A reliable and inexpensive crypto wallet is a key to successful work with cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, and others. Today, we’ll tell you how to choose the best crypto wallet among a variety of them.
If you decide to deal with any cryptocurrency, whether it be buying or selling it, mining, or working with a faucet, you will need a wallet to receive or send digital coins. Let’s consider key types of crypto wallets in detail!
Online Wallets
Such wallets are created online on financial platforms or cryptocurrency exchanges. Activating a wallet usually takes no more than 5-10 minutes.
Online wallets are considered the most insecure because they’re registered remotely. Thus, the data is stored on a server that can be accessed around the clock via the Internet. That’s why they are susceptible to hacker attacks. However, users of such wallets often make mistakes, for example, they can simply forget the password.
When choosing an online wallet, just take into account the reputation, the experience of the platform, and check its functionality. To do this, just go through the company’s website and specialized forums.
The most popular and reliable online crypto wallets are Cryptopay, Xapo, Blockchain, Coinkite, Bitcoin Core, Matbea, Coinbase, BitGo, GreenAddress, Hive, StrongCoin, etc.
Desktop Wallets
Such an application can be downloaded from a public website and installed on your personal computer (PC). These programs are considered more reliable and easier to use than their online counterpart.
There are two types of desktop wallets on the market: ‘thick’ and ‘thin’. The first is a full-fledged version of the program with the maximum list of functions, including the possibility of mining. But such options require a lot of disk space, as well as a longer operation time. The thin version involves fast transaction processing but has a limited list of options.
Digital wallets created by cryptocurrency developers, for example, Bitcoin Core apps or Ethereum Wallet (Mist), are considered the most secure ones in terms of reliability. At the same time, they are less functional since they support only one cryptocurrency. The safest and most popular desktop wallets are Exodus, Coinomi, Jaxx, etc.
Mobile Wallets
All the most popular crypto wallets have not only PC versions but also mobile ones. Indeed, many people spend more time with a smartphone than with a computer, which is taken into account by creators of crypto wallets. These wallets have similar pros and cons as their desktop counterparts. You can download apps in AppStore or GooglePlay.
Hardware Wallets
This type of wallet is considered the most reliable for storing digital currency since the access keys are stored on a special token (flash drive). In addition, protected chips are used to protect against hackers and viruses, PIN codes are used to confirm operations, and a recovery phrase — to restore access. Trezor, Digital Box, Cool Wallet, Ledger, and KeepKey wallets are considered to be the most reliable.
We recommend using a USB flash drive for long-term storage of cryptocurrency and for conducting a large number of transactions. Also, just store a seed phrase separately from the device in a safe place. Because if you lose the code along with the flash drive, you will lose your cryptocurrency forever.
Paper wallets
Another option for more reliable storage of digital money would be to use a paper wallet. This is a piece of paper the size of a banknote, with a printed public and private key. The cost of such a wallet will be much lower than that of a hardware wallet.
What type of crypto wallet do you prefer? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
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