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Exodus Review: Best Free Safe Crypto Wallet For Beginners
The crypto winter and the subsequent collapse of the FTX exchange sent shockwaves through the industry and prompted many people to question if their coins were safe.
The FTX debacle caused a tidal wave of fear among investors who were holding their coins on centralised exchanges which led to a mass outflow of crypto to self-custody wallets, both hardware and software.
But for many beginners who were faced with the prospect of using a self-custody wallet for the first time, this was a steep learning curve.
While hardware wallets, such as the popular Trezor and Ledger models, are the safest way for most people to store crypto, software wallets are a popular option and much simpler to use.
Here, I take a look at Exodus, one of the easiest crypto wallets for beginners, which also happens to be free.
Exodus crypto wallet is best for beginners who want a simple way to store their coins and monitor their portfolio at a glance, but also offers some advanced features for more seasoned crypto investors.
Exodus Crypto Wallet overview
Exodus is a beautifully designed wallet app that looks just as good on a smartphone as it does on a tablet or desktop.
In fact, you can happily have all three versions running at the same time by using the inbuilt sync option which involves simply downloading the app on your selected device and scanning a QR code to create a clone of your portfolio.
The wallet puts simplicity at its core and is incredibly easy to use. Even complete beginners should be up-and-running within a matter of minutes.
While not quite as secure as a hardware wallet as I’ve said, for novices and those wanting a quick solution to storing coins away from exchanges, Exodus is ideal.
At the time of writing Exodus supported more than 255 cryptos, including major cryptos such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, together with meme coins such as Dogecoin.
You can also use Exodus wallet to store your NFT collection and use it as a personal gallery.
How to use Exodus wallet
Exodus wallet is a self-custody wallet which means you’re solely responsible for looking after your coins.
While it gives you complete control over your assets, it’s not without risks.
Setting up your wallet involves choosing a passcode and making a careful note of the 12-word mnemonic recovery phrase attached to your portfolio, otherwise known as a seed phrase.
If you lose access to your wallet you’ll only be able to recover your coins with your seed phrase.
If you lose this your crypto will be gone forever.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep your seed phrase safe and away from prying eyes.
Related: The best ways to safely store your crypto seed phrase
This might seem daunting at first, but having complete control over your assets will ultimately give you peace of mind.
Keeping your coins on a centralised exchange can be risky, as demonstrated by the FTX debacle, as these platforms retain control of your private keys.
Moving your coins to a self-custody wallet, whether an app like Exodus or a hardware wallet, means that your keys are stored on your device, and no-one can freeze your coins or in any way restrict your access to them.
Exodus wallet – best for beginners
Once you’ve set up your wallet you’re ready to start moving your crypto off the exchange(s) you use and securing it.
Exodus provides public deposit addresses for all the cryptos it supports which you can use to transfer your crypto for safekeeping.
The minimalist GUI means Exodus wallet doesn’t suffer from functionality bloat meaning this process is extremely straight forward.
In fact, the entire aesthetically pleasing app is made in a way that means you aren’t bombarded by dozens of options and menus.
Once your coins have arrived your portfolio holding and balance is presented alongside a few useful stats about your assets, such as 24 hour change, your best performing asset over the past 24 hours, and your worst.
Your portfolio updates every few seconds with the latest prices and displays your asset allocation in real time enabling you to keep your portfolio balanced, just like you would on a stocks and shares investment platform.
As I’ve already said, air-gapped hardware wallets are considered the safest solution for crypto storage, but they’re more complicated to use than apps like Exodus and there’s a steeper learning curve for beginners.
Other features that make Exodus ideal for Bitcoin newbies and experienced users alike are the excellent 24/7 support and the privacy it offers as no user data is stored away from the device you’re using.
Exodus Wallet features
For those looking to stack sats and grow their crypto portfolios, Exodus allows you to buy crypto directly through the wallet using MoonPay.
The fees aren’t the most competitive and the number of coins you can buy are limited, but the process is pretty seamless and enables you to again avoid having your coins on a centralised crypto exchange.
You also use the exchange function to instantly swap your existing coins for other cryptos, again without having to leave the wallet.
This is really useful if you don’t want to switch between multiple platforms as you can keep all your crypto activity under one roof.
You can also stake any Cardano (ADA) you might be holding directly through the wallet in a risk-free way that allows instant redemption.
Features for more experienced users
Just because Exodus is perfect for beginners doesn’t mean it doesn’t offer the bells and whistles of other crypto wallets for more experienced users.
Exodus allows you to install various Exodus-Approved Apps which expand the functionality of the wallet.
You can add on rewards functionality which allows you to stake seven cryptos, including Solana, Cosmos and Cardano, and enable Compound Finance to earn interest on any Dai you hold.
Other apps include an NFT gallery, and the Exodus Web3 Wallet which opens up a whole world of Web3 apps on multiple blockchains.
Exodus is available on a wide range of operating systems including Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android and iOS so you can run it on pretty much any device you own.
Using a hardware wallet with Exodus
One feature of the Exodus wallet that makes it stand out from the crowd is the ability to integrate your Trezor hardware wallet with the app.
Both Trezor models work – the Trezor One and Model T – and you can manage cryptocurrency stored on them through the app without any sign-up process.
It works by using the Trezor Bridge to link your device with the wallet. Once connected you’ll be able to see your balance as a new portfolio which can then be used to send/receive coins from your hardware wallet alongside the Exodus wallet.
It’s worth mentioning that your wallets remain separate with each having its own recovery phrase. You can’t use your Exodus phrase to restore your Trezor wallet and vice versa.
How does Exodus compare to other wallet apps?
In my view Exodus is hands down one of the easiest and best wallets for beginners to use to keep their crypto safe.
While alternatives such as Trust Wallet and MetaMask rank highly and have greater functionality, they don’t compare to Exodus in terms of visual appeal and ease of use.
If you want to get your coins off an exchange quickly and simply then Exodus is one of the best solutions.
Long-term I’d still recommend getting a hardware wallet for greater security, but this can be done once you’ve familiarised yourself with how the different wallets work.
Is Exodus wallet safe?
As I’ve said above, software apps that are connected to the internet will never be as safe as an air-gapped cold storage solution.
Exodus could potentially be hacked (although no attacks have ever been reported), or your private information could be stolen by a keylogging device or malware app.
That said, Exodus’ track record speaks for itself and as long as you take the necessary precautions to keep your devices secure then most people will enjoy a trouble free experience.
Final thoughts
As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan of the Exodus wallet, helped by the fact that it looks so damn nice!
While looks aren’t everything, the silky smooth user experience makes storing your crypto a breeze.
At the time of writing Exodus wallet is my number one choice for beginners looking for a place to store their coins while they familiarise themselves with the crypto ecosphere.
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Disclaimer: Nothing on this website constitutes financial advice. The information provided is for educational purposes only.
