by Mr. Admin
·
Updated on March 28, 2021
·
30 mins read
CoinSutra » Wallets » Best
Bitcoin Wallets
1.5KShares
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Bitcoin Wallet |
Specifications & Key
Features |
Price |
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➞ Type of wallet: Hardware |
$149 |
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➞ Type of wallet: Hardware |
$79 |
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➞ Type of wallet: Desktop & Mobile |
Free |
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➞ Type of wallet: Mobile |
Free |
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➞ Type of wallet: Hardware |
€69 |
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➞ Type of wallet: Desktop |
Free |
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➞ Type of wallet: Mobile |
Free |
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➞ Type of wallet: Web, desktop & mobile |
Free |
I am sure you have heard about Bitcoin by now.
And I’m also pretty confident that some of you might even own some
bitcoins!!
But where are you keeping those bitcoins?
On Bitcoin exchanges like Binance, BitMEX, or hosted Bitcoin wallets such
as Coinbase or CEX?
If that’s your answer, then you are putting the ownership of your
bitcoins at serious risk!!
These services keep your Bitcoin private
keys under their custody on your behalf. This is not a safe practice, as your
Bitcoin private key is the only way to claim your bitcoins.
If you don’t know, consider reading this guide on private
keys, and the MtGox hack.
So now the question is, where should you keep your
bitcoins?
Here at Coinsutra, we don’t write about things that we have not
personally used.
Moreover, I think one needs to look for the following things when
selecting a reliable Bitcoin wallet, irrespective of whether it is a software
or a hardware wallet:
- Control private keys – A wallet where you own and
control your keys.
- Backup & security features – Seed backup keys and pin
codes.
- Developer community – Active development
community for maintenance.
- Ease of use – Elegant UI for fast and
easy use.
- Compatibility – Compatible on different
operating systems.
Now that you know what to look for in a Bitcoin wallet, let’s check out
the top 5 best Bitcoin wallets.
Page Contents [hide]
·
The Best Bitcoin Wallets: (Hardware,
mobile & desktop)
o The Best Ways To Store Bitcoin – Crypto
Wallets
·
Understand what Bitcoin wallets are
with an example:
·
Different Types of Bitcoin Wallets:
o Hardware Bitcoin Wallets (aka Cold
Storage)
o Web Bitcoin Wallets (aka
Hot/Online/Hosted Wallets)
o Paper Bitcoin Wallets (aka Cold Storage
Wallet)
·
Bitcoin wallets based on connectivity
o Hot Bitcoin Wallets (Online)
o Cold Bitcoin Wallets (Offline)
·
Bitcoin wallets based on custodianship
of keys
o Custodial Wallets (3rd Party Services)
·
Which Bitcoin Wallet Should You Use?
o How many bitcoin can you store in a
bitcoin wallet?
o Which Bitcoin wallet is best for a small
amount?
o Which Bitcoin wallet is best for storing
the huge values of Bitcoin?
The Best Bitcoin Wallets: (Hardware,
mobile & desktop)
Ledger Nano X is a hardware wallet from a French start-up. This is the
most modern and functional Bitcoin wallet you can purchase in 2023. This
hardware wallet works with desktops and mobile and comes with an in-built
battery. Read the detailed Ledger
Nano X review here.
From the security perspective, it has two chips (1 is for the secure
element) which ensure your private keys never get exposed to the world.
You can store up to 100+ cryptocurrencies, and using Ledger Nano X, you
can use it as a login for many exchanges.
Some of the supported coins by Ledger Nano X are:
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Litecoin
- Ripple (XRP)
- Binance chain
(BNB)
- Dash
- Cardona (ADA)
- USDT
- Tron
- Monero (XMR)
- All ERC 20 Token
- Polkadot
- Solana
This is by far the best option that you have. The hardware wallet is
priced at $119 and offers free shipping.
Order Ledger Nano X
(Free Delivery)
Ledger Nano S Plus is the newly designed and updated version of popular
Ledger Nano S wallet. It is like a USB drive that connects to any USB
port. It doesn’t have a battery and only starts when plugged into a
computer (or mobile device).
The newer model offers storage space of up to 1.5 MB, which means you
can manage multiple blockchains without uninstalling the existing app. This was
one of the biggest headaches with the “Ledger Nano S” version. It also comes
with an OLED screen and two side buttons for confirming transactions.
When you configure your Nano S Plus as a new device, you need to set up
your pin code to secure your wallet. After that, note down and store your
24-word recovery phrase. This recovery phrase can be used anytime to restore
your bitcoins.
With this wallet, your private keys are stored offline, so you need not
worry about the safety of your coins.
Nano S Plus is also the cheapest high-quality
multi-currency hardware wallet ($79).
The Ledger Nano S Plus wallet supports
the following major cryptocurrencies:
1.
Bitcoin (BTC)
2.
Bitcoin Cash (BCC)
3.
Ethereum (ETH)
4.
Ethereum Classic (ETC)
5.
Litecoin (LTC)
6.
Dash (DASH)
7.
Dogecoin (DOGE)
8.
Zcash (ZEC)
9.
Ripple (XRP)
10.
Stratis (STRAT)
11.
Komodo (KMD)
12.
PoSW
13.
ARK
14.
Ubiq
15.
Expanse (EXP)
16.
PIVX
17.
Vertcoin
18.
Viacoin
19.
Stealthcoin (XST)
20.
NEO (Works with NEON Wallet and supports
GAS too)
21.
and more…
Also, it is a multi-currency wallet where you can store/manage more than
700 coins and ERC20 tokens all at once. And you can see the list of all
supported cryptocurrencies here.
Check out other supported currencies on Ledger here: Which Cryptocurrencies Are Supported By The Ledger Wallet?
Note: You should always use a
hardware wallet when you have a lot of bitcoins or altcoins.
Watch this video on Coinsutra’s YouTube channel to learn how
to set up your Ledger Nano S.
Atomic Wallet is a multi-currency custody-free wallet that supports
over 300 coins and tokens. This one is the first cryptocurrency wallet with
decentralized cross-chain atomic swaps. Users can exchange Bitcoin,
Litecoin, and QTUM with no intermediaries. The team of Atomic Wallet plans
to enable Ethereum for the swaps, as well.
Apart from that, Atomic Wallet provides a built-in regular exchange
service for a range of cryptocurrencies, and an option to buy XRP, BTC, LTC,
and ETH with a bank card.
All these features are well crafted in one clear and comprehensive
interface. You don’t need to verify your identity or register. You download the
wallet for your operating system, install it and start using it. Currently,
Atomic runs on a range of desktop operating systems, such as Windows-64 bit and
macOS. Linux, etc., will also be available for Android and iOS devices.
Like other non-custodial wallets, Atomic generates a mnemonic seed for
your wallet and encodes private keys in your device. If you are about to store
your crypto in Atomic, you must write it down and keep it in a secure place,
since the seed is shown only once and not sent via email.
The wallet supports private keys import, so you can move your funds from
any other wallet to Atomic in a few clicks.
Interestingly, Atomic Wallet provides its interface for custom tokens,
so anyone is able to add their custom tokens by importing a smart contact
address. That’s quite a convenient option when it comes to ICO campaigns.
Regarding the latter, Atomic is planning to release its underlying ERC20
token by the end of 2018 and is now running a bounty program where everyone may
participate before the public sale.
To sum up, Atomic Wallet seems to be quite a non-typical cryptocurrency
project. In one place, you can manage 300+, exchange and buy some of them, try
innovative Atomic Swaps, get access to custom tokens and participate in the
bounty. And all these features are performed in a non-custodial manner.
4. Zengo wallet
Let’s accept that managing the seed word or private key is one of the
most challenging tasks for the broader adoption of Bitcoin. Zengo is on a
mission to solve this by letting you or your family manage a self-custodial
wallet without the need to store your own seed words or private keys.
Zengo uses the MPC cryptography technique to avoid private key
vulnerability. I will share a detailed review of Zengo in the coming days, but
for now lets look at what all you will be getting with Zengo.
Here are a few features of Zengo which might make you start using this
as your Bitcoin wallet –
- Buy Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies from the
wallet app
- Swape or trade cryptocurrencies from the app
itself
- Manage your NFT’s
- Supports multi-cryptocurrencies
- 24*7 customer support
Read detailed review of Zengo Wallet.
6i9
Presented by SatoshiLabs, a Czech Republic-based company, Trezor Model T
is one of the OG of Bitcoin hardware wallets.
It is a small device with an OLED screen, which connects via a USB to
your personal computer or phone. Its fundamental purpose is to store your
private keys offline and sign transactions.
The initial setup is a bit different from the
Ledger Nano devices.
With Trezor Model T, when you first connect it to your PC, it shows a
nine-digit pin code on its OLED screen. You must enter the same pin code by
clicking on your corresponding PC screen. This code is generated randomly every
time you connect Trezor and ensures that even a tampered PC can’t get your pin.
After entering the pin, you will be asked to write your 24-word recovery
seed. Again, you need to keep your recovery key safe because this is
the only way you will be able to restore your bitcoins.
Trezor now supports many cryptocurrencies:
- BTC – Bitcoin
- ETH/ETC – Ethereum/Ethereum Classic
- NMC – Namecoin
- LTC – Litecoin
- DOGE – Dogecoin
- ZEC – Zcash
- DASH – Dash
Update: Trezor now supports more than
600 cryptocurrencies/tokens for more details, read: Which
Cryptocoins Does Trezor Hardware Wallet Support?
It is available now for Windows (version 7 and higher), OS X (version
10.8 and higher), and Linux. You can also use it with your Android devices.
It is available in 3 colors – white, gray, and black – and costs $215.
- Also see: Bitcoin hardware wallets
6. Exodus
Exodus is a free-to-use, desktop-only wallet crafted by JP Richardson and Daniel Castagnoli in
mid-2015.
It is the world’s first multi-cryptocurrency desktop wallet.
Looking at Exodus.io, you can tell
that the company is putting a lot of effort into creating a good user
experience.
You can store your bitcoins without worry, as Exodus has no hosted
servers or logs. It currently supports cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum,
Litecoin, Dogecoin, Dash, Golem, and Augur.
No registration or identity verification is needed to start using
Exodus. But you certainly need to take a backup of your seed key!
If you want to access and spend your funds, you are required to set a
password.
While taking a backup of your seed key, it also asks for your email id
for sending you a one-click link recovery feature. You can always use this
email link along with your password to restore your Exodus wallet.
However, one thing to remember while using Exodus is that you can only
take a backup of the seed key when you have some balance in your wallet.
I like using this wallet because a pie chart at the center shows your
entire token portfolio in one glance. The UI is very nice.
Exodus is the first desktop wallet to have ShapeShift built
in for exchanging cryptocurrencies.
And if you need help, you can get personal support from the founders via
email.
It is available on Mac, Linux, and Windows.
7. Trust Wallet
Trust Wallet is the world’s leading multi-asset digital wallet which
stores both bitcoins and altcoins.
It currently supports 13 crypto coins and
is an ideal choice for multi-cryptocurrency users.
With an active development team working at lightning speed, it’s also
very reliable. Altcoins such as Binance, Monero, Tether, Ripple, and many more
are on their development roadmap.
Trust Wallet provides a seamless, frictionless, and easy-to-use UI. It
takes no email verifications, no onboarding, and no usernames/passwords to
start using Trust Wallet.
It is an HD wallet that
comes with a seed backup key feature. The seed key helps you in controlling and
restore your crypto assets in case your device is damaged or lost.
You can export your private keys and import bitcoins or altcoins from
paper wallets.
It is available now on Android and iOS.
8. Guarda
Guarda is one of my favorite Bitcoin wallets.
It is an open-source and well-established Bitcoin wallet with an active
developer community that is always innovating.
This is a frictionless tool for storing bitcoins, as it requires no
email verifications, no onboarding, and no usernames/passwords to get started.
If you are new to Bitcoin, you will love Guarda’s very easy-to-use UI.
Moreover, you control your Bitcoin private key and can always import it
when you need to.
Guarda is a non-HD wallet that provides you with a 12-word backup seed
key which you should write down somewhere and keep safe. If
you damage or lose your device, this backup seed
key will enable you to recover your bitcoins.
Guarda is compatible with Ledger Nano wallets.
Guarda is available on all platforms.
Always remember: If you lose those
12 words, you will lose your bitcoins.
9. Best Bitcoin Lightning Network wallet
As the Lightning Network adoption increases, you must have a lightning
network-supported Bitcoin wallet. This way, you would not be restricted by the
high network fees of the Bitcoin network and use services like Bitrefill, and
Paywithmoon, to name a few.
Here are some of the best Bitcoin lightning network wallets:
- Breez wallet (iOS
and Android)
- Muun wallet (iOS and Android) –
Recommended
- Blue Wallet (iOS
and Android)
The Best Ways To Store Bitcoin – Crypto Wallets
|
Name of Crypto Wallet |
Types Of Wallet |
Rating |
|
Hardware Wallet |
10/10 |
|
|
Hardware Wallet |
9.5/10 |
|
|
Desktop Wallet |
8/10 |
|
|
Mobile Wallet |
9/10 |
|
|
Mobile Wallet |
9/10 |
|
|
Muun Wallet |
Mobile Wallet |
9/10 |
It’s important to store Bitcoin away from an exchange. If you don’t do
this, you risk losing all of your coins instantly.
Luckily, you have many online and offline wallet options available to
you.
Understand what Bitcoin wallets
are with an example:
You have your email address based on which service you are using
like emailaddress@service.com.
This is a public address (i.e., everyone can see it,
and you can share it with anyone for receiving emails). And you have a
software/service like Gmail or Hotmail through which you send and receive your
mail.
And you have a password to log in to your email service to send
mail on others’ email IDs (others’ public addresses). But
your password is confidential and private for your own use and theirs is
confidential and for their own use.
And the software/service understands both the public
address (emailaddress@service.com) and your password (private
address) to successfully log in and send/receive/store emails.
Similarly, for sending/receiving/storing bitcoins, we require a wallet
on the Bitcoin network, which is nothing but a place that stores our public
address (a place to receive bitcoins) and a private
address (to send/spend bitcoins).
So in short, the place where you have your bitcoin address to receive
bitcoins and the private key to send/spend bitcoins is called a Bitcoin
wallet. In an even more simplified way, a wallet is a digital file
that stores your bitcoins.
- Bitcoin Address + Private Key = Bitcoin
Wallet
Different Types of Bitcoin Wallets:
There are a lot of Bitcoin wallets available out there in the Bitcoin
world. To make it easier for you to understand, I have classified them based on
specific criteria, such as online connectivity, custodianship, and device
availability.
Hardware Bitcoin Wallets (aka Cold
Storage)
This is the most secure and safest way to store your bitcoins because
they are stored in an offline environment.
At the time of this writing, there has been no reported theft or
loss of bitcoins from a hardware wallet. The private keys and digital
signature needed to spend bitcoins are generated via these wallets.
I will explain about Bitcoin private keys in the
upcoming articles…
Hardware Wallets:
Mobile Bitcoin Wallets
Bitcoin wallet applications that are installable on mobile phones are called mobile
wallets. For each mobile operating system, such as iOS, Android,
Windows, and Blackberry, compatible wallets are available.
Below are the various Bitcoin mobile wallets and each mobile OS
compatibilities. The one that I prefer using is TrustWallet on my Android phone. They
have integrated a lot of security measures & are quite safe. At the same
time, there are many more mobile wallets that you can pick based on your
smartphone’s OS.
Bitcoin iOS Wallets
Desktop Bitcoin Wallets
Desktop wallets are Bitcoin wallets that are installable on different
desktops, and as per the user’s needs, are compatible with Windows, Mac, and
Linux.
Below are various Bitcoin desktop wallets compatible with all operating
systems.
Bitcoin Desktop Wallets
- Exodus
- Electrum
- Armory
- Copay
- Bitcoin Core
Web Bitcoin Wallets (aka
Hot/Online/Hosted Wallets)
Wallets which are basically web services and are accessible through
web/internet-based browsers such as Google Chrome, Firefox, and IE are
called web-based Bitcoin wallets.
The private keys are held online in these kinds of wallets. They are
accessible via an internet address such as https://xyz.com.
They are also called “hosted wallets” because you store your bitcoins on
the servers of the agency which you have chosen as your online wallet.
Web Wallets:
Paper Bitcoin Wallets (aka Cold
Storage Wallet)
Paper wallets are a piece of paper with a public address and the private
address printed on them.
You can use the public address to send any amount of bitcoins. You can
then save the piece of paper as it also contains the private key, which can be
used to transfer/spend bitcoins or sweep the Bitcoin paper wallet completely to
another wallet.
Since the keys are offline, printed, and secured by the owner, there is
no threat of any electronic damage to bitcoins unless the printed keys are
lost.
Read: Bitcoin paper wallet
Bitcoin wallets based on connectivity
Hot Bitcoin Wallets (Online)
Wallets in which bitcoins are stored online and connected 24/7 to the
internet are called hot wallets. Such Bitcoin platforms and
services which can receive/withdraw bitcoins for their users are hot wallets.
They are very much like the wallet you have in your pocket.
Akin to a cashier in a bank who has not kept the money deposited in the
bank vault but left it on his/her desk, your bitcoins are always under threat
when placed online and connected 24/7.
Cold Bitcoin Wallets (Offline)
And you must have guessed, those bitcoins stored offline in hard drives
or USB drives or paper, away from internet connectivity, are called cold
wallets.
Read: What is Cold storage in cryptocurrency
Bitcoin wallets based on
custodianship of keys
Custodial Wallets (3rd Party
Services)
When you entrust your bitcoins to be held by some agency/exchange on
your behalf, it means you are trusting them and storing your bitcoins with them
on their servers, thereby giving them custody of your bitcoins.
Non-Custodial Wallets
When you entrust your bitcoins to nobody and take responsibility for
your own funds by saving your Bitcoin private keys yourself, such wallets are
called non-custodial wallets.
Which Bitcoin Wallet Should You Use?
It is a tricky question.
The type of wallet you should use depends on your level of activity and
the level of security with which you want to handle your bitcoins.
It also depends on how frequently you use your funds and how much you
want to store in any particular wallet. Also, are the bitcoins you possess for
your savings/investment, or are they for daily transactions?
I prefer hardware wallets like Ledger Nano X for storing a significant
amount of bitcoins because of the high-security features. And I use desktop
wallets to keep bitcoins which I am not using for daily transactions. So
that whenever required, I can quickly connect my desktop wallet to the Bitcoin
network and transfer bitcoins.
I only use web wallets or mobile wallets to keep small amounts of
bitcoins, similar to a wallet in my pocket for daily transactions.
Which wallets do you prefer to use? Have you used any on this list? Let
us know in the comments below!
Like this guide to Bitcoin wallets? Could you share
it with your friends?
Here are a few hand-picked guides for you to read next:
- Best Segwit Enabled Wallets For Bitcoin
- Security Risks of Mobile, Web
& Desktop Bitcoin Wallets [Must Know]
- Here Is A List Of The Best
Cryptocurrency Trading Sites For Beginners [Updated List]
If you want to learn about paper wallets, check out this article.
I hope this detailed article on the different types of Bitcoin
wallets – including software, hardware, and desktop wallets – will
help you in making the right choice for yourself.
How many bitcoin can you store in a
bitcoin wallet?
You can store unlimited bitcoin in a bitcoin wallet. There is no minimum
or maximum limit.
Which Bitcoin wallet is best for a
small amount?
If you are storing less than 0.1 BTC, use the Trust wallet or xDefi
wallet.
Which Bitcoin wallet is best for
storing the huge values of Bitcoin?
A hardware wallet is the most secure way to store any value of Bitcoin.
If you are storing Bitcoin worth $700 or more for the long term, you should
order a hardware wallet such as Ledger Nano X or Ledger Nano S Plus.
Do let me know which bitcoin or altcoin wallet you are using in the
comments section below.
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