Bitcoin Forum

As someone who is fairly new to cryptocurrency there is one thing that really frustrates and annoys me above everything else, and that I imagine is a big hurdle to cryptocurrency becoming really mainstream and that is the big confusion and vague nature around wallets and safe storage of coins.

One thing you always hear is that you should not store your coins on exchanges and that you risk losing them in a hack. And most people, even those who do not buy cryptocurrency know about the big hacks in the past and how people lost a lot of coins. Something that naturally scare away a lot of potential buyers.

Then there is us who want to buy some coins anyway, but is it so damn frustrating to know where to store the coins you actually buy. Is there not some big guide out there that is updated on a continual basis with the best and safest method to store different coins? That would be an invaluable source. A place you can go to look up the coin you just bought and look up the best way right now that is available to store that coin in regards to security and that you can trust is legit etc. If the coin has a dedicated wallet, if it supported by some hard wallet like Trezor or Ledger etc, if there is a trusted paper wallet generator and how to do it by step in step instructions etc.

Do anyone know of anything like this?

Choose your Bitcoin wallet - https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

Ok, so how do you use this to look up the latest coin you just bought to see what wallets supports it and are safe?

This site looks like it is just focused on Bitcoin? Everyone knows the best way to store Bitcoins. That is not the problem.

But there are already a lot of websites and lists available in the internet about Bitcoin wallets and other coins.

https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet
Some cons and pros about the main wallets in the market divided by mobile, desktop, hardware and web wallet.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=899253.0
Overview about most of the Hardware Wallets for sale.

https://www.cryptocompare.com/wallets/#/overview
Another list with almost every wallet you can think off. Including other coins like ETH, LTC, DOGE, etc...

Ok that last link seems to be a bit useful, even though I don't see a way to seach for a coin to see what wallets are supported for it?
Also do anyone check the wallets that are added to this list to make sure they are legit?

Btw, another question about mobile wallets, are they safe? Compared to desktop wallets? If you use a mobile wallet, say an android wallet, would it be safer to just use an old android phone you don't use anymore that you just power on when to check your balance and have turned off at all other times, instead of using your regular mobile that you use regulary?

Also are downloadable wallets like desktop and mobile wallets safer than online wallets? And are online wallets safer than exchanges?

You can find out coins supported by Trezor here (https://doc.satoshilabs.com/trezor-faq/overview.html#which-coins-are-currently-supported) and by Ledger Nano S here (http://support.ledgerwallet.com/knowledge_base/topics/general-ledger-nano-s-faq). All it took me was a minute with Google to find that info. It never hurts to start out right by using a hardware wallet for coins you are interested in. You never have to worry about having your coins stolen by malware. Some coins like Monero do not have hardware wallet support yet.

If you are going to store more than a few hundred dollars worth of bitcoin on a phone you might want to use Mycelium Android wallet with either a Trezor or Ledger Nano S hardware wallet managing the private keys. All it takes is an OTG cable and a newer Android phone.

Safety is relative. If you have possession of your private keys on a desktop wallet that is always safer than an online wallet and probably most exchanges. However you do have to worry about malware stealing your bitcoin, even with a password protected wallet. That is why hardware wallets are so popular and Trezor and Ledger often sell out.

Op is asking about to knowing the wallet of each new altcoin are out their in trading exchange then i think if you properly see then their will be always link to the altcoin information section where you can find all details about that coin and how to obtain the wallet for that coin. It is that you are not able to find it due to you are new to it, if you do some hardwork then you will find all details on the exchange where the coin is trading.

Try Jaxx. It is a liteweight client, and recently announced adding support for dozens of altcoins.

I think they check each wallet before adding them and categorize the safety of each one as can be seen in the color of the shield next to them (which can be green, yellow and red)

Yes, using an android phone exclusively for storing your coins would be in someway safer. I don't think there is such difference in between a desktop wallet and a mobile. Just don't get any virus.

Yes, the wallets you download are always safer than any online wallet because you are the one controlling your private keys instead of a third party.
About exchanges, they aren't that different than a web wallet but, still is the less secure way of storing your coins. At least with a web wallet, its purpose is to store your coins.

You can filter the list in this table on the top right side of the site.

https://talkimg.com/images/2023/05/14/blobc16ea863174e8b76.png

I know about the Trezor and Ledger Nano S and they are great and I wished it was standard that there was support like this for all coins.

That is not the case however. These devices only support about 5 different coins or so. What I am asking for is the coins that are not supported by these.

The desktop wallets I have checked out, like Jaxx and Exodus also supports very very few coins.

Where do you best store a coin like Monero or NEM for example?

About mobile, is it only safe to store very very small amounts on a mobile wallet then, so they are basically useless? And how do you use the Trezor and Ledger Nano S to handle the private key? Is there some instructions on their site for this? Mobile wallets seems to be the only wallets that actually seem to offer some wider array of coin support from what I can see. But if they are not safe that does not matter anyway.

How common is malware theft of coins btw? Is there any statistics on it?


Btw I heard someone talk on a chat that it was possible to make your own wallet for small coins on the myetheriumwallet page, but not sure if that is true or not or how it would be done.

There are many wallet recommendations to be found online including this forum.
Usually people don't have problems with choosing a wallet because all of them are relatively easy to use and reliable. The only difference is that some are lightweight, which is much user friendly.

quite a few other coins are working on integrating into these wallets. the code is available for them to work on. if the wallet makers approve of the code then in they go. the list will grow.

but in monero's case i think a few other wallet developers have said it's too hard to integrate, jaxx did i think.

for the coins i don't particularly care about i just leave them on exchanges. you also have to worry about viruses in some of the obscure coin wallets.

Monero is not supported by Jaxx

"you also have to worry about viruses in some of the obscure coin wallets. "  <-- Yes things like these are great and it is wonderful there are no reliable source out there like I talked about in my original post.

Btw, I assume iOS device is generally more secure and safe than Android device if you have to choose?

Would you rather store your coin on a mobile wallet vs an exchange?

And are online wallets like Gatehub Ripple always safer than exchanges? And if so, why? If an exchange can get hacked, why could not an online wallet also get hacked? Has it never happened in the past? Or do the hackers target the exchanges for some reason?

One thing with Crypto exchange sites is it's not the place to have your Bitcoin. It's not only because of possible hacks ect. The reason is they are exchanges and should be used as it, nothing  more. A hack could also happen with web wallets. You are giving your trust to someone (the website) Now how you trusy them.

You need to learn what are the different type of wallets, and if possible try them all, even if you are not planning to use them.
Cold and hot wallets, desktop and  mobile wallets, web wallets, physical wallets, Bitcoin clients, hardware wallets... you have plenty of choices and the WWW is full of informations

Again, yes, there is a lot of choices for Bitcoin wallets. And anyone with Bitcoin should probably buy a Trezor or a Ledger.
But I am not talking about Bitcoin.

The problem is, where do you have your coins besides an exchange if there is no wallet for it? Like Monero for example. Where do you store that coin?
Or that new ICO coin that wast just released that you think are the new big thing and you just bought a boatload of it.

And why would I want to try all wallets? How is that going to help? Besides increasing the risk for stumbling over a scam wallet.

uh, yeah. that's what i said. jaxx didn't integrate it.

the problem is that many of these coins are created by one guy in his back room. very little of this is at a professional level. that's how it is and that's how it might stay. there are too many coins now for anyone to stay on top of everything and make overall recommendations.

Obviously, Why you want to trust someone whom you don't even know and you know that many exchanges ran with peoples money. That is why everyone asks you to keep your bitcoins in your online web wallet or in offline wallet.
When you buy your bitcoins you should immediately send your bitcoins to your wallet so you have some security over your coins.
I often use blockchain.info since they have released its beta version they have added many security measures in it. I must say that you should use and signup. They are online from many years and very trusted, I never had any problem with them.
But if you are looking to store them offline, Use something portable, but do not lose your portable device. Offline wallets are the most safest one.
Good luck! With your selection.


Please use this link to know more about wallets and select the best of em.

All you have to do is check the developer threads at this forum for each coin you are interested in and the first page should list all wallet options. Most Monero holders use the new GUI Beta 2 wallet for desktop you can download at https://getmonero.org/downloads/ there is also going to be an Android MyMonero wallet app available soon.

NEM may be added to Ledger Nano S https://www.reddit.com/r/ledgerwallet/comments/6efda1/updates_on_coins/

Do you have a bank account? How did you choose your bank? Did you check a list of all banks before choosing one?

I've opened and closed several banks accounts in my life, and it's the same with BTC clients. I started with the core client, went with Multibit for a while, and now I'm using Electrum while having some money on Poloniex to trade altcoins. I may use a different client next year, and I will probably change bank, too. Hey, nothing's fixed!

Both iOS and Android are safe devices. But phone is thing that is tend to loose and this is why mobile wallets is not best place to keep big amount of bitcoins, it would be best to keep some bitcoins only for your daily use.
If mobile wallet gived you full control of coins, then I prefer to keep coins there instead of exchange. But if you will use such mobile wallet like Coinbase, there are no difference from exchange.

It's an older site. The information about each wallet is current, but many of these wallets have begun working with alternative cryptocurrencies since the information was populated on this site. For example, Coinbase now deals in Ethereum and Litecoin; Trezor deals in Ethereum; Etc.

This site should be used to narrow down options, particularly for someone who's still trying to figure out the difference and decision making around paper vs. web vs. hard vs. mobile wallet options. It will take further investigation based on the coins you wish to keep and whether you require their wallets to be consolidated through the same platform.

Again, I am not talking about Bitcoins.

And why would an online web wallet be less prone to people taking the money and running? What exactly makes an online wallet safer vs  regular exchange? No one has explained this. And what exchanges that have had any traffic has been one of these take money and run sites? I have never heard of this.

Where can I find the developer threads? Is there a dedicated section for them?

Storing Bitcoin is quite easy, as there are a lot of options (right now I am using a Blockchain.info) wallet. But storing the other crypto-currencies is tough and complicated. There are some online wallets, but we don't know which of them can be trusted.

Every serious altcoin developer is also providing a wallet for the altcoin we can call it a Core version of a wallet.
If altcoin is popular enough then external developers might develop additional software wallets, online wallets or even hardware wallets.
Finding out which wallet is original creation is very easy. When in doubt just visit official website of the project i.e.: https://www.ethereum.org/ (https://www.ethereum.org/)

I have noticed that some wallets don't give you a seed to write down, but instead wants you to make a backup file. Do you need to backup this file every time you create a new adress etc? Or do you only need to do it once?

As always, if you want to do something properly you have to do it yourself.

The fact that not a single person here wrote about this proves my point that the information on wallets is fucked up and needs to be organized and streamlined in one place if it is ever going to go fully mainstream.

 https://myetherwallet.groovehq.com/knowledge_base/topics/how-to-see-a-new-token-in-myetherwallet?from_search=true