The Cardano blockchain had an exciting 2021 filled with new developments, such as the launch of millions of native tokens, and the highly anticipated deployment of smart contracts, bringing more utility to ADA holders.
These developments and others have paved the way for Cardano to become a decentralized and open blockchain platform for decentralized applications (dApps) such as DeFi to be built upon by developers.
As an official light wallet of Cardano built by EMURGO, Yoroi Wallet has evolved alongside Cardano’s roadmap by providing updates and new features for users, including staking ADA for passive rewards.
In this beginner’s guide for new users, we will discuss the basics of setting up a Yoroi Wallet, and how to send & receive ADA.
How to download Yoroi Wallet
The first thing to understand is that Yoroi is a crypto light wallet with:
- Desktop browser extension versions available via Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge
- Mobile versions on Android and iOS
As a crypto light wallet, Yoroi is able to access the Cardano blockchain without having to download the complete Cardano blockchain, as others do, making Yoroi Wallet faster in conducting transactions over Cardano’s blockchain, and faster in interacting with its dApps.
Yet, Yoroi is secure and the user keeps entire control over their assets in their wallet as long as they store their Yoroi private/recovery key properly.
In 2022, Yoroi will become increasingly important as crypto light wallets are the most common way to interface with blockchains and their dApps (DeFi, NFTs, etc.) such as the ones being built on Cardano.
How to send Cardano ADA in Yoroi Wallet
For demonstrative purposes in this beginner’s guide, we are using the desktop browser extension version.
The “Send” tab is the menu used to transfer ADA out of your Yoroi wallet.
It’s a very simple process and we will walk through it:
First, Cardano is a multi-asset ledger that can record many types of assets like tokens and NFTs.
The first field in this menu, the “Select Asset” input lists all the different crypto assets deposited in your Yoroi wallet.
For this example, we’ll just use ADA.
Second, the “Receiver” input is the wallet address of the receiving party (recipient) in this transaction.
Third, the “Amount” box is how much ADA (for this example) is going to be transferred.
On the right-hand side above the “Amount” box, you can see the transaction fee, which will be calculated automatically by Yoroi. Fees go on top of the inserted amount.
Fourth, “Amount Options” is preselected by default as “Custom Amount” which allows you to enter a custom amount.
Once filled, the menu should look something like this:
For this example, we can see the transaction is for 10 ADA, a custom amount, and the fee is 0.176137 ADA.
Another option that is available is that you can select “Send all ADA + all tokens” under “Amount Options” which will transfer all the assets currently held in that crypto wallet to the receiver in a single transaction.
**Please note that selecting “Send all ADA + all tokens” means you will send your entire ADA balance and your wallet will be emptied after the transaction.
**This option should only be used if you’re planning to move your entire balance of crypto assets to another wallet.
Most transactions are done using the “Custom Amount” option instead.
Cardano ADA Wallet Address Prefixes
All modern Cardano wallets use the prefix “addr1,” but this was different in older Cardano eras.
In the previous era, Byron, wallet addresses began with the prefix “DdzFF”.
Most centralized exchanges (Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, etc.) still use this type of wallet address in their internal services.
Transfers to these old wallet formats are fine, as Yoroi is compatible with them.
We can see in the screenshot above, that a green checkmark is showing for the receiver’s address, which means Yoroi recognizes this address as a valid one.
If an address not supported by Yoroi were input in this field, the box would highlight in red as shown below, and inform the user this address is not valid:
It is also important to note that you double-check the wallet address you are sending to make sure it is the proper address.
How to receive Cardano ADA in Yoroi Wallet
After the Shelley Hard Fork, all Cardano crypto addresses now have the prefix “addr1”.
This is precisely done so users can quickly identify when a wallet address is from the Cardano network.
So, for example:
addr1q9ffft988edkxjang2lpk66lkqa7guwv4m48v4f7krw30ckaflulfe0f6fz35kejmk0rkhuxkse58rmx9wpr6zw660ksyh0uxs
We can see that the “addr1’ prefix precedes the rest of the wallet address.
Let’s look at another wallet address example:
addr1qy4fhmqjccddf8yxcc6grsw6f9z9s2t9dtxrpfwljttfx7waflulfe0f6fz35kejmk0rkhuxkse58rmx9wpr6zw660kscq57re
We can see the same prefix in the second example above.
Yoroi is able to generate multiple wallet addresses that are controlled by one crypto wallet.
All of these addresses are found in the “Receive” tab on the Yoroi Wallet.
In this tab, the first thing you’ll see is the latest address generated by Yoroi, plus a QR code that can be shared for quicker transfers associated with the said address.
Below are all the addresses linked to your Yoroi wallet, plus what balance they have in them:
Some will have ADA deposited if they have been used in the past, while others will be empty because they never received any transfers.
Any of the addresses can be reused and can be shared with people when needed. Wallet addresses are different from “private keys.” As mentioned above, private keys and recovery phrases should never be shared with anyone. (Yoroi Wallet will never ask you for a private key/recovery phrase for wallet support.)
Additionally, any of these addresses can be used to withdraw ADA stored on an exchange.
If you are taking out ADA from Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, etc., any of the addresses under the control of your Yoroi Wallet will be able to work with these services.
It is also important to double-check your own receiving wallet address before you use it to make sure it is the proper address and that your funds will be received.
Download Yoroi Wallet now to safely store your ada and join Cardano’s Web3 ecosystem
Yoroi Wallet is an open-source, Cardano ada light wallet developed by Cardano founding entity EMURGO for ada holders. Since it is a light wallet, it is quick to load and process crypto transactions.
With Yoroi, ada users are able to connect into the Cardano Web3 ecosystem of Cardano dApps including the first USD-backed stablecoin in the Cardano ecosystem $USDA, Cardano DeFi, Cardano NFTs, and more.
Click above to download your preferred version of Yoroi Wallet for desktop or mobile.
If you have any questions, please refer to https://yoroi-wallet.com/#/support
About Yoroi Wallet
- Yoroi Twitter: @YoroiWallet
- Yoroi Homepage: https://yoroi-wallet.com/
About EMURGO
- Official Homepage: dev.emurgo.io
- Twitter (Global): @EMURGO_io
- YouTube: EMURGO channel
- Discord: EMURGO Community
- Facebook: @EMURGO.io
- Instagram: @EMURGO_io
- LinkedIn: @EMURGO_io
