INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
away, you can do so directly from the exchange
If you prefer to hang on to your digital assets, you'll need a secure wallet to which you can transfer your virtual coins.In this guide,
we'll explore five of the very best cryptocurrency applications available today for storing your digital wealth
Each of these programs allow you to generate private keys, which you can store safely, rather than trusting an online exchange which can be
hacked or go out of business.All of these clients are known as 'hot' wallets in that by default they're connected to the internet at all
If you are moving large amounts of Bitcoin, consider creating a 'cold' offline wallet to store your assets (see our guide to creating a
secure cold storage Bitcoin wallet).What are the best cryptocurrency walletsHere's a list of the top five bitcoin wallets:1
Bitcoin CoreThe original and definitive Bitcoin clientOriginal Bitcoin clientProvides better protection against fraudRequires large amounts
of space and bandwidthBitcoin Core is the original BTC client and is available for Windows, Mac and Linux
Core is a 'full node' Bitcoin client, meaning that on first-run it will download the current version of the blockchain (currently around
160GB) by connecting to other nodes
It will then continue to download and process data about Bitcoin transactions.One advantage of this is that it's much more difficult to
link a specific BTC payment address to your identity as Core downloads data about all Bitcoin transactions everywhere
This also protects you against certain types of fraud such as someone trying to spend the same BTC twice, or fooling you into believing
This makes it very difficult for anyone to link sending or receiving BTC to your home IP address, ensuring your privacy
launch, Core will create a wallet file (wallet.dat) containing your private keys
By default anyone can access it, but you can encrypt the wallet with a password if you wish
servers to verify transactionsElectrum has been around since 2011 and works with Windows, Mac, Linux and Android
It's one of the most popular 'thin' wallet clients, in that instead of downloading the entire Bitcoin blockchain, it connects securely to
other servers to verify your BTC balance and process payments
This means you can set it up in minutes and it takes up very little space on your hard drive.Electrum uses a 'hierarchical deterministic
wallet', in that when you first launch the program it generates a random 's eed' of 12 dictionary words, from which it derives the keys
necessary to spend and receive BTC
Electrum displays the seed as you create your wallet and requires you to write it down
This means that if you lose access to this version of Electrum, you can easily reinstall it on another machine and use the seed to restore
your BTC.Unlike the Bitcoin Core client, Electrum offers you the option to encrypt your wallet file during setup, although you can choose to
leave it unencrypted if you wish
You can also use Electrum in 'cold storage' mode to create a 'watching only' wallet
This allows you to receive Bitcoin payments and see your balance, but not spend the coins, which may be useful if you're buying BTC as a
types of hacking than 'full nodes' such as Bitcoin Core
See here for more information about how Electrum tries to protect you from this.3
JaxxStore multiple cryptocurrencies with an easy-to-use interfaceVery simple interfaceSupports multiple cryptocurrenciesPotentially
vulnerableJaxx was first developed in 2014 and serves not only as a Bitcoin wallet but an app which can store multiple cryptocurrencies such
as Litecoin, Dash, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash
Ripple is not currently supported but the Jaxx team have hinted they may support this feature in the future
(For a full list of supported currencies see here).When first run, Jaxx displays a 12 word 'master seed' similar to Electrum which you can
write down and use to restore your wallets if you lose access to the original program.The interface is deceptively simple in that you can
quickly and easily switch between wallet balances
Jaxx has also integrated Shapeshift support
This functions as a built-in currency exchange, allowing you to quickly exchange crypto balances, for instance to convert DASH to BTC
You can view your updated balances as soon as processing is complete.Jaxx is available as a Chrome extension as well as for Windows, Mac and
There's even a mobile app (both for Android and iOS), so it's likely you can view all crypto balances from a single device.The software
is closed source, however, so cannot be reviewed by the community in order to hunt for security bugs
Note that one such bug was discovered in June 2017 which allows someone with access to your machine to extract your master seed and steal
Until this is fixed we recommend using Jaxx only for storing and exchanging small amounts.Update: service closed4
RippexEasy to set up wallet for RippleCold storage optionNot difficult to get goingBeta softwareFee of 20 XRP to activate walletRipple is
one of the top five cryptocurrencies in terms of capitalization and although it was designed to facilitate transactions between banks, many
individuals also use it for speculation and to make payments.Unlike more popular currencies like Bitcoin, the official desktop client is no
longer maintained by the original creators
Fortunately the community has continued to maintain it in the form of Rippex.Aside from being seemingly the only desktop client available
for Ripple, Rippex is very easy to set up
On first-run it generates a 's ecret key' which you can write down to restore your wallet in case anything happens to it
The client also requires you to encrypt your wallet file with a password, making your money harder to steal.In order to activate your wallet
Once you've done this, you can set up a 'cold' offline wallet if you prefer to store your secret keys offline for safety reasons.If you want
to store your XRP outside an exchange but don't want to pay the fee for Rippex, you can also generate a paper wallet instead from
https://ripplepaperwallet.com
is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.5
ExodusMulti-currency wallet offers customization with different skinsStore and exchange multiple currenciesStunning visual interfaceNot open
sourceExodus is a multi-currency wallet and can hold various types of coins and assets
The setup process is very simple
Like Jaxx, you create a 12 word 'master seed' which you can write down and use to restore your wallet if you're no longer able to access the
(Incidentally, if you've previously created a master seed using Jaxx, Exodus can restore these too)
Once setup is complete, Exodus will also prompt you to choose a password to protect your wallet.Your digital assets are shown in a
Unlike the other wallets we've discussed here, you can also choose different 's kins' to make your client easier on the eye
Use the localization settings to change the default currency (USD) to your home currency if necessary.The wallet software also supports
exchanging crypto-assets and currencies using Shapeshift, and even lists the percentages of assets you hold as part of your 'portfolio'
Sadly Dogecoin is no longer supported.Exodus is also not 100% open source
The company claims on its website that doing so would give away trade secrets and make it easier for hackers to create bootleg versions of
In light of this, if you use Exodus you'll have to trust that there are no undisclosed security bugs or backdoors built into the
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