diff --git a/extension/background/wallet.js b/extension/background/wallet.js
index 2d3687f98..6c596899f 100644
--- a/extension/background/wallet.js
+++ b/extension/background/wallet.js
@@ -1,75 +1,106 @@
 'use strict';
 
-//chrome.browserAction.setBadgeBackgroundColor({color: "#000"})
-chrome.browserAction.setBadgeText({text: "42"})
-chrome.browserAction.setTitle({title: "Taler: 42 EUR"})
+const DONE = 4;
+const DB_NAME = "taler";
+const DB_VERSION = 1;
 
-function test_emscripten ()
-{
-  var cur_time = TWRALLgetCurrentTime();
-  var fancy_time = TWRgetFancyTime(cur_time);
-  console.log('current time: '+ fancy_time);
-}
+// Shown in the UI.
+let backendFailed = false;
 
-test_emscripten();
-
-DB.open(function () {
-  console.log ("DB: ready");
-});
-
-let DONE = 4;
-
-chrome.runtime.onMessage.addListener(
-  function (req, sender, onresponse) {
-    console.log("Message: " + req.type +
-                (sender.tab
-                 ? " from a content script: "+ sender.tab.url
-                 : " from the extension"));
-    switch (req.type)
-    {
-      case "db-get-wallet":
-        DB.wallet_get (onresponse);
-        break;
-
-      case "db-list-transactions":
-        DB.transaction_list (onresponse);
-        break;
-
-      case "db-list-reserves":
-        DB.reserve_list (onresponse);
-        break;
-      case "confirm-reserve":
-        console.log('detail: ' + JSON.stringify(req.detail));
-        let keypair = createEddsaKeyPair();
-        let form = new FormData();
-        form.append(req.detail.field_amount, req.detail.amount_str);
-        form.append(req.detail.field_reserve_pub, keypair.pub);
-        form.append(req.detail.field_mint, req.detail.mint);
-        // XXX: set bank-specified fields.
-        let myRequest = new XMLHttpRequest();
-        console.log("making request to " + req.detail.post_url);
-        myRequest.open('post', req.detail.post_url);
-        myRequest.send(form);
-        myRequest.addEventListener('readystatechange', (e) => {
-          if (myRequest.readyState == DONE) {
-            let resp = {};
-            resp.status = myRequest.status;
-            resp.text = myRequest.responseText;
-            switch (myRequest.status) {
-              case 200:
-                resp.success = true;
-                // We can't show the page directly, so
-                // we show some generic page from the wallet.
-                resp.backlink = chrome.extension.getURL("pages/reserve-success.html");
-                break;
-              default:
-                resp.success = false;
-            }
-            onresponse(resp);
-          }
-        });
-        // Allow async response
-        return true;
+/**
+ * Run a function with the opened taler DB.
+ */
+function withTalerDb(f) {
+  let req = indexedDB.open(DB_NAME, DB_VERSION);
+  req.addEventListener("error", (e) => {
+    // XXX: more details
+    backendFailed = true;
+  });
+  req.addEventListener("success", (e) => {
+    var db = e.target.result;
+    f(db);
+  });
+  req.addEventListener("upgradeneeded", (e) => {
+    console.log ("DB: upgrade needed: oldVersion = "+ event.oldVersion);
+    db = event.target.result;
+    switch (event.oldVersion) {
+      case 0: // DB does not exist yet
+        db.createObjectStore("mints", { keyPath: "mint_pub" });
+        db.createObjectStore("reserves", { keyPath: "reserve_pub"});
+        db.createObjectStore("denoms", { keyPath: "denom_pub" });
+        db.createObjectStore("coins", { keyPath: "coin_pub" });
+        db.createObjectStore("withdrawals", { keyPath: "id", autoIncrement: true });
+        db.createObjectStore("transactions", { keyPath: "id", autoIncrement: true });
         break;
     }
   });
+}
+
+
+function confirmReserve(db, detail, sendResponse) {
+  console.log('detail: ' + JSON.stringify(detail));
+  let keypair = createEddsaKeyPair();
+  let form = new FormData();
+  let now = new Date();
+  form.append(detail.field_amount, detail.amount_str);
+  form.append(detail.field_reserve_pub, keypair.pub);
+  form.append(detail.field_mint, detail.mint);
+  // XXX: set bank-specified fields.
+  let myRequest = new XMLHttpRequest();
+  console.log("making request to " + detail.post_url);
+  myRequest.open('post', detail.post_url);
+  myRequest.send(form);
+  myRequest.addEventListener('readystatechange', (e) => {
+    if (myRequest.readyState == DONE) {
+      let resp = {};
+      resp.status = myRequest.status;
+      resp.text = myRequest.responseText;
+      let reserveRecord = {
+        reserve_pub: keypair.pub,
+        reserve_priv: keypair.priv,
+        keypair: keypair,
+        mint_base_url: detail.mint,
+        created: now,
+        last_query: null,
+        current_amount: null,
+        // XXX: set to actual amount
+        initial_amount: null
+      };
+      // XXX: insert into db.
+      switch (myRequest.status) {
+        case 200:
+          resp.success = true;
+          // We can't show the page directly, so
+          // we show some generic page from the wallet.
+          resp.backlink = chrome.extension.getURL("pages/reserve-success.html");
+          let tx = db.transaction(['reserves'], 'readwrite');
+          tx.objectStore('reserves').add(reserveRecord);
+          tx.addEventListener('complete', (e) => {
+            console.log('tx complete');
+            sendResponse(resp);
+          });
+          break;
+        default:
+          resp.success = false;
+          sendResponse(resp);
+      }
+    }
+  });
+  // Allow async response
+  return true;
+}
+
+withTalerDb((db) => {
+  console.log("db loaded");
+  chrome.runtime.onMessage.addListener(
+    function (req, sender, onresponse) {
+      // XXX: use assoc. instead of switch?
+      switch (req.type)
+      {
+        case "confirm-reserve":
+          return confirmReserve(db, req.detail, onresponse)
+          break;
+      }
+    });
+});
+