Introduction to ViaWallet: Eight Cryptocurrency Wallets that Beginners Must Know
The cryptocurrency market has become a white-hot economy in recent years, attracting more and more people. Many of them may have downloaded at least two wallet Apps on the phone. But for now, the market has been flooded with all kinds of wallet Apps, confusing newcomers. This article is a blessing for those new to the field as it will list features of eight popular wallets to help beginners make well-informed decisions.
Before introduction, let’s first talk about crypto wallets. Crypto wallets can be categorized into cold wallets and hot wallets based on the private key’s connection to the Internet. Crypto wallets can be further divided into centralized wallets and decentralized wallets according to the way the assets are kept.
Cold wallets: Simply put, these are the wallets that store digital currency offline. Users can generate digital currency addresses and private keys which will be saved later on an offline wallet. That’s to say, cold wallets can store digital currency without any network, so hackers cannot access them for private keys. In this way, cold wallets do a good job of eliminating security risks from the Internet. It is equivalent to locking assets in a safe at home, and there is no possibility of hacking. Cold wallets can handle large-sum asset storage nicely and well thanks to the high level of security. However, they come with a price tag and can be cumbersome for financial transactions. Furthermore, there is a risk of physical damage which will make the digital assets in the wallet vanish for good.
Hot wallets: These are the wallets that remain online, also known as online wallets. Hot wallets can be faster and more convenient to use, but they are not as safe as cold wallets because of their Internet access.
Decentralized wallets: They are also called exchange wallets where users store the coins they buy on the exchange. The wallets are created with a personal account that shows information about digital assets for users. Knowing the account number, pin code, and asset transaction passwords give users control of the assets in the account. The good side of using decentralized wallets is that users can retrieve their forgotten passwords through verification, and the wallets make transactions easier compared with the above-mentioned cold and hot wallets. However, exchange wallets have recorded the most hacking incidents since their creation. For example, Mt.Gox, which used to be the largest crypto exchange, was hacked and went bankrupt after its large-sum assets had been stolen. Some small exchanges may also go into liquidation because of poor management and the rough market environment. When that happens, users’ stored assets will be gone with it.
From the introduction above, we can see that each type has its own merits and demerits, and the choice depends on your needs. This article will recommend eight cryptocurrency wallets that are popular on the market.
1. imToken
Ease of use: ☆☆☆☆
Security: ☆☆☆☆
Category: Hot wallet
imToken is one of the most used mainstream wallets in the crypto community. As a decentralized digital asset mobile wallet, imToken provides multi-chain and multi-coin management and exchange for near 10 million users across the world. This hot wallet is quite secure with no sensitive user information stored on the server. Such information as keys and mnemonic phrases are just saved on users’ phones and not synchronized to imToken’s server. The wallet is designed to turn off cloud syncing services like iCloud by default to protect user-information as much as possible.
2. Coinbase
Ease of use: ☆☆☆
Security: ☆☆☆
Category: Hot wallet
Coinbase Wallet, a product of Coinbase Exchange, can help users buy and store ERC-20 tokens, take part in crypto airdrops and ICOs, collect unique digital items and other collectibles, browse DApps, pay cryptocurrencies in shops, and send cryptocurrencies to anyone around the world. As a well-established wallet, Coinbase Wallet is quite satisfactory in all aspects.
3. Math Wallet
Ease of use: ☆☆☆☆
Security: ☆☆☆
Category: Hot wallet
Math Wallet, empowered by MediShares cross-chain, supports 69+ public chains, the most in China. It has applied smart contracts and biometric technology such as face recognition and vocal print authentication to secure digital assets. The wallet has a beautiful user interface and supports DApps on a browser extension. Users who have a high demand for good looks would find Math Wallet appealing.
4. ViaWallet
Ease of use: ☆☆☆
Security: ☆☆☆☆
Category: Hot wallet
As a product of ViaBTC, the ViaWallet, launched in May 2019, is a decentralized wallet that supports multi-chain and multi-cryptocurrency management. It has supported more than 22 coins like BTC, ETH, BCH, and TRX issued by public chains, and over 1 million token assets. At the same time, the wallet boasts a multi-wallet management service, decentralized exchange CoinEx DEX, and Staking, and it may also extend services to include convenient exchange and the use of credit cards in the purchase of digital assets. Its new version is worth expecting.
5. MetaMask
Ease of use: ☆☆☆☆
Security: ☆☆☆☆
Category: Hot wallet
MetaMask is hailed as the world’s best open-source wallet based on Ethereum, helping investors manage their Ethereum assets easily. The wallet is available as an explorer extension, and users do not need to download a client, which can free up the memory. Meanwhile, it can test smart contracts that run on the Ethereum, and support versatile DApps; it is compatible with hardware wallets like Ledger and Trezor and can issue coins with one click. All of these edges have made the lightweight Ethereum wallet well-received among the Ethereum community since day one.
6. Ledger
Ease of use: ☆☆☆
Security: ☆☆☆☆☆
Category: Cold wallet
Cold wallets are absolutely the first choice to deal with large digital assets. But they are more complicated to use than hot wallets, making them less appropriate for newcomers. Ledger is more suitable for large investors with a deep pocket as it only supports most mainstream coins rather than less popular ones. Since Ledger is offline, users don’t need to worry about hacking incidents or viruses. Yet users need to protect their hardware devices from being lost or destroyed.
7. Trezor
Ease of use: ☆☆☆
Security: ☆☆☆
Category: Cold wallet
Trezor is highly secure and convenient to use. It can get access to a computer and sign Bitcoin transactions via a USB connection with no need to allow the computer to access private information. Unlike cold storage, the wallet enables transactions when it’s connected to an online device. That’s to say, it is very safe to use Bitcoin even on an insecure computer. Trezor also supports most of the mainstream coins, although it charges a bit more than Ledger.
8. KeepKey
Ease of use: ☆☆☆
Security: ☆☆☆☆☆
Category: Cold wallet
KeepKey supports multiple coins like BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC, and Doge. It uses a hardware-based random number generator, combined with the randomness provided by your computer, to generate a private key. Once the private key is generated, users can write down a backup straightforward and retrieve the key through a 12-word secret sentence. It can be applied to PC, Mac, Linux, and Android devices.
Crypto wallets are indispensable to Bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies. As the crypto market remains sluggish, more and more people may save their assets in crypto wallets and wait for the next bull market. At this point, it’s important to choose a crypto wallet that best responds to your needs.
