Believe it or not, there’s a difference! If you’ve tried storing any kind of cryptocurrency whether it’s Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, NEO, or an ERC 20 Token, chances are, you’ve had to handle an address. No wait — a wallet. No, wait… a wallet address. Huh? It can get confusing, but there is a difference between a wallet and an address. In this article, I’ll go into what each are and the differences between them without getting into any of the technical details. What is an Address? An address is a combination of random letter and number characters. Think of it similar to a physical address like 123 Fake Street, Springfield, USA. You can make as many addresses as you want to. It’s like owning different physical addresses; e.g., you can own 124 Fake Street as well. In fact, in Satoshi Nakamoto’s , he/she/they suggest using a new address for each Bitcoin transaction. Unlike physical addresses, — it’s not purchased like land. original Bitcoin white paper owning one is free The Private Key Imagine your home on 123 Fake Street. You own that home. No one can go freely go into it except you (imagine you’re single in this scenario, whether that’s for better or for worse). That’s because you have a key to the door that unlocks the home, and once you enter the home you can take things out of it as you wish. Ideally, random people without the key should not be able to enter your home and take things out. With a cryptocurrency address (including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, NEO and basically all other coins), it’s the same idea. Instead of calling it a key, it’s called a — to emphasize that you need to keep it private. You use the private key to unlock your address, where you can then go inside and send coins out of. private key Just like with your house key, you can copy it. A physical key can be copied at a locksmith, and a cryptocurrency private key can be copied with, well… Copy and paste on your computer. Also, just like with a house key, you might accidentally lose your private key. Both cases are not advisable — anyone with your private key will be able to access your cryptocurrency address to send your coins out to another address, just like anyone with your house key can open your front door and steal your TV. So, if I didn’t make it clear — keep your private key safe. Do not give it to anyone. If you want to read more about ways malicious actors steal keys or gain access to cryptocurrency addresses, and how to safeguard yourself from that, take a look at my in-depth article: . 0 to Pro Crypto Trader The Wallet Remember in the earlier part when I mentioned that Satoshi Nakamoto actually recommended using different addresses for each transaction? Doesn’t that sound like a headache? That’s where the wallet comes in. By default, a wallet comes with an address. That’s why it can get confusing for people sometimes — it confused me at first, too. But while a wallet comes with an address, it is not equal to an address. It can be an entire collection of addresses. It’s called a wallet because people imagine it like an actual wallet and each address is a credit card inside that wallet. But I don’t think that analogy is entirely accurate. Instead, I think the wallet is more like a key ring. It holds copies of each private key and each private key’s corresponding address. That way, all you need to do is open up your wallet to access all of the addresses that are inside the wallet. It’s like the wallet is a mansion and once you’re inside, you can access any room you want. The wallet can be a in your browser, on your computer, or a physical device. Below are just some examples of wallets I recommend for each. Ultimately, I would recommend a physical device because I personally believe it has better security than other options. The Browser Wallet I think the only real browser wallet available is for Ethereum and Ethereum tokens only. is a free Chrome Extension that automatically connects your wallet and addresses to websites. Once you log in with your password, you are able to access all of the addresses that are stored in MetaMask. MetaMask handles storing your private keys locally, so you do not need to paste in your private key as you would if you were using something like an address generated from . You’re also able to import addresses as long as you can provide the private key, too. This way, next time you open the MetaMask wallet, you’ll be able to send from the address you imported. MetaMask MyEtherWallet The Desktop Wallet Desktop Wallets offer the most robust selection of cryptocurrencies. Wallet is one example. After logging in to the wallet with your password, you have immediate access to various cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Ethereum. The private keys are encrypted and stored locally by Exodus. After logging into the wallet, you will be able to send cryptocurrency without worrying about handling the private key yourself. Exodus The Hardware Wallet The is an example of a hardware wallet. It’s the one that I use, and it’s a wallet I recommend for anyone holding some serious amount of cryptocurrency. Personally, I recommend buying it for whenever someone says they have over $1,000 in cryptocurrency value — at the cost of around $100, that’s about 10% of your total portfolio value. Similar to a Desktop wallet, the Nano Ledger S comes with support for a variety of cryptocurrencies. Ledger Nano S Support Me! If you like what you’ve read and want to help support my writing, please consider the following options: Join EARN is one of the best ways to participate in Airdrops. It has exclusive airdrops with some good partners, and the partners actually pay you $1 worth of BTC to participate in Airdrops, too. Also, you get $1 for signing up. EARN with my referral link. Sign up through my if you haven’t gotten a Binance account yet. It gives me a percentage of trade fees, so at least you know some of your fees are going to a good cause! Binance Referral Link are very cool, too**:** 0x4Bcb32a2726B07160e8e8305f2344Af5495D9540 Ethereum donations Come find and chat with me! Want to reach out to me by phone? Call me through Clarity: _Entrepreneur. Cryptocurrency Thought Leader, Trader, and Mentor. Top 50 Bitcoin Influencer on Medium @WandererLi_clarity.fm Kenny Li — Bitcoin and Blockchain If you liked this article and are interested in topics related to cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency investing, give me a follow on Medium: _Thanks! Samuel, unfortunately, *you cannot check the original buy price on your MEW* **but you can still see it on the…_www.medium.com Kenny Li — Medium You can also follow me Twitter to reach out to me: _The latest Tweets from Kenny Li (@KennyMuLi). Out to prove it’s never too late to invest in #cryptocurrency. #MITSloan…_www.twitter.com Kenny Li (@KennyMuLi) | Twitter And you can always get my latest publications direct to your email by subscribing below:

Ethereum

Binance

fees

Twitter

The History of Money & the Future of Bitcoin and the Cryptocurrency Economy

The Correlation Between Price & News

Ask Me Anything!

Read My Stories

Too Long; Didn't Read

Crypto Wallet Vs. Address

Crypto Wallet Vs. Address

About Author

Comments

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN

Related Stories

Untitled Story

0 to Pro Crypto Trader: Your Ultimate Guide to Bitcoin and Altcoin Investing

06/09/2018: Biggest Stories in the Cryptosphere

06/02/2018: Biggest Stories in the Cryptosphere

05/02/2018: Biggest Stories in the Cryptosphere

0 to Pro Crypto Trader: Your Ultimate Guide to Bitcoin and Altcoin Investing

0 to Pro Crypto Trader: Your Ultimate Guide to Bitcoin and Altcoin Investing

06/09/2018: Biggest Stories in the Cryptosphere

06/02/2018: Biggest Stories in the Cryptosphere

05/02/2018: Biggest Stories in the Cryptosphere

0 to Pro Crypto Trader: Your Ultimate Guide to Bitcoin and Altcoin Investing

Light-Mode

Classic

Newspaper

Dark-Mode

Neon Noir

Minty

HN StartUps