Adequate Bitcoin storage should be a top priority for any holders of the cryptocurrency. However, with so many different options available to users, how do you decide which is best for you?
Different Bitcoin storage methods can enhance privacy or a users’ monetary sovereignty. However, less desirable options can also present an array of security risks too.
Veriphi Shares Detailed Bitcoin Wallet Comparison Guide
Most Bitcoiners agree that the best way to store Bitcoin is in a non-custodial wallet. This means that you, and only you, should know your private key. Custodial solutions, such as those offered by online services, like crypto exchanges, might seem convenient and safer (you can request to change a lost password, etc.) but you make both security and usability trade offs by doing so.
Understanding that there are loads of storage choices for Bitcoin users and the importance of choosing a good one, a Montreal-based Bitcoin consultancy firm has produced an extensive free public document comparing the pros and cons of the options. You can See Veriphi’s document yourself here.
The team behind the document looked at 25 of the most popular Bitcoin storage solutions today. Criteria used when deciding whether to include a wallet was that each must be mainly used as a Bitcoin wallet and have been downloaded at least 1,000 downloads.
Veriphi categorises each wallet as either recommended, okay, not recommended, or really not recommended. Criteria used to make this assessment includes the following: full node capabilities, privacy-enhancing features, security enhancing (or reducing) features, support of SegWit, whether or not the project is open source, and others.
The document also contains details of each wallets’ features and functionalities. These include the programming language, support of multi-signature transactions, recovery methods, and the number of times it has been downloaded.
Those wallets receiving the highest grade of “recommended” from Veriphi were Bitcoin Core, Electrum, Green, Bitcoin Wallet, Samurai, and Wasabi. Meanwhile, those to be avoided were Xapo, BTC.com, Blockchain, Bitpay, and Coinbase.
The consultancy company gave special mention to Wasabi for privacy, Green for mobile access, and Electrum for its security via the following Twitter post.
Veriphi publishes the most complete analysis of 25 software wallets and explained each one of the 48 different features that we took into account.
Our top picks!
Green by @Blockstream for MOBILE@wasabiwallet for PRIVACY@ElectrumWallet for SECURITY
https://t.co/Kn2KwaCCzN pic.twitter.com/JaJNHX8uix
— Veriphi (@veriphibtc) November 19, 2019
Interestingly, none of either either the “recommended” or “okay” wallets support any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. At the other end of the scale, all the companies listed not only support so-called “shitcoins” (Veriphi’s phrasing) but were involved in the controversial “SegWit 2x” agreement of 2017.
Other defining characteristics of the least recommended wallet services include being custodial, not being open source, and not supporting SegWit transactions.
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