Coinomi wallet
Welcome to this guide on safely setting up the Coinomi digital wallet. Founded in 2014, Coinomi is the oldest multi-chain wallet available, currently trusted by millions of users, and has not been hacked to date.
This guide is focused on the Android wallet. Switch to our iOS wallet guide.
1. Introduction
The Coinomi digital wallet is free, easy to use and offers advanced security options with enhanced privacy and anonymity -- no KYC, no IP association, no identity linking, no transactions tracking. Offering 168 different currency pairs, readable in 25 languages, users can "store, manage, and exchange Bitcoin, Ethereum, and over 1770 other crypto assets" by taking advantage of several built-in app features such as: exchange services, crypto purchase via fiat using credit/debit card, and a Dapp browser that allows connection to a variety of decentralized applications. Coinomi is a Hierarchical Deterministic (HD wallet) which allows for multiple seed storage and management of multiple accounts with customized encryption settings.
2. Download and install
From your mobile device, open the 'Google Play Store' and search for Coinomi, or click this link: Coinomi Wallet: Bitcoin Ethereum Altcoins Tokens - Apps on Google Play to get the Coinomi Wallet.
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: 1.9.1 as of February 11, 2021
Offered by: Coinomi
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. Create and setup
WARNING: Coinomi has advanced features, they are located in the settings and must be accessed after creating your wallet. The most important step is backing up your recovery phrase. We cover in detail how to securely back up your recovery phrase in Section 5. Securely back up your recovery phrase.
Coinomi is a native BIP44 non-custodial wallet. BIP39/44 is the current industry standard for generating recovery phrases, and for extra security, Coinomi uses BIP44 to generate a 24-word recovery phrase.
Under the hood, Coinomi generates your wallet with the use of a recovery phrase. The recovery phrase can be used to restore your Coinomi wallet or can be imported into another wallet that supports BIP39/44.
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 Coinomi Wallet, the default method is to create your wallet within the app. The more advanced method is to generate your own recovery phrase. We created detailed guides on generating your own recovery phrase. By following the right directions, you can generate a recovery 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 Coinomi app using the wallet's default method. Let's get started.
If you already have a recovery phrase, proceed to Section 6. Initialize or import recovery phrase.
To create a new wallet with a new recovery phrase in Coinomi Wallet:
Open the Coinomi app and tap on `Create an Account`.
1. Temporarily write down the 24-word recovery phrase in exact order.
WARNING: If you lose your recovery phrase, there is no way to unlock your wallet!
3. Check the box 'I have safely stored my recovery phrase offline'. On the next screen you will need to confirm the recovery phrase.
3. For Wallet Encryption, drag bar all the way to 'Most Secure' in order to enable Biometrics in addition to password creation.
4. Create a complex password that you can remember.
5. Choose the desired cryptocurrencies you wish to integrate (can always go back and add more later by clicking the plus sign in lower right corner and selecting add coins/tokens).
4. Verify your recovery phrase
At this point, you will have a fully functioning cryptocurrency wallet that is able to store, send, and receive cryptocurrency. Before you put funds in your wallet, you need to create a backup and then verify your recovery phrase.
The process of backing up involves displaying your recovery phrase, backing it up, and then verifying that you have the correct phrase. To create a robust back up see Section 5. Securely back up your recovery phrase.
WARNING: When you follow the steps to find your recovery phrase, you will be writing the recovery phrase on a piece of paper. It is very important that you back up the recovery 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 recovery phrase.
To confirm your recovery phrase, enter the 24-word recovery phrase in the exact order and try not to make any spelling mistake.
You are now ready to proceed to securely back up your funds.
Recommended Action: After you securely back up your recovery phrase, it is important to destroy the paper you temporarily wrote your recovery phase on.
5. Securely back up your recovery phrase
If you used Vault12 to generate your recovery phrase, your recovery phrase is already securely backed up in your digital vault.
Your recovery phrase is the master key to all of your cryptocurrency funds. Coinomi Wallet uses BIP44, which is the current industry best practice for generating recovery phrases. The majority of modern wallets today use BIP39/44. This means your Coinomi recovery phrase can be used to access your funds across many different wallets.
Securely backing up your recovery phrase is the most important step in creating a new wallet. To emphasize how important this is, consider how someone with your recovery phrase could access your funds without you knowing.
Imagine a bad actor has your recovery phrase, and you have your Coinomi Wallet locked down with 2FA, IP address whitelisting, blocked tor access, and all the other security features. The attacker could simply open any wallet application, and import your recovery 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 recovery phrase - by writing the recovery 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 recovery phrase. We cover all the most well-known options, including next-generation options like How to back up your recovery phrase in Vault12.
Once you have safely backed up your recovery phrase, you can initialize your wallet using any BIP44 compatible wallet. In the next section, you will learn how you can initialize your wallet using your recovery phrase.
6. Initialize or import recovery 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 only your recovery 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 recovery phrase using an advanced method.
Coinomi Wallet makes the process super easy and user friendly. Let's get started.
Coinomi makes the process very straightforward. Let's get started:
1. Select 'Restore Wallet'.
2. Type in your recovery phrase. Make sure they are in the exact same order as generated.
3. Create a complex password that you can remember.
Congratulations, you have successfully imported your recovery phrase into your Coinomi wallet, and you can now send, receive, and buy cryptocurrency using the Coinomi app.
7. Further Reading
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 Coinomi Wallets:
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: