Best Desktop Software Wallets

The increasing acceptance of blockchain tech and cryptocurrencies, as well as the need for privacy and security, requires one to become aware of the best crypto wallets that serve their needs.

Next Generation Wallets Coming!

• Crypto is famous for very difficult wallet experiences that drive away from most people from wanting to use them. This problem is being solved by the next generation of cryptos. For example,

The Divi Project

will soon have a "Smart Wallet" that's super easy to use and does away with long crypto addresses made up of random characters. Instead, you can send DIVI, Bitcoin, or your favorite crypto using a name, phone number, or an email! Other cryptos such as DASH and Nimiq have similar ideas on their roadmaps.

The best desktop crypto wallet for you depends on your needs. For instance, if you are out to deal with Bitcoin alone and have no plan to diversify, you could look for the best Bitcoin wallets. If you are into diversification where you deal with many cryptocurrencies, then multi-currency wallets offer better options to help you stay organized instead of running many wallets. They could also be less expensive for you.

Software wallets are classed further as mobile software such as mobile applications and desktop software wallets. They could use browser extensions or be installed directly to the computer. Desktop crypto wallets are preferred as they are more secure that their mobile and online counterparts.

Desktop wallets are further classified as single asset or multi-asset depending on whether they support only one cryptocurrency or many.

Bitcoin Wallets

Electrum

If you are looking for a multi-sig desktop wallet (meaning where you can run a wallet in join with other people, for instance in the organization or group settings), Electrum is a good choice althoguh it limits you to Bitcoin only.

Another advantage of this desktop wallet is that it integrates with hardware wallets (namely Ledger, Trezor and Keepkey) that have been touted for their increased security than any other type of wallets.

It allows you to sign transactions with a computer that
is always offline. You then broadcast them from a machine that does not have your keys. You can also create multiple wallets. Added security is ensured with actor authentication by Electrum and Trustedcoin.

It is also multi-platform and works on destop Linux, Windows OSX, as well as Android mobile, or with the command line interface.

Copay

Copay is a multi-sig bitcoin wallet that allows you to create multiple wallets from within the application and even share wallets. It supports hierarchical-deterministic (HD) wallets allowing for secure in-app wallet generation and backup.

Among the first bitcoin wallets to support the full Bitcoin Payment Protocol (BIP 0070-0073),

Not only does it work on Windows desktop, Mac and Linux, it also supports Android, iOS and Windows Phone.

Developers can also take advantage of the Bitcoin Testnet to test and demo new bitcoin applications across multiple platforms without changing between other mobile apps.

Armory

Armory is a desktop multi-sig Bitcoin wallet that has cold storage. Cold storage is ensured through their online watching-only bitcoin wallets that allow users to view transaction data and wallet balances without transacting from them.

It works on Windos, Linux and Mac OSX.

Bitcoin Core

Bitcoin Core is bitcoin wallet that packs good community support to become on of the best desktop crypto wallets.

However, you need over 145GB of space in the hard drive and enough time to be able to sync the Bitcoin blockchain.

It works on Linux, Mac, and Windows.

Green Address

Green Address is a multi-sign wallet that allows you to check transactions and balances on any public Wi-Fi and computer with a simple password, thanks to their watch-only mode capability that does not allow changing of wallet settings because the key cannot load.

It allows you to use per-transaction two factor authentication. Each transaction has a separate new address generated for it so you have good privacy.

Green Address also uses automatic pre-signed transaction (nLockTime) allowing you to simply wait for your selected expiry to get your funds in case the wallet gets hacked, taken down or disappears.

In this case, it uses a pre-signed transaction enabled to unlock funds in the future of your choice.

It also supports hardware wallets.

It works on desktops as a Chrome extension and supports Android and iOS.

Ethereum wallets

Etherwall

Etherwall  is an open-source Ethereum desktop wallet that also supports Trezor hardware and can run in two modes–full node client or thin client.

It downloads full Ethereum blockchain in full mode so you can store your data on your machine. With a thin client, you retrieve data with a remote Ethereum node and send signed transactions.

It works on Linux, Mac, and Windows.

Mist

Mist, which is a Web 3 browser that lets you browse and view decentralized apps (DApps), also packs in an Ethereum wallet to allow users to store and send Ether.

It works on Windows, Linux and Mac OSX.

Multi-asset wallets

Exodus

If you run a desktop wallet, and that wallet is a multi-currency wallet meaning you want to store different cryptocurrencies for diversification, you surely will need to do conversions from one crypto to another.

ShapeShift has been very helpful with that, and Exodus was the first desktop software wallet to integrate ShapeShift to help users do conversion between various altcoins.

Exodus is multi-platform multi-asset (meaning you can store more than one asset or cryptocurrency) and runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux and is free to download. With Exodus, you can store your private keys in private keys in one application and even customize the interface.

Exodus supports Aragon, Augur, Bitcoin, Decred, Dash, EOS, Ethereum, Golem, and Litecoin assets.

mSIGNA

mSIGNA is a free and open-source, scalable to an enterprise level multi-sig desktop wallet that supports escrow and multifactor authentication.

It works for Bitcoin and Litecoin and is multi-platform on Windows, Mac,and Linux

Jaxx

Jaxx is a good project because it does not limit you to desktop only: there is a mobile Android and iOS version and a Chrome extension. With Jaxx desktop, you can choose Windows, Linux and other upcoming choices

The keys are kept on your local device and never transmitted over any server. Besides, this is your digital life, they say: there is "no on-boarding, no information, no verification required"

You also get a 24 hour support from the team.