Segwit (Segregated Witness) was activated on the Bitcoin network on the 24th of August, 2017 as a soft fork that is compatible with previous bitcoin transactions. Since that time, bitcoin wallet developers and cryptocurrency exchanges have been slow to implement SegWit on their platforms. However, in this piece, we are going to look at six of the best Bitcoin SegWit wallets available in 2019.

The implementation of Segwit has therefore brought about a faster capacity increase and other blocksize limit increase as proposed. Segwit provides users with an instant 80% fee reduction. Also, the Segwit and Core wallets are able to transact seamlessly with each other, unlike all other Bitcoin forks that occurred.

Your standard wallet standard seed will not work when trying to recover your cryptocurrencies on a Segwit activated wallet. Nevertheless, you can transfer your Bitcoins to a Segwit wallet like you would send to any other standard wallet. All you need do is generate a new Segwit address from your Segwit wallet and send your coins from your standard wallet in there.

The Best Bitcoin SegWit Wallets (Bitcoin Wallets That Support SegWit)

Ledger Wallet

Ledger Wallet is a Hardware wallet that allows you to securely store your private keys on the device. The keys stored in the protected area of the microcontroller cannot be sent out of the device in plain text. Segwit addresses were activated for the Ledger devices on the 24th of August, 2017. Though this didn’t completely replace the legacy addresses, it’s advisable to move your bitcoin funds to the newly generated Segwit address. Click here for a step by step guide on how to set up a Segwit address on the Ledger device.

Trezor Wallet

The Trezor Wallet is similar to the ledger wallet. It’s also a Hardware wallet. It was the second hardware wallet to quickly implement SegWit on the device. It’s been adding new cryptocurrency support and has also been upgrading its software for optimum user experience.

The device is a secure and smart bitcoin (also supports other alternative cryptocurrencies) wallet on a USB device, which is small and lightweight.

Samourai Wallet

Samourai Wallet is another wallet for storing bitcoin cryptocurrencies that support SegWit for lower and faster transactions. The team has also focused on security and privacy which has made the wallet one of the top choices when considering wallets to securely store your assets.

The wallet is encrypted on the mobile device using the AES-256 encryption. It also has a secure pin login that allows users set a 5-8 digit pin to access the functions on the wallet application. It also never reuses addresses and also doesn’t leak valuable metadata about you or your transactions.

Electrum Wallet

The Electrum is a lightweight Bitcoin client that has been around since November 2011. The SegWit activated wallet was written in Python and has a shortcode that’s easy to review.

The encrypted wallet that contains your bitcoins is protected by a password which keeps thieves away. Clients do not need to download the whole blockchain before making use of the application, as it requests that information from a server. Transactions are signed right on the device and no data gets sent out without your notice. This makes the Electrum wallet a secure and trusted wallet over time.

GreenAddress Wallet

The GreenAddress wallet is an opensource project which allows users to send and receive, and also store bitcoins on the device which they are installed on. The SegWit activated wallet integrates with both desktop and mobile devices, implementing a user-friendly interface.

The development’s team goal is to provide convenience and security on the GreenAddress wallet. The device implements a multiple two-factor protection and authentication against malware targeted to its users.

SegWit Paper Wallet

Finally, we end our list of the best SegWit with SegWitAddress paper wallet. It consists of a paper printout that contains your public and private Bitcoin keys and a QR code that you can scan and send bitcoins to the wallet. This wallet is for the uber paranoid, and storing private keys doesn’t get any safer. However, with the availability of hardware wallets that serve the same purpose and are more efficient, paper wallets can be more time-consuming.



Final notes

It’s now, therefore, a thing of the past to sit and grumble about high fees and latency in transaction confirmation on the Bitcoin network. Above are few options that you can start making use of today. We expect to see more wallets and even exchanges support activate SegWit on their platforms soon.