📦What Wallet Should I Use to Store My Bitcoin? Litecoin? Other Coins?
There are several different types of wallets you can use to store and manage your digital assets. What is most important is to assure that you are choosing the wallet that is right for you.
ShapeShift.com
ShapeShift.com is unique because it offers both a hardware wallet with the simplicity of an online web wallet, as well as an easy to create software wallet. You can also:
Trade. Want to store your crypto and trade all in the same place? Now you can!
Buy crypto with fiat.
We recommend the ShapeShift platform where you can immediately create a wallet with our Portis integration or connect a KeepKey.
If you don't have a KeepKey, ShapeShift.com also supports Trezor and Ledger.
If you need help getting started with your KeepKey, please click here.
Desktop Wallets
Much like its name implies, a desktop wallet is one that is accessed from and lives on a laptop or personal computer. These wallets can connect to the internet, but you can also view and manage them offline as well. Desktop wallets are often less prone to user error than mobile wallets due to the larger screen and easier readability of addresses.
Mobile Wallets
One of the most common and convenient ways to store your coins is through a mobile wallet that can live on your smartphone. Mobile wallets utilize the QR code function to create fast and user-friendly transactions. They are also convenient for smaller transactions such as buying coffee at a local café.
There are many different wallets made specifically for single-coin use, but there are also a number of wallets that can hold multiple types of coins to best suit your needs. ShapeShift recommends:
ShapeShift Mobile Wallet- https://shapeshift.com/invite
Jaxx - iOS Google Play
Coinomi - iOS Google Play
Edge - iOS Google Play
Online Web Wallets
Another way to store your coins is through an online web wallet. Online web wallets are where you use a third-party wallet to store all of your coins on the cloud. These wallets must be accessed with an internet connection and provide custodianship of assets directly to the third party being leveraged to store assets.
Here are a couple of options:
Portis - accessed directly from beta.shapeshift.com (the easiest way to open a wallet!)
Hardware Wallets
An arguably more advanced way to store assets is through a cold storage device which can hold your assets for you. This physical device connects to your computer through a cord and most devices do not allow for private keys to interact with your hard drive or the internet. Much like mobile wallets, many people choose to use hardware wallets for their versatility and convenience.
Here are a few options:
Bitcoin Clients
Bitcoin Clients were the first type of wallets used on the blockchain. These wallets are what made (and still make) up the original core of the client. The first ever Bitcoin transactions were all done through Bitcoin client wallets. With a Bitcoin client wallet, you are able to view all of the blockchain and be an active part in the state of the network. Clients are also able to run full nodes to help propagate transactions on the network.
You can check out BitcoinCore.
Physical Wallets
If none of the previous options sound good to you, you can also have coins sent to a physical wallet (or paper wallet). There are many different services out there that allow you to send your funds to an address that you can then print out and store securely wherever you would like.
Here are a couple of options:
Last updated