
With everything going digital, your wallet isn’t an exception anymore. Traditionally used to mean a folding case to keep cash, today wallets or more specifically digital wallets refer to an application that allows people to make electronic transactions. If you have been using Paytm, Amazon, Mobikwik, PhonePe, Flipkart, or any similar mobile application, you must already be aware of digital wallets. It is something that stores all the payment information of users in a compact and secure form. You can use the money stored in digital wallets for making payments when buying any goods or services.
However, have you heard of Ethereum wallet? Well, the term may seem quite confusing. And firstly you may think, what is Ethereum, anyway? Let us introduce you to Ethereum and then discuss the best ethereum wallet.
Ethereum Explained
To understand Ethereum, you will need to be familiar with blockchain technology, something that powers Ethereum. According to IBM, blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network. Here, an asset may refer to a house, cash, car, land, intellectual property, copyrights, branding, or even patent. In other words, virtually anything of value can be traded and tracked on a blockchain network, reducing the risk and cutting costs for everyone involved.
Blockchain became a famous technology because of one of its applications called Bitcoin. Yes, the cryptocurrency that took the finance world by storm. Blockchain is basically used here for mining and exchanging cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Now that Ethereum has come into the picture, let us look at its technical perspective. Ethereum is a blockchain-based computing platform that is home to digital money, global payments, and applications. It is a community-run technology that powers the cryptocurrency ether (ETH) and numerous decentralized applications.
Ethereum Wallet
A wallet is something that lets you connect to Ethereum and manage your funds. Put simply, a wallet allows people to interact with their Ethereum account. You must already be familiar with an internet banking app that you can use to perform a lot of activities like viewing statements, account balances, sending money to someone, starting an FD, and so on. Similarly, an Ethereum wallet allows users to check their balance, view their transaction history, perform transactions, receive funds, and connect to applications (though there is no bank involved in this case).
You will generally come across four types of Ethereum wallets – physical hardware, mobile application, web wallet, and desktop application. Physical hardware is the most secure option of all, and as the name suggests, it works as an offline application. Mobile application, on the other hand, is online and is accessible from anywhere. The web wallet is designed for those who want to access the wallet through a web browser. Lastly, a desktop application is for those who have a system with Windows, Mac, Linux, or similar OS.
Top Ethereum Wallets
Now that you are introduced to Ethereum wallets, let us look at the best options you have in hand.
Coinbase
The Coinbase wallet is your key to the world of crypto. It allows users to store all of their cryptos in one place. It supports more than 5500 assets and numerous decentralized applications. The platform offers additional security options on the web as well as mobile to keep the crypto safe and secure.
Trezor
It is a hardware wallet and is considered the safest way to manage and trade cryptocurrencies. The entire wallet is always accessible through a user’s personal 12 to 24 words long recovery seed. When you first set up Trezor, it will generate the seed for you. In case you need to restore access to your wallet, this offline backup is useful.
MetaMask
MetaMask is available as a mobile application and a browser extension. It equips the user with a key vault, secure login, token wallet, and token exchange, probably everything one needs to manage their digital assets. The platform offers the simplest and most secure way to connect to blockchain-based applications. It generates passwords and keys on the user’s device so that only they have access to their data and accounts.
Ledger Nano X
Ledger Nano X is a Bluetooth-enabled hardware wallet used to secure, buy, exchange, and grow crypto along with managing the NFTs. it allows users to manage and invest their crypto anytime, anywhere in a simple, safe, and smart manner. The device also connects with a phone via Bluetooth and has a large screen for ease of use. One can install up to 100 apps at the same time, including Ethereum, XRP, and over 5500 different tokens.
Argent
With Argent, you can buy, stake, and trade on Ethereum Layer 2 with low fees and bulletproof security. It involves up to 100X cheaper fees than Ethereum thanks to zkSync’s Layer 2 network. Using the platform, users can earn up to 15% interest on their crypto through its partners Lido, Yearn, and Gro. no paper backup is required to recover the Argent wallet. The assets are stored on the blockchain and users control them through their Argent app.
Interested in learning more about Ethereum? Why not take a blockchain training course online and dive deep into this subject!