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Crypto wallets
A crypto wallet can be seen as a bank account for crypto which means that you as example can pay for stuff, send crypto to other people/websites (windice !) or just save your cryptocurrencies until you are willing to spend them. Another option which can only be used for certain cryptocurrencies is to stake. Simply explained you can say that staking means that you lock your cryptocurrencies in your wallet and earn rewards (your wallet will be like a savings account). This is not possible in all crypto wallets so if you want to stake be sure to pick a wallet which supports this feature.
There is a saying ”Not your keys, not your coins” which refers to places where you store crypto but don't have access to the private keys of your wallet. You can compare this by owning a house but not having the key so you can only enter and take your stuff when the one who has the key let you get in. This means that if a site where you don't have access to your private keys goes offline that there is no way to retrieve your coins. Many people use famous exchange sites like Binance to store their coins but because you don't have access to your private keys this is not a real safe option. If the site gets hacked or goes offline you will lose all the coins you have stored on the exchange. You can watch this video for a longer explanation about this.
To have access to your own private keys you will need a crypto wallet. This wallet can be used as a "bank account" for your cryptocurrencies. Most wallets even have an exchange function where you can exchange from one crypto to another. Nowadays there are a lot of different crypto wallets out there both as a program for desktop computers as well as apps for mobile phones. In this article I will write a bit more about the different types of crypto wallets and will even give some information about some of the most popular crypto wallets out there.
We can divide crypto wallets in 2 different groups: Hot wallets (software wallets) and Cold wallets (Hardware wallet or paper wallet). To learn more about hot/cold wallets you can watch this video.
Hot wallets
A hot wallet is a software wallet that is connected to the internet and these wallets are ideal to use for everyday transactions because of the easy access. They are also the less safe option because of the continuous connection with the internet. This means that they are more vulnerable for hacking or online attacks.
To give some information about which hot wallets are out there i will name 3 of the most famous hot wallets of this moment: Coinomi, Exodus and Trust wallet. All of these 3 wallets have a good reputation and several years of experience in the crypto industry. Below you will find a short summary of all these 3 wallets.
Coinomi (multi-chain)
Founded: 2014
Availability: Desktop / Iphone / Android
Supported blockchains: Over 125 different blockchains
Extra options: Swap function
Website: https://www.coinomi.com/
Personally I used this wallet on Iphone and I think its really user-friendly. It looks a bit old fashioned but it works well and supports many coins.
Exodus (multi-chain)
Founded: 2015
Availability: Desktop / Iphone / Android/ Web3 (extension)
Supported blockchains: 50+ blockchains
Extra options: Swap function / Staking on multiple assets
Website: https://www.exodus.com/
Really easy to use and looks really modern. I like that they support the lightning chain and that there is staking support for multiple assets with the option to auto restake.
Trust wallet (multi-chain)
Founded: 2017
Availability: Iphone / Android /Web3 (extension)
Supported blockchains: 100+ blockchains
Extra options: Swap function / Staking/ Stablecoin earn
Website: https://trustwallet.com/
This is Binance's official cryptocurrency wallet and because of the famous name and reputation of Binance this wallet is really popular. It works well but it's my least favorite of the 3.
Cold wallets
A cold wallet is a wallet where you need to use a physical device (or paper) to connect to the internet when you want to make a transaction. Cold wallets are perfect to safely store larger amounts of cryptocurrency that you don't want to use often. The reason for this is that they are not connected to the internet continuously and it takes some more time to make transactions. Because of that they are also much less vulnerable for attacks. Cold wallets can be seen as the safest option to store your cryptocurrencies.
The 2 most famous cold wallets right now are Ledger and Trezor. With both of these cold wallets your private keys are stored offline. This makes them much less vulnerable for attacks. Cold wallets cost some money but this can be worth it to secure your assets. Below you will find a short description of both cold wallets.
Trezor
Trezor started their company in 2013 just one year before Ledger. Their first wallet "Trezor model one" which was released in 2014 was the first ever hardware wallet in the world. Nowadays Trezor has several different models of their wallet. All of them look like small bank devices with a screen to display information. The Trezor has a bigger screen than the popular ledger models that look like an USB stick, which makes it easier to validate transactions. To make transactions you have to connect this device to your pc and all transactions have to be approved on the physical device.
The cheapest trezor costs around $49 and has support for 1000s of different coins & tokens.
To read more about trezor you can visit their website: https://trezor.io/
Ledger
Ledger started in 2014 meaning that they have experience for over 10 years. Ledger has different kinds of wallets that are like small physical devices that you need to connect to your computer to make transactions. Their first and most popular wallet is the ”Ledger nano S” which was introduced in 2016. This wallet looks like an USB stick with a led screen. To make transactions you have to connect the device to your pc and approve the transaction with buttons on the device. The ledger is user-friendly which means that even new users will be able to use it with ease.
The cheapest Ledger is about $80 and can hold over 5500 different cryptocurrencies. They even have a wallet (Ledger Nano X) which can connect to an app on your phone with Bluetooth making it possible to make secure transactions on the go.
To read more about the ledger you can visit their website: https://www.ledger.com/
I hope you guys learned something about crypto wallets after reading this article! And remember: Not your keys, not your coins!
A crypto wallet can be seen as a bank account for crypto which means that you as example can pay for stuff, send crypto to other people/websites (windice !) or just save your cryptocurrencies until you are willing to spend them. Another option which can only be used for certain cryptocurrencies is to stake. Simply explained you can say that staking means that you lock your cryptocurrencies in your wallet and earn rewards (your wallet will be like a savings account). This is not possible in all crypto wallets so if you want to stake be sure to pick a wallet which supports this feature.
There is a saying ”Not your keys, not your coins” which refers to places where you store crypto but don't have access to the private keys of your wallet. You can compare this by owning a house but not having the key so you can only enter and take your stuff when the one who has the key let you get in. This means that if a site where you don't have access to your private keys goes offline that there is no way to retrieve your coins. Many people use famous exchange sites like Binance to store their coins but because you don't have access to your private keys this is not a real safe option. If the site gets hacked or goes offline you will lose all the coins you have stored on the exchange. You can watch this video for a longer explanation about this.
To have access to your own private keys you will need a crypto wallet. This wallet can be used as a "bank account" for your cryptocurrencies. Most wallets even have an exchange function where you can exchange from one crypto to another. Nowadays there are a lot of different crypto wallets out there both as a program for desktop computers as well as apps for mobile phones. In this article I will write a bit more about the different types of crypto wallets and will even give some information about some of the most popular crypto wallets out there.
We can divide crypto wallets in 2 different groups: Hot wallets (software wallets) and Cold wallets (Hardware wallet or paper wallet). To learn more about hot/cold wallets you can watch this video.
Hot wallets
A hot wallet is a software wallet that is connected to the internet and these wallets are ideal to use for everyday transactions because of the easy access. They are also the less safe option because of the continuous connection with the internet. This means that they are more vulnerable for hacking or online attacks.
To give some information about which hot wallets are out there i will name 3 of the most famous hot wallets of this moment: Coinomi, Exodus and Trust wallet. All of these 3 wallets have a good reputation and several years of experience in the crypto industry. Below you will find a short summary of all these 3 wallets.
Coinomi (multi-chain)
Founded: 2014
Availability: Desktop / Iphone / Android
Supported blockchains: Over 125 different blockchains
Extra options: Swap function
Website: https://www.coinomi.com/
Personally I used this wallet on Iphone and I think its really user-friendly. It looks a bit old fashioned but it works well and supports many coins.
Exodus (multi-chain)
Founded: 2015
Availability: Desktop / Iphone / Android/ Web3 (extension)
Supported blockchains: 50+ blockchains
Extra options: Swap function / Staking on multiple assets
Website: https://www.exodus.com/
Really easy to use and looks really modern. I like that they support the lightning chain and that there is staking support for multiple assets with the option to auto restake.
Trust wallet (multi-chain)
Founded: 2017
Availability: Iphone / Android /Web3 (extension)
Supported blockchains: 100+ blockchains
Extra options: Swap function / Staking/ Stablecoin earn
Website: https://trustwallet.com/
This is Binance's official cryptocurrency wallet and because of the famous name and reputation of Binance this wallet is really popular. It works well but it's my least favorite of the 3.
Cold wallets
A cold wallet is a wallet where you need to use a physical device (or paper) to connect to the internet when you want to make a transaction. Cold wallets are perfect to safely store larger amounts of cryptocurrency that you don't want to use often. The reason for this is that they are not connected to the internet continuously and it takes some more time to make transactions. Because of that they are also much less vulnerable for attacks. Cold wallets can be seen as the safest option to store your cryptocurrencies.
The 2 most famous cold wallets right now are Ledger and Trezor. With both of these cold wallets your private keys are stored offline. This makes them much less vulnerable for attacks. Cold wallets cost some money but this can be worth it to secure your assets. Below you will find a short description of both cold wallets.
Trezor
Trezor started their company in 2013 just one year before Ledger. Their first wallet "Trezor model one" which was released in 2014 was the first ever hardware wallet in the world. Nowadays Trezor has several different models of their wallet. All of them look like small bank devices with a screen to display information. The Trezor has a bigger screen than the popular ledger models that look like an USB stick, which makes it easier to validate transactions. To make transactions you have to connect this device to your pc and all transactions have to be approved on the physical device.
The cheapest trezor costs around $49 and has support for 1000s of different coins & tokens.
To read more about trezor you can visit their website: https://trezor.io/
Ledger
Ledger started in 2014 meaning that they have experience for over 10 years. Ledger has different kinds of wallets that are like small physical devices that you need to connect to your computer to make transactions. Their first and most popular wallet is the ”Ledger nano S” which was introduced in 2016. This wallet looks like an USB stick with a led screen. To make transactions you have to connect the device to your pc and approve the transaction with buttons on the device. The ledger is user-friendly which means that even new users will be able to use it with ease.
The cheapest Ledger is about $80 and can hold over 5500 different cryptocurrencies. They even have a wallet (Ledger Nano X) which can connect to an app on your phone with Bluetooth making it possible to make secure transactions on the go.
To read more about the ledger you can visit their website: https://www.ledger.com/
I hope you guys learned something about crypto wallets after reading this article! And remember: Not your keys, not your coins!
