With the rise of virtual money and decentralised payments, users explore different ways to conveniently and safely send, receive and store digital assets.
Crypto wallets are usually the primary target for hackers and malicious actors in blockchains and networks. Therefore, selecting a suitable and highly secure storage is necessary.
Here’s how these tools work and the different ways you can store your digital money.
Using a Decentralised Wallet
Crypto wallets are storage locations where your virtual currencies are stored. They can be online or offline storage, where users can receive and manage their coins, tokens, NFTs, and other digital assets.
Some wallet providers also facilitate exchanges and swap services, besides other features, such as staking, liquidity farming and investing in different DeFi projects.
Online decentralised wallets are denoted a unique address, consisting of around 60 characters comprising letters and numbers, as the only sort of identification of one’s wallet.
Additionally, most crypto storages and platforms safeguard the user’s funds by assigning random 12 to 24 words, called seed phrases, as a password if the user logs in from a different device or sign out from the wallet.
Hot vs Cold Wallets
There are two major ways to store your digital belongings, and each method has its own pros and cons and security features.
Cold Wallets
These are offline methods of storing cryptocurrencies, mostly coming as a USB hard drive or a flash memory unit that can be plugged into a computer to operate the wallet.
Another type is the paper wallet, which is a printed document that holds all your storage details, such as private/public key details, wallet address and seed phrases. These papers can also carry a scannable QR code that holds all the storage information.
Cold wallets are considered safer because security details are not stored online, and hackers have no way to infiltrate a cold wallet’s security system.
Hot Wallets
Online wallets are digital tools and platforms that offer storage services over the internet, using dedicated software, a website or a browser plugin that can be easily accessed and used.
These storage means are more convenient and easier to manage because users can quickly access them and link them to exchanges or trade platforms.
Hot wallets employ different security mechanisms to safeguard the funds, such as two-factor authentication, fingerprint, seed phrases and other means of verification that promote the wallet’s security.
Conclusion
Crypto wallets store, send and receive digital money and assets. They can be online or offline tools that carry the wallet address, private key details and secret phrases.
Choosing the right wallet type depends on a trade-off between security and convenience. Cold wallets are safer but entail some hassle every time a user wants to make a transaction, while it is more convenient to conduct payments and manage digital assets online.
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