Bitcoin Wallet Setup Wizard for Newbies

Bitcoin Portemonnee Setup Wizard voor Nieuwelingen

Step 1: Welcome!

Welcome to this free, newbie-friendly guide to setting up your own Bitcoin wallet! We’ll walk you through creating a secure seed phrase, setting up a Bitcoin wallet (Ashigaru or others), then adding a Lightning wallet (like Aqua or Blink), and safely storing your seed — all without spending money on fancy hardware. You might need a few dice if you choose that method, but that’s it!

note: Throughout the steps, you’ll need to visit different websites to complete certain tasks. Rest assured, this step-by-step wizard/guide will stay open, and the links will open in a new tab in your browser. Once you’ve done the work on that tab, you can safely return to this guide and continue the journey.

Click "Next" to start your journey.

Step 2: Create Your Seed Phrase

Your seed phrase is a secret list of words that protects your Bitcoin. You can generate it in four free ways. Pick one:

Use Dice (Offline)
Roll dice and look up words with our BIP39 Guide. Super secure, needs dice.
Use Randomizer 3000 (Online/Offline)
Generate words with good randomness using our Randomizer 3000. No dice needed.
Seed Phrase Poker (Automatic or Manual)
For the hands-on version, you'll need two 52-deck playing cards. Use our Seed Phrase Poker .
8rack (Offline)
The most secure way: download and run the tool locally (checksum included). Use our 8rack seed generator.

After picking, follow the linked guide to create your seed phrase (12 or 24 words). Write down all but the last word—we’ll verify it in the next step for most methods.

Step 3: Verify Your Seed Phrase

Let's make sure your seed phrase is complete and valid in this step. Whether you have 11 or 23 words, you need one more word to finish the full 12- or 24-word phrase. This is called the checksum and it's a mathematical completion of your seed phrase, in the form of a word from the BIP39 word list.

Use our free Checksummer tool OFFLINE to find the missing last word. Just enter the words you already have from step 2 in there. The checksummer tool will generate the final word for you.

Once you have it, write it down carefully on a piece of paper and keep your full seed phrase private and secure — it's important to never share it with anyone and keep it offline / secure and out of sight of cameras or other people at all times!

When you're done, click "Next" to continue.

Step 4: Set Up Your (Ashigaru) Wallet

With your seed phrase ready, let’s set up your Ashigaru wallet to hold your Bitcoin. It’s free and works on Android. But NOT recommended for new bitcoin people, or non-tech users

If you want a non-Tor wallet or a desktop wallet, you can follow these guides for easy to use wallets Electrum (on desktop), Blockstream Green wallet (desktop and other platforms, also available on GitHub releases), or Stack Wallet (available for mobile and desktop). Use your seed phrase from the previous step to access or restore your wallet (don’t let Ashigaru generate a new one — we always use our own seed phrase on any software or hardware wallet! Otherwise it’s less secure).

Once it’s set up, click "Next" to continue.

Step 5: Add a Lightning Wallet

For fast, cheap Bitcoin transactions (like buying coffee), you’ll want a Lightning wallet. We recommend Aqua or Blink—both are free and newbie-friendly. Pick one:

Aqua Wallet
Simple and free. Download from aquawallet.io.
Blink Wallet
Easy to use, free. Download from blink.sv.

Download your chosen wallet, then use your Ashigaru wallet to transfer some sats (bitcoin on chain transaction) to the receive address on your Aqua or Blink wallet in order to get your first funds in a Lightning wallet. We recommend sending only a small amount of Bitcoin from Ashigaru to fund your LN (Lightning Network) wallet.

Step 6: Securely Save Your Seed Phrase

Your seed phrase is your key to all your Bitcoin—lose it, and you lose everything; if someone finds it, they can steal your funds. Let’s keep it safe!

Follow our Guide to Save Your Seed Safely for free, newbie-friendly tips. For now, at least write it on paper, store it in a safe place, and never share it online.

Once you’ve secured your seed, click "Next" to continue.

Step 7: Test Your New Wallet Setup

Now that your wallets are set up, let’s test them! You can try sending a small amount of Bitcoin to see if everything works as expected. Visit this link to send some sats (satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin) to the creator of this guide as a thank-you, using either a Lightning payment for fast, cheap transactions or an on-chain Bitcoin payment for a standard transfer.

Of course, you can also test your wallet by sending Bitcoin to any other user! Bitcoin is safe, permissionless, and doesn’t need any middleman, so feel free to experiment with friends or other Bitcoin addresses you trust.

Once you’ve tested your setup, click "Next" to continue.

Step 8: You’re Done!

Congratulations! You’ve set up your own Bitcoin and Lightning wallets securely and for free. You’re ready to use Bitcoin like a pro. Keep your seed phrase safe, and enjoy your journey!

Want to start over? Click "Restart."