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

[[!toc levels=2]]

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

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

Electrum does not download the blockchain, so there is no waiting time when starting.

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

To start <span class="application">Electrum</span> choose
<span class="menuchoice">
<span class="guimenu">Applications</span>&nbsp;▸
<span class="guisubmenu">Internet</span>&nbsp;▸
<span class="guimenuitem">Electrum Bitcoin Wallet</span>
</span>.

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

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/).

<div class="caution">

<p>Bitcoin is <a href="https://bitcoin.org/en/faq#is-bitcoin-anonymous">not
anonymous</a>.</p>

<p>To make it harder to relate your different transactions, you should use
a different receiving address for each transaction.
<span class="application">Electrum</span> automatically generates new
addresses for you to use.</p>

</div>

<div class="tip">

<p><span class="application">Electrum</span> uses <em>mBTC</em> as the
default base unit. 1 mBTC = 0.001 BTC. To change the base unit, choose
<span class="menuchoice">
<span class="guimenu">Tools</span>&nbsp;▸
<span class="guimenuitem">Preferences</span></span>.</p>

<p>Do not blindly trust the bitcoin balance that <span class="application">Electrum</span>
displays as <em>unconfirmed</em>. Wait for transactions to be confirmed.</p>

Recovering your wallet from its seed

Backing up your seed

Your wallet can be recovered entirely from its <em>seed</em>: the
chain of words generated by <span class="application">Electrum</span>
when creating the wallet. But if you lose your seed, you
lose your entire wallet.

That's why we recommend you both: