Best Bitcoin Wallets
One of the reasons cryptocurrencies have been adopted at such a massive levels is because they change the concept of saving money, as users can access their own funds at will with no further limitations, unlike traditional banking institutions. For this purpose, developers from the crypto community created cryptocurrency wallets (mostly Bitcoin wallets) for users to safely store their tokens and use them as they see fit.
The thing about Bitcoin wallets is that there are too many, so we must compare their policies and features in order to decide which one suits our needs better. Interface, commissions and security are some of the aspects we need to analyze when subscribing to a Bitcoin wallet service, as they together form a friendly, reliable service.
The main function of Bitcoin wallets is to allow us to send and receive BTC tokens from anywhere in the world, at a very convenient cost and transaction speed.
Unlike the banking system that we have known all these years, Bitcoin is a fully digital currency and they operate based on crypto. For this reason, the design of the wallets is vital to make a good management of our funds.
Cryptocurrencies exist as records of transactions contained within a blockchain that is managed by interconnected nodes around the world. So, the public keys and above all, the private keys within a wallet are what give us the ownership and right over the cryptocurrencies transferred to a particular address.
Wallet services can be provided by an app, website, exchange platform or any crypto initiative that supports BTC deposits. Note that having your BTC in an exchange company can be convenient for buying/selling other cryptocurrencies in a spot market, but it might not be the safest option, especially if said platform suffers from phishing attacks often. That is why we will review the top 5 Bitcoin wallets for crypto users.
Blockchain.info
Blockchain Wallet is a platform that allows you to store Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash and Stellar in a secure way through a friendly and easy-to-use interface. This wallet service has been in operation since 2011 and is one of the most famous Bitcoin wallets since then.
Being an online wallet, we must be aware that funds are indirectly compromised by being susceptible to hacks, especially when it is the platform that manages security seeds and private keys, thus being a vulnerable point against virtual attackers.
To register on the platform you must provide an email and a password, although an identifier will be required that is created at the time of registration and that is sent to our email.
To receive tokens from the available cryptocurrencies, we must locate the public address that Blockchain provides to its users. We can request this address from the control panel, or from a specific portfolio. Generally, this address is made up of a combination of letters and numbers, thus creating a code that we will use when sending and receiving tokens.
Blockchain Wallet is available to a huge community and also features swap exchanges and cryptocurrency trading. However, not all countries can access the wide range of functions of this platform.
Being one of the most used, and also one of the oldest, this wallet offers all the tools of a good wallet, although the fact of storing the tokens in a hot wallet (online wallet) may cause a bit of skepticism and contradicts the principles of decentralization.
Access Blockchain.info’s wallet platform here:
Bitcoin Core
It is safe to say that Bitcoin Core is the official Bitcoin wallet, as it was created by Satoshi Nakamoto himself after the creation of Bitcoin, making it the benchmark wallet for this cryptocurrency. For this reason, Bitcoin Core implements all possible Bitcoin functionalities.
To use the Bitcoin Core wallet start on the official website of this wallet. Once located on the platform, you can download the official Bitcoin wallet and start receiving / sending BTC transactions. This wallet service offers the program for Linux, Mac OS and Windows, although you should be aware that these versions are only compatible with 64-bit operating systems. Another mandatory requirement is to have at least 300 GB of hard disk to be able to store the Bitcoin blockchain. This is important because Bitcoin Core downloads a full copy of the blockchain and its size ranges from that number.
The Bitcoin Core wallet has several advantages, among which are its high levels of security, privacy and stability. However, it has fewer features than others already on the market, and is recommended for a more advanced user.
Download and installation process:
- First you will need to make sure that you have at least 300 GB (or more) available on your hard drive.
- Download the latest stable version from bitcoin.org for our operating system. It will work fine for Windows, Linux and Mac OS alike as long as you meet the other requirements.
- Once the file is downloaded, run the installation file and proceed to install Bitcoin Core on our system as if it were any other application.
- After installing, open the executable file and check the path where the files related to the wallet will be stored. It is recommended to leave it in the default option
- Without a doubt, this is one of the best wallets if you can afford it, you contribute to the network, but if finally this is not the wallet you need, we recommend something simpler.
You can download Bitcoin Core wallet from Bitcoin.org:
Coinbase
Coinbase is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that, since its founding in 2012, has provided its wallet and trading services to users from multiple countries around the world. Among exchange companies, Coinbase maintains an impeccable reputation for its good relationship with the Regulatory Bodies in the United States and the seriousness with which they take their own policies.
Despite the fact that its trading platform is not available for all countries, Coinbase serves as a Bitcoin wallet and many other cryptocurrencies regardless of your country of residence. This is very convenient if we consider that the withdrawal fees are low and the platform has a friendly interface, which can be used to send and receive cryptocurrencies regardless of your experience level.
The registration process in Coinbase is simple and it will not ask you for KYC (Know Your Customer) documents to save and / or move your cryptocurrencies. After providing your email and a strong password, you must confirm your registration by email. It is necessary to emphasize that you must provide your phone number to activate 2-factor authentication, which serves to confirm that whoever logs in and operates the account is really the owner of it.
One of the most favorable features of the Coinbase wallet is how easy it is to use. Once you are inside the platform, go to “Portfolio” and you will see the different wallets for each cryptocurrency, being the first on the Bitcoin list. Before entering the wallet, you will be able to see the number of available tokens and their equivalent in the fiat currency you specify. In addition, you can access your Bitcoin wallet from the mobile application (which is as smooth as the web platform) if you do not have your computer nearby and receive / send as many tokens you want.
Create a Coinbase account through it’s official website:
Electrum
Electrum is one of the most recognized Bitcoin wallets among the crypto community and was created in late 2011. This service was created for users to save their tokens safely through its web platform and mobile applications. You can download this wallet from the links shown on the official Electrum page, which shows the versions available for Windows, Linux, OSX and Python.
Electrum is not considered a heavy wallet since, unlike Bitcoin Core, it does not download the blockchain of the cryptocurrency that it uses. This allows you to obtain the service without having much space on the hard disk.
It is not recommended to download old versions of Electrum or to do so from sites other than the service’s official web platform, as it makes the user more vulnerable to possible phishing attacks. It should also be noted that Electrum is only available for Windows 7 or newer versions.
Among the advantages of the Electrum wallet service we can highlight:
- The private keys of each Electrum account are encrypted and designed so that they cannot be exposed.
- In the event that you lose your funds in the event of an accident, you can recover them using a secret phrase that the wallet will provide you.
- Electrum’s speed exceeds that of many wallets because its servers are directly linked to the Bitcoin Blockchain, in addition to being decentralized and not experiencing failures.
- All the funds are stored in cold storage, so they are not exposed to malware attacks.
You can download the different versions of Electrum from its official website:
Samourai
Samourai is a Bitcoin wallet that, beyond allowing us to save and carry out transactions with our tokens, has a wide range of options that make the interface pleasant to use. It was founded in 2015 and is specifically intended for Android users.
After you have downloaded the application and created an account, you must create a wallet to receive and send BTC transactions. However, Samourai allows us the possibility of obtaining a Passphrase for greater security. We should know that Samourai Wallet saves an encrypted file of the last wallet used on the device, this allows the wallet to be restored more quickly. Therefore, regardless of whether we uninstall the application, the backup will remain. This only applies to the last used wallet.
We must also create a security PIN, which we must enter every time we open the application. This prevents unauthorized people from accessing your wallet. For this and many other reasons, we can say that Samourai takes security measures very seriously.
Among the Samourai features we can highlight:
- Integration with Segwitt, which is a solution designed by Blockstream and Bitcoin Core for the malleability of Bitcoin transactions.
- Availability of PayNym ID to reinforce the privacy of the account.
- It allows its users to choose the mining fee behind each operation to decide how fast they want their withdrawal to be processed by the miners.
- Samourai can be used offline, which is safer than online since attackers cannot access your wallet.
You can download the Samourai wallet from its web platform: