late last year something pretty remarkable
happened what happened what happened the Phantom wallet flipped Coinbase in the app store rankings
but how did a crypto wallet suddenly become so popular well besides the memecoin mania on Salana
Phantom has quietly evolved into an all-in-one crypto toolkit whether you’re swapping tokens
staking your crypto or bridging assets across blockchains and it doesn’t stop there phantom
recently raised another $150 million at an impressive $3 billion valuation which has fueled
speculation of a potential airdrop somewhere down the line so today we’ll give you the lowdown on
Phantom cover exactly how to set it up show you how to securely store and swap your crypto connect
it to a hardware wallet and much more besides this is a video you cannot afford to miss first things
first you’ll need to download Phantom now to avoid any scams it’s crucial to download directly from
the official website at phantom.com always double check you’re on Phantom’s official website or app
because there is no shortage of scammers creating fake websites and browser extensions designed
to drain you of your funds so once you’re on the Phantom homepage click download in the top
right corner from there select the appropriate browser for your extension chrome Firefox Brave
or Edge if that’s how you choose to live your life hit add to browser confirm the installation and
in seconds the Phantom extension will appear in your browser’s toolbar now click the Phantom
icon and you’ll be prompted to either import an existing wallet or create a new one for the
purposes of this guide we’ll select create a new wallet you’ll first be prompted to set a strong
password so make sure it’s long and secure and not something easily guessed like your birthday after
confirming your password Phantom will generate a secret recovery phrase for you now this phrase
is your wallet’s master key if you happen to lose access to your wallet this is the only thing
that can help you recover your crypto so write it down clearly on paper never save it digitally
or screenshot it and if you want something more secure that’s fire and water resistant then you
can consider using a steel seed card which we actually have available on our merch store linked
to below okay once you’ve safely stored your seed phrase tick the confirmation box and hit continue
your wallet is now fully set up alternatively if handling seed phrases feels a bit too complicated
then Phantom also lets you create a wallet using just your email address and a simple fourdigit
PIN you can select create wallet with email choose your Google or Apple account set your PIN
and you’re good to go easy as that however it is worth noting that using this option is inherently
less secure than the standard seedphrase method that’s because logging in with an email account
means you’re relying on a third-party service like Google or Apple creating an additional point
of vulnerability compared to a traditional seed phrase which only you control so now that your
wallet is created Phantom gives you the option to set a custom username this replaces your long
complicated wallet address with something much easier to remember making sending and receiving
crypto a lot more userfriendly don’t worry though if you choose to skip this step for now you can
always set or change your username later in the settings section with your wallet now set up the
next step is funding it now Phantom makes this pretty easy as it supports buying crypto directly
within the wallet itself you can simply click buy select the cryptocurrency you’d like enter the
fiat amount and Phantom will display quotes from various providers including Coinbase Pay Robin
Hood Connect Stripe and more you can compare these quotes select your preferred provider and payment
method and then complete your purchase directly within the wallet remember though while convenient
this method typically incurs higher fees than traditional crypto exchanges so do keep that in
mind now once you’ve added crypto to your wallet you’ll see your assets clearly listed on Phantom’s
home screen to send crypto out simply tap send enter the recipient’s wallet address or their
Phantom username type the amount doublech checkck everything carefully and hit send and here’s a pro
tip if you often send crypto to the same addresses you can save them as contacts within Phantom
for quicker safer future transfers now receiving crypto is just as straightforward simply click
receive select the appropriate network address and then share it with whoever is sending you crypto
phantom also comes with a convenient built-in swap feature allowing you to swap between tokens
without leaving the wallet so to do this hit the swap button select the token you wish to exchange
from and the one you’re swapping into input the desired amount review the details carefully
including Phantom’s flat 0.85% fee and confirm your swap well hello there i know you’re enjoying
the video immensely but I just very quickly want it’s time to take the next step interacting with
decentralized apps NFTts and diving into Phantom’s more advanced features let’s start by connecting
Phantom to an NFT marketplace for the purposes of this guide we’ll use Magic Eden as our example
since it’s currently the biggest marketplace on Salana but the process is similar for other
marketplaces like OpenC or Blur as well or any other DAP for that matter so first navigate
directly to Magic Eden’s official website which is magiceden.io by the way click login at the top
right corner and select Phantom from the pop-up list of available wallets now occasionally if
Phantom isn’t listed especially when connecting to Ethereum or Polygon apps and Phantom is your
only installed wallet selecting MetaMask will usually prompt Phantom to connect automatically
once you select Phantom a small window will pop up asking you to approve the connection double
check carefully that you’re indeed on Magic Eden’s verified site before clicking confirm your
wallet will now show as connected on Magic Eden’s homepage and you’re ready to browse buy or sell
NFTs when you purchase an NFT on Magic Eden the asset appears within Phantom’s collectibles tab
represented by the four square icon you can click on any NFT in your collection to see detailed
information such as its attributes transaction history and other key metadata and just to be
clear the NFTs shown here aren’t endorsements they’re simply picked for demonstration purposes
now say you want to sell an NFT quickly without navigating to different marketplaces this is where
Phantom’s instant sell feature comes in open your Phantom wallet head to your collectibles tab and
select the NFT you want to sell if there’s an existing offer from a verified marketplace then
Phantom automatically shows you an instant sale banner with the highest available bid click this
banner to review details such as marketplace fees and estimated profit or loss if everything looks
good click accept and your NFT is sold instantly no waiting no hassle and no navigating multiple
marketplace listings okay now another feature worth mentioning is Phantom’s shortcuts feature
by selecting your NFT within Phantom Shortcuts provides a menu linking directly to the official
project social channels staking platforms mints voting portals or even in-game actions all links
are verified and provided by the NFT creators themselves so you don’t have to worry about them
being potential fishing sites next up Phantom’s cross-chain swapper is also worth highlighting
this is the same swap feature highlighted before but it also has the added capability of bridging
assets across Salana Ethereum Polygon and Bass directly inside your wallet so here’s how you use
it click the swap icon within Phantom and select the blockchain and token you’re bridging
from as well as the blockchain and token you wish to receive enter the amount and Phantom
generates a quote showing you the best available route estimated fees and transaction time review
carefully click swap confirm the transaction and Phantom handles everything else and finally it’s
also worth highlighting Phantom’s built-in liquid staking integration powered by GTO Soul if you’re
holding Soul in your wallet you can earn staking rewards while still being able to use those
staked assets in DeFi so to liquid stake soul simply click your soul balance in Phantom select
start earning soul choose liquid staking input the amount you’d like to stake and confirm you’ll
instantly receive GTO soul tokens in your wallet which represent your staked soul and can be used
freely in supported DeFi apps alternatively if you prefer traditional staking instead of liquid
staking you can find a detailed guide on exactly how to do that in our last Phantom guide right
over here now with all that covered it’s important to keep in mind that despite Phantom’s convenience
it remains a hot wallet meaning it’s constantly connected to the internet and potentially
vulnerable to online threats so to fully secure your crypto you should connect Phantom to a
hardware wallet like for instance a Ledger Stacks so let’s walk through exactly how to do this step
by step first things first you’ll need to properly set up your Ledger device if you haven’t done
so yet then head on over to Ledger Live and set it up from scratch with a new seed phrase never
import your phantom seed phrase into your ledger as it has already been exposed to the internet and
well would defeat the purpose of using a hardware wallet in the first place if you’re looking
for a detailed walkthrough on setting up your Ledger stacks then we actually covered the Ledger
stacks in depth in a recent video which you can find right over here okay now once your Ledger
is ready open the Ledger Live app on your mobile device or desktop navigate to accounts and select
add account then choose Salana from the list ledger Live will then ask you to open the Salana
app on your Ledger device confirm by opening the app on your Ledger ledger Live will now generate
a secure offline Salana address carefully verify this address by comparing the one shown on
your Ledger screen with the one in Ledger Live if the addresses match exactly then confirm on
your Ledger device your Ledger is now set up with a secure offline Salana account now let’s connect
this Ledger account directly to Phantom open your Phantom wallet this guide assumes you’re using
Phantom’s mobile app though the process is similar for the browser extension tap on the menu icon in
the top left corner and select add Connect Wallet you’ll see an option called connect hardware
wallet go ahead and select it phantom will then prompt you to pair your Ledger via Bluetooth
make sure Bluetooth is enabled on both your phone and Ledger device and keep your device close by to
ensure a smooth connection confirm pairing on your mobile device when prompted to by Phantom next
you’ll see a list of supported blockchain networks select Salana or any other chain as well if you’d
like to manage assets across multiple chains using your Ledger phantom will now ask you to open the
Salana app on your Ledger device again so confirm this step phantom will detect your Ledger account
and ask you to confirm adding it to your wallet once confirmed your Ledger connected Salana wallet
will immediately show up in your Phantom home screen alongside your existing wallet accounts
from this point onward any transaction made with your Ledger connected Phantom account will require
physical approval on your Ledger device this means that even if someone gains remote access to your
Phantom wallet or your device they won’t be able to move your crypto without having physical
access to your ledger as well and this setup is particularly useful for those holding significant
amounts of crypto or very valuable NFTts meanwhile you can keep smaller balances for everyday
interactions in your regular Phantom Hot Wallet account your ledger never exposes its private keys
to Phantom or to the internet meaning your crypto remains offline and secure at all times even
when regularly interacting with different DAPs or marketplaces so now that your Phantom wallet
is fully set up secured with Ledger and connected to your preferred DAPs and NFT marketplaces let’s
dive into some other useful features that Phantom has to offer one notable feature worth mentioning
is Phantom’s transaction history tab represented by the clock icon here you’ll find a clear history
of your recent transactions and this makes it easy to track exactly where and when you’ve sent
or received assets keeping a close eye on this tab can also help you quickly spot any unusual
activity so make it a habit to review regularly now if you regularly use Bitcoin in Phantom
alongside your Salana or Ethereum holdings Phantom lets you easily switch between different
Bitcoin address formats like native SegWit and Taproot this can help you save on transaction
fees or improve compatibility when sending and receiving BTC phantom also recently added support
for Bitcoin ordinals often referred to as Bitcoin NFTts and BRC20 tokens directly within the wallet
if you’re not familiar with ordinals or BRC20s we’ve got a handy video explaining both right over
here okay next up let’s touch on Phantom’s token list management phantom offers extensive support
for Salana tokens but occasionally you might need to manually add tokens that don’t automatically
appear to do this simply click manage token list from the main wallet screen from here you can
quickly toggle the visibility of various tokens if a token isn’t listed you can add it manually by
heading to a block explorer like Soulscan copying the contract address and hitting add although for
some reason this feature isn’t available for all users Phantom’s default token support is extensive
covering most tokens you’re likely to use so unless you’re diving deep into obscure meme coins
you should be just fine phantom has also added NFT protection and verified airdrop notifications
which automatically filter out spam and scam NFTts keeping your collectible tab clean and that
ecosystem update banner in your wallet home screen it’s your trusted source for legitimate
airdrop notifications reducing your risk of falling victim to fake promotions circulating on
social media additionally Phantom also provides a way to manage multiple wallet accounts from a
single interface you can easily add additional wallets by selecting manage accounts from the
settings menu each account can have its own unique username helping you clearly separate wallets for
trading DeFi NFTts or just everyday transactions and lastly another standout feature of Phantom
is its dedicated customer support which is quite impressive given that Phantom is essentially
a free wallet apart from the 0.85% swap fee of course while speaking directly to a human support
agent does require submitting a ticket we tested out Phantom’s AI powered support assistant and
found it surprisingly helpful compared to other options we’ve seen out there so all in all the
Phantom wallet is an essential bit of kit and is going from strength to strength it’s one of the
best frontends in all of crypto and is arguably a big part of why Salana has been so successful
yes low fees and fast transactions are great but without an easy to use and functional interface
they’re really just statistics so kudos to the team at Phantom for all they’ve achieved so far
and here’s looking forward to all the good stuff in the pipeline so if you haven’t installed
Phantom yet I’ve left a link to the official website down in the description and remember if
you want the extra security of keeping your crypto offline while still interacting with Phantom then
make sure to pick up a hardware wallet like the Ledger Stacks which I mentioned earlier which
we happen to have an exclusive deal on and you guessed it that’s down in the description too
as always keep your seed phrase secure double check all smart contract approvals very carefully
and always verify the websites you’re interacting with thanks for watching stay safe out there and
I’ll see you next time this is Guy over and out
