Choosing a Wallet
How to compare hardware, mobile, and custodial options for your situation.
How to Store Bitcoin
Introduction to Bitcoin Wallets
What wallets do, the main types available, and how they relate to your keys.
Overview
A Bitcoin wallet stores the keys that control your coins and helps you build transactions. It does not hold Bitcoin inside the app—the blockchain records balances. Wallets come as mobile apps, desktop software, browser extensions, and dedicated hardware devices.
Choose based on how much you hold, how often you transact, and your comfort with technical setup. Every wallet should provide a clear backup process before you deposit meaningful funds.
What a wallet actually does
Wallets manage keys and construct transactions against the public ledger. Your balance is unspent outputs linked to your addresses.
Interface quality varies, but the job is consistent: generate addresses, track payments, estimate fees, and sign spends.
Main wallet categories
Mobile and desktop wallets balance convenience and control. Hardware wallets keep keys offline. Custodial accounts hold keys on your behalf.
Advanced users may run a full node for privacy and verification, pairing it with a compatible wallet.
Getting started safely
Initialize a new wallet yourself; never accept a pre-seeded device. Write the recovery phrase during setup before depositing meaningful funds.
Label addresses when possible. Clear records simplify taxes and help heirs if you document access instructions.
