This guide will teach you how to setup and use the Sparks Wallet on your computer. We will only cover basic commands, teaching you how to receive and spend Sparks. If you need any additional help, feel free to join our Discord and ask for help in the #wallet channel.

BEWARE scammers trying to impersonate team members! Do not accept help from people directly contacting you. No one from SparksPay team will contact you and “help” proactively!

Download your wallet

Download the most recent version of the Sparks wallet on Github. There are several versions available for many operating systems, as well as installation methods (zipped files or installers). Choose whichever solution best suits your needs.

Install your wallet

If unzipping the downloaded files, only extract the QT file (sparks-qt). After starting the wallet for the first time, it will offer you to create a default data directory. Depending on your operating system, the default directory should be similar to (for Windows):

C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Roaming\SparksCore

This should suit most needs. If you choose your own location, be sure to remember where it is.

Synchronize with the blockchain

Once the wallet app has started, it will download the whole blockchain on your computer. This might take a while as blockchains are ever growing in size, with blocks of data being added over time.

Alternately, you may download a bootstrap, which is essentially a packed version of the blockchain up to a given block. Using this method, you will have to shut the wallet down, copy the bootstrap in the data directory and remove the blocks and chainstate folders, then restart the wallet. Once the blockchain is synchronized, you may delete the bootstrap from the data directory.

Secure your wallet

The wallet.dat file

This file contains all the information to access your coins. BEWARE: be very careful to back it up in a safe place, as if you lose this file, you lose all access to your coins!

Passphrase

In general, it is good practice to protect your wallet with a passphrase. To do so, go to Settings menu and Encrypt Wallet. Choose a passphrase and save it. BEWARE: save this passphrase somewhere, as there will be no way of regaining access to your coins if you lose it! You will also need to go to the data directory and delete all backups of the wallet.dat file in the backups folder, as they will not have been password protected.

Manage your addresses

Address books

Addresses are used to receive and send Sparks. Sparks addresses generally start with a G and look like this: GbFFzrXFtf7JgeWZ6uSz33d5K9Map9S1LA.

You may check the balance of any address with the Explorer, which is a website allowing you to look through any transaction ever recorded in the blockchain.

Your wallet contains two address books: one for Receiving addresses (that you own in that wallet) and one for Sending addresses (other people’s addresses). You can find these address books by clicking on the File menu.

Receiving address

You may create a new receiving address by clicking on the Receive tab. Give a label to the address and click Request Payment. Do not worry about other options there, they are almost never needed. A popup window will appear showing you the information about your newly created address. Use the Copy Address button to copy&paste the address where you need it. This ensures you do not miss a character when pasting it, such as when withdrawing from an exchange.

Make a payment

To make a payment, click on the Send tab of the wallet. In the Pay To field, insert the address to which you want to send Sparks. You may select an address from your address books (right-click and copy the address you want to use) or an address someone provided you (a friend, an exchange). You may even make payments to yourself, using your Receiving addresses. This is especially useful for masternode collaterals (see Masternode guide).

When copying an address in the Pay To field, check that the Label field is updated with any label you gave the address. This way you are sure it is valid. If it is a new address, then put a label in that field. It will be saved in your address book for future use.

Additional recipients

You may use the Add Recipient button to make several payments in one single transaction, which saves on payment fees.

Specific inputs

It is possible to specify which of your addresses you want to use for payment. For this, you will need to “Enable coin control features”, which may be done by going into Settings > Options menu, then the Wallet tab. Once this is done, go back to your Send tab, and click on the Inputs button. A window will show you all your addresses and their balances. Select the addresses you wish to use for payment by checking the corresponding checkboxes. You may Lock any address you do not wish to spend by right-clicking on it and selecting Lock unspent.

Masternode control

In order to control your masternodes and guardian nodes, you’ll have to go to Settings > Options, then the Wallet tab, and check Show Masternodes option.

For further information on creating Masternodes, see our Masternode guide.

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