Have you been curious about cryptocurrency? Maybe you’ve been a little nervous or intimidated about getting set up? Well, worry no more, this article is here to help. I had personally wanted to get into crypto for years, but felt that it was a little overwhelming and confusing, so I put it off. Unfortunately, this cost me years of experience, and likely quite a bit of potential monetary gains. As of writing this, I have been a proud owner of cryptocurrency for about three months. With the potential struggles and questions of a new crypto user fresh in my mind, we thought that a handy guide for crypto newcomers would be helpful. I am going to try and keep this simple, and not super technical, mainly just a guide to help you get started.

1. Beginners Guide To Cryptocurrency For Beginners
2. Investing In Cryptocurrency For Beginners

Before we get into this, I need to say that I am not giving financial advice. I am in no way, shape, or form professionally qualified to tell you what you should do with your money. Those are decisions that we all have to make for ourselves. Throughout this article, I will reference or use particular crypto currencies, wallets, services, etc. This is not necessarily an endorsement of those products and services. I picked them mostly for ease of use and to keep things simple for the explanation purposes of this article. To my knowledge, the products I have referenced should be just fine, but they are by no means an all-inclusive list; feel free to explore other services, you may find ones you like better.

What is cryptocurrency? I know I said nothing too technical, so I promise this explanation will be brief. According to Coin Market Cap, there are over 6000 crypto currencies, and they may work in different ways. Cryptocurrencies are basically digital currency. They are secured by cryptography (hence, the “crypto” in cryptocurrency) which makes them near impossible to counterfeit, or to double spend. They are generally decentralized networks based on blockchain technology. Because they are decentralized, they are outside of the control of government and banks. Bitcoin was the first and most famous cryptocurrency, and the first digital currency based on blockchain technology. Blockchain is basically a term describing a public ledger that is timestamped and unchangeable. Here is a link to an article by Sal Mayweather if you would like to learn more about the technicals of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.

1. Beginners Guide to Binance Cryptocurrency Exchange - From Opening & Securing the Account to Trading. Over the course of this guide, let us take a look at what is Binance, as well as how to use the Binance exchange to trade cryptocurrencies e.
2. A Complete Guide to Cryptocurrency for Beginners. If you’ve ended up on this page, then there’s a chance that you’ve caught wind of the massive cryptocurrency buzz sweeping the world. Over the last year, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have gone from being relatively unknown to.

The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Cryptocurrency Investing. When you get acquainted with buying crypto and start to itch for some crypto trading (e.g. BTC/ETH), simply perform an instant transfer from Coinbase to GDAX free of charge and start trading. Think of Coinbase as the place to conveniently buy and store your crypto and GDAX as your.

The first step on your crypto journey will be to download a wallet. A wallet is a program on your computer or phone that allows you to store, send, and receive cryptocurrencies. There are many of them out there; they are free and you can have more than one, so don’t worry, you aren’t committed to anything. Just make sure that you get a wallet that is compatible with the particular cryptocurrency you wish to obtain (perhaps the first step should be to determine what crypto you want, but we’ll get to that later). Let’s keep it simple and assume that you are going to be purchasing some bitcoin cash (BCH).

(Note: I am not advocating for any particular coin, however due to a few factors, including transaction fees, we will be working with BCH.)

Try downloading the Jaxx Liberty wallet onto your phone and/or desktop. I like this wallet; it’s super easy to use, handles dozens of different cryptocurrencies, allows you to purchase crypto right from the app, and they are responsive if you should have any issues. I also really like the bitcoin.com wallet, it is easy to use as well. Note: When purchasing crypto through Jaxx, and the Bitcoin.com wallet, they will require you to submit personal info for tax purposes. Once you have provided them with your I.D., those wallet addresses will be forever tied to the identity provided, and you will not be able to remain anonymous.

When you first open your wallet, you will want to click on “create new wallet”. You will be prompted to back up your wallet; you want to do this, it is very important. Backing up your wallet allows you to recover it at any time, from anywhere. By using your 12 word “seed phrase,” you (or anyone who has the phrase) can recover and access the wallet in the event you lose or break your device. It is very important to write down your phrase and keep it in a safe and secure location. If you lose it, you lose access to your wallet, and you will have no way of recovering your crypto; it is your responsibility. Also keep in mind that if anybody else obtains your phrase, they can use and transfer funds from your wallet.

Once you begin to backup your wallet, you will be given 12 words. Write them down, in order. You will then be asked to confirm your phrase by putting the words in order. It’s simpler than it sounds, they just want to make sure you have followed instructions and backed up your wallet. After you have confirmed your seed phrase, you are all set! It should take you to your holdings page, where it shows what cryptos you have, and how much they are worth in dollars. As of now, this should say zero. By clicking on the wallets tab on the bottom of the screen, it will take you to your different wallets. Here, you have the ability to turn the visibility of wallets for different coins on or off. This allows you to hide the clutter of wallets you don’t use, which you can edit by clicking the edit icon in the top right corner. Congrats! You’re now ready to accept crypto!

So, now that we have our wallet set up we can do a couple of things: we can’t spend any BCH yet, since we don’t have any. We do have the ability to receive though, so let’s go ahead and talk about that. Let’s say you’re having a yard sale, and you’re selling your old bike for 20$. The purchaser asks to pay with Bitcoin cash! Grab your phone and open your Jaxx wallet, select your BCH wallet in the wallet tab, then select the receive button. The app will display a QR code and an address consisting of a long string of characters. The purchaser will open their app, enter the amount (20$), and then scan your QR code…and you’re all set! Your BCH should show up in your wallet within a few minutes. If you were doing a sale where the purchaser isn’t present, you can copy and paste that long string of characters into an email or text, and send that to the buyer. They will be able to insert that address into their wallet and send funds that way as well. We will discuss purchasing crypto a little later, but let’s go ahead and talk about sending crypto with your wallet.

Ok, so the following week your neighbor is having a yard sale and you want to buy a fishing pole from her for ten dollars. Since you are lucky enough to live in a neighborhood with so many other agorists, she is happy to accept BCH! Take out your phone, open your Jaxx wallet, and select your BCH wallet from the wallet tab. Press the send button to open your send menu. First, enter the amount you want to send at the bottom of the screen. You can enter the amount in USD or in BCH. Go ahead and enter $10.00 in the USD field; the app will show you the equivalent amount of BCH in the BCH field. Note that below these fields, it will show your total amount of BCH available, as well as the transaction fee that will be taken out of this purchase.

Next, you will need to tell the wallet where to send the crypto. At the top of your screen, you will see an address field. You can copy and paste an address here, you can select an icon to scan a QR code, or select an address from your contacts. Because this is an in person transaction, we will select the QR code option. Your neighbor will open her wallet and select receive; this will generate the QR code for you to scan with your phone. Scan it, and that’s it! Your crypto should arrive in her wallet within a few minutes. Alternatively, if you are making a transaction and the receiver isn’t present, you can copy and paste the address sent to you in the address line instead. It is also worth noting that the desktop version of Jaxx does not have the scan QR code option, as it isn’t really necessary.

How to purchase cryptocurrency

Now that we have learned the basics of how to use your wallet, let’s figure out how to put something into it in the first place. If you’re lucky enough to have people lined up at your door to pay you for goods and services in crypto, this may not be important. For the rest of us, however, there are a few ways to go about this. Let’s explore some options.

First, what are crypto exchanges, and how do I choose one? We will keep this section as basic as possible, but there are some differences between exchanges that we have to cover. First, what are the different types of exchanges? (Note: this isn’t an all-inclusive list!)

-Centralized exchange: A centralized exchange is a crypto exchange run by a centralized company. Since they are regulated by the government, you are required to give up personally identifiable information (i.e. name, address, social(ist) (in)security card, etc.) before making purchases or exchanges. It may not be a big deal for some; however if you are looking for privacy, it is certainly worth noting. Also be aware that you are legally required to pay taxes on gains from crypto (that is, gains that the government is aware of). They tend to be easier to use, and you can purchase crypto with fiat currency. Please remember to look at and compare fees and such before making purchases.

Beginners Guide To Cryptocurrency For Beginners

Pros include:

-Typically easy to use

-You can purchase crypto with fiat currency, via credit card or bank account

Cons include:

-Funds are controlled by the exchange

-More vulnerable to hacks or malfeasance

-Government regulated

-Not anonymous (require Know Your Customer (KYC) personal info)

-Centrally governed

-Decentralized exchange: A decentralized exchange (DEX) is a totally open source marketplace for cryptocurrencies. Instead of dealing with a centralized company, buyers and sellers deal more directly with each other for their transactions. These tend to be much more private and in some ways much more secure. They can be a bit more complex, and usually require that you trade crypto for crypto, as opposed to being able to purchase with a debit card.

-Pros include:

-Users control the funds, meaning you don’t have to entrust them to a third party

-Not subject to hacks like a centralized exchange

-No KYC so you can remain anonymous

-Less subject to government control

-Cons include:

-Are more complicated to use

-Do not take credit/debit cards

-Must trade crypto for crypto, therefore you must already be holding cryptocurrency

-Fees may be higher, therefore it may be good to use a DEX for larger trades

-Peer to peer exchange: A peer to peer exchange is a type of decentralized exchange where you will actually interact with the person you are trading with. These exchanges can allow you to have more control over your trade and allow for anonymity as well. When the two parties work out the arrangement, the funds and crypto are held in escrow and then released once the conditions are met. This way, you don’t have to blindly trust the person you are trading with. Also, there are rating systems and such so you can have an idea of the person’s reputation before commencing the trade.

-Pros include:

-More control over your trades, such as who you will deal with, prices, and method of payment.

-Usually has low transaction fees.

-Doesn’t require KYC documentation, allowing for a degree of privacy (although it’s not required to use the exchange, some sellers will want you to verify your identity)

-Generally easier to use than a DEX

-Cons include:

-Some sellers will only accept certain forms of payment, so you may be limited based on how you are willing to pay.

-Although reviews and rating systems provide a good degree of confidence, there is always a counterparty risk.

So which type of exchange should you use? Decentralized exchanges have a degree of difficulty, so they may not be the best place to start. You would also need to have crypto to trade with. Centralized exchanges, or just purchasing crypto through your wallet is surely the easiest. You can simply sign up and pay with a credit card, and they are usually pretty secure. You will have to give up a bit of personal info, so if privacy is what you’re looking for, it may not be ideal. Also keep in mind that centralized exchanges have to report to the IRS, so if you are buying large quantities, bear that in mind. Centralized exchanges may be a good place to start; you can easily get some crypto to play with, make a few purchases till you’re comfortable, then explore other options. I personally like the peer to peer exchanges. In my experience, they have been easy to use and the privacy factor is a big plus as well. Up next, we will go a little more in depth into the peer to peer exchanges, and how to use them.

Peer to peer exchanges, or sometimes called “local” exchanges, exist for most popular cryptocurrencies. Sticking with BTC for this, let’s check out Local.bitcoin.com. The first thing you will want to do is create an account. Once you do this, an associated wallet will be created. Coins you purchase will go here; and from this point, you can transfer them to another wallet, let’s say your Jaxx Liberty wallet we set up earlier. Also, don’t forget to keep your user name and password in a safe place! You should also back up your wallet, especially if you plan on holding funds there. Note: the backup for this wallet is not a seed phrase, rather a file that you download.

So, you have your account all set up; on the home page, click the “browse listings” button, and it will bring up all of the available listings. There are some drop down menus at the top to help you narrow your search. In the first one, select that you want to buy BCH, if you have a specific payment method, you can select it from the second drop down menu. I have a few ways that I am willing to pay, and the drop down is not an all-inclusive list, so I usually just leave that one alone.

Next, you have the location drop down, in case you want to specify a country. I usually select “USA” because it’s more likely I will find people who want to trade in dollars (under advanced search options there is a drop down for currency specifically). Now that we have it narrowed down a bit, you will see the available listings populate. Each listing will have the name of the seller, the payment methods they accept, their location, volume they are willing to trade, and finally a button with the price. When you see a listing that tickles your fancy, click on that button to get more details. Some things to look for: what payment methods they take, if they require KYC info, their feedback ratings, price etc. Once you make sure that you agree with the price and the terms, you can initiate the trade. Simply enter the amount you want to purchase, send them a quick message, and the click open trade and follow the instructions given. The sellers coins will be held in escrow until your payment clears, then the coins will be released to you! You can find them in your wallet, however they may take a few minutes to show up; but once they do, you can transfer them out to your preferred wallet. I have found that you may pay a little more for the coins using a site like this compared to some centralized exchanges, but the private nature of the trade is a definite plus.

If you have made it this far with me, you are well on your way to being a crypto master! Before we wrap up, there are just a couple more things I would like to go over.

-Privacy coins and considerations: Oftentimes, people are under the assumption that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are totally anonymous, and that isn’t necessarily true. Although you don’t need any personal info to open and use a wallet, remember that the blockchain is a public ledger. Even though your name may not be attached to your wallet, your wallet still has an identification itself. Over enough time, with enough transactions, it is possible for some software to pick up patterns and trace a coin’s journey from wallet to wallet. For this reason you should not just assume that all of your crypto transactions are totally private.

Why would someone who isn’t doing anything nefarious care about being anonymous? If you aren’t doing anything wrong, you don’t have anything to hide right? (Of course, that last line should be read in a sarcastic tone.) While there are many answers to this question, my first is always, “Why the heck not?!” Why would you want a government or any other entity tracking where and how you spend your money? What good could come of that? Also, what a government deems as immoral or against the law may not actually be a crime in the sense that there is no victim. So, who cares if they don’t approve? This is a great place to point out that all sorts of illegal activity and substances are paid for mostly in Federal Reserve Notes (cash), so the idea that crypto is mainly a vessel for criminal activity is absurd; they (“criminals”) privately transact in cash every day, and in far higher amounts.

Finally, it is apparent that governments want to control everything they possibly can, especially money. Therefore, having a private currency that they cannot control is key to breaking the chains of government oppression and that pesky inflation tax. In Wendy McElroy’s fantastic (free) book, “The Satoshi Revolution”, she does a fantastic job making the case for crypto and why it is an important tool in our fight for freedom, I cannot recommend it enough.

“Ok, we get it, privacy is important, how do we make it happen?” We have a few options here for what we can do. First, there are services called “coin mixers”. These applications take coins from several different users, mix them together, then re-distribute. By doing this you are getting different coins than you put in. This makes it much less likely, or even impossible, for coins to be traced once mixed. Check out the Electron Cash wallet, if you like, it has shuffle technology built in. Check out thisarticle by Brandon Aragon for more info on this topic.

Another useful crypto tool are coin swap apps (I like Simple Swap, but there are many out there, and you may need to explore a few if you are looking for a specific coin). A coin swap allows you to very simply, and usually inexpensively, swap one crypto for another. I have found these apps handy when a vendor only accepts a crypto that I don’t currently hold. Also when I want a particular coin that is difficult to find on exchanges, or on exchanges that I find difficult to use, I can often find them available at a coin swap service. I’m putting this in the privacy section because of one other feature.

When you do a coin swap, the coins you receive are (usually) “airdropped” to your wallet. If you open a brand new wallet to have your coins deposited into, it is much more difficult to trace the connection between the input, and output of the swap. Let’s say you have your primary wallet that you use to store most of your crypto, and you send some to someone else, or another wallet; there is a record of that currency moving from one wallet to another. When it is instead sent to a swap app (unless you have your exchanged coins deposited in the same wallet), that will be where the trail ends. If you have your exchanged coins deposited in a new wallet, you can then spend that crypto without it being connected back to your primary wallet, therefore giving you some privacy with those transactions. Note: In respect to privacy, this method is similar to a coin mixer, but it is a different way of going about it.

Finally, let’s talk about privacy coins. Some coins are actually designed with privacy in mind. These are usually not found on the larger, centralized, and government controlled exchanges, as they are frowned upon by governments (I wonder why?). These coins are designed in a way that obfuscate some of the transaction data in the blockchain. They may do things such as create one time wallet addresses for each transaction so that your private wallet addresses aren’t visible on the blockchain. Some will simply only post updated ledger balances without actually tracing the path of each individual coin. Utilizing ring signatures is another popular method of obtaining privacy, or at least providing reasonable doubt. The most notable/popular privacy coin is probably Monero (XMR), but some others that are worth checking out are Epic cash (EPIC) and Devault (DVT). Please make sure to do your research about whatever coin you plan on using to make sure it is suitable for your needs.

Before we wrap up this article, we should talk about where/how to spend your crypto. While crypto is great for small personal transactions between two people, many businesses are also getting on board and accepting cryptocurrencies as well. There are many directories online to find retailers that accept crypto; here is an interactive map showing places all over the world that accept BCH. Dash (DASH) is a popular coin for retailers; here is a directory for businesses that accept it. You can search for a directory for whatever coin you want to spend and see what comes up! Another option is buying gift cards with crypto, which you can then use at stores that don’t accept crypto. Check that out, plus the option for a crypto debit card from BitPay.

One of the best things you can do to personally help promote crypto usage at large is talk to your local businesses that you visit. Try asking if you can pay with crypto at your local restaurant, Hair Cuttery, or farmers’ market. You never know, they might say yes, or at the least it may make them start to consider it. It also gives you a great way to start a conversation with someone about the benefits of using and accepting crypto. If you are a vendor or internet retailer, there are many programs out there that can facilitate those transactions. I use AnyPay for my personal business.

There you have it folks! This should be a good base to get started from on your journey into cryptocurrency. Try purchasing a small amount of BCH (maybe 50 or 100 dollars worth) and do some small trades with it. Try sending a dollar or two between two wallets, or between you and a friend. This practice will make you confident in larger transactions, and if you mess up, it’s just a buck! I will include some links below to some valuable reading that will help you become even more knowledgeable! Please don’t forget to check back with Agorist Nexus frequently for more content on crypto currency. Remember, when using non central bank controlled currencies, you are cutting the banks out of the picture, and showing them that they are not needed. Together we can make them obsolete.

-Dagorist

• Agorism And Breaking The Chains Of The State By Brandon Aragon

• How I Became My Own Bank & How You Can Too By Sal Mayweather

•On The State of P2P Cash By Sal Mayweather

• The Properties of Money and Cryptocurrency By Brandon Aragon

Storing your cryptocurrency safely with a good wallet isn’t difficult, unless you don’t know the best crypto wallet to use.

Are you looking for the best way to keep your investment safe?

Is it hard finding the best wallet to secure your digital currency?

If you want the best cryptocurrency wallets for storing your crypto-coins, right here am going to show you almost all the wallets you can choose from to store secure your assets safely.

There is no way you will be using only one kind or type of cryptocurrency wallet, because we live in a world, where technology has made almost everything and anything possible.

Many professionals doing cryptocurrency trading, that always get different cryptocurrencies like using different wallets to safely guard and secure their investments – be it a big money investment or little pocket-money.

However, choosing the best cryptocurrency wallet for your multi Bitcoin cryptocurrency transactions, depends on specific needs you’re looking unto, and the level of security you also want for your investment.

Before we continue to know about the best crypto wallets for your cryptocurrency investment, I will like you to know that the best kind of cryptocurrency wallet, is the one that allows you to have full access to your private keys.

Investors are always advised to keep their wallet private keys safe in a very secured place that only them will know.

If you also ask me, I will say that for me, a multiple currency wallet will be the best for you, because it will serve as a universal crypto wallet.

Let me go straight and explain what cryptocurrency wallet is all about.

Shall we?

What is cryptocurrency wallet?

If you are considering investing in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, or any of altcoin investment, that would be very great, but you will obviously need somewhere to store your coins.

It is from this place that you will store your crypto investment is where from, you will be sending or receiving all your crypto assets.

This storage place, space or device is the cryptocurrency wallet.

Crypto wallets comes in forms and kinds. These forms include hardware wallets, software wallets, paper and web online wallets.

Most of these kinds of wallets, especially the desktop software wallets runs in full nodes. This means that they always download the complete blockchain copy to get access to your cryptocurrency stake.

The full nodes wallets always takes time to synchronize with the blockchain to reach your stored cryptocurrencies. This makes them to create massive amount of data in offline storage of the device.

Alternatively, there is a lite version of the wallet known as, Simple Payment Verification (SPV) wallets which uses the full node, but this time, it uses full nodes that is hosted elsewhere.

This makes it helps to make it faster to reach blockchain network to confirm transactions. It also uses less space in the storage disk.

Multi vs single crypto wallet

A single coin currency wallet is the type that only supports only one type of cryptocurrency. These kind of crypto wallets are mostly made specifically for that cryptocurrency which they support.

For example, BitLox anonymous crypto hardware wallet is a bitcoin wallet made specifically for making bitcoin transactions anonymous.

In other words, multi-currency wallets are those cryptocurrency wallets that can support many crypto-coins at the same time.

As a cryptocurrency investor, you may have acquired many kinds of cryptocurrencies, so maintaining all of them with separate wallets can be very tedious, and overwhelming.

This is why you need to use a multi-currency wallet (universal cryptocurrency wallet) that can be able to securely hold all your crypto investments in one place at once.

However, some cryptocurrencies like; Ripple and Monero still uses their unique wallets. They’re not well supported by some of the best multi-cryptocurrency wallets in the market.

This means, you will need to get wallets that are made specifically for those cryptocurrencies.

What is a crypto wallet key?

A crypto wallet key is a very long alphanumeric series of codes or pass-phrases that unlocks your crypto investment wallet content, and in most cases, these pass-phrase called, seed words.

Seed phrase-words are unrelated words used to retrieve crypto assets stored in a wallet. Anyway wallet that uses these codes or pass-phrase is known as a HD (Hierarchical Deterministic) wallet.

In other words, anyone can have full control or access to all the cryptocurrency stored in your wallet, without the need to also have access to your devices (e.g. Personal computer, Mobile phone etc.).

This is how most people lose their cryptocurrency investments to thefts. So be very careful with where you’re keeping your seed word pass-phrases.

Wallet keys are used to create wallet transaction address. Crypto wallet address is an ID characters used to receive or send cryptocurrency from your wallet.

In HD wallets, wallet IDs can be created multiple times, and this helps to prevent you from sharing your private key publicly in the bid to transact with your cryptocurrency investment portfolio.

Thus, there are still some risk involve in sharing public address to other people. Especially, when they always recognize your address in any transaction.

Types of Cryptocurrency Wallets

Before we proceed, there are different types of crypto wallets according to how they store, or retrieve the cryptocurrency stored with them during transactions.

Hot wallet

These are the type of wallets that uses keys created by devices that has encrypted access to the Internet. These types of wallets requires access to the Internet to store or retrieve your crypto assets.

The device in which they are installed can be fully accessed remotely.

Though hot wallets are the most popular type of wallets do to its utility, they are regarded as highly unsecured technologically. In case of hack, they are always the very first target for most hackers

Cold wallet

Cold wallets are regard as the most secured type of wallets due to the fact that, they don’t need Internet access to send or retrieve cryptocurrency transactions.

They totally store your investments without the need to reach the blockchain using Internet. Example of wallets in this category are; hardware wallets, paper wallets and brain wallets.

Brain wallets are the ones that only give you pass-phrases, and password you need to gain access to your investment, while paper wallet is the type of wallet that you need to write, or print your pass-phrases to your wallet.

Hosted wallet

This is the type of wallet that is hosted or installed in a third-party server, which you don’t have any access to your private keys. The private keys are held in an online server on your behalf.

In the case of hack attack, these servers are heavily attacked due to multiple number of wallets that are stored in them.

See these servers, just like banks that holds your financial asset on your behalf. These servers are not insured or regulated by the FDIC insurance.

Decentralized wallet

This type of wallets is somehow the same with the cold wallets. It allows you the fullest access to your cryptocurrency transactions.

You will not need any third-party server, Internet or person to exchange your cryptocurrency with other platforms and investors.

It doesn’t increase your anonymity anyways.

Factors to know a secured wallet

Before you choose to start making use of any wallet, please make sure the cryptocurrency wallet has most of these features listed below…

1. Backup Private keys

To fully have control of your cryptocurrency investment portfolio, you will need a wallet that has a feature to back up its pass-phrase seed words.

This will help you to retrieve or transfer your money to another wallet in the case of misplacement or lose.

2. Two-factor authentication

This kind of security is called, Second-Level-Security. Some wallets interchange this feature with fingerprint in devices that has bio-metric sensors.

2-FA is that kind of security whereby, if a hacker manages to crack or hijack your password, they will still need to comment a special kind of code that will always be sent to your mobile phone number, before access to your wallet can be granted.

3. Multi-signature support

This feature is for when more than one person is making use of a particular wallet address.

To avoid misusing, multi keys is needed before a some amount of Ripple coins can be transferred out of such address that has multi-sign feature.

However, this feature can also be used by one person to fully protect their cryptocurrency funds lose from theft.

4. Not hosted on an exchange

A large number of cryptocurrency enthusiasts have used exchange wallets like that of; Coinbase and Luno online wallet to keep their investments.

This is not a good practice as there can be massive hack attack on the exchange, and the target mostly are on the wallets due the huge number of cryptocurrencies stored in it.

Generally, storing cryptocurrencies using exchange online wallet is not recommended for security purposes, and these exchanges will not allow you access to your private keys which they keep to themselves on your behalf.

This also means that, you don’t have any control of your cryptocurrency investment.

Avoid using exchange wallets to store cryptocurrencies unless you are using the platform to trade them while having a time-frame to move all of them to a more secured hardware wallet (Highly recommended).

Kinds of crypto wallets

This also brings us to discuss on the kinds of cryptocurrency wallets, how they are, and how they work altogether:

Hardware cryptocurrency wallets

Hardware wallets are mostly recommended, because they have very high security. They are easy to carry about, due the fact they look like USB devices, which allows you access to your private keys.

Ledger Nano S

Since 2014, Ledger company has been known as one of the companies in the cryptocurrency market, to produce one of the most secured wallets to store cryptocurrencies.

The Ledger Nano S comes with a LED screen that displays payment validation and PIN to confirm transactions. This device is very convenient and easy to carry around in your pocket.

Nano S features two-factor authentication. It comes with its own operating called, BOLOS, and has support for windows 7+, Mac OS 10.8+ and almost all Linux systems.

Ledger Nano S also has support for multitude of cryptocurrencies. It requires you to have it connected to your personal laptop with Internet access to work perfectly.

Ledger Nano X

The Ledger Nano X cryptocurrency wallet is the newest instalment of hardware wallets from Ledger. It’s aesthetically pleasing and extremely secure.

The Ledger Nano X has several lines of defence making it an extremely secure option for storing your cryptocurrency assets.

Through the use of a microchip and PIN Code, this device can only be turned on when a PIN is entered correctly, and once a certain amount of PIN code failures, the device will be wiped completely.

Don’t worry… Your crypto investments are still safe. This is due to another line of security known as your recovery phrase.

By default, Nano X may not have the necessary firmware for storage, but these can be easily installed. But according to the Ledger website, the device is capable of having over 100 wallet apps, including ALL ERC-20, and Ethereum tokens.

The Ledger Nano X currently supports over 1185 cryptocurrencies!

Trezor Wallet

Trezor is produced by SatoshiLabs. The Trezor team are the people to produce first hardware wallet using modern cryptography. The wallet has a LED screen display, which is used to get access to the PIN code.

Trezor One also has two-factor authentication feature used for verifying transactions. This device offers support for up to 500 alternative coins.

It is compatible with most operating systems like; Windows, Mac OS and Linux operating systems. Just like the Ledger hardware wallet, Nano S, you also need to connect it to a computer for it to work.

Cryptocurrency Software wallets

Software wallets are mostly secured mobile applications, or software made specifically for storing cryptocurrencies. Some of these wallets are also offline wallets, but still not as secured as hardware wallets.

Jaxx wallet

Jaxx to me, is one of the best crypto wallet app for both PC and mobile phones. It supports almost 70 cryptocurrencies as at the time of writing this post content.

It is actually a dedicated client for Windows, Mac and Linux – including an app for Android and IOS gadgets. It also has Chrome browser extension.

This cryptocurrency wallet application, Jaxx is also an offline wallet but uses Internet to synchronize and access the blockchain network when transacting cryptocurrencies.

Binance Trust wallet

Binance cryptocurrency exchange partnered with Trust company to release the trust wallet. This is the best mobile crypto wallet app, if you would like to take part in cryptocurrency airdrops.

It has support for only Ethereum DApps (e.g. ERC 20 and ERC 23) tokens. This is also a secured wallet to stored all your Ethereum based cryptocurrencies.

It is mostly preferred for mobile crypto wallet users.

Cryptocurrency Paper wallet

These are not really the best cryptocurrency wallets in the market, but it allows you to print, or write private keys on a piece of paper, which seem more secured.

But the risk of loosing your investment due to misplacement of the paper, or tear is higher than other wallets.

This kind of wallet are also among the most secured wallet, but it also comes with a risk of loosing your cryptocurrency investment if not kept away from water.

Online web wallets

Investing In Cryptocurrency For Beginners

This is a less secured and inexpensive way of storing your cryptocurrency assets, even though most beginners insist that they’re among best crypto wallets online.

These kinds of wallets are those wallets hosted in an exchange (like; Luno or LocalBitcoins) to temporally keep your investment, while using the exchange platform to do cryptocurrency trading.

It’s mostly not advisable to leave your coins on the exchanges for too long, to avoid loosing your cryptocurrency investment in case of hack attacks.

My final thoughts

The best wallets to be used for reducing the risk of loosing your cryptocurrency investment, are those wallets that doesn’t need to continuously have access to the Internet to keep your coins.

These kind of wallets are always secured from hackers.

Hardware wallets are highly preferred wallets you should have at your disposal as a serious crypto investor, to fully secure your investment from lose and thefts.

The best strategy to use other kinds of wallet, is to keep up a time-frame for keeping any cryptocurrency asset with these unsecured wallets.

If you have already chosen your best multi-currency wallet, and wish to buy your first cryptocurrency at best rate, I will recommend you use CoinSwitch, which is one the best exchange platform you can use right away.

The cryptocurrency transfer is always fast and swift.

To start trading coins for profit, you will need a genuine and reliable cryptocurrency trading platform, where you can start trading your Bitcoin for some other penny cryptocurrencies for income.