Solana soared almost 12,000% in 2021 and held the #5 spot before the FTX crash and the capital exodus from the Solana ecosystem, passing Cardano to become the second-largest Layer 1 project behind Ethereum. As a result, the value of SOL tokens increased. Given the promising future of Solana, it is crucial to have a trustworthy SOL wallet for safely storing your tokens.
Why do you Need a Solana Wallet?
A Solana wallet provides a secure place to store your SOL tokens. By using a wallet, you reduce the risk of losing your tokens to theft or hacking.
With a Solana wallet, you have full ownership and control of your tokens. Third-party interference is limited. Decentralization is always the best bet!!
The wallet is what gives access to the interaction between decentralized applications (DApps) on the Solana network and performing transactions.
Many Solana wallets offer features like staking and delegating, allowing you to participate in network validation and earn rewards by holding and staking SOL tokens.
Wallets often provide enhanced privacy features, allowing you to maintain your financial privacy and security.
Let’s briefly look at some of the wallets.
The article aims to expose you to the top 7 Solana wallets:
Phantom
Solflare
ELLIPAL
NGRAVE Zero
Exodus Wallet
Math Wallet
Ledger Wallet
Phantom
The Phantom wallet is a native Solana wallet designed particularly for the Solana ecosystem. It functions as the MetaMask's equivalent. Because it is non-custodial, users can handle their own money and have complete control over what occurs inside the wallet. It supports well-known web browsers such as Microsoft, Brave, Firefox, and Google Chrome. Users may now engage with dApps powered by Solana directly from their preferred web browsers thanks to this browser compatibility.
A phantom wallet gives the user control over the assets as mentioned earlier. This is because of its non-custodial nature. Users are expected to maintain the security of their private keys as well as their assets. Users need to adopt best practices for securing their keys which I prefer writing it down to prevent unauthorized access or loss of assets.
Phantom’s user experience is such a great one that it allows users to seamlessly access their Solana wallets, Users can send and receive tokens - SOL, interact with other dApps, and participate in DeFi activities like staking, liquidity provision, and yield farming.
What's more, Phantom has gained massive adoption within the Solana community, with many dApps integrating Phantom wallet support.
Solflare
Solflare is another well-known non-custodial wallet created by Solana Labs exclusively for the Solana blockchain environment. It has grown to be almost the same standard as Phantom within the Solana ecosystem. Both Phantom and Solflare share some similarities, yet some users frequently choose Solflare due to its unique benefits and features.
Let's take a look at its uniqueness
In terms of swapping, Solflare allows users to swap various Solana-based tokens, in the same way Phantom does. Users can participate in decentralized exchanges and liquidity pools to trade their assets
NFTs no doubt have gained unimaginable attention in the digital art and collectables space. With Solflare, users can store and manage visual and audio NFTs. Solflare ensures that users can securely hold and trade their assets.
Staking is a process where users lock up their tokens to support network operations and, at the same time earn rewards. Users can stake their SOL tokens within the Solflare wallet. What Solflare does is simplify this process for users who want to participate in the platform’s proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.
One of the features that makes Solflare stand out is its mobile application. The mobile app makes it easy to access Solana assets and dApps, Uses manage their assets from their smartphones or tablets!
Like Phantom, Solflare has gained crucial traction within the Solana community. It might interest you to know that many Solana-based projects and dApps have integrated support for Solflare, making the entire Solana ecosystem more robust.
NGRAVE Zero
ELLIPAL Titan
The ELLIPAL Titan is a super hardware wallet known for its exceptional security and wide-ranging support for a lot of altcoins, including Solana. Here are some of its key features.
The ELLIPAL Titan is compatible with more than 10,000 different coins and tokens! This makes it a versatile option for cryptocurrency storage.
It promotes security with an air-gapped design, which ensures that private keys are isolated from online presence, which could protect against hacking attempts thereby enhancing the security of stored cryptocurrencies.
Both beginners and experienced users can easily navigate the wallet. It is designed, to have an interface that looks like that of a smartphone. The transaction can be seamlessly done as the thought of accessing heavy gadgets is off the minds of users.
ELLIPAL Titan’s mobile app facilitates crypto management, there are functionalities for transfers, exchanges, staking, and purchases, providing users with such smooth and convenient experience.
NGRAVE Zero
The NGRAVE Zero can be rated as the most secure wallet on this list if you ask me. This is due to its higher security certifications than both Ledger and Trezor. It traditionally works without pre-installed private keys, this gives users the confidence that their assets are highly secured and that they are in charge of what they own.
It is also good to know that NGRAVE Zero wallet is certified with the highest security rating of EAL7 and also got a certification by ROHS and CE-certified, increasing its credibility.
The Zero device is pocket-sized, with a touchscreen, and uses a camera, and a fingerprint sensor. It is dust-resistant, water and tamper-proof. It comes with the NGRAVE LIQUID, available on iOS and Android which securely initiates, manages, and signs transactions.
Another unique feature of NGRAVE ZERO is that it's air-gapped. This means it never comes into contact with the internet, Bluetooth, mobile networks, or any other network connections (I think I like this burden off). The wallet relies purely on QR code technology and a corresponding mobile phone app to send and receive transactions so that private keys don't need to interact with the phone.
Exodus Wallet
Exodus Wallet is a popular 3rd-party wallet. Exodus has a default validator called Everstake. When it comes to staking SOL users can select validators, which works differently from other wallets.
With Exodus wallet, users can exchange crypto tokens through its integration with the Shapeshift. It can be accessed on a variety of platforms like desktop and mobile.
Although there are some security risks identified with Exodus;
It uses a 12-word mnemonic phrase, as against the 24-word version.
There is no 2FA required, therefore it is advised that users back up their wallet keys for additional security.
Exodus is a good option to consider for a user considering multi-coin, multi-functional features, bearing in mind that small amounts are relatively safer.
Math Wallet
Math Wallet might not be as popular as some of the wallets discussed here, but in no way inferior. It is available on multi-platforms like mobile, desktop, browser extension, and hardware integration with Ledger and WOOKONG Bio, with cross-chain support over 50 blockchains!
Math DApp store allows users to interact with the services built across major chains. Through the store, users can have fun with the various blockchain projects
It also has a feature called MathVault, where staking and DeFi activities happen, as well as staking SOL. The staking without is around 30%, without more specification to the token that will give the reward. They Issue MATH tokens as rewards, which can be used throughout the MATH ecosystem. When you refer a friend, you earn an extra 20% of the friend's earnings!!
Note that Math Wallet is custodian, making you not in charge of your private keys.
Ledger Wallet
A ledger wallet is one of the secured wallets. You can choose it as your main wallet to stake or use a hot wallet with Ledger providing additional security. It is said to be an industry-standard fully non-custodial cold wallet. The Ledger Nano X is one of the most entry-friendly in terms of pricing. The Ledger Live app comes with the hardware purchase and it is super easy to use.
In terms of security, it provides one of the best, with a 24-word mnemonic seed phrase, apart from a password which serves as an additional protection. They also have a list of Solana validators for staking selection.
Note that the transactions are not free, but at the end of the day, it will be worth it.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are lots of projects on the Solana ecosystem that need your attention. You may want to stake your assets or use them to buy NFTs or play games. While trying to make your choice on what to do with your token, they must be kept safe in a wallet, especially wallets that put you in charge. You may not have bought the token yet, but you can decide on which wallet to opt for, in your Solana journey if you have not done that yet, this article is a great booster to your decision.