What is a Bitcoin wallet?

A Bitcoin wallet is a software program in which bitcoins are stored. There are a number of bitcoin wallets to choose from. Some are cloud-based, while others are downloaded to your PC, tablet or smartphone. All of the wallets provide the same functionality, i.e. transferring bitcoins from one place to another, but each wallet has its own benefits.

Cloud wallets

Cloud wallets are the easiest & most convenient to use. However, when storing your bitcoins in the cloud you are ultimately handing the responsibility over to the business holding your BTC. Therefore, trust is essential when it comes to storing bitcoin in a cloud wallet.

The cloud wallets that we recommend are:

Software wallets

Software wallets are downloadable programs that run on your computer, tablet or smartphone. They are considered more secure than cloud wallets because you have total control over them. However, they do still come with their own risks.

The software wallets that we recommend are:

Hardware wallets

A hardware wallet stores your private keys on a secure hardware device. The major advantages compared to software wallets are the immunity to any computer viruses and, since the private keys are often stored in a protected area of a microcontroller, they cannot be transferred out of the device in plain text.

The hardware wallets that we recommend are:

To find out more about the different bitcoin wallets, please visit Bitcoin.org.