Before you can dip a toe into the crypto waters, you need to equip yourself with a digital wallet. This is where you will store your coins and tokens, and hopefully where they will grow in value. Getting a crypto wallet is easy but choosing which one can be hard. Here is a simple guide to help you out.
Read The Reviews
The internet is awash with opinions on just about every topic, and crypto wallets are no different. There is a lot of noise in the crypto space, and influencers trying to get you to follow their link to get involved in digital assets, so you do have to be careful and take some opinions with a pinch of salt. Doing some online research should help you put together a shortlist of crypto wallet candidates to investigate further.
Security Is A Primary Concern
Any crypto wallet needs to offer three basic things, and it needs to do each well. The first issue is security. Cryptocurrencies are very different from traditional paper currency, but the principle of a crypto wallet is the same as the cash wallet in your pocket; if it falls into the wrong hands, you could lose your money. Your crypto wallet should have basic digital protections like PINs and biometric security like facial recognition, and two-factor authentication (2FA).
Reputation Is Everything In Finance
The second base a crypto wallet needs to cover is its reputation. Take a deeper dive into the recommendations and reviews of your chosen wallet, and make sure you see what its detractors have to say as well as its cheerleaders. Forums like Reddit, and also reviews on app stores on Google, Apple, and Microsoft, can give you a better idea of what the user experience is like and can highlight any flaws or technical issues the wallet has. Wallets should allow you to take full advantage of any defi trading platform so you can access lending, borrowing, and trading without needing a middleman.
Access Is Ownership
Without access to the ‘private keys’ of your digital assets then you do not have complete ownership or control over them. Having control over your private keys is the third base a crypto wallet needs to reach. Any wallet that does not provide you access to your wallet and asset’s private keys is only giving you a claim to your crypto, and not full ownership. The best wallets use your device to generate the private keys for your assets, and they remain on your device. This gives you complete control over them and makes trading quicker and easier, as well as more secure.
Hitting A Home Run
If a wallet can cover these three basics, it should move to the top of your shortlist. The way to pick and choose from that point on is to look for features that offer you value. Backup features should be important, so you can back up all your personal keys and transaction records to a cloud or personal drive. Multisig features allow you to create accounts with multiple users, and transactions require everyone’s consent.
Choose a wallet that ticks all of your boxes and take the plunge. If you have followed these steps, you should have found one with all the security and functionality you need to start trading crypto. Before you make a big purchase, play around with a small amount of money to make sure your chosen wallet does everything you expected it to do.
