A software wallet is like a digital bank account for your cryptocurrencies. When you use a wallet, you are able to send, receive and manage your coins. In this article you’ll learn how to use a software wallet and which different kinds of wallets exist.

What is a software wallet?

A software wallet is a program that you install on your computer. It might seem like you store your coins on your computer, but that’s not the case. You should see your wallet as a sort of keychain that stores the keys that give you access to your coins.

A wallet generates a seed phrase (or recovery seed), this is a usually a series of 12 or 24 randomly generated words. Those words form a unique combination (like a password) that you can use to prove ownership of your coins. With these words you can gain access to your coins from any kind of wallet.

Which software wallets are there?

There are different types of software wallets; we’ll explain which types there are and what you could use them for.

Please note: when you would like to download a software wallet on your PC or Mac, make sure to download it from the official website of the wallet provider. If you download it from a different website, the software could be infected with malware by hackers.

Exodus: supports bitcoin, litecoin, ether, XRP, and bitcoin cash

One of the best known and most used software wallets is Exodus. This wallet allows you to store and manage multiple coins simultaneously. The wallet supports bitcoin, litecoin, ripple and ether amongst other coins. For example various tokens on the Ethereum network (ERC-20 tokens).

The Exodus wallet combines functionality with ease of use. The developers have paid a lot of attention to the graphic aspect, which reflects in the design. The interface looks clear and structured. And you can download it free of charge.

Jaxx Liberty: over 85 coins on all your devices

Jaxx Liberty is a modern wallet with which you can manage loads of different coins on all your devices. The wallet is free and available for PC, Mac, and Linux. The wallet is also available as an extension for Google Chrome.

An extra cool feature is that you can connect your smartphone to your software wallet. This way you always have access to your coins, wherever you go.

Jaxx Liberty isn’t Jaxx’s first wallet. It’s a further developed version of their previous wallet (Jaxx). This new version is built by experienced developers and user feedback has been taken into account.

What also speaks for the wallet is the fact that its owner Anthony Di lorio co-founded Ethereum.

The Jaxx Liberty wallet is very user-friendly. Immediately after download it’s ready to use, and you can navigate the wallet’s different functions effortlessly. It has a built-in block explorer which makes it very easy to track your transactions. With this wallet, you are in charge of your private keys yourself. The company behind it does not store your keys and is unable to access it. Privacy is guaranteed.

Jaxx supports over 85 different coins, for example bitcoin, ether and litecoin. Unfortunately you can’t store XRP in the Jaxx Liberty wallet.

How do I secure my software wallet?

Software wallets store the private keys in the application, but that doesn’t mean you can’t lose your coins. If someone steals your computer and figures out your password, he or she is able to access your coins. That’s why it’s important to make a backup.

Back-up

You can create a backup by writing down your recovery seed. The seed usually consists of 12 or 24 randomly generated words. Make sure to write down the recovery seed on a piece of paper, do not store it digitally or online. With the seed, you will be able to access your coins at all times; you don’t even need the computer you’ve installed the software wallet on.

CRYPTOTAG

If you’ve written down your recovery seed, you have a pretty secure backup, however this method isn’t 100 percent bulletproof. In case of a fire or a flood, the piece of paper that has your seed written on it will be useless. That is why CRYPTOTAG was invented!

The CRYPTOTAG is made out of titanium plates. In the plates you can engrave the first four letters of every word of your recovery seed. The CRYPTOTAG is corrosion and erosion resistant, and it’s able to withstand temperatures of up to 1655 degrees celsius. In just a few hammer strokes your backup will be safely stored forever, in style!