Hello fellow steemains, hope you are all doing well and enjoying season 3. Today I am writing homework task for cryptoacademy which is about Wallets.

What are our wallets? Why do you think wallets are important? Let's talk about it.

Wallets as the name implies are tools ( software programs/hardware devices to store and send/receive cryptocurrencies. Wallets are operated through two types of keys - A private key and a Public key. For better understanding, compare your wallet with your bank account that contains your funds. The public key is like an account number that can be shared with anyone without any harm. The private key is analogous to a password in or OTP that has to remain private for the safety of your account. The public key is used to receive/send funds whereas the private key is used to sign a transaction.

There are different types of Wallets based on different parameters. They are :

• Hot and Cold Wallet.
• Hardware and Software wallet.
• Centralised and decentralised wallet.
• Single chain and Multichain wallet

I'll briefly explain each of these without going into details, let's go :

Hot wallets are -web based wallets and therefore have access to internet whereas cold wallets do not have internet access. Exchange-based wallets are a classical example of hot wallets whereas hardware devices like Trezor and KeepKey are examples of cold wallets.

Software wallets are web-based programmes while hardware wallets are physical devices. Hot wallets are software wallets whereas cold wallets are hardware wallets.

Centralised wallets refer to those wallets where your funds are under the control of any third party. These wallets are operated through OTPs or passwords. Decentralised wallets are those where you have absolute control over your funds and you own private key to these wallets. In centralised wallets, in case you forget your password, you can recover that after providing proper verification documents. In decentralised wallets, there is no way to recover your funds if keys are lost.

Multichain wallets are those that store crypto assets from multiple blockchains whereas singlechain wallets can store crypto assets of a single blockchain only. A single chain wallet can store multiple assets of a single blockchain. A single chain wallet doesn't mean that a wallet can store only one asset, But single-chain wallet stores tokens of one blockchain.

I hope the above explanation of wallets is simple and easy to understand for beginners. Let me move one step ahead and discuss offline software wallets. The offline software wallets have two platforms, one of which remains online and the other operates in offline mode. The online part stores public keys wireless offline platform stores private keys. Transactions performed on the onlime platform are unsigned and distributed to the offline platform to sign through private keys. After signing transactions are displayed online. So this mechanism ensures the security of the wallet through the storage of keys offline.

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Importance of Wallets

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• Wallets are tools to store crypto assets through crypto keys.

• Hardware wallets are immune to online hacking attacks as they are not connected to the internet

• Wallets are used to perform operations like send/receive cryptos.

• Wallets can also be used to check transaction details.

• Wallets (Web 3.0) help interaction with decentralised apps without involving any third-party browsers. So secure access is achieved to dApps.

Which wallets do you own? Why did you choose those wallets? Talk about your experience, and show screenshots of your wallets.

I use web 3.0 wallets and hot wallets that are native to exchanges. Web 3.0 wallets that I use include Trust Wallet, Metamask wallet and Tron Link wallet. The hot wallets like exchange-based wallets of Binance, Huobi, Delta exchange and Wazirx are other wallets that I use.

My primary wallet is a Binance's exchange wallet. The reason for choosing the said wallet is that Binance is the primary exchange used by me. Moreover, I perform intraday as well as swing trades in short term. So I should have funds readily available. I cannot transfer funds routinely from my exchange to my wallet and then back. However, for positional trading, these wallets are secure.

Tron link wallet is my primary web 3.0 wallet that facilitates interaction with scores of dApps based on the Tron Platform. Similarly, Trust and Metamask wallets are other web 3.0 wallets to interact with dApps of various categories.

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My TronLink wallet and its Dapp interface have been shown above.

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My trust wallet and its Dapp interface

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Have you suffered any theft in any of your wallets? Tell us about your experience, what do you do to protect your cryptocurrencies?

I am fortunate enough to not have suffered any theft so far. Nowadays security is the prime concern of users and wallets have inbuilt mechanisms to ensure secure storage of funds and routine checks are run to keep it up to date.

To protect cryptocurrencies I have secured my keys offline on the paper wallet Moreover web-based wallets are double protected by email and phone numbers. In addition, 2FA is also enabled through Google authenticator.

While performing any transaction on exchange-based wallets, I receive OTP on my mobile number and email. Both these OTPs are separate to ensure security.

Do you prefer hot wallets or cold wallets, give your opinion

I prefer hot wallets over cold wallets for the following reasons ;

• The only advantage offered by cold wallets is security. Although security is always the major concern of users but is not the only factor to be considered. So other factors persuade me to use hot wallets over cold wallets.

• Software wallets are easy to use than hardware wallets. Hardware wallets need technical knowledge to operate them.

• Software wallets are web-based software on gadgets like mobile phones. So software wallets can be operated any time and anywhere We need not carry separate E devices like hardware.

• Software wallets are free of cost, unlike hardware wallets for which we need to pay to purchase a wallet like TREZOR, KEEP KEY etc.

Conclusion

Wallets are storage tools in crypto sphere secured thorough keys. There are different classifications of wallets as discusses above. Each of these wallet types have something to offer due to which they sustain in crypto space .