Wallet Management

This guide covers everything beyond first-time setup: restoring an existing wallet, importing additional wallets, backing up your keys, and connecting hardware wallets. If you have not set up Essentials yet, start with Set Up Your Wallet.

Wallet Home Screen

When you open a wallet, the home screen shows your portfolio at a glance:

• Total balance at the top, displayed in your chosen fiat currency. Tap it to toggle between fiat value and the native token amount.
• Network selector at the top lets you switch which chain's assets are shown (Elastos main chain, ESC, Ethereum, etc.)
• Token list below, showing each token with its balance and fiat value. Tap any token to view its transaction history, send, or receive.
• NFT collections appear below the token list. Tap a collection to browse individual NFTs with images, attributes, and token IDs.
• Staked balance -- for the Elastos main chain, a separate line shows your locked/staked ELA.

Pull down on the wallet home screen to refresh balances. You can sort tokens by balance or by name. If you have multiple wallets, switch between them from the wallet selector at the top.

Restoring from a Recovery Phrase

If you lose your device or reinstall Essentials, you can restore your identity and wallets from your 12-word recovery phrase.

1. Open Essentials and select Import
2. Enter your 12 words using the on-screen keypad (it suggests words as you type)
3. Essentials checks the Elastos identity chain for any DID documents tied to that phrase
4. If one DID is found, it is restored automatically along with your credentials
5. If multiple DIDs are found, you pick which identity to restore
6. If no DID is found on-chain, the app creates a new identity from the phrase
7. Your wallets (ELA main chain, ESC, EID) are re-derived from the same phrase

On your first restore, Essentials prompts you to set a master password. This password protects all stored credentials on the device. See Security & Privacy for details.

Importing from a Private Key

You can import a wallet using a private key instead of a mnemonic. This creates a wallet-only import without restoring a DID identity.

1. From the wallet manager, select Import wallet
2. Choose Private key
3. Enter a wallet name and choose between single-address or multi-address mode
4. Enter the private key
5. Set a pay password for this wallet
6. The wallet is created and appears in your wallet list

Creating Additional Wallets

You can hold multiple wallets under the same identity. Each wallet has its own mnemonic and keys.

1. Open the wallet manager and tap Create new wallet
2. Enter a wallet name
3. Choose between single address and multi-address mode
4. Optionally enable a BIP-39 passphrase for additional security (you must remember this passphrase to restore the wallet later)
5. Back up the generated 12-word recovery phrase
6. Set a pay password

The new wallet appears alongside your existing wallets. You can switch between them from the wallet home screen.

Exporting Your Backup

Mnemonic Export

To view and back up your recovery phrase for an existing wallet:

1. Open wallet settings for the wallet you want to back up
2. Tap Export mnemonic
3. Enter your pay password to unlock
4. Your 12 words are displayed in a numbered grid. Write them down on paper.

If the wallet has EVM accounts, the EVM private key is also available to copy from this screen.

danger

Never share your mnemonic or private keys. Anyone with these words has full control of your funds.

Keystore Export (advanced)

You can also export a wallet as an encrypted keystore file:

1. Open wallet settings and select Export keystore
2. Create an encryption password for the keystore (enter it twice to confirm)
3. The keystore JSON is generated on screen
4. Tap to copy it

The keystore is encrypted with the password you chose. You need both the keystore file and this password to import the wallet later.

Ledger Hardware Wallet

Essentials supports Ledger hardware wallets over Bluetooth for higher-security key management.

Connecting a Ledger

1. Turn on Bluetooth on your mobile device
2. In the wallet manager, select Ledger
3. Essentials scans for nearby Ledger devices. Select yours from the list.
4. Choose which network to use (Elastos, Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc.). For Bitcoin, choose an address type (Native SegWit or Legacy).
5. Open the corresponding app on your Ledger device when prompted
6. Essentials fetches addresses from the device. Select the account you want to use.
7. Set a pay password. The Ledger-backed wallet is created.

Transactions made from a Ledger wallet are signed on the hardware device itself. You confirm each transaction on the Ledger screen before it is broadcast.

Adding more accounts

If you already have a Ledger wallet in Essentials, you can add accounts for additional networks without creating a new wallet. Select the existing Ledger wallet, choose Add account, and pick the network.

Sending to Domain Names

Human-readable addresses

You don't have to paste raw hex addresses. Essentials resolves human-readable names automatically:

Resolver	Example	Format
Elastos Names	alice.ela	.ela domains
Unstoppable Domains	alice.crypto	.crypto, .wallet, .nft, etc.
CryptoName	alice	Short usernames
Idriss	[email protected]	Email or phone to address

Type the name in the recipient field and Essentials resolves it to the corresponding blockchain address. If the name cannot be resolved, you will see an error before the transaction is submitted.

Viewing and Sending NFTs

NFT collections appear on your wallet home screen below the token list for any EVM-compatible chain. Essentials supports both ERC-721 and ERC-1155 standards.

• Tap a collection to see individual NFTs with their images, names, token IDs, descriptions, and attributes (traits)
• From any NFT detail screen, tap Send to transfer the NFT to another address

UTXO Consolidation (ELA main chain only)

If your wallet has accumulated many small unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) from receiving many small payments or staking rewards, consolidation combines them into fewer, larger outputs. This can reduce fees on future transactions and improve wallet performance.

Access UTXO consolidation from the ELA main chain wallet settings.

Managing Networks

Essentials comes with over 20 built-in blockchain networks and lets you add custom ones. Access network management from the wallet settings screen by tapping Manage Networks.

Built-in Networks

The Built-in tab lists all pre-configured networks. Essentials includes:

• Elastos: Main Chain, Smart Chain (ESC), Identity Chain (EID)
• Major chains: Bitcoin, Ethereum, BSC, Polygon, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Fantom, Tron, Cronos, and more

Tap any built-in network to:

• Rename it (a reset button restores the original name)
• Select an RPC provider -- each network has multiple RPC endpoints. Essentials shows the provider name, URL, and a latency indicator so you can pick the fastest one. Built-in providers are labeled accordingly.
• Toggle visibility -- hide networks you do not use from the network switcher

Custom EVM Networks

The Custom tab shows any networks you have added manually. To add a custom EVM network:

1. Tap the + button in the top right
2. Enter the network name, RPC URL, chain ID, currency symbol, and block explorer URL
3. Save the network

Custom networks appear in your network switcher alongside built-in ones. You can edit or remove them at any time.

Adding Custom Tokens

For any EVM-compatible network, you can add custom ERC-20 tokens that are not automatically detected:

1. Open the wallet for the network
2. Navigate to the token list and select Add token
3. Enter the token's contract address
4. Essentials fetches the token name, symbol, and decimals automatically
5. Confirm to add the token to your wallet

Wallet Settings

For each wallet, you can:

• Rename the wallet
• Change the display color to visually distinguish wallets
• Select your display currency (USD, EUR, CNY, etc.) for balance conversion

Access these from the settings icon within any wallet view.