<blockquote>
<p><strong>What kinds of wallets are there?</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are many ways of classifying wallets</p>
<h1>Index</h1>
<ul>
<li>Wallet types
<ul>
<li>Hot vs Cold</li>
<li>Desktop vs Mobile</li>
<li>Non-custodial vs Custodial</li>
<li>Paper vs Hardware vs Brain</li>
<li>Full-node vs Lightweight</li>
<li>Watch-only</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Things to remember</li>
<li>Other lists</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Can I get short a explanation about cryptocurrency cold/hot wallets?</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<h1>Hot wallets vs Cold Wallets</h1>
<h2>Hot Wallets</h2>
<p>These are any kind of wallet that has a network connection and so is vulnerable to attack and is relatively unsafe. Many people prefer to keep their savings in a cold-wallet and only transfer money to a hot-wallet when they need to spend the money.</p>
<p>You need a hot-wallet to <strong>send</strong> a payment<br />
You <em>don't</em> need a hot-wallet to <strong>receive</strong> payments.</p>
<p>synonyms: online-wallet (confusingly - don't use this term)</p>
<h2>Cold wallets</h2>
<p>These are wallets that are not connected to the Internet, or any local network, and so are relatively safe from network-based attack by thieves.</p>
<p>A cold-wallet can receive payments.</p>
<p>Synonyms: offline-wallet.</p>
<p>Varieties: paper-wallet, hardware-wallet (at least when not plugged in). Desktop wallet on isolated or turned-off PC, ...</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Are there more kinds?</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Here's the main other kinds I know of, the main other ways of classifying wallets or dividing them up into types. Note that any wallet can be several kinds, a wallet might be a hot-wallet that is also non-custodial and also a full-node wallet all at the same time:</p>
<hr />
<h1>Desktop wallets vs Mobile wallets</h1>
<p>This is about the sort of device that runs the wallet software.</p>
<h2>Desktop wallet</h2>
<p>A wallet that runs on a normal PC.</p>
<h2>Mobile Wallet</h2>
<p>A wallet that runs on a mobile phone. Almost always these are lightweight wallets.</p>
<hr />
<h1>Non-custodial wallet vs Custodial wallet or account</h1>
<p>This is about who controls your money, you or big business.</p>
<h2>Non-custodial</h2>
<p>This is the type of wallet that the inventor of Bitcoin created. Just like a leather wallet in your pocket, you use it to look after your cash yourself. No one else manages the cash in the wallet in your pocket.</p>
<p>Bitcoin was invented so one person could pay electronic cash to a second person without involving any trusted intermediary. No banks no exchanges.</p>
<h2>Custodial</h2>
<p>A wallet where the private-keys are held by an online service, not by the customer.</p>
<p>Typically access to the wallet is by a web-browser but sometimes with an app or using a custom desktop-client.</p>
<p>Advantages: easy and fast to set up, transfers to other customers of the same service can be instant (no wait for confirmations) and cheaper.</p>
<p>This is the least safe way to hold crytocurrency (see large scale thefts from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt._Gox" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MtGox</a>, <a href="https://coinsutra.com/biggest-bitcoin-hacks/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Poloniex, Bitstamp, BitFinex</a>, <a href="https://dailyhodl.com/2019/01/15/a-cautionary-tale-for-crypto-as-cryptopia-reports-first-bitcoin-exchange-hack-of-2019/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Cryptopia</a>, <a href="https://www.ccn.com/190m-gone-how-canada-biggest-bitcoin-exchange-lost-it" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Quadriga-CX</a> etc etc etc)</p>
<p>Key point to remember: &quot;No private-key = no Bitcoins&quot; or &quot;not your private-key means not your Bitcoins&quot;.</p>
<p>Synonyms: web-wallet, hosted-wallet, online-wallet (rarely and confusingly)</p>
<hr />
<h1>Paper wallets vs Hardware wallets vs Brain wallets</h1>
<p>This is mainly a choice of where the private keys are stored.</p>
<h2>Paper wallet</h2>
<p>Wallets don't contain crytocurrency coins, the only important thing they contain are private-keys - anything else in them is disposable.</p>
<p>Therefore printing your seed-phrase or private key onto paper as a QR-code, other barcode or as a hex or base64 string etc, can act as a wallet.</p>
<p>A paper wallet can receive payments but cannot make them.</p>
<p>A properly-managed paper-wallet is one of the most secure types of wallet.</p>
<h2>Hardware wallet</h2>
<p>A hardware device that safely holds your private key and which can connect to a PC, usually  using a USB port, to sign transactions (without divulging the private key to the PC)</p>
<p>This is arguably the most secure form of wallet.</p>
<p>They typically need software on the PC which knows how to talk to them. Several desktop-wallets can interface with one or other hardware wallets.</p>
<h2>Brain wallet</h2>
<p>NOTE: Brain-wallets can be very insecure. For more info see <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/8449/how-safe-is-a-brain-wallet">this question</a>, or <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/41618/why-are-brain-wallets-not-secure-people-keep-saying-it-but-explain-to-me-why">this one</a>.</p>
<p>You don't hear this very often but it is an interesting form of wallet. There are standards for generating private-keys from a seed-phrase. Many wallets support this. If you can remember a seed phrase you can destroy your wallet and later re-create it using only the seed-phrase.</p>
<p>If your wallet is only stored as a memorised phrase in your brain, it can still receive payments - so long as you have your payment address(es) noted down somewhere. Payment addresses need not be kept secret.</p>
<p>Unfortunately people are pretty bad at remembering stuff.</p>
<hr />
<h1>Full-node Wallet vs Lightweight wallet</h1>
<p>This is about the amount of data storage available to a wallet.</p>
<h2>Full Node</h2>
<p>A wallet that keeps a copy of the whole blockchain. E.g. bitcoin-core.</p>
<p>The trade-off is that the wallet takes days or weeks to synchronise when first installed. It will use up more of your network bandwidth (at least initially)</p>
<p>This is the type of wallet that was first invented and is in many ways, one of the best types of wallet.</p>
<h2>Lightweight wallet</h2>
<p>A wallet that does not keep a copy of the whole blockchain and which trusts some other nodes to give it truthful blocks.</p>
<p>The advantage is they don't need lots of storage space and can start-up much faster.</p>
<p>Synonym: SPV wallet.</p>
<p>SPV stands for Simplified Payment Verification and was outlined by Satoshi Nakamoto in the 2008 Bitcoin Whitepaper. I expect there are other ways of implementing lightweight wallets.</p>
<hr />
<h1>Watch-only wallet</h1>
<p>This is not really a type of wallet but a way of using a wallet.</p>
<p>A watch-only wallet is one that has had a public-key / address imported into it but which does not have the corresponding private-key.</p>
<p>It can show the &quot;balance&quot; for an address but cannot be used to spend that balance.</p>
<p>Often used by scammers to trick people but also useful as a safe type of hot-wallet to monitor your balance without any risk of theft.</p>
<p>A wallet can usually have several sets of, erm, subwallets. A wallet could have both a private key for a hot-wallet with a small amount of money in it and an imported watch-only address for a cold-wallet so you can monitor balances for both &quot;hot&quot; and &quot;cold&quot; subwallets in one place.</p>
<hr />
<h1>Things to remember ...</h1>
<p>(... about wallets and their use)</p>
<ul>
<li>Wallets don't contain money.
<ul>
<li>The only important thing in a wallet is the private-key(s).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Money is not sent to wallets.
<ul>
<li>Money is sent to bitcoin-addresses. The wallet contains a private-key that
allows you to &quot;spend&quot; money at a corresponding bitcoin-address</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Never share a wallet-password - even if you change it afterwards, you've lost control of any money that has been, <strong>or might later be</strong> sent to addresses in that wallet.</li>
<li>Never share your private-key. Never.</li>
<li>Backup your private key or seed-phrase safely in several places.</li>
<li>Share overlapping parts of your private-key or seed phrase with several family members with instructions on what to do if you are hit by a bus this afternoon. (see several questions here from desperate bereaved relatives of people who made no provision for this)</li>
<li>What do you want to happen if your house burns down to ash with  all your pcs, laptops, notebooks, phones, paper etc destroyed. (see questions here from people who lost their phone or overwrote their PC or mistyped their seed-phrase or forgot a password and don't know what a backup is or why they should have made several, in several places, in fireproof boxes, and tested recovery)</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h1>Other lists</h1>
<p>Other places that have lists of different types of wallet:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Choose your wallet, Bitcoin.org</a></li>
<li><a href="https://medium.com/@fastinvest/the-most-comprehensive-cryptocurrency-wallet-guide-5e820a26ed44" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Comprehensive Cryptocurrency Wallet Guide, &quot;fastInvest&quot;@Medium.com</a></li>
<li><a href="https://coinsutra.com/types-of-crypto-wallets/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Types of Crypto Wllets, CoinSutra</a></li>
<li><a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/81470/13866">Is there a Wiki comparing different wallets?</a></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-21T16:22:26.697Z
Thank you for this great info! helped me to understand more..
karlito
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-21T15:26:35.733Z
2024-01-24T11:42:08.397Z
2024-01-24T11:42:08.397Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>Hot and cold in this case refer to if the private key is stored on a system connected to the internet or not. Hot wallets are stored on system connected directly to the internet. This can be on the client machine or on a centralized server. A cold wallet can be a HW wallet, an offline wallet or a paper wallet. You kind of create an air-gap that drastically reduce the attack surface on the wallet.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-21T14:07:06.303Z
2018-11-21T14:07:06.303Z
Klassare
<p><strong>Hi karlos.</strong></p>

<p>Hot wallet mostly looks like app or software, 
they mostly not 100% open source so its not top secured..</p>

<p>Cold wallet mostly looks like USB driver. 
When they not connected ,bitcoins/crypto currency safe.</p>

<p>There have also an exchange wallet .
Exchange wallet functioned like your hot wallet but that's some third party wallet that supply you the API for visual preview of your money and actually store your bitcoins/crypto currency in there private exchange wallet.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Hope that its short enough and helpful  for you.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Thank you in advance, Sadikov.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-21T11:16:50.957Z
2018-11-21T11:16:50.957Z
Sadikov
<p>Can I get short a explanation about cryptocurrency cold/hot wallets?</p>

<p>Are there more kinds?</p>

<wallet><coldstorage>
What kinds of wallets are there?
karlito
# What kinds of wallets are there?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-21)

Can I get short a explanation about cryptocurrency cold/hot wallets?

Are there more kinds?

**Tags:** wallet, coldstorage


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-11-21. Score: -1 | Accepted answer

**Hi karlos.**

Hot wallet mostly looks like app or software,
they mostly not 100% open source so its not top secured..

Cold wallet mostly looks like USB driver.
When they not connected ,bitcoins/crypto currency safe.

There have also an exchange wallet .
Exchange wallet functioned like your hot wallet but that's some third party wallet that supply you the API for visual preview of your money and actually store your bitcoins/crypto currency in there private exchange wallet.

> Hope that its short enough and helpful for you.

Thank you in advance, username_3.


---

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-11-21. Score: 14

> **What kinds of wallets are there?**

There are many ways of classifying wallets

# Index

* Wallet types
  + Hot vs Cold
  + Desktop vs Mobile
  + Non-custodial vs Custodial
  + Paper vs Hardware vs Brain
  + Full-node vs Lightweight
  + Watch-only
* Things to remember
* Other lists

---

> **Can I get short a explanation about cryptocurrency cold/hot wallets?**

# Hot wallets vs Cold Wallets

## Hot Wallets

These are any kind of wallet that has a network connection and so is vulnerable to attack and is relatively unsafe. Many people prefer to keep their savings in a cold-wallet and only transfer money to a hot-wallet when they need to spend the money.

You need a hot-wallet to **send** a payment  
You *don't* need a hot-wallet to **receive** payments.

synonyms: online-wallet (confusingly - don't use this term)

## Cold wallets

These are wallets that are not connected to the Internet, or any local network, and so are relatively safe from network-based attack by thieves.

A cold-wallet can receive payments.

Synonyms: offline-wallet.

Varieties: paper-wallet, hardware-wallet (at least when not plugged in). Desktop wallet on isolated or turned-off PC, ...

---

> **Are there more kinds?**

Here's the main other kinds I know of, the main other ways of classifying wallets or dividing them up into types. Note that any wallet can be several kinds, a wallet might be a hot-wallet that is also non-custodial and also a full-node wallet all at the same time:

---

# Desktop wallets vs Mobile wallets

This is about the sort of device that runs the wallet software.

## Desktop wallet

A wallet that runs on a normal PC.

## Mobile Wallet

A wallet that runs on a mobile phone. Almost always these are lightweight wallets.

---

# Non-custodial wallet vs Custodial wallet or account

This is about who controls your money, you or big business.

## Non-custodial

This is the type of wallet that the inventor of Bitcoin created. Just like a leather wallet in your pocket, you use it to look after your cash yourself. No one else manages the cash in the wallet in your pocket.

Bitcoin was invented so one person could pay electronic cash to a second person without involving any trusted intermediary. No banks no exchanges.

## Custodial

A wallet where the private-keys are held by an online service, not by the customer.

Typically access to the wallet is by a web-browser but sometimes with an app or using a custom desktop-client.

Advantages: easy and fast to set up, transfers to other customers of the same service can be instant (no wait for confirmations) and cheaper.

This is the least safe way to hold crytocurrency (see large scale thefts from [MtGox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt._Gox), [Poloniex, Bitstamp, BitFinex](https://coinsutra.com/biggest-bitcoin-hacks/), [Cryptopia](https://dailyhodl.com/2019/01/15/a-cautionary-tale-for-crypto-as-cryptopia-reports-first-bitcoin-exchange-hack-of-2019/), [Quadriga-CX](https://www.ccn.com/190m-gone-how-canada-biggest-bitcoin-exchange-lost-it) etc etc etc)

Key point to remember: "No private-key = no Bitcoins" or "not your private-key means not your Bitcoins".

Synonyms: web-wallet, hosted-wallet, online-wallet (rarely and confusingly)

---

# Paper wallets vs Hardware wallets vs Brain wallets

This is mainly a choice of where the private keys are stored.

## Paper wallet

Wallets don't contain crytocurrency coins, the only important thing they contain are private-keys - anything else in them is disposable.

Therefore printing your seed-phrase or private key onto paper as a QR-code, other barcode or as a hex or base64 string etc, can act as a wallet.

A paper wallet can receive payments but cannot make them.

A properly-managed paper-wallet is one of the most secure types of wallet.

## Hardware wallet

A hardware device that safely holds your private key and which can connect to a PC, usually using a USB port, to sign transactions (without divulging the private key to the PC)

This is arguably the most secure form of wallet.

They typically need software on the PC which knows how to talk to them. Several desktop-wallets can interface with one or other hardware wallets.

## Brain wallet

NOTE: Brain-wallets can be very insecure. For more info see [this question](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/8449/how-safe-is-a-brain-wallet), or [this one](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/41618/why-are-brain-wallets-not-secure-people-keep-saying-it-but-explain-to-me-why).

You don't hear this very often but it is an interesting form of wallet. There are standards for generating private-keys from a seed-phrase. Many wallets support this. If you can remember a seed phrase you can destroy your wallet and later re-create it using only the seed-phrase.

If your wallet is only stored as a memorised phrase in your brain, it can still receive payments - so long as you have your payment address(es) noted down somewhere. Payment addresses need not be kept secret.

Unfortunately people are pretty bad at remembering stuff.

---

# Full-node Wallet vs Lightweight wallet

This is about the amount of data storage available to a wallet.

## Full Node

A wallet that keeps a copy of the whole blockchain. E.g. bitcoin-core.

The trade-off is that the wallet takes days or weeks to synchronise when first installed. It will use up more of your network bandwidth (at least initially)

This is the type of wallet that was first invented and is in many ways, one of the best types of wallet.

## Lightweight wallet

A wallet that does not keep a copy of the whole blockchain and which trusts some other nodes to give it truthful blocks.

The advantage is they don't need lots of storage space and can start-up much faster.

Synonym: SPV wallet.

SPV stands for Simplified Payment Verification and was outlined by Satoshi Nakamoto in the 2008 Bitcoin Whitepaper. I expect there are other ways of implementing lightweight wallets.

---

# Watch-only wallet

This is not really a type of wallet but a way of using a wallet.

A watch-only wallet is one that has had a public-key / address imported into it but which does not have the corresponding private-key.

It can show the "balance" for an address but cannot be used to spend that balance.

Often used by scammers to trick people but also useful as a safe type of hot-wallet to monitor your balance without any risk of theft.

A wallet can usually have several sets of, erm, subwallets. A wallet could have both a private key for a hot-wallet with a small amount of money in it and an imported watch-only address for a cold-wallet so you can monitor balances for both "hot" and "cold" subwallets in one place.

---

# Things to remember ...

(... about wallets and their use)

* Wallets don't contain money.
  + The only important thing in a wallet is the private-key(s).
* Money is not sent to wallets.
  + Money is sent to bitcoin-addresses. The wallet contains a private-key that
    allows you to "spend" money at a corresponding bitcoin-address
* Never share a wallet-password - even if you change it afterwards, you've lost control of any money that has been, **or might later be** sent to addresses in that wallet.
* Never share your private-key. Never.
* Backup your private key or seed-phrase safely in several places.
* Share overlapping parts of your private-key or seed phrase with several family members with instructions on what to do if you are hit by a bus this afternoon. (see several questions here from desperate bereaved relatives of people who made no provision for this)
* What do you want to happen if your house burns down to ash with all your pcs, laptops, notebooks, phones, paper etc destroyed. (see questions here from people who lost their phone or overwrote their PC or mistyped their seed-phrase or forgot a password and don't know what a backup is or why they should have made several, in several places, in fireproof boxes, and tested recovery)

---

# Other lists

Other places that have lists of different types of wallet:

* [Choose your wallet, Bitcoin.org](https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet)
* [Comprehensive Cryptocurrency Wallet Guide, "fastInvest"@Medium.com](https://medium.com/@fastinvest/the-most-comprehensive-cryptocurrency-wallet-guide-5e820a26ed44)
* [Types of Crypto Wllets, CoinSutra](https://coinsutra.com/types-of-crypto-wallets/)
* [Is there a Wiki comparing different wallets?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/81470/13866)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you for this great info! helped me to understand more..  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-11-21. Score: 11

Hot and cold in this case refer to if the private key is stored on a system connected to the internet or not. Hot wallets are stored on system connected directly to the internet. This can be on the client machine or on a centralized server. A cold wallet can be a HW wallet, an offline wallet or a paper wallet. You kind of create an air-gap that drastically reduce the attack surface on the wallet.


---

