What Is a Bitcoin Wallet?

A Bitcoin wallet is a place that stores your digital Bitcoin and validates your transactions when you’re using your Bitcoin. A wallet keeps secret information, called a private key or a seed, which is used to validate transactions and “sign” them so that your Bitcoin can be used to make purchases or exchanged for another asset. This prevents someone else from using your Bitcoin or the transaction being altered by a third-party.

Often when people refer to a Bitcoin wallet they are actually referring to a crypto exchange that offers a wallet as part of their account features. In this sense, the wallet is just the place where all of your cryptocurrencies are kept, or where you can keep fiat money for future use. 

How Does a Bitcoin Wallet Work?

A blockchain is a shared public ledger where all Bitcoin transactions are conducted, from Bitcoin wallets. When a transaction occurs, there is a transfer of value between more than one Bitcoin wallets. Typically, a single party is exchanging some value of Bitcoin for another asset or service with another Bitcoin wallet. When this occurs, every individual Bitcoin wallet will use its secret data to sign and validate transactions, providing mathematical proof that the buyer or seller is the owner of their Bitcoin wallet. Your wallet can safely keep as much Bitcoin as you’d like without any limit. 

How Much Does a Bitcoin Wallet Cost?

Using a Bitcoin wallet doesn’t cost you anything if you’re just storing Bitcoin in the wallet. However, if you’re completing a transaction, then the owner of the exchange or device that is housing your wallet will charge you various fees depending on what you’re trying to do. Purchasing a wallet could cost you anywhere from $0 to $200 or more. If you’re using a wallet as part of an exchange then you’ll likely pay either a flat fee of a few dollars or a percentage of the total transaction value. 

How Do You Cash Out Your Bitcoin Wallet?

You can’t convert Bitcoin to cash directly whenever you feel like it, but you can sell your Bitcoin anonymously on the blockchain in exchange for the fiat currency you desire. A crypto exchange can handle the transaction on your behalf and find a buyer so that you can quickly convert the value of your Bitcoin into the cash you need. Every wallet has different rules and time periods for transferring your fiat currency over to your bank account, but most can be done in 1-3 days after the Bitcoin sale is complete. 

How We Chose the Best Bitcoin Wallets

We looked at more than a dozen Bitcoin wallets all over the world and decided on the top four based on factors such as security, costs, and customer reviews. Security is obviously a big consideration, so it’s important to use a wallet that is well used and has plenty of safety protocols in place. It’s also important to choose a wallet that works well with some of the larger exchanges so that you can quickly complete transactions in the open market.