Crypto Wallets

Before you get any cryptocurrency you’ll need a place to keep it safe. That’s in a crypto wallet. A crypto wallet basically a personal bank account for your digital money. 

Crypto wallets are attached to public and private keys, longs strings of numbers like secret codes that allow you to receive, send, and store your Bitcoin, or alt-coins like Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple. It’s these keys that get you access to your digital coins and a crypto wallet helps you manage them.

There are a few different types of crypto wallets but before we get to them it’s worth noting what is not a crypto wallet. A crypto exchange account is not a crypto wallet. Any application that allows you to trade cryptocurrency but doesn’t let you hold your own private keys is not a crypto wallet. Remember the private keys control the cryptocurrency attached to it. If you don’t have the keys you don’t control your cryptocurrency.

There are basically two types of crypto wallets, cold wallets and hot wallets.

Cold wallets are physical electronic devices, like a jump drive, that can be disconnected from the internet. Cold wallets are very secure because your private keys are kept offline.

Hot wallets are programs run on internet connected devices like your phone or computer. Hot wallets are great for day to day spending, they can transfer funds quickly and easily but they are not a great place to store larger amounts of cryptocurrency because of their connection for the internet.

Personal preference does play a factor in what kind of wallet you choose but in general if you’re saving or investing your crypto currency look at a hardware wallet and for daily using a hot wallet will work just fine.

Here’s a quick selection of popular hot wallets and cold wallets . It’s really a personal choice so be sure to look into what will work best for you.

Desk Top Hot Wallets

Important tip: Whatever Hot Wallet you choose make sure it is Open Sourced and well reviewed. There are scam wallets out there!

Electrum – Created in 2011, works with Mac, Windows, Linux. Compatible with hardware wallets like TREZOR and Ledger Nano.

Blockstream Green – Easy to use and set up. Works for iOS, Android, and desktop applications.

Hot Wallets for iOS, iPhone, and Android

BRD – Nice interface and easy to use.

Edge – Has automatic back ups.

Cold / Hardware Wallets

Important tip: Once again make sure you look into the product you’re buying, and make sure your hardware wallet has a screen.

Ledger Nano X – Bluetooth enabled. Newest offering for Ledger. Transactions are signed with the Nano X for an extra layer of security.

Ledger Nano S – Released in 2016. This is a reasonably priced and secure hardware option.

TREZOR T – From Satoshi Labs, the TREZOR T debuted in 2014 and remains a very popular cold wallet option.

TREZOR ONE – A smaller choice from the folks at Satoshi Labs. The TREZOR ONE makes it easy to send and receive funds.

Most wallets won’t let you buy and sell cryptocurrency. If you’re ready to put funds into your wallet you’ll need to purchase them on a crypto exchange and have the coins sent to your wallet.

Here are four popular exchanges based in Canada:

BitBuy – High buy and sell limits. Supports interact and wire transfers

CoinBerry – High buy and sell limits. Supports credit and debit, interact, and wire transfers.

5995.io – Supports almost all fiat and cryptocurrencies. Lowest transaction fees in the market.

Netcoins – Multiple payment options. Free $ for trades over 100$.

Anonymous Crypto Wallets

BitLox

Edge

Rahakott Wallet

Wasabi Wallet

Ledger Nano Series

Electrum Wallet

Samourai Wallet