Best crypto wallets to use in Canada (featured image)

What Is A Crypto Wallet?

A cryptocurrency wallet stores your crypto safely. They allow you to take full ownership of your digital assets. If only you have the private keys then only you can access the crypto.  

Why Do I Need Crypto Wallet In Canada?

Canadians looking to store their crypto assets safely may choose to move their cryptocurrency off the crypto exchange where they bought it. Crypto exchanges allow you to keep your digital assets or your Canadian dollars on their exchange in a crypto wallet. While this makes it easy to trade, buy, and sell your crypto, the downside is that you do not have control of the private keys to your wallet. The exchange has the private keys to all crypto wallets on its platform. If an exchange was to get hacked, for example, there is a possibility that you could lose any of your crypto assets stored there. While most reputable crypto exchanges will store your crypto assets in cold storage, it is still a risk to leave them on the exchange. That’s why many Canadians choose to find the best cryptocurrency wallet to safely store their crypto assets. 

Types Of Crypto Wallets

There are three main types of crypto wallets:

  • Hardware
  • Software
  • Desktop

There are hardware wallets that are a type of cold wallet. These types of crypto wallets offer cold storage which means keeping your crypto assets offline. There are also software wallets where your crypto assets are kept online but the benefit is that your crypto is easily accessible. Then there are desktop wallets that are a mix between cold storage and online storage where you can store your crypto assets. 

Hardware Wallets

When some people talk about bitcoin wallets, they often make the mistake of thinking the coins themselves are stored within the wallet. The truth is, it is your private keys that are stored in the bitcoin wallet. Hardware wallets are a type of cold storage. They are not connected to the internet like software wallets are. It means that your private keys, which are kept on the hardware wallet, are kept offline and therefore cannot be stolen online. 

Software wallets

Software wallets are not classed as cold storage. They are sometimes known as a hot wallet because software wallets are connected to the internet. You access it on your phone via an app or a computer. The benefit to using a software wallet is that you can easily trade crypto in just a few clicks. With a hardware wallet, you would have to transfer your digital assets from the wallet itself to a crypto exchange before you can trade. Software wallets are therefore suitable for people who trade frequently or want the easiest way to store crypto. The downside to software wallets is that your private keys are vulnerable to theft. A hacker could potentially steal your crypto if they manage to access your private keys online. 

Desktop wallets

Desktop wallets are more secure than software wallets because your private keys are kept locally on your computer. However, they are less secure than hardware wallets. 

To use a desktop wallet to store your crypto assets, you must download it to your computer or laptop. Some of the best bitcoin wallets are desktop wallets because not only do you hold your private keys but some desktop wallets are often integrated with a trading platform. This makes desktop wallets both convenient and secure. A downside to desktop wallets is portability. It’s not always possible to take your computer with you. The second is security. Should your hard drive fail or your get a virus or are a victim of a malware attack, you could lose your private keys or have them stolen. 

Are Crypto Wallets Safe?

Crypto wallets have varying levels of safety. Any wallet connected to the internet such as app wallets still have some risk of being hacked. Desktop wallets are also not 100% safe because malicious viruses or phishing attacks can occur on your computer to steal your crypto. 

What is the safest crypto wallet in Canada?

Hardware wallets are the safest crypto wallets. Transactions cannot take place without you physically confirming them on your device. It means no one can move your crypto unless they also have access to your physical hardware wallet. SafePal S1 and Ledger Nano X are the safest crypto wallets in Canada.

What’s the Best Crypto Wallet In Canada? 

Ledger Nano X and SafePal S1 are the best crypto wallets in Canada. They offer the most security, number of coins, and have solid reputations. 

How does a crypto wallet work?

Crypto technically remains on the blockchain and only with a private key can you access it. Crypto wallets store your private keys, which is why it’s important to choose a safe and secure wallet, so your private keys aren’t stolen.

Conclusion

There are plenty of other crypto wallets available such as the Coldcard wallet. This is a bitcoin wallet and another cold storage wallet solution that is made in Canada and is open-source. With mixed reviews however, we have only included the most credible and highly rated crypto wallets in this article. 

BRD and Exodus are both excellent software wallets, with Exodus being the frontrunner for its integration with Trezor and its beautiful desktop wallet design (but keep in mind that desktop wallets are also not 100% safe). The Ledger Nano S is a great hardware wallet for beginners, but it does not have iPhone support and you can only store three cryptocurrencies at once. The Trezor Model T is an excellent hardware wallet with a convenient touchscreen, but again there is no iOS support, no staking, and it is a little bit pricey. 

Our favourite digital wallets on the list and what we think are the best crypto wallets in Canada are the Trezor Model T (check the current price here) and Ledger Nano X (check the current price here). They also have a great reputation that is hard to beat. However, we think the Trezor Model T hardware wallet might just knock Ledger off the top spot. 

It's more expensive than Ledger Nano X, with over 1600 cryptocurrency support, the Trezor T cold storage wallet also offers the most security of any crypto wallet. There’s no clunky buttons to use, no bluetooth, and it features a full colour screen. It’s app allows you to control your digital assets easily and you can also interact with popular decentralized apps. 

Now that you know about the different types of bitcoin wallets, you can pick some of the best cryptocurrency wallets you can use in Canada in the list we listed above.

Author

Oleg is a Canadian citizen & crypto expert who has been trading since 2016. He started out with Coinbase, Kraken and Peer-to-Peer exchanges. After some time, centralized exchanges started charging crazy fees to their users.

He decided to review different crypto exchanges that operate in Canada and start a Youtube channel in order to educate Canadians on what kinds of things are going inside each one while giving them unbiased advice. On top of that, Oleg also has experience with NFT, airdrops, and crypto staking and he is constantly checking on new crypto assets.

His writing has been featured in popular Canadian media sources such as Toronto Sun and Ottawa Citizen.