

That’s where the best crypto wallets come in.Īnother reason people choose to store their cryptocurrency in a wallet is that wallets are required to make certain kinds of crypto transactions - e.g., interacting with blockchain apps to do things like buy and sell NFTs. And for that reason, you may want to take extra precautions against theft or loss of your crypto assets by taking control of its security yourself. The main thing that differentiates cryptocurrency from traditional currency is that it is decentralized, meaning no government or other entity controls it.

What is Ethereum? Price, how to buy, vs Bitcoin, latest news and more.Here are the top cryptocurrencies by value right now.But for security and other reasons, you may want a separate “non-custodial” crypto wallet. (Just like you hold your stock with your trading platform/broker.) You can even buy and store some cryptocurrencies on Robinhood and PayPal. Major crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken allow you to store your holdings right there in the exchange. Wallets create your public address so you can receive coins and securely store your private key so you can send coins.Īnother fun fact: you don’t actually need a wallet to store your cryptocurrency, whether it's Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin or any other of the top cryptocurrencies.

Technically speaking, crypto wallets don’t actually store your funds - coins never leave the blockchain they just get transferred from one “address” to another.
