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6 Best Crypto Wallets
By James F. Trumm MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
Crypto exchange to buy, sell, and hold crypto. Not a wallet.*
n/a
$0 commission / $30 Broker (small fees such as SEC & TAF fees may apply)
n/a
n/a
Trade and stake crypto on your hardware Ledger wallet through the Ledger Live app
Cold storage
$119 for device; miner, wallet and exchange fees
N/A
500+
Interact with websites using the Dapp (decentralized app) web browser
Hot storage
User-set miner fees from low to high priority; wallet and exchange fees
No
5,500+
Rebroadcast transactions with a higher fee with Replace By Fee feature
Hot storage
0.2 mBTC (default rate)
Yes
1
Partnered with Cashila, Glidera, and Coinapult, to provide financial services
Hot storage
User-set miner fees from low to high priority (0.01mBTC - 1mBTC); wallet and exchange fees
Yes
22+
If you’ve just begun to dabble in cryptocurrency, you probably opened an account on a crypto exchange. Exchanges make it easy to buy Bitcoin (BTC), altcoins, and many other types of crypto and pay for them with a debit or credit card or by linking to your bank account.
But when you’re ready to take the next step and explore the world of decentralized finance (DeFi), check out the booming trade in NFTs, or find a more secure way to store your crypto assets, it’s time to open up a cryptocurrency wallet. The best cryptocurrency wallet for you will depend on your goals and what kind of digital assets you own or are interested in. Here’s a primer on crypto wallets to assist you in making your choice.
If you’re one of the many people who began investing through crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance, or Bisq, you may think that cryptocurrency exchanges are the primary way crypto is traded. But the fact is that just 6.3% of the world’s Bitcoin is held in exchanges; the rest is held in wallets.
As cryptocurrency has boomed, many investors have become concerned with how they can keep their crypto assets secure and how they can participate in the coming DeFi (decentralized finance) revolution that will ride on the cryptocurrency blockchains. Many individual investors have turned to cryptocurrency wallets to address these issues.
Choosing the right type of wallet is important. You probably wouldn’t store thousands of dollars in gold coins in your sock drawer or leave valuable antiques laying around a dank and moldy basement. Similarly, if you have a lot of money invested in crypto and aren’t trading it on a daily or weekly basis, it may not be the best idea to leave those assets in an exchange account or in a wallet that has subpar security.
Our Top Picks For Best Crypto Wallets
- Coinbase Wallet – Best for Beginners
- Robinhood – Best for Buying Stocks and Crypto
- Electrum – Best for Bitcoin
- Mycelium – Best for Mobile
- Ledger Nano X – Best Hardware Wallet
- Exodus – Best for Desktop
Best Crypto Wallet Reviews
Best for Beginners: Coinbase
Coinbase Wallet is our choice as the best cryptocurrency wallet for beginners because of its seamless user experience. Unlike other wallets, it appears to be designed from the ground up to be both secure and easy to operate, even for people who are only passingly familiar with the crypto world.
- User interface is smooth and intuitive
- Allows trading in over 500 crypto coins and NFTs
- Secured by 2-factor authentication and biometric ID
- Operated by a reputable, experienced American company
- Offers only hot wallets, which may be less secure than those requiring a physical key
- Only available on laptops and desktops through a Chrome extension
The opening screen presents users with just three tabs to click on, each with a straightforward name and purpose, and overall gets high marks from us for its ease of use. It’s also very easy to connect to PayPal and personal bank accounts, with the names and routing numbers of many major banks pre-loaded into its interface via an assist from Plaid.
Like most crypto wallets, Coinbase Wallet offers DeFi capabilities that allow users to purchase one cryptocurrency with another without an intermediary.
Coinbase Wallet supports trading in more crypto coins than any other wallet on the market. It also offers a mobile app, which makes trading on the go easy. Coinbase is a US company and does a good job of providing its users with the information and forms that are needed at tax time. It complies with US banking law, including Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations. Users who wish to do so can back up their digital keys in cloud storage – a potentially important feature, especially for people who have trouble remembering or storing their own passwords.
But while Coinbase Wallet is exceptionally well designed, its user-friendly features come with some caveats and trade-offs.
It’s important to understand that Coinbase is the name of both a cryptocurrency exchange (known as Coinbase Exchange or Coinbase Consumer) and a cryptocurrency wallet (known as Coinbase Wallet). These are two different services. You do not need an account on Coinbase Exchange to set up a Coinbase Wallet – and merely having an account on Coinbase Exchange does NOT create a crypto wallet.
Coinbase Wallet is what’s known as a hot wallet, which means that it’s connected to the internet and stores the keys to your account online remotely. We’ll get deeper into the differences between hot and cold wallets below, but for now, the critical point is that while hot wallets are easier to access by their owners, they are also potentially more susceptible to being hacked.
Best for Buying Stocks and Crypto: Robinhood
People who own crypto also tend to invest in stocks. Robinhood, which made its name as a fast, easy-to-use platform for buying and selling stocks, has now branched out into crypto and offers its own digital currency wallet. While a few traditional brokerages have begun offering crypto alongside their stocks, bonds, options, and ETFs, Robinhood is one of the few no-fee mobile trading platforms that allows customers to buy and sell crypto on an exchange and store it in a crypto wallet.
- Allows investors to manage stock and crypto investments on the same platform
- No transaction fees or commissions (though network fees may apply)
- Secured by 2-factor authentication
- Company has a mediocre-to-poor reputation for customer service and support
- Can take up to 5 days to enable wallet access
- No cold wallets are offered
Robinhood’s stated mission is to “democratize finance for all.” Whether it’s achieved that goal is debatable, but it’s beyond question that Robinhood has opened the doors to investing for millions of customers who never owned a share of stock or a bit of cryptocurrency before. In fact, some critics of the company have groused that Robinhood actually makes investing TOO easy and that its interface “is designed more like a video game than an investing tool.”
Designed like a video game? Oh dear.
Because Robinhood’s crypto wallets are being rolled out gradually, you’ll have to add your name to a list and wait til your name is called before you can proceed. Account setup is easy and requires only an upload of a selfie and a photo of your driver’s license, state ID, passport, passport card, or permanent resident card. Accounts are secured by authenticator apps such as Google Authenticator, Duo Mobile, and Authy, which are all available on Android and iOS mobile devices. Robinhood also sends new users a backup code which can be used if you lose access to your phone.
Best for Bitcoin: Electrum
While other wallets we review here enable users to buy and sell a number of different cryptocurrencies, Electrum stands out by supporting only one: Bitcoin, the crypto with the world’s largest market cap. This singular focus enables Electrum to offer services tailor-made for Bitcoin storage and convinced us to choose it as the best Bitcoin wallet.
- Offers a more secure platform than other hot wallets
- Integrates with cold wallets
- Lets users choose their fee level depending on the speed of transaction verification
- Not suitable for those who want to trade in currencies other than Bitcoin
- No customer support (though there is extensive documentation and help on Reddit and other forums)
Electrum offers a glimpse back into the time when crypto was a geeky new thing that was only accessible to people with a high level of technical proficiency. Its open-source code was developed in 2011, just two years after the first Bitcoin was mined. Since then, Electrum has been improved and modified many times and has become both easier to operate and more secure.
Electrum users seem divided on whether it is easy to set up and use, with some praising its minimalist interface and navigation and others noting that it’s confusing and difficult to get the hang of. Both conclusions are true, but for different sets of people. For those who know their way around crypto, Electrum is indeed elegantly simple, but for those who are new to crypto and just want to buy Bitcoin, setting up and using Electrum can be daunting.
One clear advantage Electrum offers is that it has a lightweight client, meaning that compared to other wallets, it takes up very little space on the user’s hard drive. It accomplishes this by downloading only parts of the blockchain where the transaction being processed is to be recorded. This makes it faster and accessible for those whose computers have only modest memory capacities.
One notable security feature of Electrum is that it rides on an open-source code that allows anyone to see exactly how the application is managing their transactions. Like other crypto wallets, Electrum secures users’ accounts with two-factor identification.
Best for Mobile: Mycelium
Among all the mobile crypto wallet platforms we analyzed, Mycelium stood out from the rest because, though it doesn’t do a lot, it does what it does very safely, effectively and privately. Though its scope is limited to Bitcoin and Ethereum-based tokens, its security is unparalleled, making it a great choice for people who make most of their crypto transactions on mobile devices.
- Though it's a hot wallet, it integrates with hardware wallets (Ledger, Trezor, KeepKey)
- Available on Android and iOS
- Offers single-address accounts which allow users to store each type of crypto in a separate account
- Exceptional privacy and security features
- Interface can be confusing
- Supports only a few cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH, and ERC-20 tokens)
- Only available as a mobile wallet
- Customer support is by email only
In the context of cryptocurrency apps, Mycelium has been around for a long time. First released in 2012, it’s based on a reproducible source code. This allows the code on the user’s phone to be downloaded and compared to the original in order to detect malware and other security issues. It also features “watch only” accounts, which let account holders monitor their crypto assets without using their private key (and potentially exposing it to malware or hackers).
Mycelium also places an almost fanatical emphasis on privacy and anonymity. Users are not required to divulge their personal information or comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations. Transactions and communications are handled on the Tor network, which hides users’ IP addresses and physical locations. Following each transaction, the network generates a new IP address for that user, which makes it very difficult for anyone to compile a list of a user’s transactions with a block explorer.
Best Hardware Wallet: Ledger Nano X
The Ledger Nano X edged out the competition for the top spot among hardware wallets for three reasons. It supports more digital assets than its competitors, it can be used with a mobile app, and it enjoys a strong reputation in the cold wallet industry.
- Supports over 5500 coins and tokens and up to 100 apps
- Allows users to buy, sell, manage, exchange, and stake crypto assets
- Integrates with Apple Pay
- Price ($149 as of this writing) is on the high side
- Lacks a touchscreen
- Uses Bluetooth to communicate with mobile devices (a potential security vulnerability)
- Battery lasts only five years and cannot be replaced
The Ledger Nano X looks like a hinged thumb drive with a tiny digital display. It’s controlled by Ledger Live, a smartphone app. The connection between the Nano X and the mobile phone can be made via Bluetooth or, for even greater security, can be connected to a computer by wire.
Both the app and the computer interface feature a sleek, easy-to-navigate design. It has a rechargeable battery that will power the key for several hours of use or a few months of idling. The battery is expected to last about five years. After it dies, the Nano X will still function so long as it is cabled to a computer.
In its eight years of existence, Ledger has earned an enviable reputation for security and ease of use. The Nano S, the predecessor of the Nano X, became the most popular hardware wallet in the cryptoworld. In 2021, the company itself was hacked and the personal data (name, postal address, email address, and phone number) of its customers was exposed. Though Ledger warned its users that their “funds could be at risk of theft,” it does not appear that that threat materialized.
Other Ledger Nano X security features include a secure element chip that protects the device from unauthorized access and stores confidential data. If the Nano X’s Bluetooth connection was hacked, the device would still require the user’s consent to take any action. The device can also be connected to a computer by a USB-C cable for added security
Best for Desktop: Exodus
We chose Exodus as the best crypto wallet for desktops and laptops because it combines a clean, user-friendly interface with non-custodial security protocols. It’s also particularly well-suited to those who are new to crypto wallets.
- Supports over 165 cryptocurrencies
- Compatible with Trezor hardware wallets
- Allows users to buy NFTs via the Exodus NFT Marketplace
- 24/7 email and live chat customer support
- Account recovery will be difficult if you lose your customer credentials
- Does not support crypto-to-fiat transactions
- No multi-signature support or two-factor identification
Exodus was originally developed as a desktop crypto wallet platform. Although the company now offers a mobile version, it isn’t quite as full-featured. The Exodus user experience is easy to understand. The web version also features a library of customer education and support materials that seem aimed at people who don’t have a lot of experience with cryptocurrencies.
Other reviewers are divided on the question of whether Exodus offers robust security for its customers’ crypto wallets. On the one hand, as a non-custodial service, hackers might find it difficult to grab account information by penetrating Exodus’s systems. On the other, the lack of a multi-signature identification option and two-factor identification makes it more vulnerable than other services to hacks into individual customers’ computers. Which side of this debate you come down on probably depends on whether you’re more concerned about an attack on Exodus’s servers or an attack on your personal computer. This trade-off, however, is hardly unique to Exodus.
It should be noted that Exodus does not comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) standards. All transactions are anonymous. Nor does Exodus have custody of each user’s account credentials. People who have a strong desire to keep their crypto transactions completely private will deem these features to be advantages. However, there are those who wonder whether using such a service makes them appear suspicious in the eyes of the law or whether services such as Exodus are inviting government regulation.
Other advantages to Exodus include the availability of apps that enhance the wallet’s functionality, such as those that display live charts and facilitate crypto staking. Exodus also features a Simplified Payment Verification (SPV) system that downloads only the relevant parts of the blockchains necessary to complete the transactions.
Other crypto wallets we considered
As we researched various wallets, we came across several that had some great individual features but weren’t overall as good as the ones listed above. Still, if those particular features appeal to you, any of these could also be a good choice.
Trezor
- Two models available
- User-friendly controls
- More expensive than comparable cold wallets
- Not available on iPhone
KeepKey
- One of the less expensive hardware wallets
- Device display supports QR codes
- Integrates with a few types of crypto coins
- Client takes up more memory than most
Lykke Wallet
- Free to use
- Can be used with the most popular cryptocurrencies
- A hot wallet only
- Transaction speeds can be slow
What about DeFi?
In the last few years, the promise of the decentralized finance revolution has tantalized those who dream of a system of payments, contracts, and investments that avoids middlemen altogether. We looked at several platforms that are on the cutting edge of the coming revolution, including Crypto.com, 1inch Wallet, and Dexwallet but ultimately decided not to make any recommendation at all.
DeFi has been used by only a minority of crypto users – and an even smaller minority of the general population. In June of 2021, one analyst estimated that only 1.36 million people worldwide have used DeFi services. Compare this to the 295 million global crypto users that existed in December 2021 and it becomes clear that DeFi is still in its infancy.
There’s no denying the allure of a finance system that operates without intermediaries, but it also holds an elevated level of risk. We urge anyone considering dipping their toe into the DeFi waters to exercise the utmost caution.
Because of this high level of risk and the lack of substantial and reliable data about how well DeFi platforms operate, we’re not making a Best for Decentralized Finance recommendation at this time.
Crypto Wallets Guide
What is a crypto wallet?
Whoever came up with the term “cryptocurrency wallet” is guilty of propagating a bad analogy.
Crypto wallets aren’t actually wallets. And they don’t store your cryptocurrency.
Crypto wallets are more like a hiding place for the key to your safe deposit box. When you want to add to or withdraw from that stash of cash you have locked away, you have to go to that hiding place, get the key, take it to the bank, and use it to unlock your box.
Your cryptocurrency is stored on a blockchain in a digital ledger. There are two “keys” needed to access your assets. One is a public key, which is like the number on your safe deposit box. The other is your private key – the one you keep hidden away – that only you know about.
What we call cryptocurrency wallets are actually just ways to hide your private key so that no one else can take your crypto. That key establishes you as the owner of your digital assets and permits you to do with them what you will – sell them, add to them, or just count them.
How do crypto wallets work?
Suppose you own some Dogecoin and you decide you want to use it to buy some mudflaps for your Model Y at the Tesla Shop. To do that, you have to acknowledge that Tesla, and not you, now owns the 12 Dogecoins that are needed to make that purchase.
Two digital codes are necessary to do this: a public key and a private key.
First, you have to obtain Tesla’s public key, which is a long randomized string of letters and numbers. Then you’d use your public key together with your private key – another long alphanumeric string – to record the fact that you have transferred 12 Dogecoins to Tesla.
By using your public and private keys together, you can make the mudflap purchase without giving Tesla access to all your crypto assets. Similarly, Tesla can receive your payment without letting you into its Dogecoin wallet. Both the public key assigned to your digital wallet and the private key that’s known only by you are needed to authenticate the transaction. Once both keys are verified, the balance in your crypto wallet will increase or decrease accordingly.
All of that may sound complex, but the truth is that you don’t have to be an advanced user to use a crypto wallet. Your wallet isn’t much more complicated than an email account, where the public key is like your email address and the private key is the password to your account.
Types of crypto wallets
Generally speaking, there are two types of crypto wallets: hot wallets (which are also called software wallets) and cold wallets (also known as cold storage or offline wallets). Hot wallets need to be connected to the internet to function and generally aren’t physical objects, while cold wallets are kept offline and can take the form of a separate device that connects to your computer when the wallet is needed.
Software wallets
Software wallets (also known as hot wallets) are applications that require a connection to the internet in order to function. They can be used on your phone or computer to buy, sell, stake, trade, and monitor your currencies. Some hot wallets may also be accessed from your browser, meaning you can use them across a wide variety of devices.
There’s no denying that hot wallets are convenient. And because all of us are used to going online to recover and reset our passwords, the processes involved feel familiar.
Software wallets store and encrypt your public and private keys on the wallet’s app or website. This makes them accessible from any device with an online connection that allows you to log into your account. This ease of access makes them ideal for active crypto traders.
But since hot wallets work by connecting to the internet, they pose a greater risk of cyberattacks. If hackers figure out how to exploit vulnerabilities in the software that defines your wallet or use malware to break into the system, your account could be broken into. This is a larger risk for wallets hosted by crypto exchanges, which are more inviting targets overall for crypto thieves. At present, this risk is more hypothetical than actual. Still, no one wants to be the person whose account was cleaned out by someone who leveraged that hypothetical risk into an actual heist.
It should be mentioned here that crypto assets, whether on an exchange or in a wallet, are not insured by any governmental or, to our knowledge, any private entity. If they’re stolen, you will likely lose them for good.
Hardware wallets
Hardware wallets (also known as cold wallets) store your digital keys offline on a piece of hardware or sheet of paper. Hardware wallets often resemble a USB drive. They let you buy, sell and trade crypto while the device is connected to a computer. With “paper” wallets, your keys may be accessible via printed-out QR codes, written on a piece of paper, or engraved on some other material, such as metal.
Because they are not connected to the internet, cold storage wallets are very difficult to hack. Unless the wallet owner falls for a phishing or social engineering attack, hackers have no way of obtaining the owner’s keys remotely. If your crypto is secured with a hardware wallet, a thief would have to obtain the USB drive used to access your crypto and then somehow crack its password, or be lucky enough to find the piece of paper where you wrote down your private key.
Ironically, the higher level of security that attends cold wallets may also cause costly mistakes on the part of wallet owners. If you lose your USB drive or sheet of paper and don’t have your private key backed up somewhere, you’ve effectively lost access to your crypto. Compared to hot wallets, which make it possible to regain access through a seed phrase, recovering access on a cold wallet is impossible in most cases due to the two-key security system.
As one newspaper wondered, “Bitcoin owners are getting rich because the cryptocurrency has soared. But what happens when you can’t tap that wealth because you forgot the password to your digital wallet?” The answer seems to be that you lose your crypto fortune and, by design, no one can help you.
Crypto Wallet FAQ
What is the best bitcoin wallet?
How much does a crypto wallet cost?
Crypto wallets are generally not very expensive. One of the hot wallets we considered, Lykke Wallet, is free. Others charge either a small flat fee or a percentage of the transaction. Cold wallets are generally pricier – up to about $200 – since you're paying for a piece of hardware that has an encrypted memory and (in some cases) a touchscreen display.
One of the frustrations we encountered in comparing different wallets was their across-the-board vagueness about transaction fees and other costs. To be fair, these do vary depending on factors such as the desired speed of the transaction, the size of the transaction, and the networks involved. Still, our take is that the crypto wallet industry as a whole could do a better job of educating customers about the total costs of using their products.
What are the safest crypto wallets?
How We Chose The Best Crypto Wallet
To compile this list of recommendations, we looked at over 15 crypto wallets and evaluated them based on security, functionality, and cost. Since hot and cold wallets work differently and since the former are generally cheaper than the latter, we compared only hot wallets to other hot wallets and likewise with cold. Then too, the cost of using a hot wallet is hard to establish due to variable exchange, network and wallet fees, but cold hardware wallets are physical products that must be bought from a retailer. We kept this in mind as we attempted to make only apples-to-apples comparisons
The wallets included in our list scored high in the following categories:
- Security – Security measures are paramount where crypto wallets are concerned. We favored wallets with 2-factor and/or biometric authentication, multi-signature support, open-source code, and strong security protocols. Since hot and cold wallets work differently, we developed two sets of security criteria that had to be met to satisfy us.
- Features – While the basic function of a crypto wallet is to securely store crypto assets, many wallets come with additional capabilities that enhance their efficiency and functionality. Wallets that support a larger number of tradable assets, include live charts, and are compatible with a wider range of hardware scored higher with us.
- Cost – Cold wallets generally cost more than hot ones, so again we had to employ apples-to-apples comparisons in each category. We favored reasonably priced wallets that charge less for processing transactions. But as noted above, nailing down the exact cost of using a given crypto wallet proved difficult.
Summary Of The Best Crypto Wallets
- Coinbase Wallet – Best for Beginners
- Robinhood – Best for Buying Stocks and Crypto
- Electrum – Best for Bitcoin
- Mycelium – Best for Mobile
- Ledger Nano X – Best Hardware Wallet
- Exodus – Best for Desktop
