What’s the best way to hold Decred - Q&A Sessions

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST:

Digital Wallet technology is so much bigger than most realise. Digital wallets, are becoming a complete and standalone web experience and will be a replacement for the web browser in the very near future. When you consider a peer to peer, permissionless, financial system as the foundation for a new web browser infrastructure, you start to realise the massive security and privacy benefits for the end user. In my opinion, Digital wallet technology is something people should be paying very close attention to.

In previous Q&A sessions we’ve looked at the simplest ways to buy, exchange and swap Decred. And the best coins to have if you want to move in and out of Decred from fiat currencies or other cryptocurrencies.

Here, we’ll look specifically at the best ways to hold your Decred and experience all the project has to offer. We will also consider some reasons why you might choose one wallet over another.

In the Decred technology stack, we have an extremely robust wallet infrastructure that has been built from the ground up by the project. This technology boasts high levels of security, flexibility, ease of use and is lightweight in nature.

When interacting with Decred wallets, you can either run in SPV mode or fully validating mode. Both of which sync with peers from the network and remove the need for relying on external or third-party data providers.

SPV wallets are typically useful for limited storage devices like mobile phones. An initial sync with the Decred blockchain will typically take less than 30 mins. SPV wallets are a streamlined experience and offer very high levels of security, although not as much as fully validating wallets.

To gain the highest level of security, a fully validating wallet is the way to go. Every transaction is verified and synced with the network, and you are always running the most up-to-date information available. Fully validating wallets store the entire blockchain, which is currently around 11 GB, the initial sync with the Decred blockchain will take approximately 4 hours. It’s worth noting, at this point, that after you’ve completed your initial sync, future syncs are significantly quicker. For example, if you’re opening your wallet weekly, future blockchain sync times will be just a few seconds.

Which brings me to my main point, which are the best wallets to hold your Decred?

Decrediton

If you’re a big holder and want the highest security, there’s no better wallet than Decrediton. Decrediton can be used on pretty much any desktop machine – macOS, Windows and Linux. And can be run in either SPV or fully validating mode depending on your needs.

Another added advantage of Decrediton is it gives you full access to the Decred ecosystem – On-chain transactions, Privacy, Governance, Voting, Buying tickets, The Lightning Network and DCRDEX

• SPV & Fully validating wallet
• On-chain transactions
• Privacy features
• Buying Tickets
• Governance & Voting
• Lightning Network
• DCRDEX

Trust Wallet

Currently, the best mobile wallet for Decred is the “Trust” wallet. But as this wallet wasn’t built by the Decred team, it includes almost none of Decred’s features or security measures. Trust is a good wallet to hold your first Decred in, but once you start building your holdings, I would recommend moving to Decrediton.

• Mobile, multi-coin wallet
• Limited Decred functionality
• Send, hold & receive only
• Built by third-party

CryptoPower

Decred is currently building an SPV multi-coin wallet called “CryptoPower” which will replace all previous mobile wallets for Decred. CryptoPower is still a work in progress but already boasts – On-chain transactions, privacy features, governance and simple swaps.

• SPV wallet
• On-chain transactions
• Privacy features
• Buying Tickets
• Governance & Voting
• Decred Simple Swaps

Bison Relay

Bison Relay is a first of its kind SPV wallet that includes lightning network transactions as standard. Bison Relay has been built by the Decred team to facilitate web3 activities and technologies. This wallet is already very stable for Desktop devices and is looking to be available for mobile devices in 2024. Features include – On-chain transactions, Lightning Network micro-transactions, Private messaging, Group messaging, peer to peer tipping, Social media news feed, and content sharing.

Keep an eye on Bison Relay, this is the wallet I was referring to at the beginning when I said, “Digital wallets will become the new web browser”.

• SPV wallet
• Lightning Network as standard
• On-chain transactions
• Micro-transactions
• Private messaging
• Group messaging
• Peer to peer tipping,
• Social media news feed
• Content sharing

DCRDEX

The final Decred wallet to discuss is DCRDEX, which is a desktop multi-chain wallet that facilitates peer to peer exchange. This wallet can be run in Both SPV mode or fully validating mode. Currently it’s only available as a Desktop app but has been optimised to display on larger mobile screens.

DCRDEX has numerous features in development, but one of its big goals is to offer advanced functionality for each coin listed. For example – If a coin has a privacy feature it will be available in the wallet, If a coin has governance and voting it will be available in the wallet.

By aiming to be a multi-chain wallet that exposes advanced features for each coin listed, DCRDEX will be one of the most powerful wallets in the cryptocurrency space.

• SPV & Fully Validating wallet
• Multi-coin wallet
• On-chain transactions
• Peer to peer exchange
• Privacy features
• Governance features

Overview

As it currently stands, the best wallet to hold your coins in is Decrediton, but if you’re a new user and are looking for ease of use, the Trust wallet will be ample initially.

As we move into 2024 and 2025, the options for mobile users and the functionality of Decred wallets are looking very exciting. I, for one, am looking forward to getting started with CryptoPower and Bison Relay on mobile.

Have your say: Which crypto wallet would you recommend to new users?