Crypto Academy Season 4 Beginners' course - Task 9: Blockchain Wallet-- Types, Uses, Installation, etc.

This is @aizazghumman; here I am going to share my homework post on the topic " Blockchain Wallet-- Types, Uses, Installation," given by respected professor @sapwood

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How do you store/secure your keys? What are the different forms of Private Key(Examples/Screenshot)? Download & Install TronLink Wallet(Android/iOS/Extension)? How do you store the key(Hint- write it down on a notepad, demonstrate it with examples)? Which form of the key are you comfortable with to handle your TronLink Wallet? Include Screenshots & hide/blur the sensitive information.

How do you store/secure your keys?

Before coming on how we store them let us reminisce their importance. One should know as they are decentralized assets hence there’s no centralized authority controlling your assets hence users use digital wallets to store their assets. This is where the keys come into the picture. These keys are access to your wallets which gives you ownership on your stored assets hence keeping them is equal to keeping access to your assets and one who loses it loses his cryptocurrency too.

Now how do I store my keys?

Well, there are several methods I have been using ever since I started creating accounts whether they are social ones or crypto-related.

EMAIL DRAFT

Saving important data of Email draft has been one of my habits hence we can use the email drafts option to save our secure keys. As our emails technically are under our access only and we can get our keys at any place and anytime with this.

ON MY DIARY

For those who are diary persons, they’d know how a person wants their diary to be upgraded with all their information. In diaries today there are even separate sections for users to enter their different account details. I guess with diaries having smart locking systems we can trust them for writing our security keys on them.

SELF CHAT ON SOCIAL APPS

One of the epic ways I store most of my data is by saving things on myself chat on social platforms. For someone who’s an active social media user, they’d know how frequently they visit their social accounts hence some platforms allow users to have their personal chat where there’s no one hence one can enter or save his keys there.

What are the different forms of Private Key (Examples/Screenshot)?

There are currently three sorts of private keys I have come across which are listed below

The Private Key

The Mnemonic Key

The Keystore File Key.

Let us discuss these forms or types of keys bit in detail

Private Key

This type of code or key consists of a combination of numeric and alphabetic data. This gives access to users to log into or continue processing with their wallets. It’s impossible for me to remember them unless practice for very long. For Example it goes like “1jfgf372bsfvhsjdsv3727vgdfjdssjs2316cyvcwh”.

Here’s a pictorial example

Can be longer or something but one can understand the pattern from the example above

Mnemonic Key

The mnemonic key type is my personal favorite as it is easy to memorize and consists of the alphabetic pattern. It consists of random words of the English language which usually come up at the time of signing up the wallet for the first time where they ask you to write it or memorize it as they’ll be needed in further processing of account. For example, the mnemonic key can be like the picture below

Source

Keystore File Key

It’s an encrypted version of your private key. It is the complicated most version of keys. With the Keystore file backing your wallet user can restore their wallets with the help of the Keystore file and the password, you chose initially. Unlike above mentioned two keys they don’t work on their own it requires a JSON file along with your password. Let’s have a look at these keys for better understanding from the picture below

Source

Download & Install TronLink Wallet (Android/iOS/Extension)?

Since I already have TronLink wallet installed in my wallet hence I’ll be adding an extension of this wallet in my browser which can be done in the following steps.

Firstly go to the Tronlink extension page on your browser upon reaching the page shown in the picture below click on “Add to chrome” option available in the right corner.

Once you’ll click on the “add to chrome” button you’ll receive the following pop-up screen warning you of possible changes you can go through upon adding this extension. Here I’ll select the option of “Add extension”

Now finally you’ll have your TronLink wallet extension added in your chrome below is the screenshot of this Wallet added as an extension in my browser.

How do you store the key (Hint- write it down on a notepad, demonstrate it with examples)?

As I said in the first part I use email drafts for storing my data hence I’ll be demonstrating my way of storing my key which is my TronLink wallet mnemonic key.

The screenshot below shows my Mnemonic key saved in my email drafts.

Here is the screenshot of my Mnemonic key I keep for extra safety reasons.

Which form of the key are you comfortable with to handle your TronLink Wallet? Include Screenshots & hide/blur the sensitive information.

As shown in earlier question I have kept the mnemonic key saved in my email draft which is because I am more comfortable with this form of key for obvious reasons i.e. they are easy to memorize or readers friendly and can be kept in mind with ease comparatively if we talk about other forms of key,

Here’s the screenshot of my draft email where I have my mnemonic key saved.

Conclusion

These digital wallets are in short your access to your crypto assets one must be very careful with keeping the keys securely. Secondly, they are pretty simple to use and I enjoy using these wallets for transactions.