Types Of Crypto Wallets
What is a Blockchain Wallet?
First of all, you need to keep in mind that ownership of cryptocurrency is different from ownership of the traditional currency. Cryptocurrency is not available in the physical form and is considered a group of codes.
In reality, crypto wallets don’t store the currency but act as a tool of interaction with blockchain, i.e., generating the necessary information to receive and send money via blockchain transactions.
A blockchain wallet is a cryptocurrency wallet that allows users to manage different kinds of cryptocurrencies—for example, Bitcoin or Ethereum. A blockchain wallet helps someone exchange funds easily. Transactions are secure, as they are cryptographically signed. The wallet is accessible from web devices, including mobile ones, and the privacy and identity of the user are maintained.
How Do Blockchain Wallets Work?
A crypto wallet is used to interact with a blockchain network. With a wallet, a user is able to view and manage their cryptocurrency, as well as initiate transactions. They exist in many forms, from easy-to-use online web wallets offered by leading crypto exchanges to more technically complex and secure offline, hardware-based wallets.
What all wallets have in common are keys, which are needed to access a user’s crypto assets. When a wallet is created, a pair of keys are generated, one public and one private. These lengthy alphanumeric sequences may appear similar, but their functions are drastically different.
A public key works like a bank account number; it can be shared with anybody who wants to send you cryptocurrency, much like how an account number appears at the bottom of a paper check. A private key, on the other hand, can be thought of as your bank account’s PIN code and should be carefully safeguarded. Anyone who has access to that private key will have complete control over your crypto holdings.
When a user wants to send cryptocurrency, they input the receiver wallet’s public key and the amount of crypto they want to send. The process is reversed when a user wants to receive crypto. Anytime cryptocurrency moves out of a wallet, the transaction must be “signed” using the private key. How that crucial step happens depends on the type of wallet you use.
Cold Wallets vs Hot Wallets
Internet connectivity defines a wallet in terms of hot or cold. Hot wallets are connected to the Internet and thus are less secure and pose more risks but are user-friendly. Cold wallets, on the other hand, are stored offline and don’t require internet connectivity.
A hot wallet simply means any crypto wallet that is connected to the internet. They’re easy to use, so most types of crypto wallets are of the “hot” variety. But they are more vulnerable to hackers. Because of this, it is not recommended to keep large amounts of cryptocurrency in a hot wallet.
Cold wallets are the type of wallet that is offline, or not connected to the internet. Since the only way to interact with the blockchain is through the internet, cold wallets are considered highly secure and virtually impervious to hacking. Cold wallets tend to require a bit more technical know-how, so they’re typically suited for more experienced users or those with large amounts of assets.
Types of hot wallets
Hot wallets are basically the wallets that connect to the internet and generally offer lesser security. Hot wallets offer better accessibility due to their connection to the internet. They are highly user-friendly. There are several different types of hot wallets available, each with potential benefits and drawbacks depending on needs.
Desktop wallets
These are installable software packs available for operating systems. Desktop wallets utilize encryption to keep a user’s private keys securely stored on their computer hard drive.
Web wallets
These wallets are accessed by internet browsers. Web wallets are wallets provided by a third party, typically a crypto exchange, which offer seamless access to a user’s holdings using a web browser.
Mobile wallets
Mobile wallets allow users to quickly and securely send or receive cryptocurrency with their phone and an active internet connection.
Types of cold wallets
The two most popular types of cold wallets are hardware and paper. Both are considered a highly secure way of securing your crypto.
Paper wallets
It is a physically printed QR-coded form of wallet. As the name suggests, a paper wallet is an offline wallet solution where private keys are written down or printed and securely stored.
Hardware wallets
Hardware wallets are hardware devices that individually handle public addresses and keys. It cost up to 70-150 dollars, but it is worth it. It is a battery-less device and can be connected to a PC and accessed by native desktop apps. The most popular hardware wallets are Ledger Nano S and Trezor.
Most Famous Crypto Wallets in 2024
MetaMask
MetaMask is the most popular wallet currently used in Web3. With an active base of approx. 21 million monthly active users, its user-friendly interface enables the ability to interact with the blockchain.
Coinbase Wallet
The Coinbase Wallet app allows users to explore the decentralised web with a dApp browser. You do not need a Coinbase account to use the Coinbase Wallet app.
Trust Wallet
A non-custodial mobile wallet that stores your private key locally with an additional layer of security.
Zerion
Zerion is an investing app that enables anyone, anywhere in the world, to access a suite of new financial products and services built on the backbone of decentralized finance (DeFi). Zerion is an intuitive mobile-first web3 social wallet and investing tool that enables anyone to manage their DeFi and NFT portfolios.
Argent
Argent is a relatively new addition to the extensive set of Web3 wallets on the market. Argent caters to Ethereum users as it is only compatible with Ethereum tokens. Moreover, the wallet focuses on supplying a user-friendly customer experience when it comes to using dApps and DeFi
Rainbow
Rainbow is a non-custodial wallet that supports the Ethereum network. Moreover, Rainbow has native support for dApps of the Ethereum network.
Trezor Model T
The Trezor Model T is an advanced cryptocurrency hardware wallet. Store Bitcoin, passwords, tokens and other keys with confidence.
Ledger Nano
The Ledger Nano also referred to as the Ledger wallet, is a hardware cryptocurrency wallet that allows you to safely store your cryptocurrencies. Not only that, but it allows you to send and receive lots of different cryptocurrencies too.
Exodus
Exodus is a software-based hot wallet that has a few distinct features, like having a built-in exchange. You can buy and sell assets straight from your wallet without transferring funds to an exchange or brokerage.
Phantom
Phantom is a popular non-custodial crypto wallet designed for Solana that lets you do more than just deposit and send cryptocurrency.
Glow
Glow is a fast, easy-to-use wallet for Solana. The wallet currently does not serve as a web wallet or desktop wallet.
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How to Store Your Cryptocurrency
Before Blockchain wallets came along, traditional wallets were the ones used to store cash. They were slow, they had a central point of failure (the banks), and they had an issue of keeping track of all the balances in the accounts.
Furthermore, they were prone to hacks. This method proved to be a method full of issues and problems. Trust was fully on the central banks to keep your money safe. Then Blockchain technology came into the picture, and with it, it disrupted every industry. And the most affected sphere was the finance industry. If you weren’t as sceptical as most people to novelty, then you saw the benefits that Blockchain brought with it. This is what brought us the Blockchain wallets, a modernised way to store your cash in the form of crypto.
What is a Blockchain Wallet?
A Blockchain wallet is a crypto wallet that enables users to store and manage their cryptocurrencies.
Some benefits of using a Blockchain wallet are:
1. Exchange of funds is easy — you don’t have to go through complex and time-consuming technical stuff to make your transactions.
2. It’s secure — you can safely do your transactions without any hurdle.
3. The wallet is accessible from the web and also mobile devices.
4. Your privacy is maintained — you’re able to make your transactions without your name showing in the Blockchain.
5. Has features that are necessary for secure and safe transfers and transactions between different parties.
A Blockchain wallet works in a similar way you send and receive money through your PayPal account. But instead of fiat cash, cryptocurrency is used. Examples of Blockchain wallets are: Ledger, Trezor, Jaxx, Paper wallets among other Blockchain wallets.
So how does a Blockchain wallet work?
How Does a Blockchain Wallet Work ?
To understand how Blockchain works, you first need to understand what a public key and a private key are. You’ll also need to understand how these two keys are related to Blockchain wallets.
Whenever you create a Blockchain wallet you’re provided with both the public key and the private key associated with your wallet.
Here’s an analogy to explain this:
Imagine a person (let’s call him John) who knows your email address. Every time John wants to send you an email he has to use your email address to send those emails. You give out your email address to the ones you want to send you emails. But these people can’t use your email account to send out emails to others.
For them to send emails from your email account, they need to have access to your account’s password. Blockchain wallets follow a similar process using a private key and a public key.
So, speaking, your email address acts like the public key. You can send it to anyone whom you want to send you money in crypto form. The private key acts like your email’s password. To access your Blockchain wallet and spend the money in it, you must use the private key.
Your private key should never be disclosed to anyone else. If anyone gets access to your private key, then it’s game over. You’ll lose all your cryptocurrencies and go through a huge loss.
Features of Blockchain Wallet
1. It’s easy to use — it’s quite user-friendly.
2. It’s highly secure — since it uses cryptography this makes it hack-proof.
3.The transaction is an instance — you don’t have to wait for days to receive your cash. It takes less than 24 hours to receive cash from others.
4. Multiple currency conversions — this shows that you can use the crypto wallets to convert one currency to another.
Types of Blockchain Wallets
There are two main types of Blockchain wallets:
1. Hot wallets (storage) — they’re like normal wallets which you carry for your day-to-day activities and it’s user friendly.
2. Cold wallets (storage) — these wallets act like vaults where cryptocurrencies are stored. They’re highly secure in that they have a high level of security.
Hot Wallets
They’re online wallets through which cryptocurrency can quickly be transferred. They’re mainly on the cloud on the internet. Examples of these wallets are, Coinbase, Blockchain .info, and many more.
The private keys are stored in the cloud for faster access and transfer. Hot wallets are easy to access, they’re available 24/7. But they have a risk of unrecoverable theft once hacked.
Cold Wallets
Cold wallets are digital offline wallets where the transactions are signed offline and later disclosed online. For example, Trezor and Ledger.
In cold wallets, cryptocurrencies are stored in hardware or a printed paper document. The method of transaction helps in protecting the wallet from unauthorized access and vulnerabilities.
Blockchain wallets can further get categorised and distinguished on these criteria:
Software wallets — an application downloaded on a device (either desktop or mobile). Examples of software wallets include Jaxx, Bread wallet, Copay, among others. It’s often web-based. This wallet is usually accessible online.
Hardware wallets — they’re often like a USB drive. Mostly, they have plug and play technology.
Paper wallets — printable public key and the public key that can be kept on paper and stored in a secure place.
Figure 1 — Software wallet Meta Mask
Software wallets can further be differentiated into:
a) Desktop Wallet
b) Online Wallet
c) Mobile Wallet
Desktop Wallets
Desktop wallets are like cold wallets in that the private keys are stored in cold servers. You can unplug them from the internet and do all your transactions offline.
In case the main server gets down or gets lost, you can use the cold server as a backup. You can download this wallet on any computer. But to access it, you must use it in the system you first installed on it.
For safety purposes, you must make sure to keep backups on your servers, always keep your systems in check, and always ensure that you keep your computer away from others to prevent theft.
The great thing about these wallets is that they’re cost-efficient. A great example of a desktop wallet is Electrum, and it’s one of the most popular cryptocurrency desktop wallets.
Online Wallets
These types of wallets run on the cloud and the internet. You have the freedom and the benefit of accessing them on any device. The private keys are stored online in the cloud and managed by a third party.
You have to depend on third-party services. The wallet can be accessed from Android, Desktop, and iOS in Apple. This wallet is sort of a universal one because of its accessibility on multiple devices.
Mobile Wallets
Mobile wallets are similar to online wallets except they’re designed and built specifically for mobile usage or mobile accessibility.
The mobile wallets are user-friendly in that the user interface for making transactions is made easy. A great example of a popular mobile wallet is the Mycelium crypto wallet.
Figure 2 — Three different hardware wallets
Hardware Wallets
Hard Wallets are typical cold storage devices like a USB flash drive used to store the private keys in a protected secure hardware device. These wallets are similar to portable devices that can be plugged and played using your computer.
They are less prone to malicious attacks, malware, hackers, and anything that might have bad intentions for your cryptocurrencies.
Great examples of Hardware wallets are Trezor, Ledger Nano S, and Keep key. These are some of the best and top hardware wallets currently in existence.
Point to note: To make a transaction you have to ensure that your hardware wallet is plugged into your system before doing any transaction.
Paper Wallets
Paper wallets are an offline process of storing cryptocurrencies. They are often printed in the form of paper consisting of a private key and a public key, or a public address (often accessed using a QR code). Since paper wallets are safe they’re widely used for storing large amounts of cryptocurrencies.
Examples of paper wallets are Bitcoin paper wallet and My Ether wallets. These are the paper wallets that are widely used.
To make a transaction, paper wallets work with software wallets or also known as online wallets. And to transfer funds from your software wallet, you must send it to the public address as shown in your paper wallet. That is the QR code shown on the printed paper wallet. Make sure you check out bitaddress.org if you would like to store your crypto on a paper wallet.
Comparison of Blockchain Wallets
Blockchain info
1) Support both Bitcoin and Ethereum
2) It’s easy to use
3) It has low transaction fees
Ledger Nano S
It’s a hardware wallet:
1) That offers high security for your account.
2) Is available for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin users.
3) It’s possible to maintain multiple accounts and access anytime.
Bitcoin Paper Wallet
1) Helps you to print your Bitcoin wallet and keep it only for yourself.
2) It minimizes the threat of hacking.
Jaxx
Software wallet that enables currency exchange within the wallet.
Additional information
Included in this list is the Crypto Fiat Networx Exchange (CFXN) wallet. This is a new international wallet that supports multiple Fiat currencies and Cryptocurrencies.
The wallet uses a token chip conversion system to convert your crypto to its equivalent cash, one crypto to another crypto, and cash to crypto without the use of any middleman.
The wallet is still in its infancy. To get to know more about CFXN as a project and in case you want to be partners with the project kindly reach out to the founder’s project at
[email protected]
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