en	[[!meta title="Exchanging bitcoins using Electrum"]]

en	[*Electrum*](https://electrum.org/) is a [[!wikipedia Bitcoin]] client that is particularly suited to the context of Tails because:

en	You can use your wallet from different devices and avoid losing bitcoins in a backup mistake or computer failure.

en	*Electrum* does not download the blockchain, so there is no waiting time when opening.

en	You can sign transactions from an offline working session for additional security.

en	To open *Electrum*, choose **Apps&nbsp;▸ Internet&nbsp;▸ Electrum Bitcoin Wallet**.

en	To learn how to use *Electrum*, read the [*Electrum* documentation](https://electrum.readthedocs.io/).

en	For an explanation of how Bitcoin works in simple terms, read [The In-Depth Guide to Bitcoin That Won’t Leave You Frustrated](https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/ultimate-guide-bitcoin/).

en	Bitcoin is not anonymous.

en	To make it harder to relate your different transactions, you should use a different receiving address for each transaction. Electrum automatically generates new addresses for you to use.

en	<p><i>Electrum</i> uses <i>mBTC</i> as the default base unit. 1 mBTC = 0.001 BTC. To change the base unit, choose <b>Tools&nbsp;▸ Preferences</b>.</p>

en	Do not blindly trust the bitcoin balance that Electrum displays as . Wait for transactions to be confirmed.

en	Recovering your wallet from its seed

en	Backing up your seed

en	Your wallet can be recovered entirely from its : the chain of words generated by *Electrum* when creating the wallet. But if you lose your seed, you lose your entire wallet.

en	That's why we recommend you both:

en	Turn on the [[Electrum Bitcoin Wallet|persistent_storage/configure#electrum]] feature of the Persistent Storage to store your bitcoin wallet and preferences across separate working sessions.
ar	Dies ist der Grund, warum wir es Ihnen empfehlen, den [[beständigen Speicherbereich|doc/first_steps/persistence/configure/#bitcoin]] für den Bitcoin Client zu aktivieren, um Ihr Wallet und Ihre Einstellungen über mehrere Arbeitssitzungen hinweg zu speichern.

en	Backup your seed outside of Tails. For example, you can write it down on a piece of paper and keep it with you.

en	Fixing a corrupted wallet

en	If *Electrum* fails to open or stays minimized, maybe your *Electrum* folder is corrupted.

en	To recover your wallet from its seed:

en	Make sure that *Electrum* is closed.

en	Open your *Home* folder in the *Files* browser.

en	Select the [[!img lib/go-down.png alt="View Options" class="symbolic" link="no"]] button in the title bar and select the option **Show Hidden Files**.

en	Open the *.electrum* folder.

en	Delete the *wallets* folder.

en	Open *Electrum*.

en	When creating a new wallet choose **I already have a seed** and specify the seed of your wallet.

en	Hardware wallets

en	You can use hardware wallets that work with Debian 13 (Trixie).

en	In the past, different wallets have worked with different versions of Debian. For example, Trezor hardware wallets stopped working in Debian 12 (Bookworm), so they don't work in Tails 6.0 or later.