The Perfect Cryptocurrency Accessory
Banknotes and physical coins — just throw them in your pocket or purse, along with your keys and phone, or keep them in a nice leather wallet, the choice is yours. But when it comes to cryptocurrency, there’s only one safe choice: a crypto-wallet. Thus, it’s not a question whether you should use one but rather what qualities you should look for in a crypto wallet.
The Desired Traits
Crypto wallets come in many forms and shapes, with different prices, security features and ease of use, so before deciding which one to use, you should consider how are you going to use it. Will you be moving crypto back and forth everyday? Do you want to store multiple cryptocurrencies or just one? Last but not least: do you want to access the wallet from anywhere or from one computer only? To help you better decide, let’s dig into the main characteristics that you should compare:
Costs
Digital crypto wallets are always free or at least I haven’t encountered a paid one so far. On the other hand, all hardware wallets come with a price tag that depends on how fancy you want it to be. For example a Ledger Nano S (one of the most popular hardware wallets) will set you back a mere 70–90 bucks, depending on the retailer you buy it from and shipping costs. The Ledger Blue, which comes with a touchscreen can cost you more than 300 bucks, again depending on the retailer. Trezor, which is another well-known hardware crypto wallet starts at around 100 bucks and can go up above $300 depending on model and features (you can choose to buy a steel case that protects it against environmental effects).
Choosing one depends on your budget and needs: if you travel a lot and tend to throw your luggage around, then maybe go for the Trezor with the steel case, and stay away from the touchscreen of Ledger Blue. If you are planning on keeping the wallet in your house, a simple Ledger Nano S will do. Your choice.
Security
· Online (web based) crypto wallets are also called “hot” wallets and are generally considered less secure, because they are controlled by a third party and store your private keys online. This increases the risk of it being stolen via hacks, system failure or even scams.
· Desktop wallets can be included in the “hot” category because they still rely on being online to function properly; however, these are the safest wallets in the “hot” category because the information is stored on your computer. The downside is that you can only use the wallet on the computer it was downloaded on. Also, the risk of hacks and virus infection still remains.
· Mobile wallets: these are basically mobile apps that you download and install on your phone. The greatest risk is losing your device and all your crypto with it.
· Offline hardware wallets (also called “cold”) cannot be hacked because they are not connected to an online network and the private keys are stored privately. However, this doesn’t eliminate the risk of physical harm.
Even if no hacks or physical harm occurs, and no matter which type of wallet you use, remember that losing your private keys means your crypto is gone forever.
Mobility
This is another characteristic that will be either very important or not at all, depending on individual preferences. For example, if you want your crypto to be available immediately, no matter where you are, you will choose a mobile wallet (on your phone) or a web based wallet. The former is always with you and the latter can be accessed wherever you have internet so they both get top points for mobility.
On the other hand, if you are not very interested in having your crypto at your side all the time, you can go for a desktop wallet downloaded on your home computer (safer than mobile or web based wallets). Hardware wallets are a mix between portability and accessibility because you can always carry them with you but you need a computer to use them.
User Friendliness
This is important because depending on your tech savviness, you will be able to choose your crypto wallet accordingly. Some wallets like Exodus for desktop are fairly easy to use and don’t require a steep learning curve but on the other hand, Mycelium (for mobiles) is not suited for beginners. Same goes for hardware wallets: Ledger Nano S for example has only 2 buttons and it can be pretty tricky to set up initially and use afterwards, while the touchscreen version is friendlier to use, at least from the perspective of the input method.
Style
If you’ve decided on all the features you need in a wallet but you’re still not certain which one to use, I guess it’s down to style preference. With online wallets the style is represented by the UI, so basically if you like the interface, you like the style. Hardware/offline wallets come in different shapes and have different input methods, so it all depends on whether you like touchscreen, steel protection cases or the classic buttons but I must say I have seen Ledger Nano S worn as a fashion accessory, especially at blockchain conferences. So to each their own, your style your choice.
The Trump Card — INF Smart Designation Repository
No matter the style, security level or type of wallet, all of them use passwords and/or PINs for everyday access and private keys (recovery seeds, mnemonic phrases, etc.) to recover access in case something bad happens. Infinitus (INF) acts as the binder that ties together all the different types of wallets by protecting your passwords and private keys.
No matter what wallet you are using, your private keys are of paramount importance and Infinitus’ job is to protect and store them on a decentralized network. This way, if you lose your phone and your crypto wallet that’s on it, you can later restore it using the keys stored by Infinitus. If your computer gets hacked, you can restore your desktop wallet the same way. If you lose your hardware wallet, you can buy a new one and restore the old contents (i.e. your crypto coins) using the information stored by Infinitus. All wallets are prone to some form of damage, whether physical or cybernetic and this makes the private keys the last line of defence. Safe to say, you wouldn’t want to lose them! INF makes sure that never happens.
The Takeaway
If you own any type and amount of crypto, you surely have at least one wallet to store your digital coins and that in turn means you need a way to store your passwords and private keys… unless you want to rely exclusively on your memory. However, memorizing your private keys would be an unnecessary strain on your brain and a very difficult task, obviously. Thankfully Infinitus (INF) has solved that problem and is rapidly becoming a must-have crypto wallet accessory, which makes losing private keys a thing of the past.
