Do your own due diligence in understanding crypto and securing your funds. I am not an expert, and this is my understanding as I begin my crypto journey.
One of the first steps on one's crypto journey, is deciding how/where one will secure/lock their crypto funds. This is done with "wallets", which store very long codes–private keys. Anyone who can access these private keys, can access the crypto funds (send/spend). If you lose your private keys (and recovery words, or you don't have any recovery words), then you lose your crypto funds. (They still exist, but are entirely inaccessible without the corresponding private keys.)
Any given wallet cannot hold keys for every possible currency/token. Some wallets will only store private keys for one asset type (such as Bitcoin or Ethereum or some brand new currency/token), while other wallets will store keys for many different asset types.
You can let another entity (company, organization, website) hold your private keys in an "online" (or "hot", or "custodial") wallet. Access to the wallet is secured by your password. (The private keys are stored on the entity's servers in an encrypted form and unlocked by your password.) You are relying on the entity to not lose your private keys, and not let them be stolen. You interact with your online wallet through a browser or mobile app.
You can use software on your own computer (or smart phone) to store your private keys in a "desktop" (or "non-custodial") wallet. You are storing the keys yourself, and you must have reliable measures in place for recovery in case of hard drive failure, or damage/destruction of your computer (like from a natural disaster). You also must ensure that your computer is secure (theft or intrusion) and protected from viruses or malware. Most (all?) desktop wallets will store private keys in an encrypted form, which are unlocked by your password. (So with proper password protection, a thief or intruder will not be able to use your private keys.) Most(?) desktop wallets will provide you with a 12-word recovery phrase. This recovery phrase can be used by you (or anyone!) to restore your private keys (in case of computer theft or damage).
You can use a "hardware wallet", which is a small piece of equipment usually resembling, and similar to a USB stick. This is considered very safe/secure as it should be inaccessible to any virus/malware on your computer. Access to the private keys is usually protected by a PIN.
You can use a "paper wallet" (or "cold storage"), which is simply the private keys printed on paper.
In practice, a combination of wallets are often used, such as having a majority of funds secured by a desktop or hardware wallet, and also sometimes using online wallets for exchange (to/from crypto/fiat) or for spending purposes. Funds can be transferred between wallets.
There are many desktop wallets. The text and videos below are (official) introductions to the three I personally have settled on using.
Exodus wallet is the world's leading cryptocurrency wallet.
Whether you are looking for a user-friendly Bitcoin wallet, an Ethereum wallet that supports the most popular ERC20 tokens, or a multi-asset wallet that lets you manage the top altcoins, the Exodus wallet provides a secure storage solution with a built-in exchange feature that enables instant swaps straight from your wallet and 24/7 human support.
Atomic Wallet — the first wallet with cross-chain Atomic Swaps. Now you can manage all your assets in one secure interface.
Atomic Swap is the new technology to connect buyers and sellers within a decentralized framework.
You can Swap your Coins and Tokens with no counterparty risk. Ain't third party. It's a private party! ;)
Immutable, trustless and distributed multi-asset Atomic Wallet supports all the top Blockchains and 300+ Tokens.
It is a new type of cross-chain trading. The convenient and versatile decentralized solution for custody-free cryptocurrency exchange.
No stolen funds. No frozen accounts. No KYC and AML.
Guarda is a custody-free multiplatform cryptocurrency wallet with a user-friendly interface designed to store, manage, transfer and receive digital assets. Guarda Wallet currently supports over 40 most popular blockchains and thousands of their tokens (including BTC, BCH, BSV, ETH, ETC, XMR, ZEC, XRP, EOS, KIN, LTC, XLM, DASH and more). All the currencies can be purchased within the wallet with a bank card. The users can also exchange currencies via built-in exchange service and make fast crypto transactions.
Existing in Web, Desktop (Linux, Windows, macOS), Mobile (iOS, Android) and Chrome Extension versions, the wallets are accessible from any device connected to the Internet.
Guarda Wallet is non-custodial, and the user’s personal data or private keys are not stored by the company.
Main features:
- Support of 40+ blockchains and over 10 000 tokens
- Full user control over private keys and assets
- Easy-to-use interface
- Credit/debit card cryptocurrency purchases
- Built-in cryptocurrency exchange
- Transaction history
- Wallet backup
- Accessibility from any device connected to the Internet
