Bitcoin Forum

Hello, I am relatively new to the cryptocurrency scene and investing, but have done a lot of research in advance and know to proceed with caution.

I have questions regarding the best desktop wallets to use, and in some cases there are one or two recommended on the site of the coin/token that the wallet will be for.

Right now I would like a good desktop wallet for BTC that is also a stalking wallet if that is possible, I thought I was fairly sure they are available as I am already using one for another coin... that yes, it downloads a node of the blockchain, or acts as a node having downloaded the entire blockchain. (I can get that part fleshed out also: node, the entire blockchain, or a node that is part of the blockchain... almost got it).

Can someone, or more, recommend a staking wallet for BTC whether or not mining is possible isn't my concern for just the wallet, but I'm hoping staking is?

Thanks, and I do realize there are preferences but the OP had no mention whatsoever about staking; I could be incorrect.

Staking is for cryptocurrencies with POS (proof of stake) algorithm. Bitcoin is using POW (proof-of-work) protocol. You will hear about staking only with altcoins. There are some using "forging" or "harvesting" but you only get the transaction fees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof-of-work_system
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof-of-stake

For a bitcoin wallet you can choose between several types of wallets:

1) Desktop wallet
1.1) Full node (bitcoin core [1])
1.2) Lightweight wallet (e.g. electrum [2])

2) Mobile wallet (e.g. Mycelium)

3) Hardware wallet (e.g. ledger, trezor)

4) Paper wallet


Paper- and Hardware wallets are the safest options, since your private keys won't ever leave a safe "environment".
A paperwallet is basically for free, but can be quite demanding when using the first time. Where a hardware wallet is easy to use, but costs a few bucks (50$+).

Mobile and desktop wallets are roughly equally safe (You shouldn't store big amounts on them).
A fullnode wallet (BTC Core) downloads and processes the whole blockchain (150GB+).
A lightweight wallet does not need to download the whole blockchain. It uses an online service to communicate with a fullnode to get the current balance of all of your addresses.


[1] https://bitcoin.org/en/download (https://bitcoin.org/en/download)
[2] https://electrum.org/#home (https://electrum.org/#home)

Thank you for your reply. That makes it clearer and easier to remember, "Proof of Stake" (POS) coins that are able to stake.

The one coin I'm using a staking wallet with so far is a PoS, PoW combination x13 algorithm. It is a desktop wallet that requires downloading of the blockchain and I think I assumed, incorrectly, that most desktop wallets requiring downloading a significant amount of a coin's blockchain allowed some staking.

In technical terms, staking is the process that a cryptocurrency wallet uses to validate transactions in the network and award you with coins as rewards. The Bitcoin network doesn't use proof of stake as a consensus mechanism so there are no staking wallets for BTC.

Thank you for your feedback.

Since I'm clearer on which coins stake now, or at least only PoS or a hybrid of PoS, and therefore not BTC, I may not opt for the hardware wallet requiring the whole blockchain, or a fullnode wallet (I somehow associated that with gaining staking). The idea of a lightweight wallet may be more practical for my needs, and not necessarily a dedicated Bitcoin wallet as I had thought.

I may think about possibly using in combination with a paper wallet to send bitcoin I'm going to hodl in, leaving a smaller amount in a desktop wallet.