The Best Bitcoin Wallets

The Ledger Nano X is the second generation hardware wallet from Ledger, a French company launched in 2014. The Nano X resembles a USB drive and connects to your device via USB or Bluetooth. This means you can connect the wallet to your iOS or Android device without needing a computer. It supports more than 5,500 cryptocurrencies, and this list grows annually as the Bitcoin 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-C to USB-A cable and can be connected to either a desktop computer or a smartphone if preferred over Bluetooth.

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 CoinSwitch, directly in its website interface. While this is quite convenient, it hardly justifies its more expensive price tag of $219.

The Model T utilizes a touch screen, which can be easier to use for beginners than the buttons their previous model used. The Trezor also has a MicroSD card slot, allowing you to use 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-A to USB-C cable so that you can connect to your desktop computer. You can connect to an Android smartphone with a USB-C to USB-C cable. Currently, the Trezor Model T supports more than 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 (although Ledger's Bluetooth is optional).

Exodus is a desktop and mobile wallet with a straightforward 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 250 different cryptocurrencies. 

With its simplicity, this wallet is great for beginners just getting into crypto. It also has excellent support, 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 the option to set custom fees to keep costs down, in addition to the option of automatically setting a fee that ensures the transaction completes quickly.

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 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 is an open-source and mobile-only Bitcoin wallet. Mycelium currently only supports Bitcoin, ETH, and ERC-20 tokens. In some ways, Mycelium is quite similar to the Electrum wallet. Some of the differences are that it is mobile-only, has a more refreshed user interface than Electrum, and 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, allowing users to hold their Bitcoin in an offline storage device while still using Mycelium’s user interface to see their holdings.