Wallet setup

Welcome to this Hydranet wallet setup guide! This walkthrough will help you create or import a Hydranet wallet and get it ready for testing in just a few simple steps.

Hydranet offers two options for setting up your wallet:

1. Create a new wallet
2. Import an existing wallet

Even though the current testing phase won’t involve real funds, it’s crucial to test both of these features, as proper wallet recovery is an integral part of self-custodial wallets. Backing up your testnet wallet will also ensure that our testnet funds are preserved. Once your wallet is created or imported, syncing Hydranet takes only a matter of seconds.

Creating or importing a Hydranet wallet is easy, and this guide will act as your confirmation of following the right steps and procedures. If you encounter any issues or unexpected behavior, please connect and/or submit a support ticket in the Beta Testnet channel in Hydranet's Discord.

Create new wallet

If you're accessing Hydranet for the first time, this option is for you. 

1. Access Hydranet
   Open Hydranet in your preferred browsers, either on your laptop or mobile device.
2. Choose Create New Wallet
   Click on the Create New Wallet button on the main screen to start.
3. Secure Your Wallet
   You will be prompted to copy and save your recovery phrase, 12 or 24 words. Tick “Save my seed phrase in the browser” if you don’t want to enter your recovery phrase the next time you enter or refresh the website. Click Create New Wallet to proceed.
4. Set a password
   Set a password to encrypt your wallet.
5. Sync nodes
   Let the off-chain nodes sync for a couple of seconds. The modal will close when the nodes are synced and ready. If either the Lightning or Lithium node fail to sync, you can try to re-sync them using the RECONNECT button in the bottom left corner. 
6. Wallet created!
   That’s it! Your wallet is ready for testing.

Import existing wallet

If you already have a Hydranet wallet, follow these steps to import it.

1. Access Hydranet
   Open Hydranet in your preferred browsers, either on your laptop or mobile device.
2. Select Import wallet
   Click on the Import Wallet button on the main screen to begin.
3. Enter your recovery phrase
   Input your recovery phrase, 12 or 24 words. Tick “Save my seed phrase in the browser” if you don’t want to enter your recovery phrase the next time you enter or refresh the website. Click Import Wallet to proceed. 
4. Set a password
   Set a password to encrypt your wallet.
5. Sync nodes
   Let the off-chain nodes sync for a couple of seconds. The modal will close when the nodes are synced and ready. Remember to not have your wallet open on another device at the same time. If either the Lightning or Lithium node fail to sync, you can try to re-sync them using the RECONNECT button in the bottom left corner. 
6. Wallet imported! 

Your wallet is now accessible again and ready for testing!