Best Bitcoin Wallets

Exodus: Best for Beginners

• Type of wallet: Hot Wallet
• Purchase cost: Free
• Compatible with hardware wallet: Trezor
• Incorporated exchange: Yes

Exodus is a desktop and mobile wallet with a very simple user interface and an exchange built-in. One of Exodus’s most popular features is the ability to swap between a growing number of cryptocurrencies. Exodus currently allows for swaps between over 100 different cryptocurrencies. 

With its simplicity, this wallet is great for beginners just getting into the crypto space. It also has great support, which is an essential feature for beginners getting into what many would consider a confusing market.

While it is great for beginners, more advanced users may find it lacking in some features. First, Exodus is a closed source wallet. This goes against the ethos of the idea of Bitcoin and blockchain and can create some security concerns as its code is not open for everyone to see. Instead, users rely on the Exodus team to ensure there are no holes in the security of its wallet.

Exodus has an option to set custom fees in addition to automatically setting a fee that ensures the transaction completes quickly. 

Electrum: Best For More Advanced Users Interested in Just Bitcoin

• Type of wallet: Hot Wallet
• Purchase cost: Free
• Compatible with hardware wallet: Trezor and Ledger devices
• Incorporated exchange: No

Electrum is one of the original Bitcoin wallets. It has been around since 2011, two years after Bitcoin’s creation, and has changed little since. While this wallet is bare-bones in terms of its user interface and its commitment to only Bitcoin, it excels at this primary function. Electrum is also more suited for advanced users due to its complex options.

Electrum is open source, allows its users to set custom transaction fees, and has the option to choose between legacy Bitcoin and Segwit. It also offers users the ability to determine the level of security they wish to use. For example, you can create a standard wallet, one with two-factor authentication, or a multi-signature wallet. You can also elongate your seed phrase with custom words. 

Electrum is perfect for the more advanced Bitcoin holder who wants great security features and customizability all in a simple layout.

Mycelium: Best for Mobile Users

• Type of wallet: Hot Wallet
• Purchase cost: Free
• Compatible with hardware wallet: Trezor and Ledger devices
• Incorporated exchange: Yes

Mycelium is an open-source and mobile-only Bitcoin wallet. Mycelium currently only supports Bitcoin. In some ways, Mycelium is quite similar to the Electrum wallet with some of the differences being that it is mobile-only, has a more refreshed user interface than Electrum’s, and also has a built-in exchange.

Mycelium, like Electrum, is one of the earlier wallets in the space. Also like Electrum, you can set custom transaction fees so you can choose how long you’re willing to wait for a transaction to be completed. 

Mycelium also has a few more interesting features such as hardware wallet support, which allows users to hold their Bitcoin in an offline storage device while still using Mycelium’s user interface to see their holdings.

Ledger Nano X: Best Hardware Wallet

• Type of wallet: Cold Wallet
• Purchase cost: $119
• Incorporated exchange: No

The Ledger Nano X is the second generation hardware wallet from Ledger, a French company that has been involved in the cryptocurrency space for several years. Ledger’s first product, the Ledger Nano S, was one of the first hardware wallets on the market and dominated the space for a number of years.

The Nano X resembles a USB drive and connects to your device via USB or Bluetooth. This means that you can connect the wallet to your iOS or Android device and do not need a computer. It supports well over 1,500 cryptocurrencies. This list continues to grow each year as the community asks for support for their favorite cryptos.

While the device itself is a cold storage hardware wallet, the Ledger team has created the Ledger Live software that provides a user interface for all your holdings. This gives users the ability to add new wallets for different cryptocurrencies to their devices and manage their portfolios. Ledger hardware wallets have been, and currently are, the most popular in the industry. The Ledger also comes with a USB Type-C cable so that it can be connected to either a desktop computer or a smartphone if preferred over Bluetooth. 

Trezor Model T: Best For a Large Number of Cryptocurrencies

• Type of wallet: Cold Wallet
• Purchase cost: $170
• Incorporated exchange: Yes

Trezor, like Ledger, is a name synonymous with crypto cold wallet storage. Its Model T is the second generation of hardware wallets they have created. The Trezor Model T is very much like the Ledger, but it gives the user the ability to access third-party exchanges, like Changelly and Shapeshift, directly in its website interface. While this is quite convenient, it hardly justifies its more expensive price tag of $170. 

The Model T utilizes a touch screen, which can be easier to use for beginners than the buttons the previous model used. The Trezor also has a MicroSD card slot, allowing you to use the MicroSD cards to encrypt the PIN and further protect your device from attacks.

Like the Ledger Nano X, the Trezor Model T also comes with a USB Type-C cable so that you can connect to either your smartphone or desktop computer. Currently, the Trezor Model T supports nearly 1,400 different cryptocurrencies. Some consider the Model T to be a bit more secure than the Ledger Nano X due to the X’s Bluetooth connectivity. That said, Ledger users can simply avoid using Bluetooth if they so choose. 

Ledger Nano S: Best Bang For Your Buck

• Type of wallet: Cold Wallet
• Purchase cost: $59
• Incorporated exchange: No

The Ledger Nano S is the first generation of hardware wallets introduced by Ledger. It is also one of the first hardware wallets ever made. It followed shortly after the first generation of the Trezor. Like its successor, the Nano S is compatible with thousands of cryptocurrencies. The Nano S does not come with a USB type-C cable, so users with more modern smartphones may have trouble connecting to their devices.

The Nano S is essentially the same as its successor, the Nano X, in that it supports the same list of cryptos and has access to the Ledger Live software. The features it lacks are Bluetooth connectivity and how many wallets you can have simultaneously active on your device. With Nano X, a user can store up to 100 wallets simultaneously. With the Nano S, you can only store up to 18.

The Nano S only has enough storage to make wallets for a limited number of cryptocurrencies at a time. If you were to delete a wallet in order to add another type of cryptocurrency, you would not lose the cryptocurrency in the wallet you deleted. This is because that cryptocurrency is stored directly on the blockchain.

The deleted wallet, and crypto within it, can still be seen in Ledger Live, but the wallet will not be seen on the Ledger device itself. This means that if you would like to send or receive to the wallet you have deleted, you may have to delete another wallet to make more room.

That said, the Ledger Nano S is still a fantastic wallet for those looking to store their cryptocurrency safely for a fair price. It is also quite easy to use with Ledger Live, making it an ideal product for a beginner looking for safe and simple storage for a handful of cryptocurrencies.