DeFi 101: Create a cryptocurrency wallet (hot or cold wallet)
Learn how to create a cryptocurrency wallet and what are the differences between a hot and a cold wallet.
Now that you have crypto available to send directly onchain, you need to get a wallet (and an address).
Since this blog will mostly discuss opportunities on the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine), we will look for wallets that work well for it.
Hot wallets
For hot wallets, I would recommend these two:
Always make sure that you are downloading the correct extension. There are other wallets, for example, on Solana, Phantom is very popular.
Between Metamask and Rabby, I would definitely recommend Rabby. The interface is much cleaner and beginner friendly. Metamask works fine, I use both, but Rabby is the one you should start with.
Here's a good video that will show you how it works:
Once you've set-up your cold wallet, you will have to connect it to Rabby. Rabby will not know nor hold your cold wallet private key, it's just used as the interface to interact with smart contracts directly. You will have to manually & physically approve transactions on your hardware wallet.
Cold wallets
The cold wallet market is pretty saturated. There are many cold wallets nowadays, you can check out comparisons here.
I've been using ledgers ever since I got into cryptos, and never had an issue. The Ledger Nano S Plus is quite cheap, and should be more than enough. You don't really need a $100+ cold wallet! Some people prefer having a big screen, so it's really up to you and how much you're willing to spend on a cold wallet. I would personally buy a few cheap Ledger Nano S Plus or a Trezor Model One rather than one expensive cold wallet. This will allow you to split your funds between a few wallets, which would be considered good practice for risk management purposes.
If you want to buy a ledger, feel free to use my referral link!
Shop your Ledger using my referral link
While I've never used one, Trezor wallets are also very popular. They are pretty affordable, which should be your main focus to try a hardware wallet.
The Trezor Model One is very cheap (it does not support the Solana network), so keep this in mind. If you want to buy a Trezor, feel free to use my referral link!
Shop your Trezor using my referral link
I won't bore you with security stuff, because, frankly, I won't pretend that I understand much of what's happening behind the scenes. I assume that they know what they're doing and that they became so big because they're doing the right things. You can also check this website if you want to learn more about wallet security.
For safety reasons, always use the official website to buy cold wallets!
To set-up your cold wallet, follow the manufacturer's guide. You can also find many videos on youtube.
Please make sure to read the safety tips guide before you create your wallet.
Once you've created your cold wallet, you will have to link it to your hot wallet, this video shows you how it works:
How to connect your cold wallet to Rabby
Now that everything is set-up properly, and you have both a CEX account and a wallet, you can send your cryptos from your CEX account to your wallet.
Make sure to send it to the right address, I usually like to bookmark my wallet with DeBank. Click this link, and replace the 0x000...0 address in the URL with yours, and bookmark it.
Check the next part in this guide: Wallet safety tips!
DeFi Farmer
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