If you know what you are doing, there are a wide range of different wallets to choose from which offer different pros and cons.

I have not bought any crypto cuurency as of this date and have been searching on line for basic information. Your information is the best that I have located online. The one fact I cant find is if I buy any currency do I need to obtain a wallet to keep it in

There are several types of wallets you can use including online, offline, mobile, hardware, desktop, and paper. Each type refers to what type of medium the wallet is stored on and whether or not the data is stored online. Some wallets offer more than one method of accessing the wallet for instance; Bitcoin Wallet is a desktop application and a mobile app.

Then, although its not a long term storage solution, you can use exchanges as temporary universal wallets (the major crypto-to-crypto exchanges essentially double as universal wallets as you can store any coin traded on the exchange on them).

A cryptocurrency wallet is a secure digital wallet used tostore, send, and receivedigital currency like Bitcoin. Most coins have an official wallet or a few officially recommended third-party wallets. In order to use any cryptocurrency, you will need to use a cryptocurrency wallet.

In simple terms, a wallet is software (or software on hardware) that allows you to store your keys and/or move funds around on the blockchain if you have knowledge of the keys associated with the funds. NOTE: I say and/or because the range of softwares we call wallets dont all do the same thing, for example MyEtherWallet does not store your keys, TREZOR does. Meanwhile exchanges have custodial wallets, and you cant directly access the keys associated with the funds. Little details, but if we are going to get detailed, this sort of stuff is worth noting.

So, where to store then, say bitcoins or litecoins worth $50.000, as investment for say two or three years time?

TIP: Watch out for browser extension malware if you are using online wallets, you may want to use a different browser for your online wallet than you do for your day-to-day internet browsing.

If my memory serves me OKCoin and Huobi are both valid. This guide puts Coinmama at the top of their list.

I believe Litecoin Classic is an ethereum-based token that is not directly related to litecoin. That means you would use a ERC-20 friendly wallet like MyEther wallet and then set it up for the Litecoin Classic token. Here is an example of how this is done (you need the specific contract address, symbol, and decimal for that /how-to-create-a-custom-token-in-myetherwallet-how-to-add-a-token/

There are also custodial wallets where you dont control your private keys directly likeCoinbase(although people are advised against keeping all their funds on anexchange, exchanges generally double as custodial wallets as well).

Generally speaking you need a different wallet for each coin. However, there are some universal wallets and wallets that hold more than one coin.

Ive heard this problem before. Try taking a picture of your ID with a camera. Sometimes a web cam or scanner wont produce a high enough quality version to be accepted.

Essentially all cryptocurrency wallets are blockchain wallets. Blockchain is a technology that that creates a digital ledger of transactions encrypted by cryptogorahy.

It can be stressful when you send a transaction out into the void via third parties and then play the waiting game, but in general it is just a matter of waiting.

I tried to sign up on coinbase for several days (at the beginning of 2018) without success, so I finally gave up.

Cryptocurrency wallets are all built to be secure, but the exact security differs from wallet to wallet. Generally, like your usernames and passwords, the security of your wallet comes from you using best practices. We suggest not keeping more currency than you need at one time in a single wallet that you use frequently, usinggoogle authenticatorfor extra layers of protection, encrypting your wallet, and using an official (or officially endorsed wallet). You can also usemulti-signature transactions.

And is it a must to purchase Bitcoin first in order to purchase other coins like NEO or Steller?

Im not familiar with OT Capital. I always suggest picking the most popular exchange in your country. For the U.S. Coinbase/GDAX and Bittrex is a good choice (but it can differ by country). Meanwhile, the general advice for storage generally includes the official wallet of a coin, secure cold storage solutions, and hardware wallets like TREZOR.

I appreciate how youve broken things down for the novice.

I am new to cryptocurrency, just successfully signed up with Coinbase. But then I realised Coinbase does not actually support buy and sell service for user based in Hong Kong! I wonder if I can still use Coinbase as an exchange while using other wallet? Or is there other similar service like Coinbase which handles both wallet and exchange with just one account?

All that said, my answer is Im sure lackluster compared to an answer someone from Coinbase could give ?

In other words, this is a website on the internet offering free information about cryptocurrency, this is not your accountant, lawyer, or fiduciary offering you professional tax, legal, or investment advice.

It can be a little difficult to get a setup that works for you, but if you are using two factor and following other general best practices you are generally moving in the right direction.

Of course, each wallet type has its own considerations and once you find one you think you want to use, you need to do some research to triple check its the right choice and you are using the necessary layers of protection.

Anyway, that is my two bits on litecoin. Thanks for the kind words! Keep learning about crypto and enjoying it!

Cryptocurrency Taxes, Rules, and Regulations

The answer is about the same as the answer towhether cryptocurrency is anonymous or not. The answer is that cryptocurrency is pseudonymous. Due to the open source and public nature oftransaction blockchain ledgers, there are little bits of public data that can be used to backward engineer someones identity (in theory). For most of us, the answer then would be, its pretty darn close to anonymous.

For the future, although everyone has to make their own choices, it is often wise to focus on coins that are traded on popular exchanges and have their own official wallets. Anything in the top 50 or so coins by market cap is generally a safe bet. It avoids some of the problems one can have with less traded coins such as finding buyers, finding wallets, and finding exchanges to trade them on.

TIP: If you want a simple wallet-exchange solution (so you can jump right into trading cryptocurrency) see our page on How to Trade Cryptocurrency For Beginners.

With these things you really have to do some research. I would always aim to use the most popular exchange in my region. So if you can figure out which one that is for you, start there.

I would use another source to confirm this. Assuming I am correct, start by sending a small amount and verify that it works. You wouldnt want to test out a wallet address with a large amount of coins.

I love ur passion and time created to reply every comment therein. I am vera from Nigeria. I have passion for crypto trading and even want to make a career in this field, but dont know where to start even someone i know who is into trading cryto blatantly refuse to put me through. I have payed some amount on udemy online course yet i could not get anything meaningful. Pls if i can get some assistance on how to start trading on this i will be so grateful . Thank you.

Coinbase also offers an extra layer of security with their vault product.

If you are new to cryptocurrency, then either:

Great article. One thing that would seriously help crypto newbies though is if we can start to change some misleading, but currently enshrined, terminology. As this article correctly states Cryptocurrency itself is not actually stored in a wallet. So a crypto wallet isnt really a wallet at all. Its most important function (it does have others) is much more analogous to a key ring.

Check out this article on Cold storage of Bitcoin. These are all good solutions and you can essentially just do this for every coin you have (although specifics can differ by coin):

Ive not purchased any cryptocurrency yet but am studying it. My question comes when I want to sell the coin and take the profit. How do I sell it and get the USD from my wallet to my bank account? Thanks

If you read through our site you essentially get a crash course in everything you need to know.

I personally wouldnt consider Coinbase/GDAX on the same level as the exchanges from back in the day, but they are hardly fundamentally different in every respect (especially when comparing GDAX to another exchange).

Or their system didnt like the quality (allegedly unreadable) or the size was wrong (but without saying which is the right one).

For extra security, use the vault and/or look into a long term storage option for the Bitcoin you are going long with (like TREZOR or a paper wallet, etc).

On an exchange you wouldnt have to sync your wallet. Syncing a wallet is more something you would do if you had a wallet where you were in control of your private keys, or had a hardware wallet that was offline.

So you are essentially storing your keys in a wallet (or storing your keys elsewhere and using the wallet to create transactions with those keys), the actual cryptocurrency lives the blockchain where transactions (stored in blocks on the blockchain) are associated with public addresses, which are associated with private keys, from which balances can be tallied by the wallet software.

I have LITE COIN classic, ( lcc Coin )

The business was built from the ground up to be a trusted wallet-broker-exchange for U.S.-based users.

Sign up for a custodial wallet service likeCoinbase(which handles a wallet and exchange with one account).

I purchased a certain companys cryptocurrency using the Changelly exchange. The transaction went through but it didnt show up in my wallet. I have a wallet on an exchanges web site. I dont remember if my personal wallet was active at the time or not. Anyway, the message they sent me was to do this:

The right exchange to use can differ by nation. I dont specifically know the best exchanges for the Hong Kong dollar, but Im pretty sure this list is legit:

: Some software offered as a wallet is malware trying to take advantage of those willing to download and install unofficial software off the internet.

Hi Thomas, thanks for the valuable info you provide the newbies in getting into cryptocurrency. Im from Australia and I tried coinbase and sent my id document but keeps saying the document is invalid where in fact those are both valid. Also i read that if you are based in Australia you can send minet but yiu cannot get it? Can you pls shed light on this? Thanks alot! AC

TOP 6 CRYPTOCURRENCY WALLETS. A video on the different types of cryptocurrency wallets.

TIP: You can store allERC-20 tokens(tokens created on the Ethereum platform AKA Ethereum-based tokens) in an ERC-20 friendly wallet like MyEtherWallet. Many Ethereum-based tokens also have their own wallets as well (check the coins official Github or website for official wallets).

Coinbase is generally best for U.S. and Europe (although I know they are expanding).

In general, you need some sort of cryptocurrency wallet to store cryptocurrency in.

There are also useful offline hardware wallets likeTREZORand theNano S(these are good for long-term storage and allow you to store a variety of popular coins).

To trade you need a wallet and exchange. If you trade youll want to know TA. If you want to trade for a living, youll likely want to start working with bots / apis. To properly research a coin you need to understand the basics of the technology and the environment Githubs, smart contracts, blockchain, oh my.

A simple solution for a new user is Coinbase. Coinbase is a wallet/broker hybrid (where you can store and buy crypto). From there it is easy to move your coins into official wallets and top wallets like Bitcoin Core wallet, MyEtherWallet, or TREZOR (or to simply keep your coins on coinbase). Although, with that said, you can simply start with a wallet and obtain your cryptocurrency by other means as well (on an exchange, from a peer-to-peer transaction, etc).

So, I dont want to act like I have done a deep study of this, but in general, Coinbase is a way more professional entity. They are licensed to operate in the U.S., insured, and keep a really tight ship from what I understand.

Congratulations! I think Litecoin is a solid long term investment. It hasnt preformed like BTC has in the past few months (since the first of the year, that is another story). However, at the end of the day it has faster and cheaper transactions than other top coins AND it has longevity. I think holders will be nicely rewarded at some point.

Any mention of a brand or other trademarked entity is for the purposes of education, entertainment, or parody.

cryptocurrency world even before i start it as i close in to it.

And what happens with my coins if the financial system crashes?

If you had to change Bitcoin into Ethereum, for example, it could take hours. So that is one thing to note.

. That is true for paper wallets, hardware wallets, or any other wallet type. The reason you lose your keys doesnt matter; there is no way to reclaim your cryptocurrency without them. Further, if your wallet is hacked, be it with a custodian or not, and your funds are taken, then you lose your money. Its not fun, but it is the way it is. So make sure to use best practices and keep your wallets secure.

If you want to keep life simple, I suggest making your first stop Coinbase/GDAX. That will allow you to move back and forth between USD and back and forth between your bank account. Essentially every other solution is a more complex version of the same thing at best.

As a rule of thumb dont keep more currency in your digital wallet than you would in your real one!

IMPORTANT: There are fake wallets out there and putting your coins in them will result in you losing your coins. This is super lame, and we want to avoid this. Thus, dont go following random online instructions without triple checking what you are doing. When in doubt look to entities like Coinbase, official wallets like Bitcoin Cores wallet, trusted third party wallets like MyEtherWallet, trusted hardware wallets like Trezor, etc. Those are hardly the only choices, they are just examples of upstanding wallets.

The problem was the acceptance of the documents I was trying again and again to send for identification, like a scanned id card which either took hours until I received the failing result, even if my internet connection is 100Mbit.

Here is a quick breakdown of the different types of cryptocurrency wallets:

You can use Bitcoin or Ether to purchase NEO or XLM.

The content of this website is provided for informational purposes only and cant be used as investment advice, legal advice, tax advice, medical advice, advice on operating heavy machinery, etc.

There is no wallet to my knowledge that literally holds every coin (especially ERC-20 tokens and all cryptos), but you could always download official wallets and store them somewhere safe offline (although there are a few steps there and it ends up being more complicated than it sounds; see for example:

There are also universal wallets / multi-coin wallets likeHolyTransactionandCoinomi(these can be used to store many, but not all, cryptocurrencies).

TIP: As a rule of thumb dont keep more currency in your digital wallet than you would in your real one! You can learnmore about securing digital wallets from .

Hardware Wallet: Dedicated hardware that is specifically built to hold cryptocurrency and keep it secure. This includes USB devices. These devices can go online to make transactions and get data and then can be taken offline for transportation and security.

when you sign up at Coinbase and buy or sell $100 in Cryptocurrency

with any wallet, if you lose your private key, then you lose your money

Each wallet type has pros and cons, but the top wallets and Coinbase are all sensible choices.

So it is different in not just being some exchange run by a half interested guy on the internet, in having a more secure-on-paper wallet element, and in being a more established and better maintained business.

No idea how to change this, just sayin ?

MtGox was a Magic the Gathering exchange built and then sold to a guy who seemed at best half interested in running a tight ship (it was in his hands that the events occurred; lets not try to pass judgement on those events here).

It is the core mechanic behind Bitcoin for example (read more /what-is-a-blockchain/).

Or, alternatively, you could look into Coinomi, the Ledger Nano S, Trezor, or HolyTransaction. Or, for ERC-20 tokens, EthereumWallet or MyEtherWallet (those are very useful if you have a lot of different Ethereum-based tokens).

1. simply split the funds between multiple wallets, and if you use a hardware wallet, consider using a backup.

Or, use a universal software wallet like the ones noted above.

The best thing to do though, in my opinion, is to figure out what coins you want to store, and then check if the top multi-coin wallets (like the ones above) hold them. If you find one that fits, consider using that (after research).

when you sign up at Coinbase and buy or sell $100 in Cryptocurrency

Someone told me you need a blockchain wallet , but arent they all blockchain wallets ?? What did they mean by this??

We hold the Coin in NOVA EXANCHANGE, now its move to close, unfortunately lcc Coin dont have wallet, so we want to safe our Coin in wallet, so pls give any valubale advice to save our Coin.

Mobile Wallet: A wallet that is run from a smartphone app.

I did have a question do we need a different wallet for different currencies? If I bought LTC and wanted to convert that to ESO for example, which wallet would I need?

Its smart to backup your wallet and private keys and to encrypt them. At least one backup should be on a CD or thumb drive to ensure that you have a hard copy laying around. If you lose your wallet or your keys, then you lose the currency connected to it!

Is in my wallet only something like a reference to my coins?

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TIP: There is no one single wallet that stores every coin. So youll need to figure out which wallets you need based on which coins you want to invest in or use (or vice versa).

Never trust mining or wallet software that comes from a source that you dont know and trust

Hi. I am a novice to crypto investment and have started with OT Capital which I saw online. It doesnt have a wallet. It allows you to trade online but I am unable to decipher how many coins I have. Is this a safe way of trading?

NOTE: Writing this I realize that we need a more robust section on wallets on the site. Ill put that on the to-do list. Maybe a walkthrough on different solutions for different coins. Hopefully in the meantime you should learn enough here to do the research needed to accomplish your goals.

Neither nor its parent companies accept responsibility for any loss, damage, or inconvenience caused as a result of reliance on information published on, or linked to, from m.

Download the official (or officially endorsed) wallet from the official website.

W

Seeour about pagefor more disclaimers and information. ?

What Is A Bitcoin Wallet?The basics of cryptocurrency wallets using a Bitcoin wallet as an example.

Bitcoin Transaction Fees and Times are Improving

The above solutions arent going to store every coin, but they can store many (and perhaps the ones you own).

Cryptocurrency isnt one thing, its an ecosystem that takes some time and effort to wrap your head around. You can use a site like ours as a jump off point, but ultimately its going to take some focused time and effort and lots of search engine queries.

Those are hardly the only ones that make sense, but the theme here is spread out your funds, and secure them to the best of your ability. Remember though, you cant quickly trade the crypto on a paper wallet locked down across town.

Below we discuss how digital wallets work and give some advice on which wallets to use.

You almost certainly just have to wait in your case. I end up waiting all the time when sending between exchanges personally, sometimes for uncomfortably long periods of time. It is just part of the deal with some of the coins with slower speeds.

What you need for a given cryptocurrency is a wallet that can handle the specific kind of coin.

TIP: A full wallet that downloads the full blockchain of a coin is called a full node wallet. These wallets can take up a lot of space and use a good bit of energy since they need to download the entire blockchain and keep it updated. Bitcoin Core, Litecoin Core, and Ethereum Wallet are examples of full node wallets. If you dont have a lot of disk space free to commit to running a node, consider one of the other wallet options instead.

Your transaction was completed successfully on our end. If you still havent received your money, you can sync your wallet with the blockchain, update it or contact the support team of your wallet. That should work. The support team has been useless. How do you sync a wallet to a blockchain? Thanks in advance for your help.

Our site is not officially associated with any brand or government entity.

TIP: The term hot wallet describes a wallet connected to the internet. The term cold wallet describes a wallet not connected to the internet (for example a hardware wallet unplugged and in a safe.) When cryptocurrency is in cold storage that means it is being held offline in a cold wallet. Funds you want to use like cash should be in hot wallets, funds you want to store long term are best held in cold storage in an offline wallet. Hot wallets are considered hot targets (i.e., they are targets for hackers). Thus, if you have a hot wallet, make sure you have as many layers of protection on it as you can (two factor, strong password, all security settings on, etc).

Purchase a hardware wallet like TREZOR.

ERC-20 friendly tokens aside (for those, again, use a wallet like MyEtherWallet), always download the official wallet of a coin when you can, and always do your research before downloading. There is a lot of room to go wrong here if you dont know what you are doing ?

So there is no perfect answer, but the answer you might be looking for is:

Paper Wallet: You can print out a QR code for both a public and private key. This allows you to both send and receive digital currency using a paper wallet. With this option, you can completely avoid storing digital data about your currency by using a paper wallet.

Desktop Wallet: The most common type of wallet. Typically an app that connects directly to a coins client.

With any option you pick, research is your friend. You cant do enough research and add enough layers of security.

. Start with well worn solutions like the ones explained above, then move onto other wallets after you know what you are doing.

Further, if you check your wallet in the exchange it may show you the status of the transaction.

Only someone with knowledge of the private key can access funds, so that is the key.

So, first off, the transaction process is a multi-part thing when sending from a third party like an exchange to another one. In overly simple terms: Part 1 is the first entity completing their end, part 2 is waiting for the transaction to process, part 3 is waiting for the entity to credit the account.

Cryptocurrency itself is not actually stored in a wallet. Instead, a private key (secure digital code known only to you and your wallet) is stored that shows ownership of a public key (a public digital code connected to a certain amount of currency). So your wallet stores your private and public keys, allows you to send and receive coins, and also acts as a personal ledger of transactions.

In my opinion the best first step is Coinbase as they are a broker and wallet hybrid (you can buy and store crypto on there and then move it to your Nano S when you are ready). Other options include Kraken. Although the best answer will be dependent on where you live (as some services like this are specific to certain regions).

Thank you for the video. I am completely new to this. I have no wallet yet so obviously no coins. I would like to take advantage of the bitcoin craze. I like the idea of a hardware wallet. It seems the most secure since I will only be connected to the internet when I am making a transaction. If I purchase something like the Nano S, NOW WHAT? How do I begin with purchasing crypto-currencies? Please advise. I have no idea what to do. Not a lot of money to invest initially. Im one of those little fish ( like you ). Gotta start small. Can you help me?

We typically suggest using an official (or officially endorsed) wallet for any given coin. So, for Bitcoin we would suggest using theBitcoin Core Wallet, for Litecoin we would suggestLitecoin Core, and for Ethereum we would suggest eitherEthereum WalletorMyEtherWallet.

Is there a universal wallet that has the ability to convert currencies?

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Online Wallet: An online wallet is a web-based wallet. You dont download an app, but rather data is hosted on a real or virtual server.  Some online wallets are hybrid wallets allowing encryption of private data before being sent to the online server. Some wallets let you control your private keys, some arecustodial(you dont control your keys directly).

TIP: If you use Coinbase, consider using theirvault serviceto add an extra layer of protection to coins you arent actively trading or using.

The trick is converting fait currency into Bitcoin / Ethereum. Once you have those then there are a ton of options for crypto-to-crypto trading.

Awesome presentation, still consider myself a beginner, although I spent probably 4 to 5 hours reading about different cryptocurrencies, wallets, and exchange services. BTW I purchased Litecoin two months ago.

If that doesnt work, or perhaps even the best option of all: You can always do your own storage solution offline. All you really need to accomplish is to store your public and private keys somewhere safe (then you can use the official wallet of each coin to do transactions as needed).

For most ICO tokens (token being a name for a cryptocurrency essentially) you need an ERC-20 friendly wallet like MyEtherWallet. For other coins you need the specific wallet for that coin or a third party wallet set up to hold that coin.

It is a lot like having coins in a wallet, it makes sense to think of it this way, but not technically how it works.

No exchange is 100% safe, and we still see exchanges go down these days (and with that we see funds disappear, or oddly low limit buys fill, etc). However, the major exchanges have thus far mostly avoided MtGoxs fate (GDAX, Bittrex, Binanace all have a good track record for example). Meanwhile Coinbase one-upssites that are exchanges only by also providing a wallet service (Coinbase is a little different than GDAX, the exchange; MtGox was an exchange).

Thanks a lot for the wonderful information.Its unlimited,straight to the point of interest,not leaning to favor any organisation and satisfactorily.Actually the information has moved me closer to my dreams in

my question is, where is the my cryptocurrency stored?

Solutions I generally find smart, which can be mixed and matched, are: a few TREZORs, Coinbase Vault (they are insured, so you protect your account with 2FA, a unique email with 2FA, and a strong password, you are going a long way to protect your funds), paper wallets in safe deposit boxes, and other offline cold storage solutions (you can hack together some useful cold storage solutions that mimic a TREZOR if you have the knowledge).

You can also check the public ledger to see if your transaction has been added, often youll have a transaction number. For example, you can check ether transactions here:

if it reads: Cryptocurrency itself is not actually stored in a wallet

IMPORTANT:Never share your wallet password or private keyand never enter your password or private key anywhere (unless you are accessing your wallet via private key and password). To send coins and receive coins you only need to share your public wallet address (your public key). This of course only applies to wallets where you control your keys directly. If you use a custodial wallet, then use two factor authentication and dont share your password. If you use TREZOR, dont share yourpin, seed, passphrase. Etc.

In AU I believe coinspot is the best choice. You might want to try that.

How are wallet/broker services, particularly Coinbase, fundamentally different from MtGox? Are there security issues, and how are these addressed?