Lesson: Bitcoin Wallet is very precious

In this lesson we will learn how to safely store your bitcoin (BTC) in a bitcoin wallet. You will learn that bitcoin wallets do not actually "store" or "hold" bitcoins. They rather store or hold the cryptographic private keys (similar to your steemit private key) needed to handle the bitcoins transactions which you own which are stored on the public blockchain ledger https://blockchain.info/.

Wallets

You will need to create a bitcoin wallet to store the private keys necessary to access your traded or discovered bitcoins. Wallets are place where bitcoins are stored but actually bitcoins are stored within the blockchain transaction ledger. Its a tool that stores the digital credentials for accessing your bitcoins and let's you send or receive bitcoins to other addresses. Bitcoin uses the public cryptography where key cryptography (public and private keys) are generated. The bitcoin wallet is a collection of those keys. The public key is similar to an email address while the private key is like a password to the email address. Never share your private key with anyone. There are several types of wallets share basic functionality. You can have different types of wallets. Chose the type of wallet based on how you will be using it.

• Software Wallets:
  come nowdays in the form of mobile applications downloaded from app stores.

• Online Wallets:
  the credentials (public, private keys) are stored with the providers rather than on the users hardware. They usually interact with multiple devices.

• Physical Wallets:
  they store credentials offline. Simply a printer key on a piece of paper. They should be backed up and stored in a safe place.

• Hardware wallet:
  they are physical electronic devices that can be accessed without internet connection. Some popular examples are Trezor, Keepkey, and Ledger. They are more convenient to use than a paper wallet. They can also be restored if they are lost or stolen by using a 12-24 word phrase seed.

Security and Anonymity

remember that if you chose Wallet services that store your wallet credentials with a provider you are at their mercy if they get stolen. Most Wallets offer option to be in charge of your addresses. This means no one can access your bitcoins without the wallet credentials. If you forget your credentials or someone steals them no one can help you. If you want to plan ahead of such event you can store your bitcoins in several different wallets, i.e. don't put all your eggs in one basket.

There are various types of Wallets that offer different types of anonymity levels ranging from software which only store your keys to more open wallets which display sender and receiver name. Remember than the transactions send to the blockchain are publicly available and they can be traced back to specific addresses and IP addresses. Wallet service providers often have option to create new address for each transaction which adds complexity to tracking your identity.

check out previous three posts here
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@husamia/lesson-the-basics-of-cryptocurrencies-and-bitcoin
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@husamia/lesson-the-essential-of-bitcoin
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@husamia/lesson-bitcoin-value-laws
we learned about the basics of cryptocurrencies, what is bitcoin, and what is the value of bitcoin.