# Tutorial: Send and Receive VRSC (Beginner)

Your first transactions on the Verus blockchain — from zero to sending coins.

Estimated time: 20–30 minutes (including sync wait)
Difficulty: Absolute Beginner
What you'll learn: How to get a wallet address, receive coins, check your balance, and send coins to someone else.

• A computer (Linux, macOS, or Windows)
• Internet connection
• Basic comfort with a terminal/command prompt

Before we start, here's what's happening:

• Wallet: A file on your computer that holds your private keys (like passwords to your money)
• Address (R-address): Like a bank account number — you share this to receive coins. Starts with R.
• Transaction: A record on the blockchain that says "X coins moved from A to B"
• Confirmation: Each new block that's added after your transaction makes it more "confirmed" and secure

# Download the latest release
DOWNLOAD_URL=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/VerusCoin/VerusCoin/releases/latest \
  | grep "browser_download_url.*Linux.*x86_64" \
  | head -1 \
  | cut -d '"' -f 4)

wget -O verus-cli.tgz "$DOWNLOAD_URL"

# Extract
mkdir -p ~/verus-cli
tar -xzf verus-cli.tgz -C ~/verus-cli --strip-components=1
cd ~/verus-cli

ZK parameters are auto-downloaded on first daemon start (~1.5GB). To pre-download manually (optional):

./fetch-params

Expected output: Progress bars downloading parameter files. Takes 5-15 minutes depending on connection.

We'll use testnet so you can practice without real money:

./verusd -testnet -bootstrap

Expected output:

Verus Daemon starting...

The daemon runs in the background. The -bootstrap flag speeds up initial sync.

Wait for it to sync. Check progress:

./verus -testnet getinfo

Expected output:

{
  "version": 2000753,
  "protocolversion": 170010,
  "blocks": 926950,
  "headers": 926961,
  ...
}

When blocks equals headers, you're fully synced. This can take 10-30 minutes with bootstrap.

./verus -testnet getnewaddress "my-first-wallet"

Expected output:

<R-address>

This is your R-address. It's like your account number — safe to share with anyone who wants to send you coins.

📝 Write down your address or copy it somewhere safe. You'll need it to receive coins.

To receive coins, you simply share your R-address with the sender. On testnet, you can:

1. Ask in the Verus Discord — the community often helps with testnet coins
2. Mine some yourself — ./verus -testnet setgenerate true 1 (might take a while)

Once someone sends you coins, check your balance:

./verus -testnet getbalance

Expected output (before receiving):

0.00000000

Expected output (after receiving):

10.00000000

./verus -testnet listtransactions "*" 5

Expected output:

[
  {
    "address": "<R-address>",
    "category": "receive",
    "amount": 10.00000000,
    "confirmations": 3,
    "txid": "abc123...",
    ...
  }
]

Key fields:

• "category": "receive" — someone sent you coins
• "amount": 10.0 — how much you received
• "confirmations" — how many blocks have confirmed this transaction (more = safer)

Now let's send some coins. You need:

• A destination address or VerusID (the recipient)
• Enough balance to cover the amount + a tiny fee

./verus -testnet sendcurrency "*" '[{"address":"RECIPIENT_R_ADDRESS","amount":1}]'

Example:

./verus -testnet sendcurrency "*" '[{"address":"RXyz789ABCdef...","amount":1}]'

Expected output:

opid-a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890

This is an operation ID. The transaction is being processed.

You can also send to a VerusID (a human-readable name):

./verus -testnet sendcurrency "*" '[{"address":"alice@","amount":1}]'

./verus -testnet listtransactions "*" 5

Expected output (new entry):

{
  "address": "RXyz789ABCdef...",
  "category": "send",
  "amount": -1.00000000,
  "fee": -0.0001,
  "confirmations": 1,
  ...
}

• "category": "send" — you sent coins
• "amount": -1.0 — negative because it left your wallet
• "fee" — tiny transaction fee paid to miners/stakers

./verus -testnet getbalance

Expected output:

8.99990000

The balance went down by 1.0 (sent) + 0.0001 (fee).

Once comfortable on testnet, switch to mainnet:

1. Start daemon without -testnet: ./verusd -bootstrap (first time) or ./verusd -fastload (after clean shutdown)
2. All commands drop the -testnet flag: ./verus getbalance
3. Mainnet RPC port: 27486 (vs testnet 18843)
4. Real VRSC has real value — double-check addresses before sending!

• Create a VerusID — get a human-readable identity
• Stake VRSC — earn passive income from your coins
• Mine VRSC — use your CPU to earn coins

Last updated: 2026-02-07