After the boom of cryptocurrencies came the boom of the theft . Compared to all of 2017, the theft of digital coins has tripled so far in 2018.

The main goal of the hacker is the platform of exchanges . As a result, computer security experts recommend users save their cryptocurrencies on cold portfolios and not hot ones.

The digital wallets serve for the same as a physicist, save your digital coins . Here we will talk about the major differences between the two existing types, including the reason why one is safer than the other.

Hot Wallets

The hot wallets are the ones that are online . Its main feature is that you can access it from any device with Internet access. That's why they are more exposed to hacker jokes.

The private keys are stored in the online servers of the wallet, while the person only has the username and password of your account. If a hacker gets access to the wallet servers, can steal your information and cryptocurrencies that you have stored in your hot bag.

This does not mean that nobody should use them. In fact, are very useful for those who have to perform transactions very frequently . Some of the most popular are: Coinbase, Blockchain and CoinPayments.

Cold wallets

Contrary to hot wallets, cold wallets store cryptocurrencies from the network . In this case, there are three subtypes:

  • The desktop wallets : these are downloaded and installed on a device. An advantage and a disadvantage at the same time is that you can access this bag from the computer in which it was downloaded. Although this is the reason why it offers a higher level of security, archived cryptocurrencies will be susceptible to a theft if the computer or device is hacked or in the case of a virus . Among the best known are Electrum, Bitcoin Core or Bitcoin Armory, among others.

  • The hardware wallets : is a device commonly a USB, in which ] stores the private keys of the user. While they are used to carry out online transactions, funds are stored outside the network which guarantees a higher level of security provided that the hardware is not lost. They can support different types of digital currencies and be compatible with various web interfaces. Some of the most used are: Ledger, Trezor and Keep Key.

  • The paper wallets : as the name indicates, they consist of generate a QR code of your Bitcoin for, literal, print it on a sheet of paper. Also refers to a physical copy of public and private keys . Or, it may be a software that serves to generate a pair of keys securely, which you need to print later. With this option, transactions have multiple steps, since it is necessary to transfer funds from the software portfolio to the public address of the paper portfolio or vice versa.

Another option is hybrid portfolios because in the end, as they say, the safest thing is "do not put all the eggs in the same basket".