You remember, we made an article a little while ago about the best NFT marketplace of Cardano. But, to use them, you need to have a Cardano wallet! This guide will give you an overview of the best Cardano wallets currently on the market.
Some reminders about the different types of wallets
Before we give you an update on the best Cardano wallets to use, let’s do a quick refresher on the different wallets available when using cryptocurrency. This will give you a better understanding of the differences between the different Cardano wallets.
Web Wallet
First of all there are web wallets. The typical example of this kind of wallet is Metamask (editor’s note: you can find a guide to it here), but Cardano also has its own. These are connected to the Internet, so they can be less secure than other types of wallets. These wallets are generally used by day traders.
It is therefore safer to keep the assets you are not using in a cold wallet (more on that below).
Mobile wallet
Just like web wallets, mobile wallets are connected to the Internet on a regular basis (whenever you use your phone) which makes them vulnerable to hacks. They are very convenient, but they must be handled with great care. If someone with bad intentions steals your phone or has access to it in any way (there are many ideas…), your funds are in danger.
Nevertheless, they can be secured with a PIN code, a fingerprint or facial recognition.
Hardware Wallet
Hardware wallets are completely external devices that store your assets offline. To use one, you plug it into your computer or mobile device and enter a PIN. This PIN code must be entered via a small screen on the device, making it difficult for anyone to look over your shoulder. Finally, for each transaction, it is necessary to do a validation via the device. If someone doesn’t have physical access to it… this is difficult.
When not in use, many investors store their physical wallet in a safe at home, or elsewhere for good measure.
Historical Cardano wallets
Daedalus wallet
Daedalus is one of the most used wallets in the Cardano ecosystem. It is an open source web wallet that can be installed on Windows, Mac or linux, but it also works with Ledger hardware wallets.
The Daedalus wallet appeared in 2015 (and yes!) and it was launched by IOHK (the same company that founded Cardano). In fact, it is exclusively designed for Cardano. It is one of the most used wallets on Cardano. It is possible to generate an unlimited number of external wallets, which can be very convenient in some cases.
One of the disadvantages of this digital wallet is that you need to have at least 10GB of space on your hard drive (in order to download the entire Cardano blockchain and synchronize it).
Until 2020, the Daedalus wallet was a good option, as the blockchain did not have many transactions yet. However, as the Cardano blockchain grew, the wallet became more and more cumbersome to load… because all the transactions had to be loaded.
So we needed a wallet that was easier to use even if it wasn’t Full Node. And that’s where the Yoroi wallet was born!
👉 Download Daedalus Wallet: https://daedaluswallet.io/
Yoroi wallet
Unlike Daedalus (Full Node wallet), Yoroi wallet is considered a “lightweight” wallet, as users do not run their own nodes. It can be downloaded via the App Store or Google Play and installed on one’s cell phone. And, of course, it has a web extension, much like the Metamask extension.
Currently the second most used wallet, it was developed by Emurgo, the commercial subsidiary of Cardano. Features are currently being developed (multi-signature transactions in particular). Unfortunately, a lot of DApps don’t support it..
👉 Download Yoroi wallet: https://yoroi-wallet.com
The new wave of Cardano wallets
As we have seen, the “historical” wallets of Cardano are Daedalus and Yoroi. With the explosion of NFTs in 2021, and their implementation in Cardano’s smart contracts, new wallets have appeared: Nami, Eternl (formerly CCvault), then GeroWallet and AdaLite.
Nami Wallet
The Nami wallet was created by two people: Alessandro Konrad and Pascal Lapointe. They are well known in the Cardano ecosystem, as they created a very famous NFT collection: SpaceBudz. They also have a stake pool called Berry Pool.
Just like Yoroi, it is a browser extension. The wallet can be used on Chrome, Edge, Brave browsers. However, there are some differences between Nami and the above mentioned wallet. Indeed, on Daedalus and Yoroi, you can create several wallets. Each wallet has its own seed phrase. On Nami, there is only one wallet, but you can have several addresses (like Metamask). So it’s very convenient when you don’t want to link all your crypto / NFT to one of your wallets without it being complicated to change it.
👉 Download Nami wallet: https://namiwallet.io/
Eternl wallet (formerly CCvault)
CCvault is now called Eternl. It is a web wallet with browser extension, “built by community members for the whole Cardano community”.
Not much to say about it, except that it is more complex than the wallets mentioned above.
👉 Download Eternl Wallet: https://ccvault.io/app/mainnet/welcome
GeroWallet
GeroWallet tends to become more and more functional and appreciated by Cardano users. You can use it as a browser extension wallet. On it, you can store your native Cardano network tokens as well as cNFTs.
Very easy to use, you will be able to use it on DApps, DEX and any other platform on the network. Moreover, the wallet has launched its own token: GERO. You can easily get it on platforms like Sundaeswap.
👉 Download GeroWallet: https://gerowallet.io
AdaLite wallet
Finally, the last wallet in our presentation, it is AdaLite. AdaLite is an ADA browser wallet developed by VacuumLabs, a Slovakian technology company associated with Cardano. It is one of the most widely used, as it allows for the fragmentation of ADA across multiple betting pools in order to maximize betting rewards. Users must manually claim their rewards and pay a transaction fee.
👉 Download AdaLite wallet : https://adalite.io/
Security reminders for your wallets
Since we are talking about wallet, we can’t not talk about security! We remind you every time, but it is very important to secure your crypto and NFT.
First of all, the seed phrase: you should not communicate it to anyone, not even to your best buddy (you never know! 😅) Also, do not save it on a medium connected to the Internet, a virus can happen quickly.
It is better to keep it on a physical material in several copies. You can eventually cut your seed phrase into several pieces spread in strategic places. Some people even put their seed phrase in banks (that’s the last straw!).
Then, it is highly recommended to protect your “Hot Wallet” (wallets connected to the Internet like the ones we have just studied) by a “Cold Wallet” (not connected to the Internet) like Ledger. We will come back to this in more detail in a future article.
Finally, be careful about the sites to which you connect your Wallet. Check each time that it is the official site. Don’t hesitate to go back to the Twitter to get the official links if you have any doubt.
Where to buy Cardano (ADA)
Very good. We have just seen what the main wallets of Cardano are and we have also just reminded some security measures. But now you have to ask yourself: how do I actually use it? Where is it possible to buy Cardano to be able to buy NFT on Cardano Marketplace?
You can buy them on marketplaces like Binance, or Kucoin. The native cryptocurrency of the Cardano blockchain is called ADA. With the ADAs you have in your possession, you can invest your money in NFT projects or collections that may see their value grow over time.
The ecosystem is gradually developing and it may be interesting to invest in it now using the associated wallets (note: this is not investment advice). The fundamentals of Cardano are there and the team behind it is solid. Remember that it is Charles Hoskinson, who also worked on the Ethereum project from its inception.
And that’s it! You now know everything about Cardano wallets. All you have to do is choose the one (or ones) you want to use. Don’t hesitate to test them all to see which one suits you best. And then you can use NFT’s airdrops, or their creation.
Coming from a teaching background, I’ve become passionate about the world of Blockchain. I’m eager to learn more and share the fruit of my research through my articles.
