While they are not the best way to store cryptocurrencies long-term, mobile wallets may be the most convenient way to quickly spend crypto assets.
Exodus — best for beginners
Exodus is a multiplatform multicurrency wallet that supports Windows and Mac computers as well as Android and iOS devices. This wallet supports 126 different crypto assets, effectively including many that most cryptocurrency newbies have probably never even heard about. Exodus’s users can also swap among many of the cryptocurrencies supported by the wallet.
A major strength of the Exodus wallet is its extreme ease of use enabled by its clean and polished user interface, which is mostly devoid of the distracting and confusing complexity that most expect crypto users to be forced to endure.
Exodus wallet also allows its users to stake tezos (XTZ), cosmos (ATOM), and VeChain (VET), supports cryptocurrency-enabled applications allowing sports betting, among other things. Furthermore, this software also supports decentralized lending protocol Compound, enabling its users to earn on stablecoin deposits.
Argent — best for decentralized finance (DeFi)
Argent is an ether (ETH) wallet that also supports ERC20 tokens and offers easy access to the world of DeFi protocols through decentralized application (dApp) support. The user experience offered by this application largely resembles Venmo and is aimed at a non-technical audience.
Argent is also recommended for newbies that have yet to learn to manage their private keys responsibly thanks to an integrated recovery system. This wallet does not require that its users backup a seed phrase and if you lose access to your wallet, you can ask previously chosen people to approve your access to your wallet through an on-chain smart contract.
Another interesting feature offered by this wallet is meta-transaction support, which allows users to sign an intent to transact that can be later transmitted through another wallet. This is meant to ensure that users won’t lose access to their crypto assets if the company behind the software ceases its operations.
Lastly, Argent also allows its users to set transaction limits or lock their wallets in case of device theft, to prevent a loss of funds. Those features are enabled by this wallet’s smart contract-based approach: as opposed to directly holding the user’s funds at the address corresponding to his private key, the assets are held in a smart contract enabling more advanced control.
SelfKey — best for decentralized identity
SelfKey is the most unique wallet included in this review, so much that calling it just a wallet seems wrong. This ether and ERC20 token wallet includes a self-sovereign identity management system and an ecosystem of services that allow its users to leverage this feature.
SelfKey leverages the KYC-Chain blockchain-based KYC solution to verify data — such as documents, residency, address, contact details — about the user in the SelfKey ID and then allow third parties to verify who the user is.
What’s more, all this data is stored locally on the user’s device, which prevents the existence of a centralized target for hackers who want to get hold of great quantities of personal data. More security-conscious users can also secure their SelfKey wallet key with the Ledger or Trezor hardware wallets.
SelfKey’s main selling point is its marketplace, which allows the user to quickly access services with the SelfKey ID verification and paying with the ecosystem’s proprietary KEY token.
This marketplace allows the user to set up a new business in 12 jurisdictions and incorporate it or open new bank accounts in 20 countries.
Celsius — best for earning interest
While Celsius is technically not a wallet — or at least not just a wallet — it is still an option worth mentioning for those who do not mind keeping their crypto assets in a custodial wallet, especially if doing so earns them money.
On a side note, some may argue that keeping one’s assets at an insured custodian is the safer option if you’re not that good at managing your private key backups. And crypto assets deposited at Celsius are insured as the funds are held at cryptocurrency custodians Fireblocks and Prime Trust, both of which insure the deposits. Celsius explains on its website:
“Fireblocks and PrimeTrust, our custodians, both provide insurance on assets. However, we generate interest rewards by lending out the assets to onboarded partners. When these assets are lent out, they are not insured. All of our coin loans are collateralized up to 150%, meaning the borrower gives Celsius an alternative asset as collateral for the asset they are borrowing.”
The main reason for using Celsius is that it allows its users to earn interest — and a rather high one — on deposits. The firm’s business model relies on lending the funds out and then distributing most of the profit earned through fees as interest to the users who deposit the funds that the company lends out.
As of press time, Celsius’s annual rates on deposits reach up to 21.49%, determined by a complex system that grants a different rate based on the deposited asset, in which token the user decided to be paid and the percentage of assets held in the firm’s proprietary CEL tokens.
In order to get the highest interest, users have to decide to be paid in CEL tokens.
In order to access the system, each user needs to download the Celsius Wallet mobile application and verify their identity. The same application also allows to take out loans in cash against crypto assets. The interest on loans starts at 1% of accrued interest per year, the minimum is $500 and the whole process takes minutes.
Be sure to check out BeInCrypto’s Top 15 Bitcoin Wallets in 2020.
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