I know this sounds like a dumb question, but I just installed Bitcoin Core 29.0 and noticed my.bitcoin/wallets folder is empty. I thought wallet.dat would pop up automatically. Is this normal? If not, how do I get a wallet.dat file?
Not dumb at all! Actually, in Bitcoin Core 29.0 and later, the wallet.dat file isn’t created automatically anymore. They shifted to something called descriptor wallets, which are supposed to be more secure compared to the older wallet.dat files. You gotta create a wallet manually now. Use the createwallet RPC or just hit "Create Wallet" from the GUI.
Yeah that’s correct. Been like this for a while now. You really have to initiate the wallet creation yourself. It’s kinda annoying but I guess it’s for security. Just make sure to set it up right and you’ll be good to go. 👍