Polkadot Wallets

In the world of Web3, you will need a wallet account to interact and transact with the network. The term "wallet" is used widely for the apllication that holds your account keys which let you own assets on the blockchain networks. A wallet account typically has a public/private key pair. The public key is a unique identifier which can be viewed as your bank account number. Its corresponding private key can prove that you are the true owner of that account, thanks to cryptography. Which means, anyone with access to the private key of your account can easily impersonate you. That is why you see a lot of "Never share your private key" signs all over Web3.

Account Seed Phrase

Remember the complex spells that used to open magical doors in mythological tales? Seed phrases serve similar purpose for creating blockchain accounts. For instance, the seed phrase below creates a polkadot account with public key below and also creates the private key to control it.

Seed phrase: system decorate spirit barely inject answer neutral column carpet fee bacon about Polkadot Account public key: 16S7XbKa7qso4ggYnuWcnjRYCD41pcaQnPuivwut2uMyrZ8a

Till someone comes up with a better solution for accounts in Web3, we are stuck with these magic spells. Again, never share your seed phrase with anyone, unless you want them to have unrestricted access to your account.

Browser Wallets

For those of you who interact with Web3 applications on a browser, it makes sense to have your account keys handy somewhere. A straight forward solution is to store the public/private key pair in a keystore on the browser. Browser extensions serve this purpose very well and serve like private vaults for your account keys. Here are some awesome wallet extensions in the Polkadot Ecosystem.

  • Nova Wallet
  • Subwallet
  • Talisman

You have to watch out for malicious actors online who would like to scam you or extract value out of your blockchain accounts. As browser based wallet accounts are at higher risk due to the direct connectivity to internet, they are often referred to as "Hot wallets".

Hardware Wallets

If you are someone who is gullible for simple online attacks or have questionable browsing behaviour or simply just paranoid, hardware wallets are for you. These hardware wallets create accounts based on seed phrases as well, but they are generated offline and are never exposed to the internet. With them, you can prove that you own a specific blockchain account through digital signatures. Hardware wallets keep your accounts safe and secure like a cold storage. Hence, they are referred to as "cold wallets". Check out the widely supported hardware wallet of the Polkadot ecosystem.

  • Ledger

Typically, the browser wallets allow you to plugin your hardware wallet accounts either through a cable or wirelessly. This allows you to interact with browser based Web3 applications using the account on your hardware wallet.

Mobile Wallets

If you are more of a mobile user who wants to have "hot wallet" accounts handy for interacting with blockchain networks and apps, then Polkadot ecosystem has some sleek options for you.

  • Nova Wallet
  • Subwallet
  • Fearless Wallet

Some of these mobile wallets also allow you to plugin hardware wallet accounts wirelessly. If you like to use your old mobile device as a "cold wallet" with zero internet connectivity, Polkadot ecosystem got you covered as well.

  • Polkadot Vault