If you already have a wallet in mind for storing your coin, then feel free to skip this article and continue on to step 3 to learn how to set it up. But if you’re wondering: “What is a crypto wallet?” then this article is for you.
A crypto wallet is a container for your coins that are private to you, and only you. They allow you to send, receive, and spend cryptocurrencies like Cardano.
It does not store your currency within it. Your coins exist on the blockchain. But it gives you a unique identifier to access your cryptocurrency and make transactions. If you lose the keys to your wallet (your unique passwords), you lose your money, so be doubly or triply sure that you have that stored in a secure location after you set one up.
As for the categories of wallets, there are: Hardware wallets (think USB), paper wallets (exactly what it sounds like) and online wallets. For the purposes of today, we will teach you how to set up an online wallet, as it is an effective, secure way to store your crypto for most people.
Every wallet has its tradeoffs. When you stake ADA, you do it through Yoroi or Daedalus.
Yoroi is a light wallet, meaning you can quickly set-up the wallet through your browser with easy set-up.
Daedalus is a full node wallet, meaning for every transaction it downloads a full copy of the Cardano blockchain and independently validates every transaction made.
If you prize ease-of-use and efficiency of set-up, use Yoroi. If you prize safety and security at the expense of a lengthy download time, use Daedalus, but both allow you to stake on the Cardano blockchain.
For step-by-step instructions for setting up your wallet, using Yoroi or Daedalus as a guide, click to the next article in the Sonarch Guide to Staking, which you can find here.
