It is important to understand how to be safe with one’s own money or better to say now cryptocurrencies. Therefore, let’s learn a little bit about the options out there to help you out!

One advice to start with is to never put all your funds in one wallet in case anything happens to it for you not to lose a your funds. No central banks or governments have control over cryptocurrencies, this means you can’t fall back on them just like when having a fraud on your bank card.

First and foremost, it is extremely important to always use a two factor authentication (TFA or 2FA abbreviated). It is a process to verify your identity when trying to access certain services on the web, by using two forms of authentication. It is extremely important not only for blockchain, but for any website or application that is dealing with sensitive data. It can work with google authenticator application that gives a six digit code which changes every 10 seconds or so, or receiving a code on your cellphone (less secure than google authenticator).

Every wallet has two keys, public and private keys. The public key is your wallet address where place can send you funds to, and the private key is the address permitting you to send funds. Transactions are possible due to the combination of these keys.

The first thing you should do is create your own wallet outside of a centralized exchange.

What is a centralized exchange? A centralized exchange is a common “destination” where buyers and sellers meet to exchange, CoinBase or Kraken would be centralized exchange, and the bank at the counter is a centralized exchange too in some ways. It can be viewed as a market place, a meeting point but owned by someone else than yourself. If the centralized exchange came to be hacked or to shut down, the chances or never accessing your funds again is a reality.

Hereafter are a few kinds of wallets that exists and how they work:

1) A web-based wallet is a website that stores your keys online, such as Coinbase, which is very practical and easier to access from any computer. To be even more secure, it is recommended to use an official or officially endorsed wallet. But it can come at a greater cost, due to being an easy target to be broken into. It is not to say that their security is bad, it is fairly strong, but if anythings happens to the server, it is out of your control.

2) A desktop wallet can be installed on your computer or mobile, it is a program or web service which lets only you to store and control the necessary information (logins, passwords, keys). Most desktop wallets are “lightweight” (huh?! What is lightweight?), it means part of the blockchain is downloaded onto your computer but not the whole. With this in mind, make sure your firewall (internet connection) is strong! Desktop wallets are considered in the safest, but once again, not completely immune to hackers.

3) A paper wallet is form of cold storage, it is a document with your public and private keys printed onto a piece of paper. The benefit is that these keys are not stored digitally anywhere, therefore cannot be subject to hackers or hardware failures. However, do not lose that precious piece of paper, if lost, you will never be able to get your funds back! Disappeared in the blockchain…

4) A hardware wallet is another form of cold storage just like the paper wallet since the cryptocurrencies are stored offline. Hardware wallets are made of two parts, one is a connected device and one is disconnected. This means each device cannot work without the other. The main goal behind a hardware wallet is to provide a complete isolation between your keys, and your computer that is easy to hack. Your private key never connects to the network as it never leaves your device. Hardware wallets are backed up by a paper wallet.

You don’t know where to look? Me neither, it is overwhelming at times, so many options out there… Search each wallet, and see what suits you best!

Here is a list of a few live or working prototype of Decentralized Applications offering different kinds of wallets:

MyEtherWallet : Free, open-source, client-side interface for generating Ethereum wallets & more. Interact with the Ethereum blockchain easily & securely. Double-check the URL ( .com ) before unlocking your wallet. (Description taken directly from https://www.myetherwallet.com/)

: Free, open-source, client-side interface for generating Ethereum wallets & more. Interact with the Ethereum blockchain easily & securely. Double-check the URL ( .com ) before unlocking your wallet. (Description taken directly from https://www.myetherwallet.com/) 42Wallet : Simple, Secure & Open Source. Your keys stay safe on your device. This is a server-less wallet. (Description taken directly from https://42wallet.com/)

: Simple, Secure & Open Source. Your keys stay safe on your device. This is a server-less wallet. (Description taken directly from https://42wallet.com/) LightWallet : is a HD wallet that can store your private keys encrypted in the browser to allow you to run Ethereum dapps even if you’re not running a local Ethereum node. It uses BIP32 and BIP39 to generate an HD tree of addresses from a randomly generated 12-word seed. (Description directly taken from https://github.com/ConsenSys/eth-lightwallet)

: is a HD wallet that can store your private keys encrypted in the browser to allow you to run Ethereum dapps even if you’re not running a local Ethereum node. It uses BIP32 and BIP39 to generate an HD tree of addresses from a randomly generated 12-word seed. (Description directly taken from https://github.com/ConsenSys/eth-lightwallet) EtherLi Multi-Sig Wallet : multi-signature Ethereum web wallet. This is the first Ethereum wallet that allows you to access your funds from anywhere on the web while taking advantage of multi-signature security layered with two-factor authentication for outgoing transactions. (Description directly taken from https://www.ether.li/)

: multi-signature Ethereum web wallet. This is the first Ethereum wallet that allows you to access your funds from anywhere on the web while taking advantage of multi-signature security layered with two-factor authentication for outgoing transactions. (Description directly taken from https://www.ether.li/) EtherWall : is a secure open source ethereum wallet for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux operating systems. Etherwall supports the TREZOR hardware wallet for storing keys. (Description directly taken from https://www.etherwall.com/)

: is a secure open source ethereum wallet for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux operating systems. Etherwall supports the TREZOR hardware wallet for storing keys. (Description directly taken from https://www.etherwall.com/) WALLETH : The native Ethereum Android light client wallet. (Description directly taken from http://walleth.org/)

: The native Ethereum Android light client wallet. (Description directly taken from http://walleth.org/) imToken: Smart digital wallet, support multiple types of digital wallet, Create/Import/Export easy and fast (Description taken directly from https://token.im/)