In this article I’m going to tell you what a wallet bitcoin or also known as a bitcoin.
You will learn everything related to criptomedas so that you can identify the different types that exist, learn which are the safest and according to your needs which one you should use.
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DEFINITION OF CRIPTOMEDAS WALLET
We can define a wallet of crypto coins as a device, software or service that «stores the digital credentials of the Bitcoins you own» and allows you to access them for use in any transaction you accept.
Bitcoin uses a cryptographic method called public-key cryptography which is based on the existence of two cryptographic keys: one public and one private. We could affirm that a wallet of cryptomoneda is a collection of these keys.
ETIMOLOGICAL ORIGIN OF THE WALLET TERM
Wallet is an Anglo-Saxon word whose meaning in Spanish is ‘Cartera’ or ‘Monedero’.
We could understand that a wallet bitcoin is something similar to a current account of a bank but with some differences that I will shortly comment on.
The main difference between a wallet bitcoin and a bank account is that the owner of a wallet has absolute control over the crypto coins stored in it, the owner may keep the crypto coins of his wallet or use them as a means of payment or collection.
The wallet is ultimately a simple way to save, send and receive bitcoin completely secure and without intermediaries.
WHAT IS A BITCOIN WALLET?
As I mentioned earlier, a Bitcoin wallet fulfills the same function as a bank account that is no other than storing money.
The functioning of cryptomoneda wallets is based on two fundamental elements:
- Public address: This is the address by which our wallet is publicly known and through which other wallets can make payments to our wallet.
- Private key: Private key allows to spend crypto coins from the public address.
The type of wallet is determined by how the private key is stored . For this reason there are more secure crypto coin purses than others as well as easier or difficult to use.
As a general rule, the degree of comfort in the use of a Bitcoin wallet is inversely proportional to the security of the same .
HOW DOES A BITCOIN WALLET WORK?
the operation for crypto coins is to register your property in that public ledger called blockchain.
If we want to know who is the owner of the Bitcoins there are some public addresses that allow us to determine the amount of Bitcoins that a certain wallet stores. Thus, the blockchain or also known as chain of blocks, records the number of Bitcoins that has sent or received a certain public address (a wallet bitcoin) so you can know at all times the balance that has a certain wallet Bitcoin.
In order to make a transfer between two wallets it is mandatory to use the private key , because it is a security method that allows to verify the owner who the transfer of cryptomonas has ordered it and not another person.
To conclude the process, if the private key is entered correctly, the transfer is executed and will be verified and registered by the blockchain. This system is a great tool to avoid frauds since for a transfer to take place between two wallet bitcoin there must be consensus in both the part of the transfer originator and the beneficiary of the transfer.
TYPES OF WALLET BITCOIN
What makes the difference between one type of bitcoin wallet and another is the way they store the private key.
As I mentioned earlier, all cryptomoney wallets consist of a public address and a private key. The place where the private key is stored determines the type of wallet and the degree of security of the wallet.
WALLET BITCOIN ONLINE
This type of wallet are the most widely used, are characterized by being very easy to use by what as we said above are unsafe. This type of wallet stores the private key on a server controlled by a private company . What do you mean? Because the company that stores the private key is in charge of keeping it safe, it has to be a very reliable company for users to transfer such important data to a third party.
Advantages: Ease of use and accessibility. They allow payments and transfers to be made quickly. Ideal for working with a small amount of bitcoin.
Disadvantages: The private key, a fundamental part of the wallet bitcoin, is stored by a third party. The company is vulnerable to attacks and data theft.
The online wallet bitcoin is offered by the vast majority of bureaux de change. These are the most widely used online wallets on the Internet:
- Blockchain.info: According to the specialized media, this wallet bitcoin online is one of the safest there is on the Internet.
- Coinbase: There is no doubt that it is one of the most popular exchange houses among Bitcoin users. In addition to operating with Bitcoin also allows to operate with a large number of crypto coins. It is a platform that is characterized by being very comfortable to use, once purchases Bitcoins these are automatically deposited in the wallet of the platform and from there the user can transfer them to any other wallet.
- Kraken: Kraken’s online platform is used by people with experience in Bitcoin and crypto currencies. It can be somewhat complex for neophytes as it offers many possibilities for bitcoin trading. This platform allows to store bitcoins and many other crypto currencies in order to trade with them.
WALLET BITCOIN FOR MOBILE PHONES
The wallets for mobile phones are the most used cryptomontage wallets to make small payments, this is because it is the closest thing to a physical wallet that we carry in our mobile phone. What I advise you is that with this type of bitcoin purses you download a small part of the blockchain trusting that other nodes store the correct information of the chain of blocks. This system is known as Simplified Payment Verification (SPV).
The best known bitcoin purses for mobile phones are the following:
- Bitcoinwallet: It is the most known and used online wallet for bitcoin in the western world (Europe and USA).
- Blockchain.info: This bitcoin wallet is very easy to use, it also allows you to access your bitcoins through the computer.
- Kipochi: This bitcoin wallet offers a novelty that no other offers to its customers: Use telephone numbers as the public address for wallets. This simplifies the process of sending and receiving crypto coins between users.
WALLET BITCOIN FOR COMPUTERS
They are characterized by storing the private key on the user’s computer, which makes it quite secure. The security of our purse depends solely and exclusively on the security of our computer so I recommend you to use the computer only to operate with bitcoin.
The private key stored in the computer is usually encrypted which gives it an extra degree of security in the event that the security of the computer itself is compromised.
WALLET BITCOIN PHYSICAL
The physical cryptomontage purses are the safest. They are the safest because they are not exposed to the Internet, so if they don’t take it away or manipulate it, absolutely no one will be able to steal your private key. Within the physical purses, two types of purses can be distinguished:
- Hardware-based purses: These are devices like the one shown in the image, very similar to a pendrive, where the private keys of your wallet are stored and allow us to make payments. It is the safest option so also used by those who store and work with a large number of Bitcoins.
- Paper purses: This option is very simple as it is only a paper where the private key of your bitcoin wallet is stored. It is used to store large amounts of bitcoins.
