Quick Core practice
Your first exercise uses no real bitcoin.
This is a disposable hands-on exercise: verify the software, create an empty wallet and map its backup process. The full self-custody curriculum begins one step earlier, with the threat model and first-principles reasoning.
Before you begin
- Goal
- Explore an empty wallet and map what its recovery needs.
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Estimated time
- 30–45 minutes
- Real bitcoin
- No. Use an empty, disposable practice wallet.
- Software version
- Bitcoin Core 31.1
- Operating systems
- macOS, Windows, and maintained Linux distributions
- Recommended OS
- Any maintained desktop OS for this disposable exercise
- Prerequisites
- Download Bitcoin Core from the official site; keep existing wallets and backups out of this exercise.
- Expected outcome
- An empty practice wallet, an identified backup, and questions to take into the curriculum.
- Last reviewed
- Exercise: 30 August 2026. Curriculum alignment: 14 September 2026.
macOS, Windows and maintained Linux are practice platforms here. For the long-term setup taught in the curriculum, Debian Stable on dedicated generic hardware is the default.
Keep this exercise disposable.
Do not send funds to the wallet. Do not remove or overwrite an existing wallet, data directory, or backup. If Bitcoin Core is already in use on this computer, stop and make a separate practice plan before changing anything.
Exercise 01
Build the map before you test recovery.
01
Prepare a practice environment
Use no real bitcoin. Choose a computer and location where you can work slowly, keep notes, and repeat the exercise.
02
Download and verify Bitcoin Core
Follow the official download and verification instructions for your operating system. Record what you checked and why.
03
Create one empty practice wallet
Give it an obvious test name. Do not generate or send real funds. The goal is to learn the model, not to move money.
04
Back it up and explain it
Write down where the backup lives, what the password protects, and what another trusted person would need to know.
Finish line
Stop when you can explain the plan.
- I know which software I downloaded and what I verified.
- I know that this wallet contains no real funds.
- I can identify the wallet backup and its role.
- I have written down the questions I still cannot answer.
Next step
Start with first principles.
Continue with the self-custody curriculum: define your threats, understand the architecture, then practice one wallet and prove recovery. Use the focused guide as a mechanical reference.
Open the curriculumOpen the focused wallet guide