5 Best Cryptocurrency Wallets to Store Your Coins

If you have been researching for the best cryptocurrency wallets to store your funds, hopefully after reading this article you will be able to decide which is the best wallet for you.

A cryptocurrency wallet is a software program that stores your private and public keys and interacts with various blockchain to allow users to send and receive digital currencies/tokens all around the world and also track their balances in the public blockchain.

A typical analogy is having a physical wallet in a digitized form online.

It is not the best option to use only one type of wallet. It is recommended you diversify the storage of all your cryptos and tokens to different storage locations and platforms.

Here are the different types of cryptocurrency wallets:

1. Desktop Wallet

This type of wallet can be downloaded on your laptop or PC and can only be accessed from the computer they are downloaded on.

This type of storage offers a good security of your funds since they are stored offline, but the downside is that it can only be used on your desktop.

Another downside to using this type of wallet is that if your computer is infected with malware, the virus can hack your wallet and hackers can, in turn, have access to your private keys and your funds.

Electrum, Armory and Bitcoin Core are among the best hardware wallets available out there.

Pros:

* Can be easy to download and use.

Cons:

* Can be accessible to hackers if you connect your PC to the internet and it gets infected by malware.
* You can lose your funds if you don't backup your wallet.

2. Online Wallet

This is also known as a Web-based or cloud-based wallet. This type of wallet runs on the cloud and can be accessible from any device anywhere in the world.

Though cloud-based wallets offer ease of access, they store your private keys online and this makes you susceptible to security issues like getting your password hacked.

Examples of cloud-based wallets are Coinbase and Blockchain online wallets.

3. Mobile Wallet

Mobile wallets can be downloaded on your mobile phones and there are several mobile wallets available.

They run on an app on your mobile device and are simpler than desktop wallets.

Pros:

* They can be used anywhere in the world because of their mobile nature.
* Multi-signature accesses
* Most have backup features
* Quite Safe and secure

Best Mobile Wallets to Use:

Mycelium

This is kind of an advanced mobile wallet with advanced security features and it's available on Android and iOS.

Currently, this wallet is only used for bitcoins but they have plans to include other cryptos and tokens in the nearest future.

This wallet is free and has rich features but doesn't have a web and desktop version.

4. Hardware Wallets

Hardware wallets are quite different from cloud-based or mobile wallets because they are on a physical device such as a USB key or other drive devices.

This type of wallet is stored offline which guarantees optimum security. Storing your cryptocurrencies on cold storage (hardware) devices will keep you from losing any of your funds.

The idea is to store any amount of cryptocurrency you can't afford to lose on a hardware wallet and keep those you can afford to lose on your other wallet types - online and mobile wallets.

Best Hardware Wallets

• Trezor 

This is a hardware bitcoin wallet that cannot be infected by malware. It offers good privacy and security, beginner friendly and is best for storing large amounts of bitcoins.

You must have access to a device before you can use the Trezor hardware wallet to send bitcoins and it currently costs about $100 to purchase this wallet.

• Ledger Nano

 This wallet is built with a similar technology as the Trezor but offers a better user experience in my opinion.

This wallet offers multi-currency support and it's quite inexpensive compared to its competitor Trezor.

The Ledger Nano is an easy to use hardware wallet that is ideal for non-tech savvy people that even my grandma can use it.

5. Paper Wallet

This type of wallet provides a very high level of security and they are quite easy to use.

Paper wallet allows you to literally print your private keys on a piece of wallet and store your tokens and cryptocurrencies on it.

A hardware wallet is more recommended than a paper wallet

Recommendations for Keeping your Cryptocurrency Wallets Safe and Secure

* Always backup your wallet
* Always keep your software updated
* Ensure you add an extra layer of security to your wallet like incorporating Google 2FA (Two-factor authentication)

I would love to know what your favorite wallets are in the comment below and if you have any question for me I will be glad to respond.

Bitcoin and BlockChain – Modern FINTECH Bringing Innovation and Speed to International Trade

Since November 2014, travelers around the world can book flights, pay for hotels and even rent cars with CheapAir and pay with bitcoins and enjoy the benefits of anonymity, low cost fees this digital currency brings.

With a click of a button, you scan the payment bar-code with your device or do a manual bitcoin transaction and voila, you are travelling the world.

Bitcoin is gradually putting the traditional banking system out of business with the great improvement it is bringing in international financial transactions.

According to wikipedia, Fintech " is an industry composed of companies that use new technology and innovation with available resources in order to compete in the marketplace of traditional financial institutions and intermediaries in the delivery of financial services. "

Bitcoin has been doing this over these few years in the financial industry.

International trades have increased greatly all because of this new form of "crypto-currency", a digital currency that can be used as an alternative to regular currencies.

More and more outlets have started accepting bitcoin as a type of payment; For example, American Starbucks accept bitcoins, my beloved Fiverr accept bitcoin, and even Overstock does accept it. Many more online stores and companies have followed suit.

What really is bitcoin and blockchain; and how is this technological innovation changing the international trade landscape?

Bitcoin and Blockchain

There are many negative stories around the use of bitcoin like using it for money laundering, for purchasing of illegal drugs, weapons or services.

Not long ago, the New York Times published an article on a prosecution set up for the fight against money laundry using bitcoin.

The digital currency for a long time has also been the most common way to make payment on the now defunct Silk Road, the underground marketplace where illegal drugs, weapons and services are traded.

Bitcoin still suffers from the aftermath of these initial problems. Many know bitcoin for only the negative things associated with it, while the positive potential of bitcoin is often underexposed.

If you dive dipper into bitcoin, you will understand that the monetary aspect of it is just a little bit of the many benefits bitcoin and the blockchain technology has to offer.

It is built to function on the blockchain technology – a manipulation and forgery protected database with a groundbreaking piece of technology.

Using Bitcoin for International trade

Currency exists to facilitate trade. As time goes by, global trade has become enormously complex. To capture all necessities in international trading one has to use the services of intermediaries such as banks, accountants, notaries and governments.

This is where the importance of bitcoins comes into play. Bitcoin is completely decentralized and independent of central banks and governments.

This issue of printing money and causing inflation does not apply in bitcoin, since there is an imposed limit on the number of bitcoins that can be generated - that is 21 million.

If scarcity arise at some point after all bitcoins has been mined, the risk of deflation will be smaller. In addition, transactions are faster because it is not dependent on banks.

Bitcoin transactions takes place almost instantly irrespective of the distance and you pay little to no fees, unlike with traditional banks. Furthermore, it ensures anonymity and the privacy of all bitcoin owners is closely guarded.

The participants in the bitcoin network known as miners monitor all transactions to ensure security and if any transaction appears suspicious, it will be invalid.

Everyone checks the network together and everything is publicly stored in a sort of ledger known as blockchain.

How to Buy Gold with Bitcoin

I have seen the question "how to buy gold with bitcoin" asked a couple of times and as a bitcoin advocate and experimentarian, I thought I should write a short post to answer that.

Why would someone want to buy gold with bitcoin? I think a good reason for that is because in some ways gold and bitcoin have some similarities.

In other words, gold is something that is a store of value, not managed by the government and has a limited supply.

These are the qualities bitcoin has in common with gold. The big difference is that while gold has no doubt been a store of value, it is not something you can use to simply buy things with.

On the other hand, you can use bitcoin to buy things and this is what makes it very interesting.

Also, since bitcoin is a store of value and has proved like gold to be increasing in value against fiat currencies during inflation, many have started including bitcoin in their investment portfolio despite its volatile nature.

So let's get started on some of the ways you can buy gold using bitcoin.

Vaultoro

One place where you can buy gold with bitcoin is Vaultoro, a fairly new service.

Using Vaultoro to buy gold with bitcoin is very interesting because they offer a sophisticated system whereby you can open an account with them and trade bitcoin for gold without the aid of a bank and then you can sell the gold for bitcoin too.

All these can be done instantly and you can also have the gold delivered to you. The gold is stored in a swiss vault.

They allow you transact up to $5000 worth daily without having to verify your account.

If you want to sell your gold you, can do so with Vaultoro instantly and get the bitcoin equivalent sent to you wallet.

This service links bitcoin and gold together in such a way that you can swiftly convert one to another without dealing with the existing banking system.

Uphold

Uphold, formally called Bitreserve offers somewhat of a different way of buying gold with bitcoin.

What Uphold does is to enable you to open an account and create wallets in different types of assets and trade them with bitcoin.

One of these assets is gold. Bitreserve holds the actual physical gold to the equal value of gold that is being traded on their exchange and they publish a real-time, verifiable proof of solvency.

Once you have this wallet open in gold, you can instantly move it back to bitcoin or you can send that gold to anyone who has an account with Uphold.

Conclusion

So, these are the two innovative ways you can buy, sell, trade and store gold, and all with bitcoins and you can interchange between the two.

I think this could be something many people might find interesting.What do you think?

Let me know in the comment below.

If you what to know more about bitcoin, the bitcoin economy, how to profit from the Cryptocurrency industry, and if you want to get further recommendations and links, then click on the button below to receive a FREE bitcoin report.

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Why You Should Consider Investing Some of Your Savings in Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency

The values of digital coins such as bitcoin and ethereum have drastically increased over these few years. You could buy two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins in 2010, now a bitcoin is worth over 2600 dollars.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Dash have made several millionaires already but is this enough reason to put some of your savings in these digital coins?

What are these digital coins?

Cryptocurrency is called the digital coins that are now gaining popularity. When transacting with a cryptocurrency, no bank is needed to be the middle party.

It is barter done via the internet. The coin is encrypted and only the one who has the key can see or spend the money.

Computers that run a complex algorithm, which is called mining, create crypto coins.  All cryptocurrencies have a maximum number.

Because these cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are limited, it becomes increasingly difficult to mine, and the price is greatly boosted if there is more demand.

The best-known crypto coins are bitcoin and ethereum. Their values have increased in recent years. It can be very lucrative to invest in bitcoin or ethereum.

Though the probability of loss is high, the probability of profit is extremely high too. 

At most, you could lose a hundred percent, but I have had returns on my crypto investments of over 1000 percent. Compare that to a savings account that pays you about 1 to 2 percent return yearly.

However, before you start investing in these cryptocurrencies, here are a few factors to bear in mind.

1. Investing in Cryptocurrency is very risky

A lot of risks is involved when investing in crypto coins. And if you have to lose a thousand dollars to gain more, why not?

There is a popular story around the internet of one James Howells who mistakenly threw off his computer hard drive that stored 7500 bitcoins that are currently worth about $20,000.000.

He lost access to his bitcoins when he threw his hard drive in a garbage dump, without backing up the keys. I think using bitcoin is very tricky and if this happens, you have lost everything.

The danger of using these crypto coins is that there is no supervisor and no intermediary, you are entirely responsible for managing your digital money and for payment. 

If you send your money to the wrong address, nobody can get it back for you.

2. Cryptocurrencies can be hacked if not properly secured

Another risk of owning a cryptocurrency is that it can be hacked by hackers. It's very important that you do not leave your funds on an exchange or online wallet. If it is hacked then you will lose everything.

Many people lost their funds when a popular bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox got hacked. It was hacked in 2014 and declared bankrupt shortly thereafter. At the hack, hackers stole over 850,000 bitcoins. 

How to buy cryptocurrencies?

If you want to buy bitcoins or ethereum, you first need a wallet, like a bitcoin bank account. 

You can purchase a hardware wallet like Ledger Nano hardware wallet, which is the best since it helps you store your bitcoins away from your PC that is prone to malware when connected to the internet. It is a kind of USB stick on which your bitcoins are stored.

 Or get a software wallet like blockchain or coinbase online wallet. That's a website or app where you save your bitcoins. Though well secured, it is still cloud-based and could be attacked.

You can also choose a paper wallet. That's a printed piece of paper, containing the keys and address of your bitcoins.

The next step is for you to register on a cryptocurrency exchange like Coinbase or Kraken, which is one of the largest bitcoin exchanges in the world. You have to verify your account with a passport or national identity card because of money laundering laws.

Once you have bitcoins, you can then buy other cryptocurrencies with your bitcoins.

From that moment on, it works like the regular stock market. The price rises and decreases, making the value of your cryptocurrency more or less.

You build a portfolio of different coins and try to make as much profit as possible by buying or selling at the right time.

If you have decided to buy crypto coins in other to earn money with it, you should be aware it entails its own risks. The most obvious is that the value of your currency can change rapidly.

Ethereum price chart from Feb to April 2017

The value of a coin can fall by 20 to 30 percent and can also increase by 20 to 30 percent in one day.

It's not impossible for the price of bitcoin to be worth ten thousand dollars in the future. In addition, it is not impossible for it to be worth zero.

There will only be 21 million bitcoins in human history, so it's by definition worth more. If the demand keeps increasing, then I see no reason while the price won't follow suit.

Due to the many risks, the Financial Markets Authority recommends consumers to dive into cryptocurrencies with caution. Before you convert your savings into bitcoin, do your own personal research on it.

And never invest more than you're willing to lose. Investing in cryptocurrency now is very risky. There is a crypto bubble that's going to burst someday. If you invest, spread your odds.

Apart from bitcoin and ethereum, include some other crypto coins that solve real world problems and have potential to increase in value in the future.

Currently, I have diversified my crypto assets to include bitcoin, ethereum, Litecoin, Maidsafecoin, Antshares, Burstcoins and a few others.

What do you think is the best way to invest in cryptocurrencies at the moment? In addition, I will like to know what coins constitute your crypto portfolio in the comment section below.

5 Best Paying Bitcoin Faucets

In this article, I will be showing you some of the best free faucet websites where you can get free bitcoin, litecoin, and dogecoin.

I know some people say faucets are not good and that a few coins you receive from faucets are not worth your time. But let me tell you - I have seen some people get around $2 worth of bitcoin weekly when consistently using some of these faucets below.

And if the value of bitcoin increases by ten or a hundred fold from what is it now, then your investment will be worth it.

I know from experience that many faucets are cluttered with spam, malware, ads, and bad user experiences in general, but I have only picked the best ones I use so you do not have to waste any time with those fruitless faucets.

Freebitco.in

This first one is among my favorites. It is very simple to use and you can claim some satoshi every hour. It uses a captcha that you have to pass like every other faucet before you claim your coins.

Freebitco.in is not only a faucet, but it is also a gambling site you can use to gamble if you are into such. This site also offers bitcoin savings account service where you can earn 4.08% yearly and that is about 0.0109589% per day, which is cool.

There is also a lottery and rewards program at freebitco.in and if you generate enough points during participation, you can claim it for electronics, hardware wallets, gift certificates, and bonuses depending on the points you earn.

I recommend this site as one of the trustworthy and paying bitcoin faucets out there.

Freedogecoin

The free dogecoin faucet is the same company that owns freebitco.in. It works almost in the same way as freebitco.in does.

You can claim some free dogecoins every hour with their faucet. They also offer gambling services, but no savings account.

They have a referral program like their sister site which you can use to earn more by referring your friends.

Moonbit.co.in 

This is among the best faucets out there because they give you a daily loyalty bonus for visiting the site daily to claim free bitcoins. Of course, there is a captcha test to prove you are human in other to claim some free coins.

You will need to have claimed at least 2500 satoshi before the coins can be paid into your bitcoin wallet. Balances are paid instantly if you use a Xapo wallet but using any other wallet, you will receive your bitcoin every Saturdays/Sundays each week.

Moonliteco.in

Moon Litecoin is a litecoin faucet that pays their users as well. The amount of litoshi they give out is quite much compared to what their bitcoin site gives.

If you don't have a Litecoin wallet, head onto block.io to open a free one. The balance of your claimed litoshi will be paid directly to your wallet once it is up to 500,000 litoshi.

Moondoge.co.in

This dogecoin faucet can give you at least 1-3 dogecoins per day and you know what that would mean if the price of dogecoin reaches the coveted $1 price. 

You can also get a free dogecoin wallet from block.io.

Dogecoins has a lot of potentials and the community behind the project is quite large. I have seen dogecoin been used in some of the top gambling sites and getting more of this coin to hold for the long term may prove worthwhile.

I love this site because it is so clean and has lots of bonuses every time you use it. They also a referral program that pays you 25% commission of the lifetime claims of your referrals.

Bitgames.io

This is a really interesting bitcoin faucets because after claiming your free bitcoin you can play games such as blackjack, trips or better, lottery rush and baccarat.

It takes 70,000 satoshis before you can withdraw your balance. Other ways you can earn on bitgames.io is by participating in their promotional raffle draws and referral program.

That is my list of best bitcoin faucets you can use to generate some free bitcoin.

I wish you all the best as you go gather some free bitcoin. Is there any good faucet I did not mention, let me know in the comment section.