Anons first Crypto. Post #14

I've been investigating cryptocurrency and decentralized tech since the start of May 2020. This blog is an avenue of documentation and expression of my experience.

We ended part 1 just before looking at long term storage options on the basis you were using MetaMask or a similar browser based wallet for short term holdings or purchases. This will allow you to connect your transaction wallet to sites and dapps without risking all your capital or worse your entire crypto portfolio, whilst you will generally be safe providing you've done your due diligence and verified the sites legitimacy this can be a great buffer for people just starting out. I will always champion the use of paper and hardware wallets however I'm writing these posts for people who might be in the middle ground of wanting a more security whilst not sacrificing usability 100%. This was me 2 months ago and from a few quick googles I was tossing up between Mycelium a mobile app based wallet, Atomic Wallet a desktop wallet with a brilliant reputation and Crypto.com (CDC), I'll explain why this is on the list in a little bit.

Check out part 1 of Crypto wallets and Operational Security 

Just to reiterate in case somehow you missed it in my last post or Crypto news this last week, DO NOT USE COINBASE, or any exchange wallet for that matter, Coinbase especially due to their commitment to selling our info to the authorities and sales trends to company's alike. Danny Nelson at Coindesk.com has a brilliant article that explains it in detail, check it out here!

Mycelium - Mobile Wallet

 The team has a great reputation with a solid engineering background, has been active since 2008 and have pushed 2 other blockchain products since launching their wallet, they have a very active blog on their website, check it out here. The team integrated Trezor/Ledger support in 2019 which bolstered their use case for larger players in the crypto game, I'll go into that in a separate post regarding cold storage options. Their code is open source, available on Github with just under 7k commits, if you're that way inclined you can check it out here. Open source verification by the community is an easy way to build support and confidence in your users, I always feel better if I can get one of my tech savvy friends to give something a once over before I install it on my machine. The team have implemented bill paying functionality for those living in Europe as well as being able to purchase and sell Bitcoin by utilizing a United States or Canadian fiat bank account, this however requires you to provide documentation of ID which might not be inline with your values regarding crypto.

So back when I was first trying to work out what wallet to use, still very uninformed in general I decided to download Mycelium before finding out that Ethereum and ERC tokens were on a completely different blockchain to the wallet I had just set up, I lost a few USD worth of tokens I sent to a BTC address and learned the hard way, I think this was the point I decided to go back and actually do my own research, a turning point of sorts. I have always been told education costs.... Anyway aside from that, Mycelium is a fantastic place to store your BITCOIN for mid - long term storage depending on preferences.

To download, find out more or access Mycelium support click this link

Atomic Wallet - Desktop Wallet

Atomic Wallet functions primarily as a desktop wallet, it services over 300 currencies and continue to add more all the time. Its user friendly interface also offers the ability to exchange crypto to crypto without leaving the wallets UI. Remember me telling you never to store your crypto in an exchange? Good, well you know how there is an exception to every rule? This is it, Atomic wallet exchange is powered by Changelly and works very similar to how your holdings are stored on the blockchain, not in an account/address controlled or owned by anyone, termed a 'non custodial exchange'.

The Atomic teams code is fully available on GitHub to be reviewed, check it out here. The thing that hooked me into signing up for Atomic Wallet was the 0% extra fee's, the only thing your paying to transfer funds is the standard network fee you would expect if you were using an exchange such as UniSwap, except cheaper. I've also found the tech support really helpful and I don't think I was talking to a bot either, back when I was just getting into crypto this was a huge bonus when signing up for something. They also offer an affiliate program as well as an airdrop of their in house token $AWC upon sign up, this is in no way a sponsored post but here is my affiliate link if you're thinking about signing up! 

Just to touch on a few extra steps to bolster the security of your Atomic Wallet (and online activity in general) I strongly advise the use of a VPN such as Nord or Proton VPN always DYOR however I and many others will testify to their integrity. Atomic Wallet even have an article in their knowledge base  section (which I love) that details why its important to use a VPN and champions both Nord and Proton Combining this with up to date adblocker and active antivirus software ensuring its firewall is up should be a good base to use any desktop wallet from. Lastly learn to identify signs of phishing, I can't stress to you enough that NOBODY FROM AN ORGANIZATION WILL EVER ASK YOU FOR YOUR PRIVATE KEYS. Ever. 

To download, find out more or get connected with the team click this link

Crypto.com (CDC) - Wallet/Defi sollution

So I figured I would leave this as my cautionary tale, I'm sure lots of people have had massive wins with CDC from CRO gains over the last week or so, you might be loving your Visa card from staking MCO, lots of people seem to however I never got that far, check out some of the reviews at on TrustPilot. I find this site useful because its usually pretty easy to tell when somebody is trying to review bomb or being paid to shill, use your own discretion when using this tool though. 

I'll certainly try to let you guys make up your own mind regarding CDC, I won't go into my circumstance right now as its on-going and I don't wish to jeopardize its potential resolution (might be a good post later on down the road). I will however say I know somebody in real life who uses it with no issue so it could just be a case by case thing and I'm totally willing to give the benefit of the doubt! I was originally attracted to CDC due to their use of 2FA, something I highly value when interacting online, they also offer great staking opportunities however I strongly urge you to DYOR when it comes to Crypto.com

Thanks for reading as always! - I appreciate you all

I'll be posting a deeper look into RAISE's DeFi potential in the next few days, check out my quick heads up here

AFC