Best Cryptocurrency Wallets Types: What Features to Look For?

If you want to get involved in trading cryptocurrency, you will not only need to know what cryptocurrency is but also know everything related to it.

This includes the blockchain technology which it is based upon, the best trading platforms, and even the best cryptocurrency wallets to choose one for you.

Cryptocurrency wallets are digital storage, or a software program, or an online platform or a hardware device that is used to save your crypto ‘keys.’

These keys, both private and public, are used to receive and remit various blockchain cryptocurrency tokens. This secures the ways the wallets communicate with blockchain cryptocurrency ledgers.

Resembling the vending machines that you see in a public place, anyone can insert money into it but only those who have the relevant keys to the wallet can remove money from it.

The wallets, remember, do not hold money. It is simply a record of all transactions. It allows you to look at your crypto balances and understand how much you hold in one or many forms of cryptocurrencies.

There are lots of different types of crypto wallet services to choose from but all of them come under three major heads such as:

• App-based cryptocurrency wallet services
• Offline cryptocurrency wallet services and
• Web-based cryptocurrency wallet services.

In this article, you will come to know about some of the best cryptocurrency wallets along with their features in brief.

Best Cryptocurrency Wallet Types

Though hardware wallets are believed to be the best crypto wallet type, the other types are also good enough. Know best uses of cryptocurrency.

Feel free to choose any one from the list according to your need and start trading coins, safely and without any worries.

Hardware Wallets:

These are the best and safest ways to store crypto investments. Also known as “cold storage,” these are offline wallets and therefore more secure than software or web wallets, which are also known as “hot storage” wallets.

A hardware wallet comes with built-in security and looks just like a USB flash drive. It is hard to access without using the correct password.

However, one significant drawback of hardware wallets is that if it is corrupted, it will be impossible to restore them, though few like Ledger Nano S provide a word seed to restore it.

Also, if you forget the access code, no one else will be able to help you with it. And, you may even lose it, being a physical storage device. Price is another major disadvantage.

However, cold storage wallets are a good choice for users who trade cryptocurrency regularly and like offline protection. Some of the best hardware wallets are:

• Ledger Nano S or Ledger Nano X which is secure and supports over 1,500 cryptocurrencies
• Trezor Wallet that supports all operating systems like Windows, Linux, and Max and also has one of the best Android wallet apps and
• KeepKey that comes with a huge screen for better viewing without scrolling back and forth a lot and a polycarbonate casing for durability.

Software Wallets:

You can download these wallets for free from the internet and also use them for free. However, these “hot wallets” need internet access to operate and therefore there is a high chance of these being hacked remotely.

Still, these could be your best crypto wallets if your volume of trade is pretty low and irregular. Some of the best ones are:

• Coinbase, that is known more as an exchange but also doubles as a software wallet
• Electrum, that can operate on Windows, MacOS, and Linux operating systems and is most technical and therefore good for advanced users
• Exodus, which is a beautifully designed wallet and supports multi-coin exchanges and is also entirely customizable.

Mobile Phone Wallets:

Mobile phone or app-based wallets are extremely popular. You can choose one of these mentioned in the list below but beware of its vulnerabilities.

• Binance, one of the best options of top and decentralized mobile phone wallets called Trust Wallet, apart from being the most popular crypto trading exchange. It supports over 40 blockchains and has several card payment processors integrated into it
• Mycelium, an easy to use mobile bitcoin wallet app which is also an early player in the crypto wallet field. It comes with tabs that allow jumping between different tasks with Hierarchical Deterministic wallet security.
• Cryptonator, another easy to use cryptocurrency wallet app that allows direct and instant cryptocurrency payments with its unique multi-currency account feature, bank-grade security technology, and Encrypted SSL web connection technology.
• Copay, developed by Bitpay, is also a popular mobile phone wallet which is very convenient to use due to its simple interface. It has very strong privacy settings that you can trust on while sharing and the HD technology allows restoring the wallet if something goes wrong.
• Jaxx Liberty comes with all features that make it a good wallet to use for mobiles as well as desktops with web extensions. You can customize it to show only the coins and tokens you want and not all of them at once. The interface of it is very intuitive with diagrams, numbers, charts, and dashboards to help you understand everything very easily. It also allows you to have full control over the keys to keep your crypto assets safe while exporting or importing them to and from other wallets.

Web or Online Wallets:

Web wallets are typically those that are offered by the providers and therefore cannot be considered as completely safe and secure.

The main disadvantage of using these wallets is that you will never have access to your own private keys. Also, there is a high chance of these wallets being hacked and you may lose all your currencies.

However, these can be used temporarily while you move your coins from one place to another, and, once again, everything boils down to how much you trust the provider.

One of the most reliable online or web wallets is Coinbase, which also has software wallets, as mentioned earlier. Being an exchange as well, when you purchase crypto on Coinbase, it is stored in its web wallet.

Paper Wallets:

One of the safest ways to secure your cryptocurrency is through these paper wallets. These are also offline wallets and involve printed QR codes. These codes represent the public and private keys. This allows you to have total control over your cryptocurrency assets.

However, these wallets are not fit for everybody. It is good for only those long-term investors. On the other hand, if you trade regularly then managing and using a lot of QR codes may be very cumbersome.

Though paper wallets cannot be hacked, you will need to store them safely because these are subject to damages due to fire, water, and environment. The best way is to create a backup and keep it safe with a trusted member of the family, if possible.

Features of Best Crypto Wallets

Since the choice of a digital wallet for trading cryptocurrencies should be based primarily on your needs, these are the factors that you should specially focus on while selecting.

And, try to avoid mobile wallets. Though these are convenient, they are also vulnerable to lots of potential security issues, apart from being lost or broken, making your crypto wallet easily accessible by others.

• Security

This is the most important factor. You will certainly not want your investment to go bad, or hacked, or stolen, and therefore, the crypto wallet should be most secure.

It should have 2-factor authentication, commonly called 2FA, to check the identity of the user who wants to log into the crypto wallet.

This type of authentication includes a password as well as a code sent to the phone of the users that needs to be entered into a sign-in field to access the wallet.

• Multi-signature support

This is an important factor to look for in a crypto wallet, especially if it is owned by more than one person, like the business partners, for example.

In such wallets a multi-signature support will enhance the security of the wallet because it will need multiple keys to access the wallet.

This means that it will be impossible for any one person to spend the funds or transfer it to another wallet in an unauthorized and fraudulent manner for personal gains.

• Wallet utility

Also, check the utility of the crypto wallets. There are several crypto trading exchanges that also double as crypto wallets such as Binance, which is a good feature.

You may choose one such exchange for the best results and performance.

• Multiple currency support

Check that the wallets allow storing multiple types of cryptocurrencies rather than a single form. This will prove to be a good choice in case you want to trade with different types of coins in the future.

In that case, maintaining a separate crypto wallet for each different type of currency can be very cumbersome, confusing, and time-taking.

Conclusion

Ideally, there is nothing called ‘the best cryptocurrency wallet.’ It all depends on what you want to do with your crypto. Based on your specific needs, and considering the features mentioned above, you should make your choice.