Even though the selection of IOTA wallets is not as large as that of Bitcoin or Ethereum, choosing the best IOTA wallet can be a complex task. In the following article, we would like to give you an overview of the currently available and safest IOTA wallets.
Before we introduce the individual wallets in more detail, however, we would like to clarify the basics first. It is important that you understand what distinguishes the different wallets and types of wallets. The most basic distinction is the differentiation between a
- cold wallet and
- hot wallet.
The distinction is made on the basis of the characteristic “connection to the internet.” While hot wallets are connected to the internet, cold wallets do not have a permanent connection. This makes cold wallets much safer than hot wallets. This can be explained by the fact that hot wallets can be attacked by hackers via the internet connection. Hackers can use your internet connection to install malware on your computer or smartphone. Cold wallets generally do not have this point of attack.
In the crypto industry, it is common for large crypto investment firms and cryptocurrency exchanges to store only the most necessary portion of customer funds in hot wallets in order to be liquid. They manage the majority of cryptocurrencies in cold wallets (also called cold storage), because the difference in security level is so significant. You should take this as an example.
Private customers can purchase cold wallets in the form of hardware wallets or create a free paper wallet. The former are small devices, usually as large as a USB stick, that are used to manage Bitcoin, IOTA, and other altcoins offline. In contrast to cold wallets, hot wallets can be divided into various subcategories. These types have in common that the private keys come into contact with the internet in different ways.
The subcategories of hot wallets are:
- IOTA desktop wallets
- IOTA mobile wallets
- IOTA online wallets
The terms private key and public key come from asymmetric cryptography. The key pair of private and public keys is used for encryption in cryptocurrencies. The private key is a randomly generated character string that makes it possible to confirm transactions.
Thus, the private key practically represents your property right to the cryptocurrency, which is why it must never be passed on. If you control the private key, you can also access the corresponding address and output the stored cryptocurrency. IOTA has a seed. The seed is a way to encrypt the private key. Each IOTA wallet has a unique seed that serves as an access key for the wallet. The seed, like the private key, should therefore never be passed on. The IOTA seed consists of 81 characters (called trytes), which can be any English capital letter or the number 9.
In addition to the seed, IOTA also has another special feature: For each transaction, a new address is automatically generated using the seed. In contrast to other cryptocurrencies, IOTA generates from the private key (seed) the public key, which the new addresses are derived from.
Before you buy IOTA (click here to read our guide), you should already have decided which IOTA wallet you want to use. This will save you precious time and money afterward, which you can use more sensibly elsewhere. Besides, we’d like to give you a second piece of advice:
The storage of IOTA on a cryptocurrency exchange or with a broker (online wallet) is basically not a good option. This is because you give control of the private key to the trading platform. Our recommendation is therefore to install an external wallet and/or buy a hardware wallet for the best security.
IOTA Hardware Wallets
As explained above, cold storage solutions are the best and most secure way to store large amounts of cryptocurrencies such as IOTA. In comparison, they have the highest security standard since the private key or seed from IOTA does not come into contact with the internet. This is stored on the hardware wallet. The release of a transaction can therefore only take place via confirmation on the hardware wallet (at the touch of a button).
Should the administration software (e.g. Ledger Live) be hacked, the hackers cannot nevertheless carry out a transaction (e.g. to a manipulated address), since the user must confirm the transaction – to the (correct) destination address – on the hardware wallet at the touch of a button. Thus the hardware wallet itself would have to be hacked. The theft of your IOTA from the hardware wallet is almost impossible.
Apart from that, hardware wallets also provide very good protection in the event that the theft happens analogously, in the real world. If the device is stolen, the hardware wallet is protected by an authorization with a PIN. In addition, a 2-factor authentication can be set up for the hardware wallet, so that sharing via a second device (e.g. a smartphone) is always required. This makes it very difficult to steal the cryptocurrencies managed with the hardware wallet, even in the event of physical theft.
In our opinion, a hardware wallet is a very worthwhile investment. Even the price for our test winner, the Ledger Nano X (around 120 euros), is rather low compared to the amount you probably invested.
Admittedly, there are now a large number of hardware wallets on the market. However, IOTA is one of the least supported cryptocurrencies for hardware wallets. Currently only the Ledger Nano S and Nano X are compatible with IOTA. The second well-known manufacturer of hardware wallets, Trezor, has already indicated for the first time in May 2018 that an integration of IOTA is planned. However, implementation has not yet taken place (as of August 2019).
In the following box we have summarized the advantages and disadvantages of hardware wallets:
The advantages of IOTA hardware wallets:
✅ Highest available security standard
✅ Storage of private keys offline
✅ Support for a variety of cryptocurrencies
✅ Regular updates by the renowned hardware wallet manufacturer
✅ Each transaction must be physically confirmed via the device
✅ Very good customer support
The disadvantages of hardware wallets are:
❌ No deposit insurance as offered by few brokers, e.g. eToro
❌ Storage of the coins is your own responsibility. However, this can also be an advantage!
| Hardware Wallet | Info | Test |
|---|---|---|
| ⚡ OUR test champion: The Ledger Nano X | 
|
| ⚡ Best price/performance ratio: The Ledger Nano S | 
|
| ⚡ 3rd place: The Trezor Model T | |
1. Ledger Nano X
The Ledger Nano X is the test winner in our hardware comparison test and also the best IOTA hardware wallet. The Nano X is the successor of the Ledger Nano S, which has been sold over 1.3 million times worldwide. In a direct comparison with the Nano S, the functional range of the Nano X has once again increased considerably.
The biggest innovation is certainly the Bluetooth function, whereby the device can be used as a mobile wallet. In addition, the Nano X has a much larger memory, so that up to 100 cryptocurrencies can be managed simultaneously. In addition, the display has been enlarged so that Bitcoin addresses can now be displayed completely – without scrolling. The fourth major innovation is an improved safety chip that has been installed to further increase the safety of the device.
All in all, the Ledger Nano X is the best IOTA hardware wallet from our point of view. The new functions justify the (fair) price of around 120 euros.
2. Ledger Nano S
Although the Ledger Nano S is no longer Ledger’s newest model, it can still be an interesting investment. It is still one of the most secure hardware wallets on the market. Especially the very favorable price of 59 euros makes the Ledger Nano S a very attractive investment for beginners.
The price/performance ratio of the Nano S is unbeatable. If you can live without the new functions of the Nano X and only want to manage a small number of different cryptocurrencies, you should access the Nano S in our opinion.
IOTA desktop– and mobile wallets
Desktop wallets are programs that are installed on your computer in order to send and receive IOTA. They offer the advantage over online wallets that the IOTA Seed is stored on your own device and not on the Web wallet provider’s server. So you have full control over your IOTA. However, desktop wallets also have a big disadvantage compared to hardware wallets. Your PC is (probably) permanently connected to the Internet. So the IOTA seed can be a potential target for hackers, as phishing or other malware could be installed on your computer by hackers to steal your IOTA. However, desktop wallets offer better protection than web wallets.
Desktop wallets are in our opinion the best alternative if you don’t want to spend money on a hardware wallet and are looking for a free IOTA Wallet. The following table summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of IOTA desktop wallets compared to other types of wallets:
The advantages of IOTA desktop wallets:
✅ Full control over IOTA Seed
✅ Free to use
✅ Regular updates
✅ High safety standard
The disadvantages of IOTA desktop wallets:
❌ Less security than using a hardware wallet (more vulnerable to hacking attacks)
❌ No deposit insurance, e.g. as offered by eToro’s Web Wallet
❌ Be careful when choosing an unknown wallet: There are known cases of fraud.
Mobile wallets have the advantage that you can access the wallet with your mobile phone and thus make transactions very fast and from everywhere. However, smartphones are also a very popular target for hackers. In comparison to desktop wallets, they offer a comparable protection. Below we have summarized the advantages and disadvantages of mobile wallets:
The advantages of mobile IOTA wallets are:
✅ Full control over the IOTA Seed
✅ You can access your wallet from anywhere if you have an internet connection
✅ Regular updates
✅ The user interface is often very simple and intuitive
The disadvantages are as follows:
❌ Less security than a hardware wallet
❌ No deposit insurance, e.g. as offered by eToro’s Web Wallet
❌ Susceptible to hacking or phishing attacks
Below you will find our top recommendations for a secure and reputable IOTA desktop or mobile wallet. You will notice that there is no Multi-Coin-Wallet in the list. This is due to the IOTA Tangle technology, which differs significantly from the Blockchain technology and is therefore not compatible with the common Multi-Coin wallets (such as the Atomic Wallet, Jaxx wallet, or Exodus Wallet). Our recommendations are:
- IOTA Trinity Wallet
- IOTA GUI Wallet
- Nostalgia Wallet
And one more note: If you have already read other guides, on other websites, and have browsed IOTA wallet instructions, like the Guarda wallet and Nelium Wallet, let us tell you that these (as of August 2019) do not exist. There were occasional announcements for the wallets. For example, the Nelium wallet was announced in January 2018 by a promo video and hyped big. However, no official release has taken place so far. From our point of view, the best and free wallet by far is the IOTA Trinity Wallet.
1.IOTA Trinity wallet
The IOTA Trinity wallet is the easiest to use and safest IOTA Wallet. The wallet has a very clear and intuitive user interface, which should be self-explanatory even for beginners. The developers of the wallet attached great importance to this after the predecessor (the IOTA Light Wallet) had its weaknesses in user-friendliness.
2.IOTA Light wallet
Before the Trinity Wallet, the IOTA Light wallet was the only option to store IOTA on an external wallet and not on a cryptocurrency exchange. Although it is our Top 2 recommendation, it is much more complicated to use and set up than the Trinity Wallet. Beginners should therefore make sure to use the Trinity Wallet, which is the successor of the IOTA Light Wallet.
3.Nostalgia wallet
The IOTA Nostalgia wallet is a very rudimentary wallet user interface to access the IOTA network. It was published on GitHub in January 2017 by Dominik Schiener, one of the co-founders of IOTA, and has not been updated since.
IOTA online wallets
IOTA online wallets are currently still limited to the classic online exchange wallets, as there are no wallets such as the MyEtherWallet or MetaMask wallet for Ethereum. The online exchange wallets offer the advantage of being an even easier and faster way to manage IOTA than desktop wallets. Both the installation and the creation of a backup are omitted. However, exchange wallets also require a very high level of trust in trading platforms.
Users must be aware that they are relinquishing control of the private key or the IOTA Seed. Users must therefore be confident that the platform stores the private keys in cold storage. In addition, the employees of the trading platform who have administrative access must be trusted. At this point, we would like to mention the Mt. Gox hack, which may have been an inside job. Ultimately, however, well-known and established exchanges and brokers have very good security precautions. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that online wallets are insecure. They only require a great deal of trust.
Below we have compiled an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of online wallets:
The advantages of IOTA online wallets:
✅ Access from anywhere in the world where an Internet connection exists
✅ Exchange wallets enable trading out of the wallet
✅ In the case of exchange wallets, there is no installation work required
✅ You can define limits for maximum payouts per transaction
✅ The user interface is often very simple and intuitive
✅ Often very good customer support
The disadvantages of IOTA online wallets:
❌ Worse security standard than hardware and desktop wallets
❌ The management of the private keys is transferred to a third party
❌ Greater likelihood of hacker or phishing attacks
❌ Some web wallet vendors have turned out to be scams in the past
1. Binance web wallet
From our point of view, storing IOTA (MIOTA) on Binance is the best option among online wallets. On the one hand, you can trade over 150 cryptocurrencies directly from Binance’s online wallet. On the other hand, Binance is one of the world’s largest and most popular cryptocurrency exchanges. As with any exchange wallet, you should be aware that the IOTA Seed is managed by Binance. Accordingly, the security must also be rated lower than with the aforementioned wallets. This is because your IOTA Seed is located on external servers.
Even though Binance is one of the most secure cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, a hack can never be ruled out. Binance was already hacked in May 2019 and 7,000 BTC were stolen. Fortunately, Binance took full responsibility for the hack and made up for the loss. This means that Binance users did not suffer any financial damage. Nevertheless, the hack shows that you should use cryptocurrency exchanges exclusively for trading IOTA and not for permanent storage. If you want to store your IOTA for a long time, you should use the Ledger Nano S, Ledger Nano X, or Trinity Wallet.
You can register an account on Binance by clicking on this link*.
2. eToro wallet
Our second choice is eToro, which, however, only appeals to residents outside of the US and UK (as of 01/2021). eToro is one of the largest CFD providers in the world and offers various cryptocurrencies in “physical form” as well as CFD (outside of the two aforementioned regions). Due to its high security standards and reputation, eToro can be a good option for custody.
For more information, you can read our eToro review. If you want to sign up for the wallet, you can use this link (click here*) to create an account with eToro.
**68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Cryptoasset investing is unregulated in some EU countries and the UK. No consumer protection. Your capital is at risk.
3. Coinmerce online wallet
Coinmerce is a broker from the Netherlands that enables the direct purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies per euro. In addition to trading, Coinmerce offers its users the option of storing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on the exchange. In this case, the exchange takes over the task of taking care of your private key.
For Coinmerce, the platform has never been hacked before. In addition, according to Coinmerce, the majority of cryptocurrencies are stored in cold storage to protect against hackers.
If you click on this link*, you will be taken to the official website of the exchange where you can create an account.
IOTA offline wallets / IOTA paper wallets
IOTA paper wallets have the reputation of being a “safe wallet.” But what exactly does a paper wallet mean, and how can IOTA be stored in a wallet with a piece of paper? The difference from a digital wallet is actually very simple and quickly explained: The paper wallet is a piece of paper on which the seed is placed (“stored”). The advantage over a digital wallet is obvious.
If the IOTA seed is generated completely offline and also created offline on a paper wallet, no hacker can access it. Many IOTA buyers make the mistake of storing their seed unencrypted on their own PC. Hackers can then easily steal the seed from the computer and empty the wallet. The big disadvantage of a paper wallet, however, is that the piece of paper cannot be used to send transactions. To send transactions, you have to go online. For security reasons, an IOTA paper wallet should therefore only be used once, and a new paper wallet should be created afterward.
IOTA offline wallets are especially useful if you do not want to access the IOTA (MIOTA) for a long time. You can then store your IOTA paper wallet in a safe place. It is important that your PC and printer are free of viruses and malware. This can be a potential weakness of the IOTA paper wallet.
To create an IOTA paper wallet, there is, for example, the Arancauchi paper wallet generator. This generator is very popular within the IOTA community. The code of the generator is open-source and available on GitHub. We are also pleased that the IOTA paper wallet generator is available as an offline version. Nevertheless, it must be mentioned that this is a third-party program whose reliability must be trusted.
The tool accesses the IOTA libraries, which are used for “address creation.” If you are interested in the paper wallet generator, you can test it on this website (GitHub). For security reasons, we recommend using the offline version.
✅ Best suited for beginners
✅ Easy and secure to create
❌ If applicable, use of a third party provider to create the seed
❌ Not 100% safe from hacker or phishing attacks
Further important information about the IOTA wallet test
Please note that we have compiled the information to the best of our knowledge and experience. However, you should always seek further information and test different wallets to find the best wallet for you. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our IOTA wallet review, please feel free to leave us a comment. We’ll be glad to help you!
If you liked this entry to the best IOTA Wallets, we would appreciate a positive review!
