Which crypto’s do I have and which wallets do I use?
People often ask me for cryptocurrency advice because they know I invested in some and I work in the IT business so surely I must know everything about the crypto/blockchain world. Well, obviously I do not and cannot know everything but I made sure for myself before I started with this that I had a pretty good idea about how everything works.
Most of the time people ask for general advice and explanation, where to buy the crypto’s they want and how to make sure their crypto’s are safe because of the horror stories about people losing theirs. So I tell them about doing proper research, investment strategies, wallets, exchanges, brokers and normally most people get lost. Taken all aspects about this immature crypto/blockchain world into account there’s no way of denying that it can get pretty confusing, especially if you’re lacking in (general) IT knowledge it makes a bunch of stuff hard to digest.
Obviously I won’t tell anyone what to buy but in order to give some insight I’ve created this list which shows which crypto’s I may or not have at the moment and which wallet I use(d) to keep them safe. I can talk about this stuff for hours or write many many pages but in the end people just want to know what to buy and what to download. This list might help with that.
| Crypto | Wallet |
|---|---|
| ARK (ARK) | ARK Desktop Wallet on Mac OS https://github.com/ArkEcosystem/ark-desktop/releases |
| Bitcoin (BTC) | Wallet on an exchange https://bittrex.com |
| Digibyte (DGB) | Digibyte Core Wallet on Mac OS https://digibyte.co/digibyte-wallets |
| Ethereum (ETH) | Jaxx on iOS & Mac OS https://jaxx.io |
| Gulden (NLG) | Gulden Wallet on Mac OS https://gulden.com/download |
| Reddcoin (RDD) | Reddcoin Core Wallet https://www.reddcoin.com/#Wallets |
| Ripple (XRP) | Ripple Desktop Wallet from Rippex.net on Mac OS https://rippex.net/carteira-ripple.php#/ |
| Stratis (STRAT) | Stratis Electrum Wallet on Mac OS https://stratisplatform.com/wallets/ |
| Verge (XVG) | Wallet on an exchange https://bittrex.com |
| Wagerr (WGR) | Wallet with Wagerr themselves https://wagerr.com |
So generally I think you can say that the safest wallet to use is the official wallet from the developer team themselves (not taking a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S into account). But often they don’t have a ‘light’ wallet which only has to download headers and you can only find the ‘core’ wallet which makes you download the entire blockchain and that’s a hassle. So then you start looking for third parties who might offer a light wallet, but then who’s to say that the third party can be trusted? You can’t really know. A big question mark for me is the wallet I use for Ripple but according to reviews the developers can be trusted but who knows. So for every crypto you somehow have to make a decision taking into account the purpose you’re planning to have the crypto for (Are you in it for long or short term? Where are you going to store your crypto’s?).
I would love it if Jaxx on iOS or Mac OS would offer many more wallets for many more crypto’s. Jaxx is really easy to use and the biggest advantage is that Jaxx offers you one interface for several crypto’s but apparently Apple is holding back their latest version of the app which supports more crypto’s then it does right now so that’s not helping. Some people say that Jaxx isn't the safest but I understand their decision making when it comes to security. The app resides on your own device, best make sure you're own device is secure and my iPhone and Macbook are.
I’ve ordered a Ledger Nano S a few weeks ago, so as soon as it arrives I will be moving a few crypto’s in the Ledger wallets but the problem with the Ledger is the same problem Jaxx has… it only support selected crypto’s. But at least I’m pretty sure that those crypto’s will be perfectly safe.
If anyone has a better suggestion for a wallet than the ones I’m currently using I would love to know.
As long as you don't have it on a hardware ledger you probably have to keep monitoring your wallets to see if any security flaws have come to light that could be exploited.
Exactly, very important to stay up to date on everything that has to do with cryptocurrency and specifically wallets and security.
And don't forget the security of your network and the computer that has your wallets stored.
A quick attack to your computer could have your keys exposed etc.
Awesome post. Have you heard of Coinomi? They will be supporting apple soon according to their site. And they currently support Reddcoin and Digibyte which are not supported on the Ledger Nano S. Check it out https://coinomi.com/
Yes looked at it. Waiting for Apple support ;) then I will look at it some more.
Good post. I was about to post a similair thread. The biggest group of uneducated investors in mankind get's a shot to determine the price of a crypto. It's an interesting world we live in. I found this great website: https://www.coincheckup.com The site is my go to place for crypto investment analaysis and indepth coin research. Check for example: https://www.coincheckup.com/coins/Gulden#analysis For a complete Gulden Detailed report