Choosing an Ethereum Wallet

The term “wallet” has come to mean many things, although they are all related and on a day-to-day basis boil down to pretty much the same thing. We will use the term “wallet” to mean a software application that helps you manage your Ethereum account. In short, an Ethereum wallet is your gateway to the Ethereum system. It holds your keys and can create and broadcast transactions on your behalf. Choosing an Ethereum wallet can be difficult because there are many different options with different features and designs. Some are more suitable for beginners and some are more suitable for experts. The Ethereum platform itself is still being improved, and the “best” wallets are often the ones that adapt to the changes that come with the platform upgrades.

But don’t worry! If you choose a wallet and don’t like how it works—or if you like it at first but later want to try something else—you can change wallets quite easily. All you have to do is make a transaction that sends your funds from the old wallet to the new wallet, or export your private keys and import them into the new one.

We’ve selected three different types of wallets to use as examples throughout the book: a mobile wallet, a desktop wallet, and a web-based wallet. We’ve chosen these three wallets because they represent a broad range of complexity and features. However, the selection of these wallets is not an endorsement of their quality or security. They are simply a good starting place for demonstrations and testing.

Remember that for a wallet application to work, it must have access to your private keys, so it is vital that you only download and use wallet applications from sources you trust. Fortunately, in general, the more popular a wallet application is, the more trustworthy it is likely to be. Nevertheless, it is good practice to avoid “putting all your eggs in one basket” and have your Ethereum accounts spread across a couple of wallets.

The following are some good starter wallets:

MetaMask

MetaMask is a browser extension wallet that runs in your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, or Brave Browser). It is easy to use and convenient for testing, as it is able to connect to a variety of Ethereum nodes and test blockchains. MetaMask is a web-based wallet.

Jaxx

Jaxx is a multiplatform and multicurrency wallet that runs on a variety of operating systems, including Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is often a good choice for new users as it is designed for simplicity and ease of use. Jaxx is either a mobile or a desktop wallet, depending on where you install it.

MyEtherWallet (MEW)

MyEtherWallet is a web-based wallet that runs in any browser. It has multiple sophisticated features we will explore in many of our examples. MyEtherWallet is a web-based wallet.

Emerald Wallet

Emerald Wallet is designed to work with the Ethereum Classic blockchain, but is compatible with other Ethereum-based blockchains. It’s an open source desktop application and works under Windows, macOS, and Linux. Emerald Wallet can run a full node or connect to a public remote node, working in a “light” mode. It also has a companion tool to do all operations from the command line.

We’ll start by installing MetaMask on a desktop—but first, we’ll briefly discuss controlling and managing keys.