Bitcoin is becoming the dawn of all cryptocurrencies and is changing the way consumers transact with industries, involved in buying and selling products in the marketplace. One essential matter that people aren’t aware of simply because they’re going with the trend is whether or not your cryptocurrency wallet is secure from all the cybersecurity threats.
It’s essential for those who have cryptocurrency wallets to know the basics about every type of wallet to know how they can secure their cryptocurrency. Since there are different types of cryptocurrency wallets, there are also different ways as to how you can secure your cryptocurrency based on the characteristics of the wallet.
Unlike physical currencies and other digital wallets, bitcoins are a digital currency that requires a completely different approach with regards to acquiring and storing. You don’t technically store bitcoin in wallets unlike bank accounts and will need some kind of key as a way to secure them. Read on to know more about how secure are cryptocurrency wallets.
The Different Types of Cryptocurrency Wallets
Keep in mind that different types of cryptocurrency wallets cater to different requirements and features to secure your cryptocurrency. There are also a few elements that you should consider for the wallet you’ll be using such as accessibility, convenience, safety, and security. Here are the different types of wallets for you to know about their features.
Paper
A paper cryptocurrency wallet is like a document that contains all the information you need for your Bitcoins. You’ll find information in the paper wallet such as a public address to know which places you can receive them and a private key to allow Bitcoin transactions and transfer to the provided public address.
The benefits of using a paper cryptocurrency wallet are that the private key won’t be stored online or anywhere digital. The reason why it’s a benefit that your cryptocurrency isn’t stored online or anywhere digital is that hackers won’t be able to attack you with malware based on logging your keystrokes or any other forms of digital theft.
Physical Bitcoin
Physical bitcoins are literal gold coins that allow for a very convenient method to store your cryptocurrency because each physical bitcoin already contains a fixed amount of Bitcoin. Further, no one can spend the value of the bitcoin as long as you hide the private key.
The private key will be hidden using a tamper-evident seal and will lose the value of the physical bitcoin once you remove the seal. You can also hide the private keys of the physical bitcoins through a peelable hologram. The tamper-evident seal will also show a tamper-evident pattern to let you know someone tried to take your bitcoin.
Mobile
Storing your cryptocurrency in mobile wallets on your phone can allow for ease of accessibility in terms of product transactions and face-to-face trading. A mobile wallet is an application that stores your private keys and enables you to use your cryptocurrency directly on cryptocurrency-enabled systems.
The disadvantages of using a mobile wallet are that you’re very prone to hacker attacks simply because since there are different applications that could contain hidden malware to log your keystrokes due to being an open-source software. Hackers that can gain access to your mobile devices can also make you lose control of your wallet once they gain access.
However, it doesn’t mean that all mobile wallet is prone to hackers since different applications have different security methods. You have to be careful which mobile wallet you choose to store your cryptocurrency. The best mobile wallet features are those that have cold storage, one-touch two-factor authentication, and hierarchical deterministic
Takeaway
There are certain features in physical and digital cryptocurrency wallets that make them secure. Having no knowledge of which features you’ll need to make sure your cryptocurrency won’t be accessible by anyone other than yourself can pose a lot of danger. The only thing that will make your cryptocurrency wallet not secured is the lack of knowledge of the wallet’s features.