How to Create a WAX Wallet Address Using Anchor
WAX has made it very easy for new users to enter the blockchain space with the creation of their Cloud wallet. With just a few clicks a new user can be up and running on the WAX blockchain by using credentials from many of the most popular social platforms — Facebook, Discord, Twitter, Twitch, Steam, Reddit, etc.
The only issue with the cloud wallet is that you do not hold your own private keys. It is a custodial wallet meaning WAX handles all the recordkeeping for you in the background. This may be acceptable to you as you get started exploring all the games and NFT’s on the WAX blockchain but at some point you may want to have more control of your funds and NFT’s. This is where non-custodial wallets come in. The most widely used is Anchor. Let’s look at how to setup an address that you own and hold the private keys to using Anchor.
Anchor has both a desktop version and a phone application. For the wallet setup process I will be using the Windows desktop version.
After downloading and installing Anchor wallet to your desktop, you must then purchase a wallet address by clicking this link. The cost is $1.99 USD.
Click “Create new account” and then “WAX” for the account type.
After entering your credit card information you will arrive at this screen. Click “Create account now.”
Click “Launch Anchor on this device.”
From inside the Desktop version of the Anchor wallet you will see this screen. Create a name for your new wallet and click “Next”.
Note: the address can only be 9 characters long and it will end with .gm.
After you click “Create” the account will be minted onto the WAX blockchain. You will then be prompted to create a backup. This is very important!
Clicking “Create Backup” brings you to this screen.
You can print a certificate or save a copy to your computer. Printing is the most secure because it will remain offline. The thing to remember is that if that is your only copy and you loose it, you will loose all your funds and NFT’s. Store this certificate as you would any other very important document. If you chose to save it, a PDF will be generated. This is less secure, but also gives you the peace of mind that you have an electronic copy should you loose the paper copy.
Along with your paper certificate, you will also need the six words provided to you from the Anchor wallet. Write these down as instructed.
You will then be prompted to re-enter the six words to prove that you wrote them down correctly. Finally you will arrive at this screen.
Congratulations! You successfully created your very own WAX wallet address that you alone hold the private keys for. There are other ways to create wallet addresses and other applications out there, but Anchor has done a very good job at simplifying the process which is why I focused on it for this article.
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Written by subterranean for the Wizards Guild
