a space.

7. Enable the Passphrase option.

8. Click on Import.

9. Enter your passphrase.

10. Click OK.

You have to create a backup and hide it and make sure you don’t store it at the same place where you keep your passphrase.

1. Get a pen and a piece of paper.

2. Click on Create. You will be provided with 12 words. Note them down with pen and paper.

3. Take your time and write them down correctly. Make sure that the words are easily readable and in the correct order.

4. Write down the number in front of each word, to make sure you know what the correct order is.

5. Triple check to make sure.

6. Triple check to make sure.

7. Triple check to make sure.

8. Find a secure way to store it. Get creative!

   • You can do two backups and store them in different places.

You now have a Bitcoin wallet!

The next step will consist in protecting this backup by using a passphrase.

1. Tap on the wallet you want to use.

2. Select Receive.

   • Tapping on the address will copy it to your clipboard.

   • You can share the address to others by selecting the Share button and selecting your preferred messaging app.

   • You can also create an invoice by selecting the Receive with amount option.

3. Once the payment is received, it will appear in the Transactions history and will also appear in your available balance.

⛔️ THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART. TAKE A MINUTE TO READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST. DO NOT SKIP. ⛔️

The next step involves creating a paper backup of your Bitcoin wallet, which you will need in order to recover access to your bitcoins if your phone is damaged, lost or stolen.

The backup consists of a series of words generated randomly by the Bitcoin wallet.

These words allow you to recover access to your Bitcoin wallet in case anything happens to your phone.

Before creating your paper backup, please read the 5 rules below carefully.

There are 3 security mechanisms that prevent you from accidental loss or theft of your Bitcoin:

1. Password and biometrics on Blue Wallet.

2. Seed backup recovery codes.

3. Wallet passphrases.

If you lose your BlueWallet

• The Seed backup allows you to recover your Bitcoin wallets.

• Your passphrase allows you to unlock the recovered Bitcoin wallets.

If someone steals your mobile device

The PIN protects unauthorized access to your BlueWallet, should it fall into the wrong hands.

If someone steals your BlueWallet and your password

They will be able to unlock the wallet, but they will not be able to spend funds without your biometrics.

If someone steals your seed backup recovery codes

They will not be able to recover your Bitcoin wallets without the passphrase.

BlueWallet offers several advanced options that will greatly improve the security of your funds and your privacy.

On the main menu, go to the three-dot menu in the top right corner, select Security:

Biometrics / Face ID

Once enabled, biometrics will be required for making a transaction, unlocking, exporting or deleting a wallet.

Encrypted and Password Protected

Your phone has multi-layer encryption on top of which BlueWallet can encrypt everything with an added password. This password will be required before you can access your wallet. You should enter a strong enough password which won’t be easily guessed by an attacker. We recommend 10 alphanumeric characters.

Plausible Deniability

This acts as a secondary storage access in case you are faced with a situation in which you must unlock your wallet to show funds, but do not wish to divulge your full balance. You will be asked to create a new password and to confirm it. Once completed, you will have access to a secondary BlueWallet wallet dashboard. Your main wallet and its accounts will not appear.

After clicking on Send, tap the three-dot menu in the top right corner:

Allow Fee Bump

Keeping this option enabled will allow you to increase the fee you pay for the transaction you are sending in case the network fees rise above the one you entered and wish to get your transaction approved faster.

The increase fee option will appear in your pending transaction. Simply click on it and enter a new fee amount.

Add Recipient

If you have two or more transactions to make, you can enter additional recipient addresses and the respective amounts you wish to send. This feature allows you to spend less fees versus sending them out individually. Simply add the address and amount for every recipient you wish to send to. You can add as many recipients as you like.

✅ DO's

• Write down your 12 words clearly and in the correct order.

• Try to use a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters in your password.

  • You can use a password manager to do this.

• Triple check that all of the information is correct.

• Be in a private, safe location with no one else around.

• Take your time to go through the steps.

❌ DONT'S

• Use publicly known information for your password.

• Use a password that you’ve used before.

• Use a public network or computer for the generation of your wallet.

• Store your backup and password together.

• Keep your backup or password out in the open.