Section 01 · Guide 02

Creating a Starknet wallet

Facts checked 25 Oct 2026

You can play Influence by signing in with Google or email, but the Academy strongly recommends installing a Starknet wallet of your own, such as Ready X or Braavos. This guide explains why, and how to set one up safely.

Why it's strongly recommended

When you sign in with Google or email, the game creates a Starknet account for you behind the scenes, and it works for everything inside the game. A wallet of your own opens up the wider Influence world as well:

  • The Training Ground: Hiring an Academy tutor crew on adalia.exchange needs a wallet such as Ready X or Braavos.
  • Community Tools: Sites built by players, like the Academy's My Assets pages, connect to your wallet to show your crews, asteroids, and ships.
  • Trading: You can move SWAY and other tokens in and out of your wallet and swap them on Starknet exchanges.
  • Control: You hold the keys to your account yourself, rather than relying on a sign-in service.

Choosing a wallet

The two most popular Starknet wallets are Ready X (formerly Argent X) and Braavos. Both are free, both work with Influence, and both come as a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, plus an app for iPhone and Android. Either is a good choice; pick whichever you prefer the look of.

Influence is played in a desktop browser, so start with the browser extension on your computer. You can add the phone app later and use it to check on things while you're away.

Be careful with the name: Ready, the company behind Ready X, also has a separate app called simply Ready, which is a payments app and not a Starknet wallet. Make sure you install Ready X.

Installing your wallet

Fake wallet extensions exist, and they are built to steal funds. Always start from the wallet maker's own download page:

From there:

  1. Choose your browser and add the extension. Pin it to your browser's toolbar so it's easy to find.
  2. Open the extension and choose to create a new wallet.
  3. Set a strong password. This unlocks the wallet on this computer only.
  4. Write down your recovery phrase, a list of words the wallet shows you once. Write it on paper, in order, and keep it somewhere safe. The wallet will ask you to confirm some of the words. Never share your recovery phrase with anyone.
  5. Your wallet is ready. Its address starts with 0x, and you can copy it from the extension whenever you need it.

Keeping it safe

Your recovery phrase is the master key to everything in your wallet. Anyone who has it can take your crews, ships, asteroids, and SWAY, and nobody can undo that.

  • Keep It Offline: Store it on paper, not in a photo, email, or cloud document.
  • Never Type It into a Website: No genuine game, tool, or support person will ever ask for it. The Academy never will.
  • Check Before You Approve: When your wallet asks you to approve something, read what it is, who it goes to, and how much it costs. If you don't understand it, don't approve it.
  • Use Official Links: Start the game at game.influenceth.io, and check the address before connecting your wallet anywhere.

Putting some funds in

A new wallet is empty. To do much with it you'll need two things:

  • SWAY: The currency of Adalia, used to buy goods, pay for leases, and hire Academy crews. Some network fees can also be paid in SWAY.
  • A Little STRK: Starknet's own token, used to pay the network fees for transactions outside the game.

The Academy recommends the simplest route: buy USDC inside the game. USDC is a digital dollar, so one USDC is worth about one US dollar. There are no exchanges to sign up to:

  1. Sign in to Influence with your wallet, then open Store and choose SWAY.
  2. Under Wallet Balance, click Add Funds. The smallest purchase is around $11, which gives you roughly $10 of USDC once fees are taken.
  3. In SWAY Packages, type your own amount and click Purchase. The game swaps that much of your USDC for SWAY. For a new player, $1 is plenty.

That $10 goes a long way for a new player:

  • A Little SWAY: SWAY is cheap at the moment, so $1 of it goes a long way in Adalia. You'll also want a little STRK to pay for transaction fees. Swap a small amount of your USDC for it with the swap feature built into your wallet (Ready X and Braavos both have one), no exchange needed. $1 of STRK should be plenty for a few weeks at least. The Training Ground lessons walk you through both.
  • Your Training: Hire an Academy tutor crew and learn the basics without risking much.
  • A Crewmate of Your Own: A new crewmate costs about $5 to recruit, so you should have enough left over for one, even if you aren't ready for a full starter pack.

Wallet apps also let you buy with a card through providers such as Ramp Network, Banxa, and Topper, but these ask you to verify your ID first, aren't available everywhere, and their fees take a big share of small purchases. Experienced players may prefer a cryptocurrency exchange; whichever route you use, send a tiny test amount first.

Using your wallet

  • With Influence: On the game's sign-in screen, connect your wallet instead of using Google or email.
  • With the Academy: Click Connect Wallet at the top of any page to see your crews, asteroids, and ships under My Assets. The Academy only ever reads your address; it never asks you to approve a payment.
  • On a Phone: Wallets connect to websites inside their own app. Open Ready X or Braavos, tap its built-in Browser, and visit the site from there.

Connect your wallet

Share your wallet address with the Academy. You will never be asked to sign anything, pay anything or enter a recovery phrase.