Setting Up a Bitcoin Wallet
Xverse is the preferred Bitcoin Ordinals wallet for OCM collections on Bitcoin, and our official partner for the BTC Genesis upgrade. Only Xverse wallet supports BTC Genesis, whereas other wallets currently do not. Use of other wallets, like Leather/Hiro, as the receiving address of your BTC Genesis carries the risk of asset loss.
What is a Bitcoin Wallet?
A Bitcoin wallet is a device or program that supports Bitcoin and, in some cases, supports layers built on top of Bitcoin such as Ordinals, BTC-20 tokens, Stacks, Lightning, and more.
Xverse and Leather (formerly, Hiro) are two reputable browser-based Bitcoin Wallets that support Bitcoin Ordinals.
Can I use MetaMask to buy and receive Bitcoin Ordinals?
MetaMask cannot be used to buy and receive Bitcoin Ordinals as it does not currently support Bitcoin Ordinals. There are other browser-based wallets available that support Bitcoin Ordinals and function similarly to MetaMask, for instance, Leather (formerly, Hiro) and Xverse. With both the Ordinals protocol (a year old) developing and wallet support evolving in tandem, be open to the innovations in the Bitcoin Ordinals space, and verify that your Ordinals-aware Bitcoin wallet supports your Ordinals asset. Feel free to drop by the OCM Discord with your questions.
What should I know before installing a Leather or Xverse Bitcoin Wallet?
Desktop Browser Support
Leather Wallet (https://leather.io), formerly Hiro, is available on Chrome, Brave & Firefox
Xverse Wallet (https://www.xverse.app) is currently available only on Chrome.
Having different wallets installed and active on the same browser can potentially lead to unexpected issues. For a seamless user experience, we advise installing only one of these two wallets. If both Xverse and Leather are installed on the same browser, please ensure only one is active at a time.
Ensure your browsers and wallet extensions have the latest security updates and bug fixes, and are running their latest versions.
Security
Always ensure that you download wallet extensions from their official website to avoid downloading malicious software. Don’t trust, verify with multiple sources.
Create a strong password. A strong password is a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols, that is at least 12 characters long and not easily guessable or predictable. A strong password should also be unique and not used for multiple accounts.
Although wallet mobile apps are available, we recommend creating your wallet(s) and interacting with them on your desktop for better NFT safety and security practices.
Backup Wallet Recovery/Seed Phrase
Write down your wallet seed phrase/secret key/recovery phrase and make sure to keep it private. This is the unique key to your wallet.
It is important to keep your seed phrase secure and never share it with anyone. Anyone with access to your seed phrase can gain access to your funds, so it should be stored in a safe place and backed up in case of loss or damage to your original copy. Additionally, it is essential that your seed phrase is not stored on any device that is connected to the internet, as this could potentially expose it to hackers or other security risks.
Setting Up a Leather Bitcoin Wallet
Check out the Leather (formerly Hiro) Bitcoin Wallet setup video tutorial:
We highly recommend reviewing this helpful 6-minute tutorial before creating a new wallet to become familiar with the Hiro Wallet and its platform user experience. This will help avoid any mistakes during the process.
Install the Leather Wallet (https://leather.io/install-extension) extension to your browser. Chrome/Brave and Firefox supported.
Launch the Leather Wallet extension to create a new wallet for self-custody of your assets. Remember to safely backup your seed phrase.
Important: When setting up your password for the Leather Wallet, remember that the interface only permits entering your new password once without a confirmation step. It is crucial to ensure that you have entered and set your new password correctly the first time and have a backup of it.
Under Collectibles on the home screen, select the Add new + icon to create an Ordinal Inscription address. (Important: Each Bitcoin Ordinals wallet has two addresses, one to hold your funds and another to hold your digital assets. Refer to ‘Why are there two addresses in Bitcoin Ordinal Wallets?”)
Each Bitcoin Ordinals wallet has two Bitcoin addresses, one to hold your funds (BTC/bitcoin) and another to hold your digital assets (Bitcoin Ordinals). See "Why are there two addresses in Bitcoin Ordinal Wallets?" >
Congratulations on creating your Leather Bitcoin Wallet!
Setting Up a Xverse Bitcoin Wallet
Check out the Xverse Wallet setup guide:
Install the Xverse Wallet (https://www.xverse.app/download) extension to your browser. Chrome supported
Launch the Xverse Wallet extension to create a new wallet for self-custody of your assets, and remember to safely backup your seed phrase.
Important: When setting up your Xverse Wallet, you will be prompted to backup your seed phrase and re-enter it. Confirm your 12-word seed phrase by entering the string of words in sequence with each word separated by a space. Doublecheck the spelling of each word before clicking “Verify”.
Once you’ve set a new password and confirmed it, your Xverse Wallet is created.
Congratulations on creating your Xverse Bitcoin Wallet!
Why are there two Bitcoin address in the wallet?
Each Bitcoin Ordinals wallet has two different Bitcoin addresses - one is the funding address, and the other is the Ordinal Inscription address.
BTC/bitcoin address = funding address
Ordinals Inscription address = ordinals address
The funding address is used for receiving Bitcoin cryptocurrency into your wallet, while the Collectible Ordinal Inscription address (also known as the ordinals address) is used for creating or managing digital assets/NFTs using the Ordinals protocol on the Bitcoin blockchain. These two addresses serve distinct purposes and must be used accordingly to ensure proper management of your funds and NFTs.
If you accidentally send BTC funds to an Ordinals address, your BTC balance will not reflect the transfer, and this bitcoin will not be spendable. Ensure only BTC is sent to a BTC payment address.
Hard Wallet Support of Bitcoin Ordinals with Bitcoin Wallets
Bitcoin Ordinals and Bitcoin wallets are at the forefront of development and feature enhancements, where continuous progress paves the way for ongoing improvements.
Please verify official Bitcoin Wallet websites and documentation for their latest support of new Bitcoin Ordinals features (e.g. cursed inscriptions, parent-child provenance, BRC-tokens, etc.) before transferring your digital assets from one Bitcoin Wallet address to another.
Here are some recent updates by Xverse and Leather:
Xverse: Ledger Hardware Support Comes to Ordinals with Xverse (Jul. 21, 2023)
Xverse: Cursed and recursive Ordinals support is here on Xverse (Aug. 17, 2023)
Refer to official Bitcoin Wallet website, socials and documentation resources for the latest development on wallet support of your Ordinals.
CAUTION: Ordinals are not natively supported within Ledger via their current Ledger Live software. Please refer to the latest Xverse and Leather (formerly Hiro) Wallet documentation for more information to protect yourself from accidentally sending and losing your Ordinals that are stored on your Ledger.
Managing Bitcoin Wallet Browser Extensions
Having different wallets installed and active on the same browser can potentially lead to unexpected issues. For a seamless user experience, we advise installing only one of these two wallets. If both Xverse and Leather are installed on the same browser, please ensure only one is active at a time.
To manage your active Bitcoin Wallet extensions in your desktop browsers, go to Manage Extensions and toggle the extension to the left to disable the extension's activity:
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