Sparrow Wallet Guides

Learn everything you need to know about Sparrow Wallet in The Mastering Bitcoin Self Custody and Security Course. Whether you're a beginner looking to set up your first Bitcoin wallet or an advanced user wanting to strengthen your security practices, this Sparrow Wallet section of the bitcoin course will take you through every essential feature of Sparrow Wallet. From understanding its many use cases to mastering UTXO management, you'll gain the skills necessary to manage your Bitcoin with confidence.

Why Sparrow Wallet?

Sparrow Wallet is considered one of the best bitcoin wallets available: a powerful, versatile, and open source desktop wallet built with security, privacy and usability in mind. It is an excellent tool for anyone who wants full control over their Bitcoin, offering a range of features that make it a top choice for secure and advanced Bitcoin management:

  • Hot and Cold Wallet Support: Use Sparrow as a hot wallet for easy spending and convenience, or set it up as a view only wallet with one of your hardware wallets for enhanced security.

  • Hardware wallet Support: Sparrow wallet supports a wide range of hardware wallets including Ledger, Trezor, ColdCard, BlockStream Jade, Keystone, Krux DIY, Foundation Passport, Satochip, SeedSigner, Specter DIY, Tapsigner, and more…

  • Multiple Wallet Structures: Sparrow wallets allows you to create and manage single signature, passphrase, and multi-signature wallet setups for various security needs. Sparrow also supports importing SLIP39 wallets and BIP32 private keys.

  • Coin Control & UTXO Management: Sparrow wallet has a great interface for viewing your UTXO set, allowing you to label and effectively manage your UTXO’s. Sparrow supports coin control, providing you with complete control over how your Bitcoin is spent, optimizing transactions fees and privacy.

  • Node Selection: Sparrow wallets allows you to connect to a variety of public servers if you do not run your own bitcoin node, and also allows you to easily connect to Bitcoin Core or your own private electrum server if you do run your own node.

  • Privacy Features: Sparrow wallet is built to help you maintain your privacy on bitcoin with CoinJoin support, Tor integration, UTXO and address labelling, and coin control.

  • Address Types Supported: Use legacy, Nested SegWit, Native Segwit, and Taproot addresses depending on your needs.

  • Account Numbers, Derivation Paths, and Change Addresses: Sparrow is feature rich and gives you access to custom account numbers, derivation paths, and lists all your addresses and change addresses.

Master Sparrow Wallet in The Bitcoin Course:

Hot and Cold wallet

Understand how you can use Sparrow Wallet in different setups: as a convenient hot wallet or a secure cold storage solution. We discuss the benefits and risks of each approach and how to implement them safely.

Download and verification

Learn the importance of verifying bitcoin software before installation. This lesson walks you through downloading Sparrow Wallet and checking its authenticity to ensure you're using a secure, untampered version.

Update Sparrow safely

Keeping your wallet software up to date is important for security and ensuring you have the latest features. This lesson explains how to update Sparrow Wallet safely while verifying the authenticity of the new version.

Sparrow hot wallet setup

Learn step-by-step how to create a hot wallet in Sparrow, generating bitcoin addressed, and receiving and sending Bitcoin securely. Perfect for beginners who want to start using Bitcoin with Sparrow Wallet.

UTXO management

Gain a deep understanding of Unspent Transaction Outputs (UTXOs) and how you can manage them in Sparrow Wallet. Learn how to use coin control to optimize transaction fees, privacy, and efficiency.

Bitcoin change in Sparrow

Many users are unaware of how Bitcoin transactions create change outputs. This lesson explains how bitcoin change addresses work, why they matter, and how Sparrow Wallet helps you manage them properly.

ColdCard and Sparrow

Learn how to use your ColdCard mk4 hardware wallet with Sparrow Wallet acting as your “view only“ wallet. Create wallets, receive bitcoin, and send bitcoin completely offline and use Sparrow to view your transactions and addresses.

ColdCard passphrases

Learn how to use a passphrase on your ColdCard MK4, with Sparrow acting as your “view only“ wallet. Create wallets, receive bitcoin, and send bitcoin completely offline and use Sparrow to view your transactions and addresses.