Welcome to this guide on securely setting up Trust Wallet. This guide focuses on the security choices you can make when setting up your wallet; if you are looking for the official setup guide, please click here.
Trust Wallet is an open-source, multi-blockchain wallet with more than 5 million downloads. In 2020, it was among the top 10 most downloaded crypto apps and is the official wallet of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange - Binance.
This guide is focused on the Android version of the app, also see our iOS guide.
1. Introduction: What is Trust Wallet for Android?
This guide is focused on how to securely set up Trust Wallet on Android. If you are using iOS, check out our Trust Wallet Android guide
Trust Wallet supports over 1,600 coins and tokens across more than 50 blockchains and is available on Android and iOS. The wallet is actively developed and follows all industry standards, including BIP39, ensuring interoperability with other crypto wallets. Trust Wallet even allows other developers to build their own wallets on top of their wallet-core protocol. Beta programs also exist for both iOS and Android, allowing users the ability to test the latest versions.
Trust Wallet has seen impressive growth over the past few years. Initially launched in late 2017, it was acquired by Binance less than a year after launch. In 2020, it was among the Top 10 most downloaded cryptocurrency apps. The growth of Trust Wallet is attributed to its intuitive user experience, vast feature set, and a focus on security.
Some of the benefits of using Trust Wallet include:DEX integration - Trust Wallet interfaces with Uniswap, Binance DEX, and Pancake Swap, allowing you to swap thousands of coins and tokens. Best of all, no requirement to hand over any sensitive personal information. Using decentralized exchanges, you remain in full control over your assets.
Dapp Integration - A fully-optimised mobile browser for interacting with any dapp from right within your wallet. If you want to use your desktop or laptop, use WalletConnect to form an end-to-end encrypted link from your wallet to your computer.
Privacy and Security - Trust Wallet utilizes industry standard security practices as well as advanced access controls in modern versions of iOS and Android. Your keys stay on your device, and you have full control over your funds and your experience. Permission is not needed here.
Staking - Earn money and help secure the blockchain. Trust Wallet supports multiple blockchains for staking and continues to add more.
DeFi - By using Trust Wallet you will gain access to every part of the DeFi ecosystem. In DeFi, things move fast, and having a wallet that can keep up is important.
Buy Crypto - Trust Wallet allows you to buy crypto with USD or EUR through their 3rd party partners
2. How can you download and install Trust Wallet for Android?
The best place to download Trust Wallet is from the Play Store. Trust also offers an APK to download, however it is not recommended to download the APK unless you are using a Google-free, security focused Android OS like Graphene OS.
- From your mobile device, open the 'Play Store' and search for 'Trust Wallet' or click this link: Trust: Crypto & Bitcoin Wallet - Apps on Google Play to get the Trust Wallet app.
- Trust, but verify. When using any cryptocurrency wallet, it is important to make sure you are downloading the correct version. Check the store listing for the following info:
Version: 1.26.3 as of February 4, 2021
Offered by: DApps Platform Inc
- The `Version` number will change as the app is updated over time. The important part to verify is the `Offered by` field.
Remember the phrase trust, but verify. Taking the extra step to verify can prevent loss of funds. Trust, but verify is an important concept in having a security mindset.
3. How can you create and set up Trust Wallet for Android?
Trust Wallet is a blockchain-agnostic, native BIP39, non-custodial wallet. This means that Trust Wallet supports multiple different blockchains from one wallet. Under the hood, Trust Wallet generates your wallet with the use of a seed phrase. The seed phrase can be used to restore your Trust Wallet or can be imported into another wallet that supports BIP39.
You can think of your seed phrase as a master backup of all your cryptocurrency in this wallet. It will unlock every single address created by your wallet. Backing up the seed phrase ensures access to your wallet using any BIP-39 compliant wallet. It is important to highlight, your seed phrase only ensures you will have access to your cryptocurrency inside your wallet. If someone steals your phrase, you will still be able to access the wallet, but the funds may be gone - since whoever knows your seed phrase can spend all of that cryptocurrency.
When creating a new Trust Wallet, the default method is to create your wallet and seed phrase within the app. The more advanced method is to generate your own seed phrase. We created detailed guides on generating your own seed phrase. By following the right directions, you can generate a seed phrase that is more secure than the default method used by wallets.
In this section, you are going to create a new wallet in the Trust Wallet Android app using the wallet's default method. Let's get started.
If you already have a pre-generated seed phrase, proceed to Section 6. Initialize or import seed phrase.
To create a new wallet with a new seed phrase in Trust Wallet:
- Open the Trust Wallet app
- The default screen will show 2 options: `Create a new wallet ` and "I have a wallet"
- Select the option `Create a new wallet`
- Before proceeding, you have to cover the legal stuff. Check the box to agree to the Privacy Policies and the Terms and Conditions.
Trust Wallet will now be showing you your seed phrase, along with instructions to write it down. In the next step, you will have to re-enter your seed phrase. This is the most crucial step of creating your wallet - backing up your seed phrase. Trust Wallet and many other wallet providers recommend writing down your seed phrase and storing it in a safe place, however this is not ideal. We have many guides on all the different ways to back up your seed phrase.
- Learn about the ways to backup your seed phrase, then choose the option that works best for you
- After you have backed up your seed phrase, continue to the next step
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WARNING: Paper is only viable as a short-term backup solution, to be used in transit while backing up your seed phrase. It is very important that you back up the seed phrase on a more reliable medium, and then destroy that piece of paper. Paper is vulnerable to accidental loss, theft, and damage. It is not the safest method of backing up your seed phrase.
4. Verify your seed phrase
Trust Wallet will now ask you to verify your seed phrase by selecting each word in the proper order. Selecting the wrong word will invalidate the process and you will have to start over.
The purpose of verifying your seed phrase is to ensure that you actually backed up your seed phrase. By neglecting to back up your seed phrase, your crypto assets are vulnerable to loss and theft, and millions in crypto assets have been lost or stolen this way. If you lose access to your wallet, your seed phrase is the one and only method of regaining access.
WARNING: When you follow the steps to find and verify your seed phrase, you will be writing the seed phrase on a piece of paper. It is very important that you back up the seed phrase on a more reliable medium, and then destroy that piece of paper. Paper is vulnerable to accidental loss, theft, and damage. It is not the safest method of backing up your seed phrase.
- To verify your Seed Phrase, click the continue button, you will be asked to tap on each word in the Seed Phrase in the correct order. Selecting the words out of order will invalidate the process and you will have to start over
Congrats, you have just generated a seed phrase using Trust Wallet and your wallet is activated. However, before you deposit any funds into this wallet you will want to back up your seed phrase. Proceed to the next section to learn about all the different options available to you.
Recommended Action: After you securely back up your seed phrase, it is important to destroy the paper you temporarily wrote your seed phase on.
5. Securely back up your seed phrase
If you used Vault12 to pre-generate your seed phrase, your seed phrase is already securely backed up in your digital vault.
Your seed phrase is the master key to all of your cryptocurrency funds. Trust Wallet uses BIP39, which is the current industry best practice for generating seed phrases. The majority of modern wallets today use BIP39. This means your Trust Wallet seed phrase can be used to access your funds across many different wallets.
Securely backing up your seed phrase is the most important step in creating a new wallet. To emphasize how important this is, consider how someone with your seed phrase could access your funds without you knowing.Imagine a bad actor has your seed phrase, and you have your Trust Wallet on an encrypted device protected with a passcode. The attacker could simply open any wallet application, and import your seed phrase. The attacker now has access to all of your funds.
We want you to have a secure backup, so this never happens to you.
Nine out of ten wallet providers only mention one way to backup your seed phrase - by writing the seed phrase on paper. Wallet providers only mention this paper backup method because it is easy for beginners to do. Paper backups are simply not that secure.
We did extensive research and compiled the best ways to back up your seed phrase.
We cover all the most well-known options, including secure options like How to back up your seed phrase in Vault12.
Once you have safely backed up your seed phrase, you can initialize your wallet using any BIP39 compatible wallet. In the next section, you will learn how you can initialize your wallet using your seed phrase.
6. Initialize or import seed phrase
If you are following this guide from the beginning, and you created your wallet using the default approach, using the app to `Create a Wallet`, then congratulations! You are ready to start using your wallet.
However, be careful about storing large amounts of funds secured only by a wallet-generated recovery phrase.
If you followed one of our guides for pre-generating a more secure seed phrase, for instance using Vault12, and you want to use that seed phrase with your wallet - this section is for you!
In this section, you will learn how to initialize your wallet using your pre-generated seed phrase. There are 3 main reasons to generate your wallet using this method:
- You lost access to your wallet, and you need to regain access to your wallet and your funds.
- You want to access your wallet and funds using a different wallet app.
- You want the best security, and you generated a seed phrase using an advanced method.
Trust Wallet makes the process super easy and user friendly. Let's get started.
- Open the Trust Wallet app and click on "I already have a wallet"
- Type in your 12-word seed phrase. Keep in mind that you must type the words in the same order they were originally given to you.
- When you have typed in your seed phrase, tap on 'Import'
- Trust Wallet will now initialize your wallet and you are good to go
Congratulations, you have successfully imported your seed phrase into Trust Wallet.
Your wallet is now set up and ready to use. You can use Trust Wallet to send and receive cryptocurrency, use decentralized exchanges and other dapps, earn extra income by staking, and buy cryptocurrency - all within the wallet.
7. Where can you find further reading about Trust Wallet for Android?
In the world of cryptocurrency, knowledge is your best friend.
Digital Wallet providers will almost always have their own user documentation, and sometimes they may even have a user community where you can ask questions.
Check out these resources about Trust Wallet:
Information about best practices on the topic of security can be scattered all over the internet. We work hard to distill the best practices into one place for you.
Check out these resources about securing crypto wallets:
- Benefits of using an encrypted digital vault, like Vault 12
- How to safely back up a seed phrase on paper
- All about RNG's - Random Number Generators and why they are important
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