If you’re planning on getting started in cryptocurrency, it’s essential that you become familiar with some of the most commonly used crypto tools for the industry. Because crypto is a technology built from the ground up in a way never before seen, there are a number of helpful tools that are unique to the space.
Here are 4 of the best crypto tools we’ve found to help manage your cryptocurrency investments.
1. Web3 Browser Wallets
Also known as cloud wallets, these digital accounts are extremely convenient. They are browser/web-based and operate with an online portal for login. While cloud wallets operate very much the same way as any other digital hot wallet (i.e. connected to the Internet), their risk for hacking and access is much higher being constantly connected. Most serious users don’t keep large balances on these wallets, instead using them for daily transactions and temporary holding accounts.
It is crucial to always be vigilant with what websites these wallets are connected to, because a malicious site may be able to completely take control of the wallet if you are not careful.
2. Portfolio Trackers
A portfolio tracker or crypto wallet tracker provides an easy-to-use view of what is in a user’s wallet as well as what the market is doing with the particular non-fungible tokens (NFTs), crypto coins and currency tokens the user already has. This combination of information provides handy insights as to what holdings have done in terms of performance as well as where they sit in the bigger perspective of the crypto market as a whole.
Most portfolio trackers are online crypto tools represented as websites. The user logs in with their wallet, which the tracker then reads off the related blockchain. Since crypto holdings are generally public on the blockchain, the trackers just need to know which wallet to look up to see what is in it. That information, combined with market information trackers, produces a “portfolio” perspective unique to the user’s holdings.
While trackers do connect to a user’s wallet, they don’t involve any transaction authority unless the user agrees to do so. It’s in these smart contract approvals that people need to watch out and read the transaction notes carefully when clicking on the approval button involved online. Again, not paying attention to a lesser-known site could open up fraudulent access to one’s wallet.
3. Hardware Wallets
As mentioned above, these fall under the overarching classification of cold wallets because they are not connected to the Internet at all unless the user wants to do so and transact with them. They are extremely safe from hacking as the only way to access them is to have the hardware connected and know the private seed or password. Many whale crypto holders use crypto tools such as hardware wallets for big deposits and keep them in vaults or bank deposit boxes for added safety.
4. Social Media Feed
Well-curated crypto social media feeds provide critical insights into trends and movements that investors might want to be aware of if they are trying to keep at the edge of market changes, such as day traders and those moving crypto around a lot for different marginal profits. While this technically is not a tool that is “unique” to the world of cryptocurrency, social media plays an outsized role in the way that information flows in crypto.
In traditional financial markets, legacy media controls the narrative. However, due to the democratic and open nature of crypto, the industry is far more at home on the cutting edge of social media. It is much more important to pay attention to crypto influencers vs what talking heads on CNBC or CNN has to say about crypto, as these legacy systems do not know the way these new markets function.
Read More: 5 Reasons To Invest In Cryptocurrency