Beginners Guide to Choosing the right wallet for First time users

When first getting into Cryptocurrencies it is a confusing time with all the information that you are trying to take in.

Why is it important to choose your wallet before buying any cryptocurrencies?
Cryptocurrencies are your freedom to financial freedom from the fiat world. Buying cryptocurrencies are done through exchanges that provide a service to store your cryptocurrencies. However, in the crypto world you are money is not backed by any entity this is why you need to make sure you are in 100% control of your money! Exchanges control whether you can buy/sell or deposit/withdraw your funds from the exchange. To keep your financial freedom in the crypto world it is important to keep your funds off an exchange unless you are selling crypto.

This article is here to help guide anyone to choose there ideal wallet, no matter whether you are starting in the crypto world or have some experience!

Types of wallets

Desktop wallets

Wallets that are used on your personal computer. These wallets are ideal for holding some of your cryptocurrencies if you are seeking to make purchases or want to use the special features that the core wallets can provide. When using a desktop wallet you don't want to hold a large amount of funds on your computer incase there is some malicious software on your computer.

Types of Desktop wallets

Multi-Cryptocurrency: These wallets are exactly how they sound. They support multiple cryptocurrencies, from Bitcoin to certain ERC-20 tokens like EOS.

Examples are the Exodus Wallet and the Jaxx wallet. (you can find guides at the end of the article)

Core Wallets: These wallets are typically ones that support all features of the crypto as well as set your specific transaction fee.

Example, with the Dash Core Wallet, you have access to Dash InstantSend and Dash PrivateSend.

Mobile wallets

These wallets are ideal for when you are shopping around at storefronts. You can think of a mobile wallet as your physical wallet that you hold your credit cards in or hold you fiat in to pay merchants for the goods or services that they provide you as a customer. There are many types of mobile wallets available, depending on your device.

How much to store on your mobile wallet? This is one of my favorite questions to answer, when shopping you want to have enough funds to pay for your merchandise but not too much. Say you are going out to dinner with your family and you might want to take around $150 worth of crypto. 1) Enough to pay for the meal and 2) enough to pay for the transaction fee, this is primarily for bitcoin with the high fees. Not having too much crypto on your mobile wallet is import, it is like carrying around cash, you are not going to be walking around with $1000 in cash unless you are planning on making an instant purchase. If you lose your wallet, no one is going to reimburse you for losing it, same goes for crypto.

Wallet Suggestions:
iOS: Jaxx or Core Wallets
Android: Coinomi, Jaxx, or Core Wallets

Hardware Wallets

Hardware Wallets are probably the most important thing for crypto safety. As your investment grows you are going to want to keep them safe with cold storage.

What is cold storage? It is a concept of saying that your wallet is not online, the only way it can be online is when you connect your device to your computer or mobile device depending on your hardware wallet.

What makes a Hardware wallet more secure?

1. The device is never online until plugged in.
2. Transactions can ONLY be approved on the device itself. If there is malware on your computer someone might be able to see your funds, but wont be able to removed them from your device.

Wallet Suggestions: Ledger Nano S, Trezor, or Keep Key.

Paper Wallets

These wallets are exactly how they sound. These wallets are generated from randomized mouse movements created in your browser. The randomization helps generate a cryptographic code for your private key, while creating your public key at the same time.

You can find paper wallets on the OFFICIAL websites of the cryptocurrency you own.

Selecting the wallet best for you

Beginners

It can be a little intimidating when you are trying to figure out what wallet to use when you first get involved with cryptocurrencies. When you first enter the decentralize world you are probably just testing the waters, maybe you are getting a couple hundred dollars worth of crypto. You are not risking to much, this is why you can have a hot wallet like a mobile wallet or even a desktop wallet.

When picking a desktop wallet there are several that you can choose from, a core wallet or a multi-cryptocurrency wallet.

Here are a few guides of setting up wallets that you might be interested in:

Intermediate to Advanced

Intermediate to Advanced wallets are not directly based on skill level in the crypto world. These wallets are for users that have accumulated a good amount of crypto. These wallets are known as hardware wallet, which are cold storage devices, they are NEVER online, only when you connect your wallet to a device it is online. These cold storage devices cannot have malware installed on them unless it happened during manufacturing.

Verdict

When choosing a wallet it depends on many factors, I hope that breaking down the types of wallets for you made it easier to choose what is best for you.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this article! If you have any questions please let me know in the comment section below.

Cheers,
Albert

AlbertArellanes.com
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