The wallet is the place where your coins are stored. You can also send and receive coins. The wallet is also the place where you will find your walled unique identifier. This is like your account number: If someone likes to send you money, this is the number you need to provide to them.
A wallet is a tool running on your computer, mobile or tablet. There are also hardware wallets out there which mostly connect via USB interface to your computer.
There are also custodial wallets, where you place your coins or tokens on an exchange. Then the private keys are not yours, but the exchanges keys.
Remember always the phrase: “Not your keys, not your coins.” Only use custodial wallets if you really trust your custodian.
Below is a list of wallets you might try, separated by blockchains.
MetaMask probably the most popular one. If you are completely new to MetaMask, I wrote an article on how to set it up from the beginning. Here is the article helping you get started.
Bitcoin Wallets
| Name | Platform | Website | Remarks |
| Electrum | Linux/OSX/Windows/Android | https://electrum.org | lightweight wallet |
| Multibit HD | Java (Linux/OSX/Windows) | https://multibit.org | Transaction fees involved |
Ethereum (and compatible chains)
| Name | Platform | Website | Remarks |
| MetaMask | Browser addon for Firefox | metamask.io | Most popular wallet – Tutorial for beginners to setup MetaMask |
Polkadot
| Name | Platform | Website | Remarks |
| Polkadot{.js} | Browser addon for Firefox and Chrome | polkadot.js.org | default wallet |
Solana
| Name | Platform | Website | Remarks |
| Phantom | IOS, Browser addon for Firefox, Chrome, Brave and Edge | https://phantom.app | Recommended for Solana |