Choosing a wallet for your favorite cryptocurrency is like picking a suitable outfit. While many might look the same, the components and intricacies of each have specific uses. You wouldn’t want to store large amounts of any cryptocurrency on a mobile wallet, and it will eventually become burdensome for most users to constantly use a physical hardware wallet for the smallest of transactions.
The solution is, therefore, somewhere right in the middle for most users: you want to utilize a wallet that allows you to use the full features of your currency but doesn’t waste precious time (or crypto, in terms of fees). Lucky for all Cardano users, there is a fantastic selection of wallets that serve any use case under the sun and have been fully audited by the community.
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What are the different types of Cardano wallets?
While Cardano is one of the best blockchains around (if not the best), it’s similar to every other protocol in the sense that there are only three types of wallets you can use:
- Desktop
- Mobile
- “Light” (browser-based)
Some are multi-coin wallets that support other currencies, while others are “ADA only” and are explicitly meant for Cardano usage.
The Cardano community has gone above and beyond in its developed wallets. Any officially-sanctioned Cardano wallet is guaranteed to be safe, reliable, and able to maximize the blockchain’s features to the fullest.
What are the best Cardano desktop wallets?
If you never need to send ADA on the go or be portable with your Cardano, you can utilize one of the many desktop wallets available.
Here are three of the best Cardano desktop wallets:
Daedalus
Perhaps the most popular Cardano desktop wallet (and developed by IOHK), Daedalus is an open-source ADA-only wallet that runs a full node. When you sync your Daedalus wallet, you have a full copy of the Cardano blockchain for maximum security and a trustless operation – no reliance on third-party servers required.
With unlimited sub-wallets and compatibility on all major operating systems (including Linux), Daedalus is the ultimate choice for the Cardano warrior who wants to keep their ADA at home.
Exodus
If Cardano is just one of your many crypto loves, then you may want to consider Exodus as an excellent second choice. Describing itself as a “multichain Web3 wallet,” Exodus lives up to the hype with full ADA support and has been bullish on Cardano from the start. With Exodus, you can buy, sell, swap, send, and stake ADA right from the app without special equipment.
Atomic
Similar to Exodus, Atomic Wallet has been a Cardano supporter from the beginning and supports multiple other cryptocurrencies. Also sporting a mobile version, with Atomic Wallet, you’ll be able to buy, sell, send, and stake Cardano from your computer or mobile device.
Do Cardano wallets work well on mobile devices?
Cardano, as an ecosystem, is blessed to have an incredible amount of lightweight mobile wallets that work on Android and iOS. Using one of these wallets to its fullest, you can not only send ADA or CNFTs from anywhere with a data connection, but you can even stake and earn rewards on the go!
Here are three of the best Cardano mobile wallets:
Eternl
One of the most well-regarded Cardano wallets. What Eternl lacks in UX/UI, it easily makes up for in full functionality on a mobile device. You will not only be able to display your NFTs to passersby with glee, but get deep into your eUTXO list, view epochs, stake in your pool of choice, and more.
Yoroi
Developed by Emurgo (a Cardano entity), Yoroi has a great design and robust functionality. The high-quality code of Yoroi has been tested by Cardano developers and works flawlessly while allowing for consumer comforts like an NFT gallery and easy fiat on/off ramps.
CWallet
Another quality lightweight wallet with fabulous UX, CWallet describes itself as a cross-chain non-custodial wallet focusing on privacy and Cardano native assets. With CWallet, you can not only store ADA but any assets or tokens on the Cardano blockchain.
Are there browser-only Cardano wallets?
Indeed, there are! Cardano has a fantastic selection of lightweight, integrated “browser” wallets that work seamlessly while browsing the internet. These wallets allow you to send Cardano and buy NFTs, and many allow you to stake right from your browser.
Here are some of our favorite browser-only Cardano Wallets:
Nami
A famous name in the Cardano space, Nami has set the standard for browser extension wallets. Combining a sleek interface with flawless functionality, the Nami wallet is ready to send ADA or NFTs directly from your favorite chrome-based browser. A tiny package with robust features, Nami also allows you to stake in the famous Berry pool and contribute to the decentralization of the Cardano blockchain with the click of a button.
Typhon
Although its name needs one more “o” to be a “Typhoon,” don’t think for a second that this Cardano wallet isn’t blazing fast and feature-rich. Typhon will be all too familiar with users of Metamask, which takes inspiration from (but improves upon and supports ADA). Typhon easily stores and displays your NFTs and allows multiple accounts, voting, hardware wallet integration, and delegation into multiple staking pools, among other unique features.
GeroWallet
GeroWallet doesn’t just have a cool deer antler logo. It’s also a great Cardano wallet with its own token ($GERO) and all the essential features you would expect in a browser wallet for ADA. It’s non-custodial, lightweight, and focused on DeFi swaps within Cardano. The wallet is actively building more features and will release NFT displays and hardware wallet support soon. For now, it bills itself as Cardano’s “Master Key to DeFi.”
Can Cardano wallets be used for nfts?
All Cardano wallets support NFTs (because NFTs in Cardano are now integrated with the native asset, ADA), but it will depend on what wallet you’re using if the NFTs display to your liking. Most Cardano developers have been conscious of providing a good user experience regarding NFTs, but some wallets are still focused on ADA as a currency and staking asset.
Just like there are a variety of wallet types and staking pools, the display of NFTs can pull from different sources and render differently depending on various factors. You can rest assured that even if you don’t see the images of your NFTs on your favorite wallet, they are safe and sound on the Cardano blockchain. Your NFTs never “disappear” and can always be looked up on other services like Pool.pm via the asset or policy ID and viewed from almost anywhere.
Can I stake my ADA from my wallet?
It depends on your wallet, but the answer is almost always yes. All the wallets included on this list have rich staking features, although you will have to double-check the APY or staking percentage to get the best rates. Because wallets and organizations contribute to different staking pools, there is not a “universal” rate that one should expect for ADA staking.
At the end of the day, all you need to know is that it helps contribute to the decentralization of Cardano, and it’s more you’ll receive from a checking/savings account!
Do cold/Hardware wallets support Cardano (ADA) storage?
Of course, you can store your precious ADA on a hardware (offline) wallet like Ledger or Trezor, but many users may find it difficult to transact or stake from these devices in the long term.
Hardware wallet services may provide access to staking, but it may also be more complicated to access and require multiple signatures to get ADA in or out. For now, it’s best to keep your precious ADA in trusted staking pools within encrypted desktop wallets and let your ADA in cold storage just chill (see what we did there?)!
