Crypto Wallets:
Great Power — Great Responsibility
If you’re like me, over time you might have ended up with a collection of different crypto wallets. Each one holding different asset allocations and tokens and with their own passwords, 2FA, seed phrases and spread out across different devices.
Or maybe you only have that one original Exchange wallet where you initially bought some crypto awhile ago. Perhaps it’s time to diversify and or move things into self-custody.
Regardless, this is as good a time as any to sort them all out.
This post covers which wallets I’m keeping in 2024 and what I’m using each of them for.
1
Let’s Start with Crypto Exchange Wallets (Custodial)
Used for:
- Buying crypto with money my bank account
- Swapping my crypto back into dollars and then sending them back to my bank account
- Trading for newer alts, occasionally new token launches (KuCoin) or trading between low cap gems
- Lower fees
I’ll never leave any assets on these wallets for very long.
Anything I do have stored here is temporary and I’m basically prepared to lose it.
And trust me bro, you really do not want to learn this lesson the hard way. Things can go and do sideways very quickly with crypto exchanges — both Celsius and QuadricaCX disappeared overnight taking out many people’s entire $BTC and $ETH balances. Gone forever. Let’s not even mention FTX again.
Newton
Easy to use, low fees, and a solid selection of coins.
If you’re looking to buy or sell crypto I’d say Newton is a good option.
60+ cryptocurrencies available.
I like how I can sell from Newton and get the dollars sent back into my bank account.
Top 3 Crypto Exchanges:
These ones are tried, tested and true. Have also used Binance, but it’s no longer available in Ontario (2024).
| Exchanges | Coinbase | KuCoin | Newton |
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| Official site | Coinbase | KuCoin | Newton |
| Location | USA | Asia | CANADA |
| Our Rating | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Availability | Mobile app and browser extension | Mobile app | Mobile app |
| Funding Methods | E-transfer, Wire transfer |
Credit card, Bank Transfer | Interac e-Transfers, wire transfers, pre-authorized bank transfers (requires Plaid) |
| Fees
|
Coinbase pricing and fees disclosures | Fees generally lower than on Coinbase | Newton charges a spread on trades. |
| Cryptos Supported | All the top coins by market cap | All the top coins by market cap | All the top coins by market cap |
| NFTs | Yes | Yes | No, Newton isn’t a Web3 app |
| PRO Version Available | Yes | Yes | Not that we know of |
| User Ratings and Reviews | Google Play
4.1 ★ |
Google Play
4.4 ★ |
Google Play
4.6 ★ |
| Apple App Store
4.7 ★ |
Apple App Store
4.7 ★ |
Apple App Store
4.6 ★ |
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| Not all are available in all 50 states. In fact I’m not even sure KuCoin is an option in the US of A (stick with CB or Kraken) | |||
Recap:
I typically use these for buying crypto with fiat and trading existing crypto for newer alts, memes or low-cap gems. I use a few different exchanges. I do not leave my assets there for long, but in order to get access to newer tokens or swap one obscure token for another this something like KuCoin is a necessity.
KuCoin, offers good exposure to newer projects and token launches. Also is a good beginner to advanced crypto trading platform.
Coinbase
Coinbase is the largest in the US and they have a self-custody wallet that is designed to work well with $BASE.
KuKoin
Good exposure to newer projects and token launches. Complete beginner to advanced trading platform.
Binance (no longer available in ON, Canada)
Binance is based in Singapore and is one of if not the largest exchange in the world. They created $BNB token to power a lot of the Binance ecosystem, reduce fees etc.
Good reputable exchange and complete trading platform.
Newton (top Canadian exchange imo)
Use if you’re Canadian.
Buy top cryptos with e-transfer and low fees.
Next up: Self-custody Wallets (Private)
Not your keys. Not your crypto.
Bro. You know this already and we probablydon’t need to go through it. all again…
But ok, if you haven’t already, right now is a very good time to move most, if not all of your crypto off the Exchange where you acquired it and into your own Self-custody wallet (app). This where you alone control the access to the assets.
I’d like to think most people who’ve been in crypto for any length of time can understand this and see why it’s important — but it comes down to exactly this: you alone can send, spend or verify the contents of your private wallet.
Fellow Canadians will surely recall that not all that long ago, our dear leader (PM) froze personal bank accounts of people who’d donated as little as $50 to support the Trucker Freedom Rally. This turned out to be an effective way to suppress it without having to discuss or negotiate. Also seems like it was way to test what the (Canadian) Government could get away with under an Emergencies Act.
With self-custody wallets this cannot happen.
Of course you absolutely need to be aware that you alone are responsible for managing the access to your (devices and passwords) and you can permanently lose access to everything on the wallet if you lost your password, or device, AND if you don’t have your your Recovery / Seed phrase backed up and stored properly.
It’s a great power/great responsibility scenario.
Private wallets can be either Hot or Cold.
In other words, connected to the internet by default (hot) or stored off-line (cold).
Because hot wallets are always online, they’re used for convenience. They tend trade off some security in exchange for ease of day to day use.
Cold wallets are external devices, drives or even cards with chips in them. They’re not connected to the internet until you need to use them making them much more secure, but far less convenient.
Use both types to accommodate of the following use-cases:
1.
Hot wallets are used for smaller purchases, quick trades, and doings things like buying and storing an NFT on my phone.
Note: NFTs don’t have to be JPEGs or PFPs; they can be tickets to events… etc
2.
Cold storage wallets offer the peace of mind that comes with knowing that the majority of my crypto portfolio is safely stored offline. It’s out of the reach of hackers and phishers and scammers. I don’t plan top do anything with it until perhaps it’s time to sell and take some profits. Maybe midway through 2025. HODL mode is on until then.
Ideally consider keeping cold store devices in a faraday bag and hidden somewhere safe, like a fire-proof safe or safety deposit box.
Coinbase
These are my top recommendations. It’s what I’ve used and what I think works well, but there are plenty of other options that are great too.
DYOR as they say.
The Best Hot Wallets
Exodus
You cant go wrong with Exodus for a whole number of reasons. Easy to use. Web3 capabilities. Stake and earn. Swap 100s of cryptos in-wallet without giving up custody.
Cold storage integration with Trezor.
Nicely designed interface and application. Desktop and mobile and browser extensions are available and can all work together.
I use the mobile iOS app and browser extension.
Phantom was Solana specific wallet originally, but it now offers multi-chain support (notably Bitcoin).
Stores NFTs and accesses NFT marketplaces.
Offers liquid staking.
Swaps are easy and secure.
MetaMask used to be a top Ethereum only wallet but its grown to be a multi-chain Web3 powerhouse used by millions of people. I’ve used the browser extension and mobile app.
Over time I seem to use MM less and Phantom more. Mainly because Solana has way lower fees than Ethereum, and there are more interesting things being built on Solana in 2024 that are easily accessed and integrated with Phantom.
Honorable mentions:
Cold Storage Recommendations
Tangem is next level. It’s a card that you tap to your phone when you want to approve a transaction. It works like a mobile payment app but connected to your digital assets. Never online and highly secure as a result.
You dont even need a seed phrase. Instead you buy multiple cards (3) and you cannot lose all of them.
Slim as a bank card, secure as a bank vault.
Made in Switzerland.
I’ve got a few of these kicking around.
The Ledger Nano is the first cold storage I bought and still use it to this day. It’s kind of shocking and upsetting to see the price of BTC and the stupid trades I made back in 2018. Live and learn.
I like the Nano X but the simpler Nano S is also great.
The nice thing is that these use physical buttons to enter passwords and sign in instead of a tiny touch screen.
That being said, Ledger also introduced Stax which is a another big step forward in cold storage. Stax uses e-ink wrapping to let you customize your device and with all the new features this looks kinda next level.
I use the Model T because it holds more data and tokens than the Trezor One. The only reason I started using Trezor is because of the Exodus integration. This is still a pretty good reason.
Still is not my favourite cold wallet. The tiny tough screen is difficult to target and the device just feels cheaper fwiw.
Trezor has since changed Model T to Safe 3 and Safe 5 and it looks pretty good. As to be expected, things continually improve but the old ones still work fine.
