What is a digital currency wallet?
A digital asset wallet can be a device, program, service, or app that allows crypto users to receive/store and send their digital currency. Most digital wallets operate like apps on smartphones or computers but some like hardware wallets are physical devices that run a wallet app.
If you wish to acquire a crypto asset such as Bitcoin Cash – whether you intend to purchase it from a crypto exchange like Bitcoin.com or peer-to-peer platform like Local.Bitcoin.com or simply receive it as a payment or gift, you can easily receive the cryptocurrency to a unique cryptographic address generated by the wallet.
Imagine that your crypto asset is stored in the wallet in the same way files are stored on a USB drive, except that the data stored on the wallet only points to your cash’s location on the blockchain which is essentially the public ledger where all transactions are recorded and validated. Spending the cryptocurrency on your wallet is as simple as scanning a retailer’s QR code or directing a specific amount of digital assets to the retailer’s public address.
Digital currency wallets typically consist of two sets of random numbers and letters. One of them is meant to be your wallet’s public address which other users can use to send you Bitcoin Cash or other crypto assets. The other number will be your private key which provides you with secure access to your funds and used to sign off for transactions. This number should always be kept private because anyone with access to it has access to your funds. Also if you lose or forget the private key, the funds will not be retrievable.
How to obtain a wallet
When you register with a cryptocurrency exchange, you are automatically provided with wallets to store your different cryptocurrencies, depending on the assets supported by those exchanges. It is recommended however, for the safety of your tokens, that you store them in a non-custodial wallet, cold wallet or hardware wallet where you control the private keys. The reason being that exchanges that provide wallet services are essentially in possession of your private keys and, by extension, your funds. Also exchanges can be hacked or go out of business.
What to look out for
Compatibility
If you want to store Bitcoin Cash for example, make sure that the wallet of choice actually provides support for Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Just because a wallet allows you to store e.g. Bitcoin (BTC) doesn’t mean you can automatically store BCH or other cryptos. Make sure you understand the differences between these currencies since they are all priced differently and have different value propositions. If you want to make peer-to-peer cash payments then BCH might be your pick because it’s faster and cheaper to transact with compared to BTC – which most people prefer to buy and store or hodl as they say in crypto circles.
Easy of use
If you’re not very clued up on how crypto wallets work, it’s advisable that you stick to the unsophisticated wallets or those wallets that offer simple and easy to navigate interfaces, making it easier for you to manage your funds conveniently.
Security
It’s not a bad idea to use wallets provided by specialised wallet providers with dedicated development teams that continuously upgrade security and features. Ensure that the wallet offers security features such as 2-factor authentication, advanced encryption and secure PINs and/or passphrases? Also check whether it has a backup feature in case you ever need to restore your wallet.
Customer support
Wallet providers that have good customer support are recommended. That is why it’s important to check wallet reviews to find out what other people say about their experience using those wallets.
Top 10 Bitcoin Cash Wallets
Bitcoin.com
The wallet provided by Bitcoin.com offers an easy way to secure, send and receive Bitcoin. The wallet supports both Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin Core (BTC).
Edge
Edge is an easy to use digital currency wallet that allows users to easily control their own private keys. Edge is a reliable, user-friendly wallet that also supports Bitcoin Cash and other digital assets and you can seamlessly shift between digital currencies on the go.
Electron Cash
This Bitcoin Cash SPV wallet gives users control of their own private keys. It also makes it easy for people to back up their wallet with a mnemonic seed phrase. What’s great about this wallet is that you can enjoy the high security it offers without needing to download the blockchain or run a full node.
Simple Wallet
If you’re a developer, the Simple Bitcoin Wallet is useful for building applications for Bitcoin Cash. Simple Wallet provides an easy and quick way to create BCH wallets and send bitcoin around. It supports Honest Cash and uses Bitbox and OP_RETURN.
Exodus
Exodus is a free to use, desktop and mobile wallet that allows you to store not only BCH, BTC, ETH and many other cryptocurrencies. The user interface is smooth and easy to navigate and very intuitive. It’s a beautifully designed and highly functional non-custodial wallet. You can send or receive crypto using QR codes.
BTC.com
The Btc.com wallet offers a web wallet that won’t compromise users’ private keys. The wallet offers both Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin (BTC) support. Users are able to purchase bitcoin directly from their wallet. Transaction fees are dynamic. You pay the optimal transaction fee for the fastest transaction confirmation times at the best price. Users can also accelerate transactions by pushing their priority transactions directly to the BTC.com mining pool for super fast confirmation times.
CoinPayments
CoinPayments offers a digital web-based cryptocurrency wallet. They have a multi digital currency wallet support feature so you can store your BCH and other coins. You can store multiple digital assets without any limit set. The wallet also offers a vault feature to protect and secure the money from hackers. CoinPayments offers cold storage, multi-signature, instant confirmations, and plugins for easy integration of payment features and merchant tools.
KeepKey
KeepKey is a crypto hardware wallet that also has support for Bitcoin Cash and other cryptos. KeepKey is the premier wallet in the new ShapeShift Platform, a web-based interface that consolidates your many crypto tools into one, beautiful environment. KeepKey wallet offers PIN protection against unauthorized use, additional passphrase protection, customizable transaction speeds, and limitless wallet addresses on one device.
Cash Address
Bitcoin Cash’s paper wallet script is available to those who prefer paper wallets to say hardware wallets. It is an open source JavaScript Client-Side Bitcoin Cash wallet generator. A paper wallet is just a public and a private key printed together, usually in QR form for ease of use. A paper wallet is a type of ‘cold storage,’ which is the safest way of storing your digital assets since there’s no contact with the Internet. Check out CashAddress.
Ledger
One of the most popular digital asset hardware wallet providers, Ledger supports BCH and other cryptos. Users can install the Bitcoin Cash app on their Ledger device to manage BCH with Ledger Live. The BCH app is developed and supported by Ledger. Check their Bitcoin Cash wallet page to learn more.
Originally published http://bitcoincashafrica.com/
