Getting started with Arqma Wallet

Arqma Wallet is a non-custodial wallet. That means nobody — not the Arqma team, not your exchange, not your phone manufacturer — can move your funds for you. It also means nobody can recover them for you if you lose your backup. Read that sentence twice. Most new-user mistakes come from skipping it.

This guide takes about fifteen minutes. By the end, you’ll have a working desktop wallet, a properly stored backup, and a clear mental model of how the wallet works.

Before you start

• A laptop or desktop you trust (clean OS, antivirus current, no random browser extensions).
• Pen and paper. Not a phone. Not a screenshot. Pen and paper.
• About 15 minutes of uninterrupted time.

Step 1 — Download the official build

Go to the Arqma Wallet download page and pick the build that matches your operating system. Every binary listed there is the official release — mirrored from the project’s GitHub for verification.

Step 2 — Verify the file (optional but recommended)

Each release publishes SHA256 checksums. Open a terminal and run shasum -a 256 [file] on macOS/Linux or certutil -hashfile [file] SHA256 on Windows. Compare the output to the value on the corresponding GitHub release page (linked from each download row). If the checksums don’t match, delete the file and re-download.

Step 3 — Install and launch

On Windows, run the installer and follow the prompts. On macOS, drag the app to Applications. On Linux, extract the archive and run ./arqma-wallet-gui. When the app opens you’ll see a welcome screen asking whether to create a new wallet, restore one, or open an existing file.

Step 4 — Create a new wallet

Choose Create a new wallet. The wallet will ask you to:

1. Give the wallet a name (this is local — nobody else sees it).
2. Choose where to save the wallet file on disk.
3. Pick a password. Use a long passphrase (5+ words), not a memorable single word.

The wallet then shows you a 25-word seed phrase. This is the master key to every coin you’ll ever store in this wallet. Whoever has these 25 words has your money.

Step 5 — Save the seed phrase the right way

Write the 25 words on paper, in order, by hand. Number each one. Then put the paper somewhere fire-safe and theft-safe — a home safe, a safety deposit box, or split across two trusted physical locations.

For the full deep-dive on why this matters, read Seed phrase security.

Step 6 — Verify your backup

A backup you haven’t tested isn’t a backup. Close the wallet. Open it again. Choose Restore from seed and type the 25 words. If it opens and shows the same address, your backup works. If anything looks wrong, write the seed again from scratch and re-verify.

Step 7 — Sync with the network

A fresh wallet syncs with the Arqma blockchain. On a full node this can take an hour or two on first run; on a remote node it’s instant. If you don’t want to wait, switch to a remote node in Settings → Node. Trade-off: a remote node sees your wallet’s view of the chain (not your keys, but your activity).

Step 8 — Receive your first transaction

Click Receive to see your address. Send a small test amount from your exchange or another wallet. Wait for the confirmation indicator. Now you have a working, backed-up Arqma wallet.