Types of cryptowallets by platform

Cryptowallets can be categorized into 7 forms. The first one is Web Based wallets. They are also called server side wallets. Users entirely trust their keys to these websites. An advantage of this is users do not need to manage everything by themselves. But if the websites are compromised by either an employee or a hacker, all of the users coins are lost. This is the most popular type of wallets as most users are not techie and are willing to pay to manage their keys and coins by trusted companies.

Desktop and Browser are client side wallets. Desktop wallets are implemented as a standalone application running on a user's local machine while Browser is implemented as a plugin of a web browser. They are typically more secure than web based wallets. They are cold wallets, meaning keys are stored locally and never leaves the client. Cryptographic operations are executed only on the user side, making it more secure. Browser rely on the security of the plugin as well as on the security of the browser itself. Desktop only rely on how good and secure the application has been implemented.

Mobile wallets are cold wallets that runs on the user's personal mobile phone. These kind of wallets are more convenient to use than desktop and browser wallets as you can make transactions everywhere with your phone. They have almost the same security as them but the fact that it is more probable to lose the phone or to get stolen, leaving your keys and coin inaccessible to you makes them a little bit secure.

Hardware wallets are custom made hardware specifically to store keys securely. They are theoretically the safest way to store your keys. They are often called hardware security modules.

Paper wallets literally mean you write your keys on a piece of paper. Brain wallets mean you memorize the keys yourself instead of storing it on any device.

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