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

[<span class="application">Electrum</span>](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 [documentation on the
*Electrum* wiki](http://docs.electrum.org).

<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="caution">

<p>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 loose your seed, you
loose your entire wallet.</p>

<p>That's why we recommend you both:</p>

<ul>
  <li>Activate the [[<span class="guilabel">Bitcoin Client</span>
persistence feature|doc/first_steps/persistence/configure/#bitcoin]] to
store your bitcoin wallet and preferences across separate working
sessions.</li>
  <li>Backup your seed outside of Tails. For example, you can
write it down on a piece of paper and keep it with you.</li>
</ul>

</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 this setting choose
<span class="menuchoice">
  <span class="guimenu">Tools</span>&nbsp;▸
  <span class="guimenuitem">Preference</span></span> and open the
<span class="guilabel">Appearance</span> tab.</p>

</div>

<div class="caution">

<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>

</div>
