Software Wallets
While various software wallets can seem enticing due to the bells and whistles they come with, easy of use, or a nice and easy to understand GUI (graphical user interface), you have to keep in mind that it is only good if it can keep your money safe and no software wallet can do that on it’s own. So while you might appreciate the fact that software wallets are generally free, they are only really free until you lose money to them. At which point, they are likely to cost you way more than buying a proper hardware wallet ever would.
It is of utmost importance, and we cannot stress this enough, to only use software wallets that can be connected to your hardware wallets. Never hold your private keys on any device (which includes your personal computer and/or connected devices such as external hard disk drives, usb sticks etc) or software wallets. Only use software wallets as a user interface for your hardware wallet, but ONLY let the hardware wallet store your private keys.
Think of it this way: You don’t buy a prestigious car, but skimp on the insurance, and neither should you buy crypto, but skimp on the one thing that can actually keep it safe.
List of compatible software wallets and a series of step by step tutorials coming soon.
Software Wallet Safety Summary:
- Only use software wallets that can be connected to your hardware wallets.
- Never hold your private keys on any digital device other than a hardware wallet.
- If you ever held your private keys even for a moment on any device other than your hardware wallet, consider them burned and move your funds to a safe hardware wallets address as soon as possible.
- If you ever even just displayed your private seed phrase on your monitor, consider the entire wallet burned and move your funds to a safe hardware wallets address as soon as possible.
- Only let a hardware wallet store your private keys.
- Use compatible software wallets only as a user interface for your hardware wallet.