What is a cryptocurrency wallet?

The term wallet has been used, traditionally, to house items such as cash, credit cards, and ID such as a driver’s license.

When you want to pay for something at the store, you pull out your wallet. If someone asks to identify yourself, you pull out your ID card out of your wallet.

In the world of cryptocurrency, it is a requirement to possess a wallet.

Basically, a cryptocurrency wallet is a software program that stores private and public keys to your coins.

It interacts with various blockchain to enable users to send and receive digital currency and monitor their balance.

These wallets broadcast Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrency) transactions to their respective network and connects with miners, blockchain, and exchanges.

Public key is the only information needed to send and receive Bitcoin and it always starts with the number 1 or 3. For example: 3HqEui4BTR2YUokFD87FFloX9jhSwo2EWq

Your private key is a secret 256-bit number that allows Bitcoin to be spent. Every crypto wallet contains one or more private keys, which are saved in the wallet file.

The crypto address combined with the private key is what makes up a crypto wallet.

The four types of wallets include desktop, online, mobile, and hardware wallets. Each type of wallet is useful in it's own unique way, and offer different features depending on what you're looking for.

The most secure wallet is an offline hardware wallet. These wallets include ones such as the Trezor wallet, and the Nano S wallet.

An example of a mobile/desktop wallet is one called Jaxx which is quite useful for multiple different types of currency.

Bottom line, once you purchase your coins from an exchange, quickly move them into your own wallet where you control the private key.

It's better safe than sorry when dealing with cryptocurrency or any type of money for that matter.

Hope this helped in your search for cryptocurrency wallet information! Take care and take action.