Once you have decided to start using Bitcoins, you need to get a unique bitcoin address or wallet to store your bitcoins. Your bitcoin wallet address is similar to an email address, people will send bitcoin to your bitcoin wallet address. You can share or publish your bitcoin address so that people can send you money at that address.
Choose to download the software and keep your wallet on your computer, mobile device, or use an online wallet, or all of the above!
Bitcoin wallets for your mobile phone:
Mobile wallets allow you to bring Bitcoin with you in your pocket. You can exchange bitcoins easily and pay in physical stores by scanning a QR code or using NFC “tap to pay”.
Luno Wallet – Luno wallet app connects to your Luno trading account on the Luno Exchange. This is probably the most popular mobile wallet in South Africa. If you do not have a Luno account, you can first register for a free account at luno.com
Samourai Wallet – Samourai has been created from the ground up to be extremely portable, highly secure, and lead the pack in maintaining the privacy of our users.
Edge Crypto Wallet -Edge is a powerful and easy to use cryptocurrency wallet that allows users to easily control their own private keys with the familiarity and ease of mobile banking.
Coinomi Wallet – Bitcoin, Ethereum and a huge number of Altcoins and Tokens always on you, securely with our cross-chain enabled mobile hybrid wallet. This is a very versatile mobile wallet that is great to claim forked coins.
Mycelium – Mycelium Bitcoin Wallet is an open source wallet for Android designed for security, speed, and ease of use. It has unique features to manage your keys and for cold storage that help you secure your bitcoins.
GreenAddress – Green Address is a user-friendly multi-signature wallet with improved security and privacy. At no time are your keys server side, even encrypted. For security reasons, you should always use 2FA and the browser extension or Android App.
Bitcoin wallet – Bitcoin Wallet for Android is easy to use and reliable, while also being secure and fast. Its vision is de-centralization and zero trust: No central service is needed for Bitcoin-related operations. The app is a good choice for non-technical people.Mobile Lightning network enabled wallets:
Lightning Network bitcoin wallets
Lightning network on bitcoin allows for much faster transactions. Read our post on the lightning network for more information.
Bluewallet – the first wallet to bring zero configuration, ready to use, user friendly Lightning Network Wallets for iOS and Android. Blue wallet is one of the most popular bitcoin wallets for users in South Africa using Lightning Network.
Eclair wallet – Eclair Wallet is a next generation, Lightning-ready Bitcoin wallet for Android. It can be used as a regular Bitcoin wallet, and can also connect to the Lightning Network for cheap and instant payments.
Bitcoin Lightning Wallet – This app features a standalone SPV Bitcoin wallet with a fully functional built-in Lightning node. It allows for sending and receiving of regular on-chain transactions as well as off-chain Lightning payments.
Zap is a Lightning Network desktop and mobile wallet focused on user experience and ease of use.
Online or Web based bitcoin wallets:
Online wallets are not stored on your computer at all, and so can be accessed from anywhere you are able to access the web. With an online wallet you have to take great care not to lose your password and to use a company that you can trust to keep your wallet and coins safe. The following online wallet providers do not hold the private keys for your wallet, and so even if they are hacked or go down, your bitcoin is safe.
Green Address – GreenAddress is a user-friendly multi-signature wallet with improved security and privacy. At no time your keys are server side, not even encrypted. For security reasons, you should always use 2FA and the browser extension or Android App.
Bitgo – BitGo is a multi-signature wallet offering the highest levels of security. Every transaction requires two signatures, protecting your bitcoins from malware and server attacks. Private keys are held by the user such that BitGo cannot access the bitcoins. It is a good choice for non technical users.
Bitcoin Hardware wallets
We are starting to see companies producing outstanding hardware wallets that provide a very secure way to store your bitcoins. visit buy bitcoin worldwide to buy bitcoin from anywhere to put into your bitcoin wallet.
Trezor – TREZOR is a hardware wallet providing a high level of security without sacrificing convenience. Unlike cold storage, TREZOR is able to sign transactions while connected to an online device. That means spending bitcoins is secure even when using a compromised computer.
Ledger – The Ledger Nano S device is a hardware wallet that provides is able to store a variety of different cryptocurrencies offline securely.
Download a desktop bitcoin wallet for your PC:
Desktop wallets are installed on your computer, please remember that YOU are responsible for protecting your money and doing backups. You need to make sure your computer is secure and up to date with anti-virus software.
Bitcoin Core wallet – Bitcoin Core is a full Bitcoin client and builds the backbone of the network. It offers the highest levels of security, privacy, and stability. However, it has fewer features and it takes a lot of space and memory. By using this wallet you will download the entire blockchain of bitcoin.
Electrum – Electrum’s focus is speed and simplicity, with low resource usage. It uses remote servers that handle the most complicated parts of the Bitcoin system, and it allows you to recover your wallet from a secret phrase.
Armory – Armory is an advanced Bitcoin client that expands its features for Bitcoin power users. It offers many backup and encryption features, and it allows secure cold-storage on offline computers.
Atomic Wallet – The first Wallet with Atomic Swaps – Multi-asset Wallet with cross-chain Atomic Swap exchange and decentralized orderbook. Support for over 300 coins and tokens. Manage your crypto portfolio in a single smooth interface.
Wasabi Wallet – Wasabi is an open-source, non-custodial, privacy focused Bitcoin wallet, that implements trustless coin shuffling with mathematically provable anonymity
Backup your wallet
Bitcoin services and software allow you to backup your wallet, which can be printed on paper or saved to a USB drive. Stored in a safe place, a backup can protect you against computer failure and many human mistakes.
Encrypt your wallet
Encrypting your wallet allows you to set a password for anyone trying to withdraw any funds. This helps protect against thieves and hackers, though it cannot protect against keylogging hardware or software. However, you should make sure you never forget the password or your funds will be permanently lost. Unlike your bank, there are no password recovery options with Bitcoin!
Use an offline backup for savings
An offline backup of a wallet provides the highest level of security for savings. It involves storing a wallet only on paper and on USB keys in different secured locations that are not connected to the network. This is a good protection against computer failures, computer vulnerabilities, theft and human mistakes. As of today, this approach still requires some technical knowledge to be done correctly.