Cryptocurrency All-in-One For Dummies. Peter Kent

keys. No easy-to-use interface. Must download and run code or use Chrome add-in. MyEtherWallet, www.myetherwallet.com Provides the option to print your keys instead of storing them. The easiest way to create your own paper wallet. Easy-to-use web interface for creating accounts and keys. You must protect generated keys.

Paper wallets do have some disadvantages, though:

       They aren’t user-friendly for non-geeks.

       They’re harder to use for day-to-day transactions than other wallet types are.

       They can catch fire.

      

Some paper wallet generators include WalletGenerator (https://WalletGenerator.net), Bitcoinpaperwallet (Bitcoinpaperwallet.org), and Mycelium (https://mycelium.com/mycelium-entropy.html). Book 2, Chapter 4 has steps for setting up a paper wallet through http://www.bitaddress.org/. Mycelium offers an original and even more secure way to generate paper wallets, with a USB device that you plug directly into your printer. The device generates a paper wallet that automatically gets printed out without ever having touched your computer.

Choosing a Crypto Wallet

      Depending on your cryptocurrency needs and goals, you may need more than one type of cryptocurrency wallet. For example, Kiana uses cold wallets to store larger crypto reserves and hot wallets for active trading. Regardless, you can choose your cryptocurrency wallet (or wallets) based on different characteristics, some of which are discussed in the following sections.

      

Make sure you’ve gathered everything you need to know about a given wallet before committing to getting one.

      Based on security

      

Even if you’re an active crypto trader, we recommend that you have a super-secure cold wallet where you store your larger amounts of crypto assets. Online wallets aren’t the most secure option, however convenient they may be. You can always transfer your assets to an online wallet if you need immediate access to your cryptocurrencies for an investment or shopping opportunity.

      Also remember that the most secure hardware wallets are normally the most expensive ones. So you should calculate whether spending that much money for a particular wallet makes sense for the amount of crypto you’re going to store in it.

      Some questions you must ask before choosing the most secure wallet include the following:

       What sort of authentication does the wallet use?

       Is the website secure?

       What do online reviews say?

      

CoinCentral.com, 99Bitcoins.com, and CryptoCompare.com are websites that provide an annual crypto wallet review. We recommend checking with two or more websites before making a decision.

      

At the time of writing, the Ledger Nano S hardware wallet is one of the most popular and highly rated secure wallets out there. You can find out about other Ledger products at www.ledger.com. The Trezor Bitcoin hardware wallet (created by SatoshiLabs) is another example. One catch about these wallets is that if the USB drive dies, all your cryptos go with it. That’s why you should always have a backup and keep your security codes elsewhere so that you can recover your assets.

      Based on your crypto ownership

      Not all crypto wallets can handle your different types of cryptocurrency assets. In fact, some wallets are purpose-built for just one cryptocurrency; many cryptocurrencies have their own official wallets, which can handle only that one crypto.

For example, Bitcoin-specific wallets include Bitcoin Core Wallet (https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet), Mycelium (https://wallet.mycelium.com/), and Electrum (https://electrum.org/#home). See Book 3, Chapter 3 for more about Bitcoin and wallets. For Ethereum, you have options such as Ethereum Wallet (www.ethereum.org/) and MyEtherWallet (which is a paper wallet; see www.myetherwallet.com/). Book 2, Chapter 5 has steps on setting up a wallet through www.ethereum.org/. And Book 4, Chapter 5 has more specific information about choosing an Ethereum wallet.

      

If you’re not planning to diversify among other types of cryptocurrencies, a singular official cryptocurrency wallet may be right for you. Most of the time, you can find the official wallet of a cryptocurrency on the company’s website.

      Multicurrency wallets are an option for people who want to hold more than one cryptocurrency. The majority of online wallets provided on the exchanges (introduced in Book 5, Chapter 3) give you the opportunity to store and transact among multiple cryptos. However, if you’re using these wallets to store your crypto assets, know that your wallet security may be compromised.

      

We do not recommend leaving your coins in an online exchange wallet.

      

Coinomi (www.coinomi.com/) is a popular multicoin mobile wallet. It supports more than 200 different digital tokens and a number of blockchains. It’s a great multi-asset cryptocurrency wallet. Exodus (https://www.exodus.io/) is another multicoin wallet. Your private keys remain secure on your device and never leave it. Exodus can even encrypt the private keys for you.

      Based on transaction fees

      If you’re planning to do a lot of crypto shopping and use digital coins on the go, you may need to be mindful of the transaction fees you’re paying along the way. This point is especially true for active traders.