So you started investing in crypto, awesome, but have you thought about where to hold your crypto?
Probably you are now because you are reading this.
Although it’s super easy, many people overlook where they hold their crypto. It’s crucial that if you plan on buying, holding or even trading crypto you choose a safe wallet to keep your fund secure. Here in this blog we’ll go over the best crypto wallets you can use to hold crypto and make sure that you choose the best for you. Let us first ask the question everyone has,
With crypto wallets there is a term called private key, which provides access to your funds on blockchain and allows transactions and this is of huge importance because he who owns the private keys owns the funds.
Think of it like a super top secure safe with all your prized possessions and only you have the key. No one can get into that safe without your key. The problem is that when you buy cryptos on exchanges and keep them there you don’t get your own private key the exchange has it. So you personally don’t have the key to your own safe.
So let’s say that the exchange got hacked, which has happened multiple times to pretty big exchanges, in this case your crypto can be stolen because the hackers will essentially get your private keys from the exchange and just take your crypto and send it wherever they want.
Now obviously if you trade crypto or if it’s moving around a lot you have to keep I in the exchange, but for the cryptos that you plan on holding and not touching for long period of time it’s best you put them in wallets that are secure and where you only have access to your private keys.
In order to use cryptocurrency you need a crypto wallet which allows receiving and sending your crypto. However your crypto is not stored on the wallet, it is stored on the blockchain and the wallet is a piece of software that allows corresponding to that blockchain, and allows the above mentioned actions.
In simple words your wallet keeps the addresses of your funds but not the actual funds.
Before we start with our list there are two pieces of advices we would like to mention:
Regardless of the wallet type that we will mention, you need to make it 100% absolutely clear that when you’re going to buy a physical crypto wallet or even download a digital one, you have got to make sure that you are buying or downloading form the official site only. This is because most wallets have a seed-phrase to recover your crypto assets in case you lose your wallet, which is a very handy feature indeed.
However when you buy from resellers, there is a chance they have pre-loaded your recovery seed phrase before sending the product out to you. Then as soon as you’re loaded with crypto, they log in and take it. So buy from official sites only.
And it should go without saying, but also under no circumstances should you ever give out your recovery seed phrase. No member of customer support will ever ask for it, and you need to understand if someone gets your seeds that you will lose all your money, so treat it like a state secret and don’t tell it to anyone under any circumstances.
Let’s go over our top 3 crypto wallets that we think are your best bet for keeping your crypto safe
The first one is going to be the Ledger wallet. Specifically the Nano X and the Nano S. these are what we call hardware wallets.
Hardware wallets: they are like flash drives, however, they are specifically designed and encrypted for the storage of cryptocurrencies. With a hardware wallet they don’t share your private keys with the public, you actually don’t know your own private keys. You set up a four digit PIN which acts as your private key.
Safety: Ledger has been in the game for a really long time and we don’t recall any hacks or problems customers have ever faced.
Coins offered: Ledger supports over 1800 different tokens, so chances are majority of the cryptos that you want to hold Ledger has them.
Ledger live:
They have Ledger live which is their app that connects to your wallet. You can buy and sell crypto, you can exchange crypto and you can stake crypto which is pretty much depositing a coin and earning interest, all that in their one app.
When you set it up you get a 24word recovery phrase which you can use to recover your crypto in case anything happens. So it’s crucial that you store this phrase safely and securely because if anyone gets their hand on it they’ll have full access to your crypto. So writing it down on a piece of paper and putting it into a safe secure spot is probably your best bet and not keeping it digitally. But if you end up losing your wallet and your recovery phrase your coins are gone forever.
The Ledger wallet has two different options: Ledger Nano S and Ledger Nano X. They are both pretty much the same thing and just have some minor differences.
Cost:
Ledger Nano S: it costs $59
Ledger Nano X: it costs $190
Assessment:
Hardware wallets are by far the safest option you have to keep your crypto safe and with the Ledger you can pretty much do everything you need to.
A piece of advice:
If you are interested ingetting the Ledger wallet it’s crucial that you only buy from a trusted website, because if you buy them from a third party seller they might have already kept the recovery phrase and wait for you to send crypto to your wallet and take it from you.
Our next wallet is called Exodus. This is what we call a software wallet, and we can say that this is the best desktop wallet.
Software wallets: unlike a hardware wallet it’s online. You download their app and the wallet is yours.
Coins offered: Exodus efforts over hundred different cryptos you can deposit in their wallet and they are constantly adding more every single day.
Cost: The best part is that it’s completely free to use. And it’s probably the best wallet for beginners.
They have super clean simple user interface that makes it easy for anyone to understand.
They have a swap feature where you can swap out cryptos with each other.
They have a staking option with a majority of the bitcoins where you can earn interest for holding your coins there.
They released an app version of their wallet so you can monitor your crypto all from your phone as well.
With Exodus you are also in control of your private keys and you get a 12 word recovery phrase when you open your wallet, just in case your laptop gets stolen, broken or anything happens you can use that to log back into your wallet.
They also have an email recovery feature where you can send a link to your email, you can enter your password, and regain access to your whole wallet.
Exodus is a perfect choice especially for those of you that are just getting started with cryptocurrencies or want to do day-to-day transactions without getting crazy into the process.
If you are new to crypto and want the ease of quickly sending your funds over to a safe wallet Exodus is your best bet.
Although Exodus is super safe, it’s not as safe as a hardware wallet, because it’s still in your computer and it can still be prone to getting hacked. However the chances are super slim unless you visit sketchy websites all the time. But nonetheless it is far more secure than keeping your funds on an exchange.
Finally the last wallet that we think is great for crypto is Trust Wallet.
Trust Wallet is a different and unique from the rest, because it’s pretty much all through that app on your phone. So if you do a lot of crypto, buying or trading, on your phone then Trust Wallet might be the best thing for you.
Trust Wallet is completely free to download from the app store and it’s labeled as Binance’s wallet, so if you use Binance a lot this is probably a great wallet for you.
Like all the other wallets, you are also in control of your private keys.
You also get a 12 word recovery phrase just in case anything happens to your phone or wallet you can still regain access to your funds.
The unique thing about Trust Wallet is that they have a web browser built into their app so you can use your wallet to interact with dApps,buy coinson pancake swap play games and you can do all that just in the app.
Recently with the surge of Binance smart chain and all these coins people are buying on pancake swap, it makes it super simple to interact with all of them if you’re using Trust Wallet.
They also released an option where you can buy cryptoon their app as well.
You can also swap your tokens seamlessly through their app.
Trust Wallet is definitely a great beginner friendly wallet for those of you that love using their phones for crypto.
However it’s not as safe as a hardware wallet but it’s still a great secure wallet that you can keep your funds in, and easily monitored.
If you are someone who cares a lot about security then going with the Ledger or hardware wallet is probably best for you.
If you like the convenience and the ease to use, then Exodus or Trust Wallet will be your best option.
Keep your recovery phases and passwords safe by writing them on a piece of paper not just in your computer or picture on your phone where people can easily access them.