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What is a crypto wallet?
What is a crypto wallet?

The best place to store all of your tokens, NFTs, and value assets

Natalia avatar
Written by Natalia
Updated over a week ago

What is a crypto wallet?

A crypto wallet is an application where you can store your tokens, NFTs, and other blockchain-based assets. They allow users to connect to any decentralized finance (DeFI) application and much more!

You can find a list of all 1inch supported wallets here.

Types of Wallets

"Hot" - Hot wallets are always connected to the internet, and are considered the least secure, but are also the easiest and most and simple to use. This makes them perfect for smaller transactions and storing smaller amounts of value. Examples of hot wallets are the 1inch Mobile Wallet, Metamask, Trust Wallet, and any smart phone wallet.

"Hybrid" - Hybrid wallets are wallets that can be connected to the internet when being used, but can be disconnected and offline when not in use. Most hardware wallets are considered "Hybrid", which gives them the best of both worlds... security and usability. Examples of popular hardware wallets are Ledger, Trezor, and Lattice.

"Cold" - Cold wallets are considered the most secure of all crypto wallets. Most cold wallets are physical in nature, and can consist of a simple private key or recovery phrase - physically written down on a piece of paper or other material, or even stored on a fireproof CryptoSteel (a pocket sized, resilient device made of 100% weather resistant metal).

Within these above categories, crypto wallets can be broken down even further by these characteristics:

Non-custodial / self-custody

These wallets give the user full control over their private key, including any funds within the wallet. A non-custodial wallet offers the most freedom to users; however, it also requires a higher level of responsibility.

Custodial

These wallets are hosted by centralized companies, which assume 100% responsibility for holding their users' funds. The user never holds possession of their private key, and can only access their tokens at the discretion of the company which owns the wallet.

Multi-signature (multi-sig)

A multi-sig wallet is a special type of wallet, that can be owned and controlled by multiple people. In order to access or move the funds, a certain number of user signatures is needed. For example, in a 2/3 multi-sig wallet, 2 out of 3 key holders must produce a signature in order to access the funds. This is considered one of the most secure forms of holding funds, and is primarily used by companies and other large entities.

Multi-chain support

Most popular crypto wallets allow users to store assets from multiple blockchains; however it is always good to confirm that the chain you need is supported before sending tokens to a certain wallet.

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