bytwork.com - Mining, blockchain and cryptocurrencies

Что такое Цифровой Рубль? Как он работает? Когда запустится? Это криптовалюта?

Антон Састрпцин — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 12:55:22 +0000

What is the Digital Ruble? How does it work? When will it be launched? Is it a cryptocurrency?

Антон Састрпцин Thu, 04/06/2023 - 15:26

Contents

Digital Ruble what is it: a quick answer

Highlights:

The digital ruble is not a cryptocurrency, but it is protected by crypto encryption and created on a centralized blockchain
The digital ruble is no different from the cash ruble and the modern non-cash ruble (bank transfer)
1 Digital ruble = 1 cash ruble (and non-cash too).
The digital ruble will not replace cash and non-cash payments, but will only complement them
You will not lose digital rubles, even if your bank closes!
The digital ruble belongs to the Bank of Russia
You can pay with a digital ruble abroad
The digital ruble will be launched in April 2023
The digital Ruble will not be traded on a cryptocurrency exchange, like, for example, USDT
Digital ruble reliable, fast and safe

What is the digital ruble?

The Digital Ruble (CBDC) is a new, official and additional form of the Russian national currency, which will be issued by the Bank of Russia in digital form (electronic). The digital ruble will be able to combine the properties of both cash and non-cash rubles.

Like non-cash money (online payment), the digital ruble makes remote payments possible. At the same time, just like cash, the digital ruble can be used offline - that is, even if there is no access to the Internet.

The digital ruble will be available to the following economic entities:

Citizens
All types of business
To all participants of the financial market
Government

Just like cash and non-cash rubles, the digital ruble will perform all 3 standard functions of money, namely:

Means of payment
Measure of value
Savings

Simply put, a digital ruble is the same ruble as the one used in a bank transfer: it cannot be touched (it has no physical analogue like cash), but at the same time its value is exactly the same as that of cash. It was created as a more convenient, modern means of payment to reduce costs (on logistics, commissions, production, etc.), and most importantly, it is faster, more reliable and safer. Yes, the digital ruble is not a cryptocurrency, but it has a centralized (state) blockchain and is protected by crypto encryption!

Important! If a user starts a digital wallet for a digital ruble only through 1 bank, and this bank eventually closes, then the user will not lose access to their digital rubles! Whatever the amount of digital rubles in the wallet, users will continue to be able to safely use their funds through other banks in which they are serviced!

Each digital ruble will have its own unique number, just like cash, so it will be easy to track their movement in case of theft.

Also, digital rubles can be bequeathed and inherited, while, importantly, close people (relatives) will be able to receive an inheritance from a digital account necessary to pay for the funeral, before the expiration of 6 months from the date of the announcement of the inheritance.

What is the digital ruble equal to?

The digital ruble is the same ruble as cash and non–cash.

Now 1 non-cash ruble = 1 cash ruble, and 1 digital ruble = 1 cash (or non-cash) ruble!

All 3 forms (cash, non-cash, digital) of the Russian ruble will be absolutely equivalent.

Digital Ruble to Dollar

As we wrote earlier, the digital ruble does not differ from the usual cash (and non-cash) ruble. Therefore, a digital ruble will cost the same to the dollar as a regular ruble!

When will the digital ruble be launched?

Initially, the digital ruble was planned to be launched in 2024. However, in February 2023, it was decided that the digital ruble would be launched in April 2023.

On this occasion , the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia said:

"The pilot phase will work with real operations for real people, but only for a limited number of them, with 13 banks that have declared their readiness."

List of 13 banks: Alfa-Bank, Sberbank, TKB, Ak Bars, VTB, Dom.RF, Tinkoff Bank, Gazprombank, Rosbank, PSB, Soyuz bank, SKB-bank.

Will the digital ruble replace cash and non-cash payments?

No, the digital ruble will not replace cash! It is considered not as a replacement for cash or non-cash rubles, but as an addition to existing forms of money.

Official response:

Simply put, not all segments of the population will be able to switch to the digital ruble. A vivid example of this is pensioners who will not be able to switch to a new, complex system. Many people are still more comfortable receiving cash and paying only with it.

It takes a lot of time to replace a cash payment with a digital ruble. At this stage, the digital ruble will be introduced to the masses, and after a few generations, when everyone will be able to use digital money without problems, they will be able to replace cash! But a complete replacement of cash is not yet planned.

What is the digital ruble for?

The most important advantage of the digital ruble over cash and non-cash payments:

The digital ruble will make payments even faster, safer and easier.
The development of digital payments will lead to a reduction in the cost of payment services, as well as money transfers.
The sender will be able to label digital rubles at will, so that the recipient spends them only for certain set goals. This ensures transparency of transfers and circulation of the money supply.

Now let's look at this in more detail.

What is the security of this system? All operations with digital rubles will take place on the regulator's platform, and they are also protected using cryptography. The Bank of Russia will be able to track transactions of digital wallets and guarantees the safety of money.

Why will the digital ruble be faster? Transactions with digital rubles pass through a digital wallet and this happens almost instantly and without pauses — 24/7 (for example, how the Fast Payment System (SBP) works now). This applies not only to transfers between people, but also payments to company accounts.

What is the convenience of the digital ruble over cash and non-cash payments? Anyone can conclude secure transactions (so-called smart contracts) directly on the regulator's platform. Under these contracts, payment in digital rubles will be carried out automatically with the strict fulfillment of the pre-prescribed terms of the contract.

What is the transparency of the digital ruble? The sender of digital rubles will be able to label them so that the recipient spends them only for the specified purposes. For example, parents will be able to label digital rubles that they transfer to their children, and the marked funds can be spent, for example, only on paying for lunches and travel (or something else).

All this will serve as an incentive for innovation both in the field of retail payments and in other areas, and will support the development of the digital economy. Reducing the dependence of users on individual providers will increase the stability of the country's financial system.

Will the digital ruble be able to pay for purchases abroad?

The digital ruble has not yet been put into circulation, so this answer is purely theoretical.

Theoretically, it is possible to pay for goods abroad, moreover, various states are already experimenting with cross-border payments in digital currencies.

But at the same time, when using the digital ruble, the same question arises as when using other types of money.

For example, if a user sends a digital ruble to China, then you need to make sure that the Chinese get the coverage they need for it (in rubles, yuan, gold, etc.). It will be necessary to set exchange rates for such types of transactions.

The main question for many is: "Will digital rubles be able to replace the bank cards or SWIFT bank transfers that are not working abroad?" - they may be able to, but, again, the answer to this question is still theoretical.

Advantages of the digital ruble

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the use of non-cash money.

The digital ruble should become a new, convenient, additional means of payment for both sellers and buyers, especially in remote, hard-to-reach and sparsely populated areas where access to financial infrastructure is severely limited.

Thanks to the digital ruble, the coverage of the population with financial services will increase, which will become more accessible, which will eventually improve the quality of people's lives.

In general, the advantages of the digital ruble are many: from reducing logistics costs to security and increasing the coverage of the population with financial services!

How to use a digital ruble?

Using a digital ruble will be as easy and simple as using a bank card or an electronic wallet (for example, Qiwi).

As we wrote earlier, all transactions of the digital ruble can be carried out both online and offline.

To perform transactions offline, without Internet access, users will be able to pay in advance by reserving a certain amount of digital rubles in their electronic wallet (this is similar to how you just put cash in your wallet at home), in places where cards are not accepted.

In the online mode, transactions are performed similarly by bank transfer (as with a bank card).

The main difference is that you can have any number of electronic or bank accounts, and only one digital wallet.

How to create a digital ruble wallet?

Presumably there will be the following procedure:

The user creates a digital wallet of the digital ruble using the mobile application of any bank (in which he is registered) participating in the digital ruble program (platform). Then he gets access through the applications of other banks connected to the platform.
Next, the user puts money in the wallet. Through Internet banking or mobile banking, users will be able to replenish their digital wallet with any amounts they need from their regular (current) bank account.
After that, the user can make transfers to organizations (online stores and others), ordinary people. To do this, you need to: specify the phone number of the recipient of digital rubles (the owner of another wallet), after which he will receive funds instantly. Please note that it does not matter which bank your recipient is a client of — the money between digital ruble wallets goes through the Bank of Russia platform.

How to pay for goods and services in digital rubles? Everything is simple here: digital rubles are transferred from your wallet to the wallet of the company (store). All you will need to make a payment is to scan the seller's QR code through the mobile application in your bank.

It is also very easy to convert digital rubles back into non-cash money. Digital rubles from a digital wallet can be transferred back to your bank account in any of your banks connected to the digital ruble platform!

What are the commissions of the digital ruble?

Users, sole proprietors and companies have the opportunity to create a digital wallet by signing a standard digital account agreement with one of the banks that is connected to the platform.

The bank, in turn, will charge a commission for transactions. However, these commissions will not exceed the amount set by the Central Bank.

According to the chairman of the Central Bank, digital accounts should reduce the cost of settlements.

The tariffs of the digital ruble will not be higher than in the current "System of Fast payments" (SBP), that is, they will amount to 0.4–0.7% of the amount.

Can scammers steal a digital ruble from accounts?

Quick answer: only by tricks such as social engineering.

The main thing here is to understand that the digital ruble is different from the non-cash payment we are used to, since it has cryptographic protection and is based on the blockchain!

All user data is kept in the strictest confidentiality with the use of the latest cyber defense technologies.

Any transaction in digital rubles takes place only if the user confirms it with his electronic signature.

But at the same time, you should not lose vigilance, since scammers will always try to lure money (for example, with the help of social engineering tricks).

At the moment, if the user transfers funds to scammers himself, or accidentally informs them of confidential information that will give fraudsters access to the victim's accounts, then banks will not always help to return the funds, or help, but the proceedings may drag on for a long time.

In the case of the digital ruble, it will be possible not only to compensate for the victim's losses, but also to quickly track down the movement of funds by criminals. All this is possible due to the fact that all operations with the digital ruble take place on a single, centralized platform of the regulator (centralized blockchain) and the actions of the attackers can be tracked and see which wallet the stolen funds went to.

Can the digital ruble create inflation?

The digital ruble will not create inflation, since more or less money will not appear in the country because of the digital ruble.

The digital ruble is just a new form of money! There will be no additional issue of money due to the appearance of the digital ruble, which means that this will not affect prices and their growth.

What should I do if something breaks?

The Bank of Russia will create a single portal for digital ruble users.

Applications from users will be sent to 2 places at once: to the regulator and your bank, in whose mobile application the user could not, for example, receive a transfer or make it.

Users will be able to ask all these or other questions in real time 24/7 in the CB Online chat.

Now let's answer the question in more detail, what is the central bank's digital currency?

What is the central bank's digital currency?

The central bank's digital currency (CBDC) is money that can be issued by a country's central bank. They are called digital (or electronic) because they are not physical money like banknotes and coins (paper/metal money).

The central bank's digital currency can be represented as an amount on a computer or similar device.

The Bank of Russia is the central bank of Russia, and it is carefully studying the idea of a central bank digital currency for Russia.

The central bank's digital currency is a type of digital money.

How does the digital ruble differ from the cryptocurrency?

Most likely, you have heard about Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT. These are examples of private digital assets (sometimes called cryptocurrencies or crypto assets). CBDC differs from crypto assets in several important aspects:

Firstly, crypto assets are issued privately. If something goes wrong with the crypto asset, the central bank or the government will not be able to intervene.
Secondly, the value of the crypto asset is unstable. It can rise or fall quickly in a very short period of time. This is not ideal when making payments. Unlike cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin), digital rubles will be stable and retain their value over time!
Also, cryptocurrencies are decentralized and this is not always good. The digital ruble will be fully centralized and supported by the state.

As we have already said, cryptocurrencies are not regulated and are most often decentralized. Their price is determined by investor sentiment, external political situations, regulations, use and interest on the part of investors.

You need to understand that cryptocurrencies are volatile assets that are more suitable for speculation (earning on the difference in exchange rates, holding coins before the onset of growth - hype, and others). All this makes them impossible candidates for use in a financial system that requires stability.

CBDCs reflect the value of the fiat currency and are designed to ensure stability and security.

How does the digital ruble differ from the modern cashless payment?

From the point of view of the use of bright differences will not be. The digital ruble will be faster than non-cash payments (as for domestic and foreign transfers), and it will also become much safer and more secure.

Also, users affected by fraudsters will now be more likely to return the stolen funds (meaning those that they sent themselves, due to the same social engineering).

In general, all this is very similar to a standard, familiar to everyone, bank account, but with one very important difference.

At the moment, the money of users (enterprises, etc.), lies on accounts in commercial banks. Digital rubles will be stored directly in the Central Bank, that is, with the state, which is more reliable and safer.

Is the digital ruble a cryptocurrency?

Despite the fact that the idea of digital currencies of the central bank (CB) comes from cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology directly, CBDC are not cryptocurrencies.

CBDC are controlled by a central authority - the state, whereas cryptocurrencies are almost all decentralized, which means that they cannot be regulated by one authority, and they also lack guarantees of consumer protection and their value is subject to serious fluctuations (volatility).

On the official website of the Central Bank, there is a detailed answer whether the digital ruble is a cryptocurrency:

"The digital ruble is an obligation of the central bank, implemented through digital technologies and has nothing to do with "cryptocurrencies". This is a fiat currency, that is, a currency whose stability of functioning is provided by the state in the person of the central bank"

How does the digital currency (digital ruble) differ from Stablecoin?

The most important difference between a digital currency (of any country) and a stablecoin is that the stable coin is not official, it was issued by a private company. Yes, most often it is tied to some asset (USD, EURO, oil or gold, and so on), and the digital currency belongs to the state, and it regulates it.

If the stablecoin dies, depositors will lose all funds, and the digital currency is supported by the state, and it will always regulate all processes.

A striking example is the stable TerraUSD coin (USTC), which collapsed in 2022 and all depositors (holders in this coin) lost all their funds!

Also an example of the Tether (USDT) coin, which had courts with the US SEC at the beginning of 2022, because of which the price of the stable coin sank a little.

Therefore, from the point of view of reliability, the digital currency greatly benefits, since it is protected by the state!

Will cryptocurrency exchanges accept the digital ruble?

In our usual understanding for exchange on the stock exchange (example of exchange: USDT / BTC), there will be no such listing, and it is impossible.

Most likely, cryptocurrency exchanges that now allow you to deposit /withdraw Rubles will accept a new type of replenishment with Rubles on their platform – through the Digital Ruble platform.

However, this may not happen.

Is it possible to make money on the digital ruble as a cryptocurrency?

Нет, цифровой рубль, как мы уже сказали, это такой же рубль, как и наличный. Он не подвержен высокой волатильности, как криптовалюты, такие как, к примеру, Bitcoin.

Therefore, you will not be able to earn on a digital ruble as a separate asset (in the usual sense of earning on cryptocurrency), but you can use it as an accumulation!

Conclusion

Цифровой рубль – это будущая ступень развития платежной системы.

This is a really convenient, innovative, modern and most importantly reliable (safe) solution.

The digital ruble has a huge future that will soon affect all of us!

Rate article

Category

Blockchain

Что майнить после перехода Ethereum на POS? Список профитных для майнинга монет. Стоит ли собирать майнинг фермы?

Максим Анисимов — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 12:58:32 +0000

What to mine after switching Ethereum to POS? A list of profitable coins for mining. Is it worth collecting mining farms?

Максим Анисимов Tue, 09/06/2022 - 13:45

Contents

On September 15, 2022, Ethereum switched to POS. People have a lot of questions:

Will mining be profitable further?
What to mine? Are there any more profit coins?
Which is better: sell mining farms? Or keep it for yourself?
Is it worth collecting new mining farms?

We will answer these and other questions in this article!

Please note, this article is not financial advice! It's up to you to decide what to mine / buy!

Why can't Ethereum be mined anymore?

Ethereum is one of the most profitable cryptocurrencies for mining on the GPU. Since its creation (July 20, 2015), the cryptocurrency has been working on the Proof-of-Work algorithm, that is, it could be mined on video cards.

Since September 2022, Ethereum has switched to a new algorithm - Proof-of-Stake. This algorithm does not support the usual mining on video cards for everyone.

Now the confirmation of the network will be carried out only with the help of validators. They will carry out work on confirming new transactions using Staking and receive a reward in Ethereum for this.

The current yield for Staking ETH is 4 - 4.5%. To become an Ethereum validator, you must have at least 32 ETH on a deposit contract.

Profit coins for mining after Ethereum leaves for POS

At the time of writing (September 2022), there are many profitable coins for mining on video cards. These are coins such as:

Coin	Algorithm	Miner
Ethereum Classic	Etchash	Phoenixminer
Kaspa (KAS)	kHeavyHash	GMiner
Ravencoin	KawPow	GMiner
Ergo	Autolykos	Lolminer
Neoxa	KawPow	GMiner
Conflux	Octopus	Nanominer
Sero	ProgPow	PhoenixMiner; ProgPOW Miner
Zano	ProgPowZ	T-Rex miner
Aeternity	CuckooCycle	Bminer
Flux	ZelHash	Lolminer
Firo	FiroPow	Nanominer

And many other coins. As you can see, there are a lot of POW coins on the market and they are all trading well:

Therefore, there should be no problems with mining and selling these coins.

The main thing is not to store coins directly on the exchange, use wallets: official, multi-currency, hardware and others. Storing coins on the exchange is very dangerous, since there have been many cases of hacking exchanges in the entire history of cryptocurrencies.

But how profitable are these coins? Will they be able to generate the same income as Ethereum did? We'll talk about this in the next chapter.

How to continue mining after switching ETH to POS (September 15)?

There are several mining scenarios after Ethereum leaves for POS:

On September 15, you can manually switch your mining farms to another coin, for example, to Ethereum Classic, Ravencoin, Ergo or any other coin. To do this, you will need to create in advance .Bat file for the desired coin. The following miners are suitable: Phoenix Miner, Lolminer, GMiner
The second option is to configure the desired coin in advance using the reserve pool (Failover Pools). In Phoenix Miner, you can immediately put Ethereum Classic mining, as soon as ETH mining becomes unavailable, the miner will automatically switch to mining ETC. In Lolminer, you can also use the reserve pool to specify any other coin, for example, FLUX. As soon as ETH becomes unavailable, lolMiner will switch to FLUX mining.

There is nothing complicated in this, just do not forget to set up your rigs in advance in a way that is convenient for you.

We will discuss which coin is better to mine after leaving ETH for POS later in the article.

Mining income after leaving Ethereum for POS. Who will replace Ethereum?

Ethereum has been the leader in GPU mining for the last couple of years! Most often, this coin was the most profitable and helped to quickly recoup the collected mining rig.

But what about now? What coin can replace Ethereum?

As we have already said, there are many profitable coins for mining. From time to time they will compete with each other for the first place.

At the moment, there is no clear leader, but there are top successful, reliable and profitable coins:

Ravencoin
Ergo
Firo, Flux and etc.

Ethereum Classic is a reliable and also profitable coin (which is worth mining for a long time – use a hold), but we did not include it in the top 3, because there is one thing here, which we will talk about later.

Please note that all these places are not stable, and may change frequently (depending on the hype of a particular coin, complexity, and so on).

Why have we singled out Ethereum Classic separately? The thing is that Ethereum Classic is mined not only on video cards, there are still many Asics under this algorithm (the lion's share is with up to 4 GB of memory). The DAG size of the ETC file is 3.063 Gb.

This means that asics with 4 Gb of memory can safely mine ETC. And with the departure of ETH to POS, the complexity of ETC will become even greater (new video cards that left ETH will be transferred), which means that the income from this coin will temporarily decrease.

Etc will overcome the DAG mark of 4 GB only in August 2025, and it is not a fact that even more new Asics with a DAG size above 4 Gb will not appear under this algorithm!

Now let's see how much all these coins bring in mining and how much are they behind Ethereum?

All further calculations will be carried out on 1 video card – Nvidia 3080 LHR.

Ergo

Let's start with the most profitable (at the time of writing) coin – Ergo.

One video card can make a profit:

$2.00 per day (without deduction of the light fee).

At the time of writing, 1 GPU 3080 LHR brings (Ethereum):

$2.13 (without deduction for light).

It turns out that the payback on the Ergo cryptocurrency will be a little bit longer, unlike Ethereum, but this difference is not critical. ERGO also trades well and is represented on 7 exchanges!

Ethereum Classic

Ethereum Classic is the most reliable POW coin after ETH. Unlike other POW coins, it is in the top 20 coins by capitalization, is represented on a huge number of exchanges and has high trading volumes.

And what is important, many believe that ETC (after leaving ETH for POW) will become the new leader in POW mining!

At the time of writing, 1 GPU 3080 LHR brings:

1.13$ (without deduction of the light fee).

Yes, it is less than ERGO, but ETC itself is more reliable and is represented on 80+ exchanges, against 7 exchanges at ERGO.

It's up to you to decide which coin to mine. But do not forget to use the what to mine online calculator to check the profitability of a particular coin!

Ravencoin

This old and quite popular cryptocurrency is represented on 37 exchanges with large trading volumes.

At the time of writing, 1 GPU 3080 LHR brings:

$1.57 (without deduction of the light fee).

These are not bad indicators, considering what is happening on the market right now – "crypto winter".

Neoxa

A new cryptocurrency, the start of trading – 07/19/2022. The coin is traded on only 2 exchanges with a total daily trading volume of $1,319,067.

At the time of writing, 1 GPU 3080 LHR brings:

$2.05 (without deduction of the light fee).

At the moment, this is the most profitable coin for mining, but at the same time the most dangerous. If you have large capacities, then we would not advise you to hold this coin, since it is traded on only 2 exchanges and has relatively small trading volumes, which indicates its unreliability.

At any moment, the coin can be delisted from the exchange, it may turn out to be a scam, or the exchange where it is traded will be hacked at all, and the coin will become useless: there have been many such examples in the history of cryptocurrency

In our opinion, it is possible to mine this coin with small capacities and according to the following principle: sell 80% within 2-5 days, hold 20% for no more than 6 months in anticipation of a small hype and transfer the mined coins into more reliable assets, such as ETH, BTC, ETC.

Mining results after the departure of ETH

As you can see, there are a lot of profitable and reliable coins, and most likely more and more new coins will continue to fill this niche!

It is impossible to single out an absolute winner who will 100% replace ETH right now. At first, you will definitely have to use online calculators in search of a more profitable coin, since the first place will change from time to time.

Of the clear winners now, coins such as:

Ergo
Ravencoin
Flux, Conflux, Firo
Ethereum Classic

Of all the coins presented, the reliability rating will be as follows:

Ethereum Classic
Ravencoin
Ergo
Flux

It's up to you to decide which coin to mine. We will definitely leave part of the mining capacity on ETC and part of the power will be scattered over the remaining profit coins.

Is it worth selling mining farms because of the departure of ETH?

We can't decide for you because there are a lot of key factors here:

Price for electricity
The territorial location of the mining farm relative to your location
Models of your video cards
Video card status
Your attitude to mining

Next, we will reveal all these points in more detail.

Price for electricity

The first and most important point in the matter of selling mining farms is the price of your electricity.

If electricity is expensive in your region, above $ 0.25, then in this case you can think about selling a mining farm, since the rest of the coins (except ETH) are not so stable, and mining, especially in the midst of crypto winter, can be a minus for you!

Otherwise, if you have very cheap or even free electricity, you should not give up mining, since it will bring passive income.

But it's up to you to make the final decision.

Territoriality of mining farms

The second most important point. If you can't switch between cryptocurrencies often to find the most profitable cryptocurrency, then this is a reason to think about selling.

Yes, of course, you can mine one coin at once, for example, ETC or ERGO, but the coin rate may drop significantly, or the complexity may increase dramatically.

And in this case, mining of these coins can become dramatically unprofitable.

Of course, if you mine for a long time and are calmly ready to pay the price for electricity out of your pocket, then this should not interfere with you. However, if you withdraw some of the mined coins to pay electricity bills, this may become a problem for you.

Models of your video cards

If you have outdated models of video cards, such as AMD 470, 480, 570, 580 or Nvidia 1060 (3gb / 6 gb), 1050 T I, 1060, 1070, 1080 and below, then in this case you should think about selling.

Most likely, mining itself will profit you for another year or two, but in the future these cards will become useless.

Example of revenue from 1 AMD 470 graphics card:

They are already quite old in themselves and it makes sense to sell them.

However, if you believe in the hype of cryptocurrencies in the near future, you can wait for it and sell your mining farms much more profitable than selling them now – in the midst of the crypto winter.

Video card status

The state and model of the video card can be partially combined into 1 point. If you have old video cards and they are not in very good condition, then there is definitely a reason to think about selling them.

Even if you have new video cards, and they have not been cared for, they are in constant overheating, dust, then you should also think about resale.

However, if your cards are in perfect condition, the models are not old, then you can mine in plus for a long time!

Your attitude to mining

If you do not believe in the further profitability of mining or for you it has always been passive income, where you assembled a mining farm, put it to mine under Ethereum and did not touch the farm for months / years, then this is a reason to think about selling.

yes, you can also bet on a long-term, for example, ETC, but it is not a fact that it will always be beneficial for your video cards.

Or you can put the ERGO coin, which now occupies the 1st place after the departure of ETH, but it is not a fact that by mining this coin for a long time, it will not collapse in price, it will not lose interest from investors (people to whom you will sell this coin on the exchange) and so on, what was with many coins not from the top 50!

Add a comment

Comments

Add new comment

Rate article

Category

Mining

Ethereum

Полное руководство по мобильному приложению Exodus

Максим Анисимов — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 09:12:39 +0000

A Comprehensive Guide to the Exodus Mobile App Максим Анисимов Tue, 04/22/2025 - 14:20

Contents

Discover the advantages of this wallet and explore all of the app’s features, including hidden ones.

The Exodus Mobile Wallet lets you store and manage crypto, swap assets instantly, earn staking rewards, and view your NFT collection right in the app.

Here’s what it looks like:

The wallet supports around 16 blockchains and over 280 coins. For some assets, staking yields range from 0.94% to 18%.

First, let’s review what this wallet offers in terms of functionality and security, then we’ll dive into staking and other features.

Security and Features

To protect your assets, the wallet provides:

Security:

Self-custody of your seed phrase – retain full control over your private keys.
Biometric authentication, such as Face ID or Touch ID.
Passcode – secure your wallet with a numeric PIN for extra protection.

You can also connect the mobile app to hardware wallets. However, two-factor authentication is not available.

Now, let’s move on to the economics.

Your Benefits:

Staking – earn up to 18% APY on your tokens.
Portfolio insights – track promising projects directly in your wallet.
dApp integration – connect to Web3 apps for NFTs, liquidity farming, exchange rates, and more.

Let’s see these features in action by installing the wallet.

Download, Installation & Setup

First, download the app from the App Store or Google Play.

The wallet has a quick setup. After opening the app, you’ll see two options: if you already have a wallet, import it by scanning a QR code from another device or by entering a 12‑word seed phrase.

If you don’t have a wallet yet, choose Create Wallet.

That’s it—congratulations, your wallet is created!

Backup

Before exploring further, it’s crucial to back up your wallet to avoid losing access to your funds.

Tap the profile icon in the bottom right corner, go to Security, and select Backup to begin.

The wallet will generate a 12‑word seed phrase.

Make sure you’re in a private place where only you can see the screen.

When you’re ready, tap and hold the screen to reveal the words, then write them down in the exact order shown.

Once done, tap Done to confirm. Select the correct word when prompted, tap Done again, and ensure your seed phrase is stored safely.

Your seed phrase is required to restore access if you ever lose your wallet.

Warning: if you lose your seed phrase, you will permanently lose access to your wallet and funds. Never share it with anyone.

After a successful backup, you can start using the wallet. It’s also wise to add a passcode for extra security.

Passcode

You can set a numeric passcode for access. You can also enable Face ID on iOS or Touch ID on Android.

To set up a passcode, tap Profile → Settings → Secure with Passcode. Enter and confirm your six‑digit PIN. Once complete, your wallet will be securely protected.

How to Use

With your wallet created and secured, let’s explore the core functions.

The bottom navigation bar has four buttons:

Wallet – manage crypto portfolios and customize tabs to track top gainers and losers.
Swap – exchange tokens without leaving the app.
Buy & Sell – purchase crypto via built‑in services.
Apps – access Web3 tools, NFTs, staking, and asset management.

Before we dive into these features, let’s get an address and fund the wallet.

How to Generate an Address

All coin addresses are in the first tab, Wallet. Here you’ll see supported assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and more.

To get an address:

Select your desired cryptocurrency.
Tap the down‑arrow icon – Receive.
Copy the address or scan the QR code.

Now you can fund your wallet.

How to Fund

Share your address with a sender or use exchanges, swap services, or other wallets to transfer funds.

Once funds are sent, you’ll see a Receiving transaction under Pending. After blockchain confirmations, the funds become available in Exodus.

How to Send

To send funds:

Select the coin.
Tap the up‑arrow icon – Send.
Enter the recipient address and amount.

Review the details and confirm. Exodus makes sending crypto fast and simple.

You can also adjust fees when sending.

Fees

If you enable Custom Fees, you can set your own network fee. Otherwise, Exodus selects the network’s average fee.

To customize fees:

Open the coin.
Tap the settings gear in the top right.
Check the Custom Fees box.

Now you can manually set the fee per transaction. Higher fees speed up confirmations, while lower fees save costs (but may delay your transaction).

In Ethereum and other EVM chains (e.g., Polygon, BNB Chain), fees are auto-calculated, but you can still adjust them manually in settings.

Tap the three‑dot menu when sending and drag the slider to adjust.

Exodus does not charge extra transaction fees; you only pay the network fee set by the blockchain.

However, Exodus applies a margin on swap and buy rates, making in-app rates less competitive than exchanges.

Swap

The Swap tab lets you exchange one crypto for another.

To swap, tap Swap, select your coins (via list or search), enter an amount (toggle between crypto and fiat, or use MIN, Half, Max). For precise amounts (e.g., 100 ADA), type it in and Exodus will calculate the best rate.

After reviewing, tap Swap Now.

Swap fees typically range from 2% to 5%, depending on the assets, market conditions, and transaction size.

Buy & Sell

The app also supports purchasing crypto via third‑party providers like Moonpay and Sardine.ai. This is usually the most expensive option compared to exchanges such as Binance or Bybit.

Tap Buy & Sell in the bottom right. Select currencies and amounts as needed.

Tap Continue to connect to the provider’s API. You’ll enter personal information (email, address, date of birth, selfie with ID, etc.) for verification and payment setup.

Once approved, complete the purchase. Fees are included in the quote, and crypto typically arrives in under 20 minutes.

Staking

Staking lets you earn rewards on supported assets (e.g., ADA, SOL), though reward timing varies by network.

To start staking, tap the icon in the top right.

The current APY displays on screen but isn’t fixed—it fluctuates with network activity.

When entering an amount, leave a small balance (e.g., 0.01 SOL) for fees—this covers hundreds of transactions.

You can stake your full balance, but then you’ll need to top up for future unstaking, transfers, or dApp interactions. Confirm with Stake SOL to activate.

Rewards begin after 4–8 days and auto-compound. To unstake, tap Unstake SOL; the process takes about two days.

Note: staked SOL is locked until you unstake. Solana’s low fees (under $0.01) mean even 0.01 SOL covers many transactions.

Tip: if you need liquidity, split your balance—stake part and keep some for on‑chain activity.

NFT Gallery

The wallet includes an NFT gallery for viewing and managing your multi‑chain collections in a unified interface.

This gallery supports NFTs on Ethereum, Solana, Algorand, and more, so you can browse and interact with all your collectibles in one place.

Advanced Settings

In advanced settings, you can:

Add custom tokens
Import wallets
Connect Exodus to hardware devices or sync with the desktop app
Bridge to external dApps via Wallet Connect and more

Wallet Connect

For dApp integration, Exodus offers support via Wallet Connect and Web3.

In the Web3 section, add a connection to display a QR code for scanning. This lets you interact with DeFi platforms without leaving Exodus.

The Web3 feature provides a direct, decentralized link to DeFi apps, expanding the wallet’s capabilities.

Expert Options

Tap any coin for extra settings. For Bitcoin, you can import other wallets via private key or enable generating a new address for each receive.

Using new addresses for every receive enhances privacy, since all addresses link to one seed phrase, making it harder to trace your balances.

You can choose between Legacy for compatibility or SegWit for lower fees.

You can also obtain a Taproot Address for improved privacy, security, and potentially lower fees.

In Settings, manage notifications, sound alerts, display currency, networks, enable portfolio view, and export transaction history.

Adding Tokens

On the main portfolio screen, you’ll see all supported assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, etc., with options to star favorites or reorder.

To customize your list, scroll to Add More and disable tokens you don’t use, such as Binance Coin.

For multi‑chain tokens like Tether, choose your preferred network (Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, etc.).

Import & Restore

Warning: back up your current wallet before restoring to avoid losing funds. Restoring will overwrite existing data.

To restore or import:

Go to Apps (bottom right).
Tap Settings in that section.
Scroll down to Advanced.
Select Restore Wallet (second from bottom).

Enter your seed phrase. Once complete, the wallet opens and you regain access to your funds.

The Restore Wallet option also lets you replace the current wallet with another seed phrase, handy for managing multiple wallets.

To fully delete the wallet, use Delete Wallet, which resets the app but keeps previous seed phrases for future restores.

Hardware Wallet Integration

By connecting your Ledger, you get a separate portfolio managed on your device. You can view balances, send, swap, and stake while private keys stay on Ledger. Transactions are signed on the hardware.

Note: Exodus and Ledger use different seed lengths (12 vs. 24 words). Store them separately.

To connect your Ledger, go to Settings → Connect Ledger.

Ensure your Ledger is unlocked and Bluetooth is on. Keep it near your phone and tap Continue in Exodus.

Select your Ledger device from the list. On Ledger, open the app for your crypto (e.g., Bitcoin), then return to Exodus and tap Continue.

Exodus will list available Ledger accounts. Choose one to link. You can then switch between Exodus and Ledger portfolios within the app.

This integration combines cold storage security with the convenience of Exodus.

Sync with Desktop

To sync mobile with desktop, go to Settings, select Sync Devices, and choose the device (computer or another mobile) you want to pair with.

The process uses a QR code scan from the desktop app, importing existing wallets and seed phrases.

Conclusion, Critique, and Is It Worth It?

Overall, Exodus offers user-friendly Web3 connectivity, portfolio management, staking, NFTs, and more. However, higher in-app swap and purchase fees detract from its value.

Critique.

Previously, support calls cost $50 for 35 minutes. That fee was later removed, showing that the team listens to users.

Exodus has a 4.1/5 rating on Trustpilot, based on 4,052 reviews. Users praise responsive support for seed‑phrase recovery and software issues.

In summary, Exodus is simple yet feature‑rich. It could benefit from view‑only addresses and lower in‑app fees.

Whether to use Exodus or choose another from our rankings is up to you.

Feel free to ask questions or leave comments—we’ll respond to everyone!

Support:

Add a comment

Comments

Add new comment

SafePal: руководство по аппаратному и мобильному кошелькам, расширению и их безопасности

Максим Анисимов — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 19:34:56 +0000

SafePal: A Guide to Hardware & Mobile Wallets, the Browser Extension, and Their Security

Максим Анисимов Fri, 04/18/2025 - 15:24

Contents

What level of reliability and benefits does the Safepal range of hardware and software wallets offer you? Let’s break down the advantages and drawbacks.

Safepal wallets come in three types:

Hardware – designed for security. They feature a self-destruct mechanism if tampering is detected, complete air‑gap isolation, a PIN code and a seed phrase. The keys can never leave the device. The secure chip is CC EAL6+ certified.
Mobile App – used in tandem with the hardware wallet to confirm transactions via QR code.
Browser Extension – convenient for Web3 interactions such as NFTs, bridges, DeFi and more.

Note that the app and extension can also be used independently of the hardware wallet; they’re fully functional products on their own.

Let’s take a closer look at what Safepal offers and whether it’s worth using. We’ll start with the hardware devices.

Hardware Wallets

Safepal offers three models: the budget-friendly S1, the X1, and the S1 Pro.

Differences Between SafePal Models
Feature	SafePal S1	SafePal X1	SafePal S1 Pro
Price	~ $49.99	~ $69.99	~ $89.99
Security Element	CC EAL6+	CC EAL5+	CC EAL6+
Transaction Signing	QR Code	Bluetooth	QR Code
Display	1.3″ color, 320×320	1.8″ monochrome, 128×64	1.3″ color, 320×320
Battery	400 mAh	200 mAh	500 mAh
Material	Plastic	Plastic + Tempered Glass	Aluminum Alloy + Tempered Glass
Input Method	D-pad	12 Buttons + D-pad	D-pad

All models support 200+ blockchains, an unlimited number of tokens and NFTs. The differences lie in price, display and battery capacity.

Let’s examine how they defend against hacking attempts.

Security

The security across all models is effectively the same. The distinction between EAL6+ and EAL5+ chip certifications won’t be noticeable in practice and is largely marketing. In reality, 99% of threats to hardware wallets come from phishing, seed‑phrase theft, and signing fraudulent transactions.

The core of fraudulent transactions is that the hardware wallet signs a transaction different from what the user expected. This attack leverages the small screen size of hardware devices, preventing you from seeing the full destination address.

Other threats include phishing and various methods of stealing your seed phrase.

In summary, the true security of hardware wallets doesn’t hinge on the chip or materials alone. Real protection depends on how you use the device:

Always verify transaction details on the screen.
Understand how to review smart-contract interactions if you’re engaging with them.
Avoid buying suspicious wallets from unverified marketplaces—they may be pre‑compromised.
Never store your seed phrase on your computer or enter it in response to unsolicited requests.

By following these precautions, your wallet will remain truly secure.

Bottom line:

SafePal S1 — best value for price and features. Read the detailed security and hidden‑features review of the SafePal S1.
SafePal X1 — convenient for quick transactions via Bluetooth.
SafePal S1 Pro — mainly a way for the manufacturer to charge an extra $40. The differences from the S1 are minimal and limited to materials. It’s not worth the surcharge.

All models feature tamper‑detection self‑destruct. If someone physically opens the device, exposure to light wipes all data. You can always restore funds with your seed phrase.

The overarching security advantage of SafePal lies in its air‑gapped design and QR‑based transaction signing, eliminating any direct internet connection.

Additional measures include a hardware‑based random number generator, a self‑destruct mechanism, and the automatic deletion of customer data from the SafePal website.

Notifications are pushed exclusively via social channels, minimizing phishing risks through email.

Usability Comparison

Navigation can sometimes be tricky across all wallets, even for average‑sized hands.

The battery lasts about two weeks under moderate use, which is ample for most users.

SafePal X1 vs S1 Comparison
Feature	SafePal X1	SafePal S1
Security	Reduced (Bluetooth increases attack surface)	Maximum (fully offline, no wireless interfaces, self‑destruct on tamper)
Usability	High: Bluetooth, no QR scanning required	Lower: bulky form factor, less intuitive interface
Main Focus	Ease of use	Defense against external threats

SafePal X1’s Bluetooth adds convenience but reduces isolation from external networks. It’s ideal if you’re willing to trade a bit of security for ease of use and to avoid constant QR scanning.

SafePal S1 prioritizes security (air‑gapped storage, no wireless interfaces, self‑destruct on tamper) but can feel bulky and less polished in the UI.

All models require periodic recharging.

Firmware Updates

Safepal releases firmware updates every 2–3 weeks to enhance security, add support for new blockchains, fix bugs, and more.

Learn what new features regular firmware updates unlock for your device in a dedicated article.

Mobile App

The SafePal mobile app offers you the following advantages:

Built‑in swaps, exchanges and DApps directly in the wallet.
Passive income – staking, Binance Earn, liquidity farming and other money‑making dApps.
Gas Station – swap USDT, USDC or SFP to cover network fees for the tokens you need.
Use prebuilt index portfolios for investment. For example, portfolios categorized by theme: memecoins, stablecoins, AI tokens, and more.
Built‑in bank account – open a virtual Mastercard with PayPal/Apple/Google Pay integration. (Available only in select regions.)

With its extensive feature set, the mobile app can feel cluttered.

App Security

Security features include pattern unlock, Touch ID and automatic timeout lock. Of course, you still manage your seed phrase yourself.

See our dedicated article on the SafePal mobile app for a deep dive into benefits, drawbacks, market tracking and hidden features.

Browser Extension

The SafePal browser extension is essentially the mobile wallet’s PC counterpart. It’s slightly trimmed down—no built‑in exchanges or charts.

Browser wallets are typically used for Web3 interactions: staking, NFTs, ENS, bridges, aggregators, etc.

The key advantage is seamless integration with decentralized apps: you simply find a promising project, review its terms, and click Connect Wallet.

Keep in mind risks like smart‑contract vulnerabilities when connecting to these projects. The extension includes disconnect functionality to mitigate such risks.

There’s also built‑in phishing protection, but always do your own due diligence before connecting.

Notable features include:

Multi‑network support such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Tron, Polygon, Solana, Avalanche, Cardano, Optimism, Near, Arbitrum, Fantom.
Simultaneous DApp connections across these networks.
Multiple account support from one seed phrase—for example, one account for DApps, another for savings, etc.
Standard functions: send/receive crypto, swaps, NFTs and a Gas Station for fee management.
Observation Mode – add addresses for watch‑only access without private keys.

Observation Mode lets you track your own or any other address’s activity without risk—ideal for following whales or smart traders to learn or copy strategies.

Learn how to safely use the SafePal browser extension for quick DeFi and NFT access in our standalone guide.

Finally, let’s compare Safepal’s offerings with other wallets on the market.

SafePal vs. Other Wallets

SafePal competes with hardware‑wallet veterans like Ledger and Trezor. It stands out thanks to its lower price at comparable security levels (EAL5+), broad crypto support (9,000+ assets) and unique features like the self‑destruct mechanism.

Here’s a quick comparison of the main players to help you orient yourself.

SafePal and Its Competitors
Wallet	Security & Connectivity	Assets	Features
SafePal S1	EAL 5+, QR Codes	9,000+	Self‑destruct, portability, low price
Ledger Nano X	EAL 5+, Bluetooth, USB	5,500+	Extensive support, Ledger Live management
Ledger Nano S+	EAL 6+, USB (no Bluetooth)	5,500+	Budget option
Trezor Model T	EAL 6+, USB	~1,000	Large touchscreen, Trezor Suite
Tangem	EAL 6+, NFC	81 networks – thousands of tokens	Card form factor, user‑friendly
Ellipal Titan	EAL 5+, QR/Wi‑Fi	10,000+	Air‑gapped, staking support
Cypherock X1	EAL 6+, USB	9,000+	Distributed key cards, BIP39

SafePal holds its own against competitors. To determine which wallet is best for you, decide which criteria—security, features or usability—matter most. See our in‑depth article on the three pillars of choosing a cold wallet: Security, Functionality and Convenience.

Overall Assessment of Safepal Wallets

SafePal has never been hacked, while products like MetaMask and Trust Wallet have experienced security incidents.

From a hardware‑wallet security standpoint, you can trust SafePal—provided you follow basic best practices: record your seed phrase on paper and never respond to unsolicited instructions via social‑media DMs.

The mobile app and browser extension should be used with caution—they’re hot wallets with internet connectivity and inherently cannot match the security of a hardware device.

Have questions or feedback? Leave a comment and we’ll get back to you!

Add a comment

Comments

Add new comment

Rate article

Category

Cryptocurrency wallets

Как пользоваться аппаратным кошельком SafePal S1

Максим Анисимов — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 11:13:04 +0000

How to Use the SafePal S1 Hardware Wallet Максим Анисимов Tue, 04/15/2025 - 15:50

Contents

You will learn about the security and all the features of the SafePal S1 hardware wallet and how to use it correctly.

SafePal S1 is a hardware wallet that stores your private keys completely offline – without Bluetooth, WiFi, NFC, or any other radio-frequency connections. All crypto transactions are carried out via QR code scans within the app, eliminating the risk of your keys being exposed online.

When unboxing, you will find the following contents: sheets for recording the seed phrase, stickers, a cleaning cloth, the hardware wallet itself, a USB cable, and QR codes for downloading the app.

Contents

Coin support is one of the widest - all popular blockchains and coins are here.

But first, let’s focus on security, as it is the most important aspect of any wallet.

Security and Features

What does SafePal offer to protect your funds?

Security:

Dual chip architecture and EAL5+ – the wallet’s processor meets the highest security level of EAL5+, similar to Ledger and Trezor. This ensures protection against physical attacks.
No wireless interfaces – there is no WiFi, Bluetooth, or NFC, which eliminates the risk of remote hacking. Updates are only performed via a wired connection.
QR Code Generation Mechanism – transactions are signed by scanning a QR code with an integrated camera, preventing any direct internet exposure.

But SafePal does not stop at basic protection. It also offers some unique features:

Additional Security Features:

Self-destruction upon tampering – light sensors trigger data wiping if physical intrusion is detected. Recovery is possible via the seed phrase.
Automatic deletion of customer data – purchase information is erased from the website after 30 days, reducing the risk of data leaks (unlike Ledger).
Hardware Random Number Generator – ensures reliable creation of private keys. It complies with the AIS 31 (BSI Germany) standard.

Additionally, an extra measure is the abandonment of email. All notifications are published exclusively on official social platforms (X/Telegram), minimizing phishing risks and personal data leaks.

The security measures seem robust. Let’s now take a closer look at the wallet and learn how to use it in practice.

Setup

The SafePal S1 operates on a battery, so make sure to fully charge it before the initial setup. You will need a smartphone with the SafePal app installed.

To turn on the device, press the side button and wait for about 3 seconds.

The screen will light up, and you will reach the initial language selection menu with options such as English, Russian, Spanish, etc.

Navigation is done using the up, down, left, and right buttons along with the confirm button (sometimes the side button serves this function).

A QR code for authorizing the wallet will appear on the screen. This is crucial for confirming its authenticity – read more here.

Open your smartphone’s camera, scan the code, and follow the link in your browser.

Enter the authorization PIN that appears on the wallet screen, for example, 800832.

After entering the code, the device will be checked, and a new QR code for activation will appear in your browser. Scan it using the wallet’s camera.

Done! You will see the timestamp of the first authentication, confirming that the wallet has not been used before.

You have completed the initial setup; now it’s time to create your wallet.

Mnemonic Phrase

Select the Create New Wallet option to set up a new wallet, or choose Recover My Wallet if you wish to restore an existing one. Let’s create a new wallet and obtain your mnemonic phrase – the master key to access your assets.

It is recommended to use a 24-word phrase, as it increases security.

Write down the phrase on the provided cards or on another secure medium. We suggest using uppercase letters to minimize the chance of recording errors.

After recording, the wallet will ask you to verify several random words from the phrase, for example, Onion and Turtle. This is to ensure you have accurately saved it.

Next, set a 6-digit PIN code. Avoid obvious combinations like 123456 – choose something more complex and unique.

Once confirmed, your wallet will be successfully created.

Assign it a name, for example, maxim_anisimov, and save it. This name helps you distinguish between multiple wallets.

Connecting to the App

A QR code for downloading the SafePal app for your smartphone will be displayed on the screen. You can also find it on the cards included in the package or on the official website.

For further use, install the app, as all operations are performed via QR codes within it.

To connect your hardware wallet with the app:

Launch the app and choose Connect Hardware Wallet
Select your wallet model – S1, X1, or S1 Pro.
Turn on your hardware wallet and press Next.
Press I'm ready! when you are prepared to scan the QR code.
Finally, scan the QR code to link the wallets.

Confirm the connection by entering the PIN on your hardware wallet.

Then, in the mobile app, press Next and scan the QR code from your hardware wallet.

After scanning, your hardware wallet will be successfully connected to the mobile app. You can now start using your wallet!

Within the app, you will have access to cryptocurrency purchasing, a built-in exchange, NFT functionality, swaps, Gas Station, Earn, DApps, Bank, staking via Binance Earn and Farm, and more. Read more about these hidden features in the dedicated manual.

How to Use – Main Menu

At the top of the screen, the wallet’s name and a security suffix – three characters that protect against device spoofing – are displayed.

The battery charge level is shown nearby – if it’s low, connect the wallet to a charger.

The main menu has four sections:

Scan – to perform crypto transactions via QR codes
Asset Management – to retrieve addresses for assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, etc.
Signing History – a complete history of all transactions
Settings – including security, firmware updates, version info, and more options

Let’s start with the first section – the QR scanner.

QR Scanner – Scan

The Scan function activates the camera to securely authorize your crypto transactions via QR codes.

The camera is located on the back of the device.

The QR codes used for wallet operations are encrypted. This means that information about your account and addresses remains inaccessible to unauthorized parties.

Even if someone intercepts such a QR code, they will not be able to decrypt it – only SafePal devices (the S1 hardware wallet or the app) have that capability.

Thus, transaction confirmations occur offline and without wireless connections. SafePal uses QR codes to transfer data between devices – a completely offline method.

We will cover deposit and withdrawal transactions later; for now, let’s continue with the overall overview. To return to the menu, use the back button.

Next, let’s move to Asset Management.

Asset Management

By default, Asset Management displays Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, and BNB20.

You can select any asset to view the receiving address. A complete list of all supported coins is available on the official website.

For BTC, you can toggle between address types (SegWit, Native SegWit, Legacy).

For example, Native SegWit offers lower fees, while Legacy is compatible with older wallets.

You can also check the transaction history for the selected asset.

Address and Deposits

To obtain an address on the hardware wallet:

Select the coin and click Receive
Get the address and corresponding QR code
Scan this QR code or share the address with the sender.

To make a deposit, you can scan your QR code with another mobile wallet. For instance, if you have a Trust Wallet with funds and want to transfer them to SafePal.

Sending Crypto

To send funds, open the app, click Send, enter the recipient’s address (or paste a copied address), specify the amount, and click Next.

Select a fee (recommended or manual) and confirm.

Sign the transaction using your hardware wallet: go to Scan and scan the QR code generated by the app.

On the wallet screen, details of the transfer will be displayed – review and press OK, then enter your PIN code.

Now, in the app, scan the new QR code displayed on the hardware wallet.

Confirm the transaction to broadcast it to the network; after a few seconds, the status will change to Success.

This way, you sign offline transactions via QR in SafePal – secure and convenient.

Let’s move on to the next section in the main menu.

Signing History

In the Signing History section, you can review and view the history of every cryptocurrency transfer, authorization, or trade made with your device.

In general, it is more convenient to review your history via the app since a smartphone interface is more familiar and easier to manage. SafePal also offers a browser extension that allows access to dApps.

Now, let’s move on to the Settings section.

Settings

The Settings menu includes the following options:

Security:

Passphrase – provides an additional layer of security and the option to create an extra account (explained below).
Seed Verification – ensures that the keys written on paper match those stored in the wallet. This feature won’t reveal the seed phrase; instead, you will be asked to input certain words. The wallet will then confirm whether you have recorded the phrase correctly.
Sleep Time – set the duration for screen timeout during inactivity. For example, 120 seconds.
Auto-OFF – set the time before the wallet powers down when inactive. For example, 455 seconds (7 minutes).
Change PIN – the digits on the screen are shuffled to make code guessing more difficult.

Firmware and Interface:

Language – select the language (English, Russian, Spanish, etc.).
Reset Wallet – clears the wallet data stored on the chip. This is useful if you need to reset your PIN.
Download App – redirects to the app download page.
About – displays the wallet’s version information.
Upgrade – for firmware updates. This will require the version number, which can be found under About.

Passphrase

The Passphrase feature allows you to create additional secure accounts based on your seed phrase. In other words, from a single seed phrase, all of your accounts can be recovered.

Why is this useful? For example, you may wish to logically separate wallets used for long-term storage from those used for staking or other DeFi activities.

To add a Passphrase:

Go to Settings → Passphrase → Set Passphrase.
Enter your PIN code.
Invent and enter a phrase. It can include uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols (up to 60 characters).
After setting the phrase, a new wallet is generated. Give it a unique name for identification.

Thus, by entering your passphrase, you create a new wallet that can also be linked with the app.

You can add an unlimited number of wallets with different passphrases. Just be sure to record their passwords!

To return to your primary wallet, go to Settings → Passphrase → Set Passphrase. When prompted whether a passphrase is required, select No, enter your PIN code, and confirm. This will return you to your original wallet.

Reset and Recovery

The Reset function is used if you forget your wallet’s PIN but remember your seed phrase. From the seed phrase, you can restore your wallet with a new PIN.

If you need to reset your wallet, navigate to Settings → Reset Wallet. Note that the wallet will not prompt for a PIN, so ensure that you have your seed phrase safely stored.

After confirming the reset, the device will erase all data and restart.

For recovery, select Recover My Wallet, enter the 24-word seed phrase, then set a new PIN and name.

After verifying the security suffix in the app, you will confirm that the wallet has been successfully restored.

Firmware Upgrade

Firmware updates enhance the wallet’s performance, add network support, and fix bugs.

Before updating, make a backup of your seed phrase. Then, download the latest firmware from safepal.com/upgrade. Connect the device to your PC and enter upgrade mode via the Settings menu.

Next, transfer the firmware file to the virtual drive and click Upgrade. Detailed instructions are available on a separate page – How to Upgrade the SafePal Firmware – [Step-by-Step Guide].

SafePal vs Ledger, Trezor, Tangem

Security, functionality, and ease of use are the three key criteria when choosing.

In this article, you will find a comparison between SafePal, Ledger, Trezor, Tangem, and Cypherock.

Let’s quickly compare SafePal with Ledger Nano S.

Criterion	Ledger Nano S	SafePal
Security Chip	CC EAL5+	CC EAL5+
Connection Method	USB (risk of interception)	QR codes (wireless-free)
Screen Size	Small (text scrolling required)	1.3 inches (easy address verification)
Design	Plastic + stainless steel	Plastic, with a convenient D-pad
Platforms	PC only (Ledger Live)	iOS/Android + QR code camera + browser extension
Conclusion
Target Audience	Wide support for out-of-the-box coins	Security, portability, budget-friendly option
Best Choice	Storing rare altcoins	Bitcoin/Ethereum + ERC-20 tokens + 48 blockchains

Summary: Security, Drawbacks, and Advantages

The wallet has its strengths and weaknesses. On the one hand, it supports a huge number of coins and tokens – as many as 48 blockchains and over 9000 tokens. On the other, the setup process involves scanning QR codes using a smartphone, which might be a bit tedious.

The wallet’s main highlight is its enhanced security. When the casing is tampered with, a light sensor erases all data, making unauthorized access nearly impossible. Unlike Ledger, the chances of data theft are minimal.

Additionally, the device features an integrated battery that lasts for several weeks. There is no Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB connection – except for firmware updates via the website. However, updating requires entering a serial number, which might raise questions regarding anonymity.

On the plus side, there are plenty of buttons, making it easy to enter the seed phrase.

What are the drawbacks?

The wallet is relatively large compared to its counterparts and resembles a 90s-style calculator.
Its screen tends to attract many fingerprints.
Not all of the source code is open – only the chip’s code is public.
It needs charging. Although this avoids a PC connection and thus improves security, the battery lasts for around 3 weeks.

Overall, the wallet performs on par with its hardware counterparts. Essential functions such as seed phrase verification, creation of additional wallets, transaction signing, and recovery operate reliably and conveniently.

Whether to use SafePal or choose another reliable wallet is up to you. We recommend doing your own research and comparisons.

Feel free to write your questions and leave comments. We are here to answer them all!

Add a comment

Comments

Add new comment

Полное руководство по мобильному приложению кошелька SafePal

Максим Анисимов — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 11:07:03 +0000

The Complete Guide to the SafePal Mobile Wallet App Максим Анисимов Fri, 04/11/2025 - 15:41

Contents

How to buy tokens that are scarce for transactions profitably using the Gas Station and how to save on Layer 2 networks is already explained in the article about the SafePal Wallet Browser Extension.

Here you will learn about the mobile version of the SafePal wallet: its security, cost efficiency, and user-friendliness.

SafePal App is the mobile adaptation of SafePal, designed to work in tandem with their hardware wallet. The app allows you to access features such as: hardware wallet management, token swaps, dApps, Earn, and more.

The wallet supports almost all popular blockchains and cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, XRP, Sol, TON, SUI and many others.

Supported Assets

Interestingly, integrated exchanges for trading, charts, and staking tools are built in. The English version also includes news and a banking account feature.

Before using the wallet, it is important to understand its security features to safeguard your assets.

Security and Features

In terms of security, the following measures are implemented:

Security:

Self-Custody – keep your private keys and seed phrase without any intermediaries.
Graphic Password – use a custom pattern to unlock your wallet.
Touch ID – log in using your fingerprint.

Additional security measures include:

Additional:

Auto-Signing – enter your password once to sign transactions over a set period without repeated authentication.
Auto-Lock – set a timer after which the wallet locks automatically to protect your funds.

And of course, there is standard password protection. Let’s move on to the benefits.

Your Benefits:

Integrated Swaps, Exchanges, and DApps – execute token swaps, trading, and interact with decentralized applications (DApps) directly within the wallet.

Gas Station – swap USDT, USDC, or SFP to cover network fees for required tokens right in the app.

Indexed Crypto Offers – invest using pre-built index portfolios.

Built-in Bank Account – open an account with a virtual Mastercard along with PayPal/Apple/Google Pay integration.

Regrettably, the banking account is not available in all regions. However, there are many other interesting features. Let’s take a closer look by installing the wallet.

Download, Installation, and Wallet Creation

Download the app from the official website. Versions for Android, iOS, and an APK file are available here.

Launch the app and you will be greeted with a welcome screen where you can connect your hardware wallet, import an existing one, or create a new wallet. Choose Create new wallet and set up a 6-digit password.

Backup

In the next step, back up your wallet to always have the option for recovery. Click Back Up Now and select Back Up Manually.

There is also an option for Back Up to Google Drive, though it is not recommended to store wallet data on cloud services.

Please read the warnings about losing access to your assets if the mnemonic phrase is lost and click Understood.

The app will generate a seed phrase – record it on paper in multiple copies so as not to lose it.

Next, you must confirm the words in the correct order to prove to SafePal that you have noted them correctly.

After clicking Verify, your wallet will open. Congratulations! You can now start using it.

How to Use

Let's begin with a brief overview of what the wallet interface offers you. Detailed descriptions of each section follow below.

Coin – where your main cryptocurrencies and tokens are displayed.
Bank – a crypto-banking account with zero fees for opening, managing, and transfers, regulated by the Swiss FINMA.
DeFi – connect to protocols to earn interest.
NFT – view your NFTs acquired on various blockchains.

Centered are buttons for key crypto operations:

Send – send cryptocurrency by entering the recipient address, amount, and fee.
Receive – display the QR code and address for receiving funds.
Buy – purchase cryptocurrency with your local currency via third-party providers or exchanges.
Index – a tab dedicated to passive crypto investments via indices – curated asset bundles (for example, DeFi, meme coins).

And there is the More button. It reveals additional features: SFplus, Gas Station, Approval Manager, SafePal Store, and Sign Message. We will cover these gradually.

Finally, the bottom menu:

Wallet – crypto management tab featuring a list of coins along with top-up, send buttons, etc.
Market – track prices, charts, and favorite coins.
Explore – an integrated browser for accessing DApps with automatic smart contract connections.
Swap – a feature for instant token conversions (for example, BTC to ETH).
Earn – earn rewards through staking, deposits, participation in liquidity pools, and more.

Let’s move on to specifics. Starting with receiving addresses.

How to Create an Address

To generate an address:

Select a coin
Click Receive
Copy the address or QR code.

You can configure your BTC address by clicking on the menu.

You are offered a choice:

Use one address – all transactions use a single address: convenient for tracking, but offers less privacy.
Use multiple addresses – a new address is created each time and balances are aggregated. This increases anonymity by making transaction tracing more difficult.

The choice depends on your priorities: ease of management (one address) versus privacy (multiple addresses).

After obtaining an address, let’s move on to deposit options.

How to Fund

To deposit funds, share your address with the sender or use other services such as exchanges, swap services, and wallets.

Read our separate article: Deposit Methods – Exchanges, Telegram, P2P.

Once the transaction is completed, the wallet will update your balances.

SafePal also offers other funding methods: the Market tab and direct crypto purchases via bank cards.

Buying

You can buy (or sell) crypto directly through integrated providers such as MoonPay, Binance Connect, etc. These providers charge a fee per transaction and may not be available in all regions.

Under the Buy/Sell Crypto tab, you’ll have different payment options (card, bank transfer, Google Pay/Apple Pay, etc.).

For example, with Binance Connect you may receive 0.00341503 BTC for 300 USD, which is more favorable than 0.00311 BTC via MoonPay.

Is it cost-effective for you? The built-in services allow you to buy crypto without an exchange, saving time – but you may pay higher fees. The exchange rates offered by these services are also not always competitive, so it’s best to compare them with market rates.

Exchange

The Market tab offers the following opportunities:

Access to market analytics and the Binance DApp – view real-time candlestick charts, analyze trends, and search for promising projects.
Crypto Trading – create spot orders: choose a pair (e.g., BTC/USDT), enter an amount, confirm the trade, and track its status in the transaction history.
Buying and Selling NFTs – purchase NFTs with the Buy button or list your own for sale.

Go to the Market tab, select a coin, view the chart, and click Trade. This will open the Binance DApp.

Besides Binance, two other exchanges – MEXC and BingX – are also integrated into the wallet.

The Market tab lets you conveniently sort market categories. You can add projects to your favorites or toggle between categories such as meme coins, stablecoins, mining coins, etc.

For instance, if you want to track those with the highest growth potential, choose the Meme category.

What other categories might interest you?

Meme – remain in the spotlight driven by community activity and hype (DOGE, SHIB, etc.).
Stablecoins – consistently at the top by volume since they are used for trading and hedging.
AI – following the surge of interest in artificial intelligence, many AI-related tokens have grown.

And the time-tested ones:

Layer2 (Arbitrum, Optimism, etc.) – solutions that reduce fees and speed up Ethereum transactions. They are in high demand.
DeFi – still represents a significant market share, especially in DEX segments (Uniswap, Curve) and lending (Aave, Compound).
NFT – continues to attract enthusiasts and major brands (although the hype has slightly cooled, the sector remains active).

NFT

The NFT section is available in two places:

Under Market for discovering and purchasing promising collections, and
Within the Wallet tab for managing your collections.

In Market you will see details on NFT project rankings by market capitalization (By Market Cap), floor price (Floor Price), and other metrics.

Popular collections such as CryptoPunks, Pudgy Penguins, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Chrome Squiggle, among others, are listed with their current financial details.

By clicking on a collection, you can see which projects are most capitalized and popular. For instance, CryptoPunks with a Floor Price of 41 ETH and a Market Cap of 430,000 ETH is a major market player.

Data such as Floor Price and Market Cap can help assess a project’s stability. For example, CryptoPunks might be less risky than a new NFT project.

If you simply want to observe market trends, you might start with small amounts or even free NFTs available through airdrops or promotions.

If your aim is speculation (buy low, sell high), you will need to study the market, tokenomics, and project reputations more closely.

Swap

Instead of going to a specific exchange (Binance, Bybit, etc.), creating an account there, or transferring funds, you can swap cryptocurrencies directly within the wallet.

Here’s how the wallet’s swap conditions work for you:

Select the tokens and specify the amount.
Review the list of available swap offers.
Set a price tolerance – either fixed or allowing for a slight fluctuation in percentage terms.

Is it beneficial? It depends on the provider you choose. For example:

The best rate: Binance (2020 USDT per 1 ETH) gives you 1010.12 USDT for 0.5 ETH.
The worst rate: Changelly (1998.72 USDT per 1 ETH) — 999.36 USDT.
Difference: ~8.76 USDT (approximately 0.87% of the amount).

You can also set a Floating rate or Fixed Rate.

Fixed rate protects you against price fluctuations but might be less advantageous.
Floating rate can vary slightly during the swap, depending on market price movements. You can specify an acceptable percentage variation – the Slippage tolerance.

A swap is beneficial if you choose a provider with a high rate and low fees.

Fees

Swap fee – 0.2% significantly enhances the value proposition. These fees are comparable to those on exchanges, while other wallets may charge up to 3% for swaps.

Other operation fees:

Deposit fee – 0%, but currency exchanges via the banking gateway (non-Euro, using Visa cards) incur a 1% fee.
Binance DApp fees in SafePal are identical to those on Binance itself. SafePal does not add extra charges.
Transaction fees are not charged by SafePal; however, the networks themselves impose transaction fees. Therefore, it is advisable to use L2 networks with low fees.

Operation	Fee
Swap	0.2%
Deposit	0%
Currency exchange via bank gateway (non-Euro, Visa)	1%
Binance DApp Fees	Same as on Binance
Transactions	Network fees only

If you need to perform a transaction with tokens but lack the funds to pay the fee on that blockchain, use the Gas Station.

Gas Station

This feature automatically converts some of your assets (such as stablecoins or $SFP) into the required cryptocurrency needed for paying fees. In other words, Gas Station acts like a separate account dedicated to covering transaction fees.

For example:

You initiate a transfer of a token, e.g., USDT on the ETH network.
If there isn’t enough ETH in the wallet to cover the fee, SafePal will prompt you to swap a small amount of USDT via the Gas Station.
The fee is automatically paid, and the transaction is sent!

This feature is hidden under the More menu.

Simply choose the network and tokens for the swap.

Earn

The Earn tab allows you to put your idle assets to work like a bank deposit. Idle crypto can start generating income.

You have access to options such as Stake, Binance Earn, and Farm.

Staking

Stake is similar to a bank deposit. SafePal offers the following conditions:

DAI – 5% APR.
TRX – 3.99% APR.
ETH – 2.87% APR – a modest yet steady return from a major cryptocurrency.

For example, you can stake DAI and receive the token sDAI in return.

sDAI is the “staked version” of your DAI (serving as proof that your DAI is locked in a smart contract). You earn income (an APR of 5% is advertised).

You can then unstake your DAI while accounting for accrued interest.

Binance Earn

Integrated Binance Earn in the wallet allows you to stake crypto at slightly lower rates, with options that may even offer daily interest accrual.

Both fixed (Fixed) and flexible (Flexible) staking options are available.

Unlike fixed-term deposits, flexible staking allows you to withdraw your assets at any time without forfeiting accrued interest.

For instance, by staking FDUSD (a stablecoin pegged to the dollar), you can earn an annual rate of up to 11% depending on the amount and terms.

For example, if you invest 800 FDUSD in Tier 1 (0–800 FDUSD) at an 11% APR, your annual income will be approximately 88 FDUSD (~0.24 FDUSD per day).

Are there any downsides? Of course. The app reminds you: "All investments carry risks." Even though FDUSD is a stablecoin, risks include:

Platform security issues (for example, a Binance hack).
Regulatory changes affecting stablecoins.
A slight chance of FDUSD deviating from the dollar peg.

Also, you need to complete KYC verification on Binance to begin staking FDUSD.

Farm

With farming, you deposit tokens to help an exchange create sufficient liquidity. In return, you earn rewards from those exchanges. This is known as liquidity farming.

For example, depositing tokens like BNB-SFP LP or CAKE-BNB LP into liquidity pools may earn you between 3.35% and 4.98% plus additional bonuses.

This means that over a year, your contribution to the pool can yield returns in the form of tokens (often SFP or an additional pairing).

A yield of around 3–4% per annum is not the highest in the world of DeFi, but the risks are usually lower compared to more “aggressive” pools with high APRs.

However, conduct your own research before investing. Ensure you understand and are comfortable with the risks.

DApps

The DApps tab allows you to go beyond simply storing crypto in the wallet. It provides access to decentralized exchanges (DEXs), on-chain yield opportunities, lending markets, and more.

What kind of applications will you get?

Trading on DEXs such as PancakeSwap or Uniswap, enabling you to earn by discovering undervalued tokens or by arbitrage.
Lending – by lending assets on platforms like Aave or Venus, you can receive stable interest.
Yield Farming – platforms like Pendle or Magpie may offer APYs exceeding 10–20%, although rates vary with market conditions.
Liquidity Provision – earn fees, though be aware of the risk of impermanent loss if token prices diverge significantly.

This section also offers convenient filtering by category, network, and the option to add favorites.

Bank

The wallet integrates a bank that enables transactions with local fiat currency. This isn’t a traditional bank; it’s a Web3 bank that uses unique NFTs as digital banking credentials.

The account is opened with a virtual Mastercard, includes PayPal/Apple/Google Pay integration, supports deposits across 40+ blockchains, offers referral bonuses up to 40%, and provides staking privileges for SFP.

The banking account is not available in all regions.

To open a bank account:

Go to the Bank tab and click Get Started
Ensure that your wallet has a small amount of crypto (for instance, at least 0.001–0.002 ETH on the Arbitrum network)
If not, fund your wallet accordingly.

You will open a bank account, but to use it you also need a fiat account Fiat24. Opening this account involves verification – providing your passport, geolocation, and a selfie.

Finally, after all the KYC processes, you will see your card along with new available features.

The card allows you to spend crypto via conversion into euros.

How to Withdraw

You have two methods to withdraw funds:

Method 1: Withdrawing Crypto

In SafePal: select a coin and click Send.
Paste the recipient address in SafePal, enter the amount, and confirm the withdrawal.

Method 2: Withdrawing to a Bank via an Exchange

In SafePal: convert USDT to fiat on the Buy/Sell tab – select the currency and exchange.
After funds arrive at the exchange, withdraw them to your bank account via the P2P trading section.

For P2P trading, KYC verification is required on the exchange. Then, select your bank and a seller.

Advanced Settings

Adding Tokens

To add custom tokens:

Open Settings and select Custom Network
Click Add Network
Use the search function or click Add Manually
Enter the network details.

You can find the RPC Server and other details on ChainList.

Private Key and Seed Phrase

To retrieve your keys:

Click the arrow next to your wallet’s name
Click the three-dot menu
Select Backup for the seed phrase and Export Private Keys for the private key.

Remember, the seed phrase is common for the entire wallet, while the private key for each blockchain must be saved separately.

Import and Restore

To restore a wallet:

Go to the wallet addition menu and click Add Wallet
Select Add Existing Wallet and confirm with your PIN
Enter your seed phrase or private key.

This will restore your wallet along with all its assets.

Observation Mode

Observation Mode is a watch-only wallet that lets you monitor large crypto holders to see what transactions they are making. You can also add your own address to simply observe its balance without the ability to make withdrawals. This adds an extra layer of security.

To add a Watch-Only wallet:

In the wallet addition menu, select Observation Wallet
Agree to the disclaimer that funds cannot be sent to this address
Paste an address, for example, Vitalik Buterin’s 0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045
Select the networks
View the balance, NFTs, DApps, and other network activity of that address

Integration with Hardware Wallet

To link the app with a hardware wallet:

In the wallet addition menu, select Connect Hardware Wallet
Choose the wallet model between S1, X1, or S1 Pro.
Turn on your hardware wallet and click Next
When you are ready to scan the QR code, click I'm ready!
Finally, scan the QR code to link the wallets.

Conclusion: Is It Worth Using?

The SafePal App proves to be a veritable treasure trove in terms of functionality! It offers everything you could imagine: from secure crypto storage and convenient swaps to staking, exchange integration, and access to DApps.

Swaps are further secured by MEV protection technology. Moreover, scam token detection enhances security even further.

Based on all of our wallet comparisons, SafePal is rightfully considered one of the most feature-packed wallets available.

What are its downsides?

Combining the functions of both a hardware and a software wallet, along with mini-applications for swaps, has made the interface complex.
The sheer number of features can be overwhelming, making it hard to choose which tools to use.
Users report long support response times.

Overall, the wallet is quite good if you take the time to really understand its features. This is largely confirmed by its positive reviews.

Support:

Help Center and live chat where you can submit a support request.
Feedback form.
Troubleshooting articles.

Add a comment

Comments

Add new comment

3 главных критерия выбора холодного кошелька: Безопасность, Функции и Удобство

Максим Анисимов — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 09:09:19 +0000

3 key criteria for choosing a cold wallet: Security, Features, and Ease of Use.

Максим Анисимов Tue, 04/08/2025 - 12:50

Contents

When you need to choose a hardware wallet, it is important to rely on security, functionality, and ease of use.

Essentially, the market is dominated by 11 hardware wallet models from 6 major manufacturers:

Ledger,
Trezor,
SafePal,
Tangem,
Ellipal,
Cypherock

There are others: SecuX, BitBox, OneKey, and Keystone. However, they are less popular and will be reviewed another time.

We will first compare the top wallets, and then you will be able to determine which criteria are most important for your selection.

We will perform a comparison of the top models in a detailed table, and then you will see our conclusions regarding security, features, and ease of use.

The Complete Comparison Table of Cold Wallets
Wallet	Security Rating	Features and Connectivity
Ledger Nano X	(CC EAL) 5+	Supports a 24-word passphrase, managed via Ledger Live (500+ coins, expandable to 5500 through third-party wallets); Bluetooth and USB; Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS, Linux.
Ledger Nano S Plus	(CC EAL) 6+	Basic features without Bluetooth, iOS compatibility, or a built-in battery; connection is only through a cable. Android and iOS are not supported.
Ledger Stax	(CC EAL) 6+	Large touchscreen, wireless charging; functionality similar to the Nano X.
Trezor Safe 5	(EAL) 6+	Enhanced touchscreen, managed via Trezor Suite (around 1000 assets); Android, Windows, Linux, MacOS.
Trezor Model T	(EAL) 6+	Smaller touchscreen, basic functionality using a PIN and seed phrase; similar connectivity to Trezor Safe 5.
Trezor Safe 3	(EAL) 6+	Functionality similar to the Model T, but without a touchscreen; managed via Trezor Suite, using a PIN and seed phrase.
SafePal X1	(CC EAL) 5+	Added Bluetooth support, design reminiscent of a calculator; managed through the SafePal app; Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS; equipped with a self-destruct mechanism.
SafePal S1 / S1 Pro	(CC EAL) 5+	Version without Bluetooth with a camera for QR-code connectivity; managed via the SafePal app; supports Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS; equipped with a self-destruct mechanism.
Tangem	(EAL) 6+	Design in the form of a bank card with backup cards; requires no cables or batteries; managed via the Tangem app (59 networks, thousands of assets); operates via NFC.
Ellipal Titan 2.0 / mini	(EAL) 5+	Titan 2.0: 4" touchscreen, QR camera, supports buying/selling/staking; mini — a simplified version; managed via the Ellipal Titan app; iOS, Android.
Cypherock	(EAL) 6+ (for X1 cards)	Consists of 5 parts, eliminating the need for a single seed phrase; allows the import of up to 4 seed phrases; managed via the CySync app and USB; Windows, MacOS, Linux; supports 9000+ assets, BIP 39.

As you can see, all wallets have a security rating of 5+ and 6+. The difference between 5+ and 6+ is that 6+ undergoes additional checks for even more stringent protection.

However, unless you are managing billions or working in national security, EAL5+ is a sensible choice. This is because the main threats (phishing, seed phrase theft, physical access) depend less on the EAL level and more on how you use the device.

Let's move on to the selection criteria.

Choosing Based on 3 Criteria

How do you choose a wallet? To answer that question, determine which criterion is most important to you.

Security is considered foremost. It is important to understand the primary purpose of a hardware wallet: to protect your private key.

Security

Leaders: Ledger Nano S Plus, Stax, Trezor Safe 5/3, Cypherock (EAL 6+).
SafePal and Ellipal are rated EAL 5+ (sufficient for basic protection).

The differences in security among hardware wallets are relatively similar and vary between 5+ and 6+ since, essentially, they are certified chips. So, what then determines security?

Disassembled Ledger Nano X – chips and circuit diagrams

In addition to chips, the security of a wallet comprises two factors:

Complete information about the signed transaction displayed on the screen (more on that below)
The time the company has been on the market.

The duration of the company’s presence in the market determines the level of trust. New hardware wallets from unknown companies may emerge. However, they have not been tested over time.

It is important to check how many orders the company has and whether there have been any incidents of hacking or phishing.

A table with market entry years:

Wallet	Year Released	Note
Ledger	2016	The first model – Nano S
Trezor	2014	Trezor One (the first hardware wallet)
SafePal	2018	Supported by Binance Labs
Tangem	2018	Smart card-style wallets
Ellipal	2019	Titan model (the company was founded in 2018)
Cypherock	2023	X1 model (new recovery technology)

Here, Trezor and Ledger are the veterans of the market. However, Ledger did have a phishing incident. But more on that later.

In the section with the live wallet ratings you will find in-depth evaluations of hardware wallets.

Now let’s move on to the next criterion.

Ease of Use

Ease of use is not only about simplicity and clarity but also about the transparency of the information displayed on the wallet.

Beyond protecting your private keys, it is essential to easily verify that the transaction you are signing exactly matches what you intend to send.

There is an epidemic of thoughtless transaction signing without verifying its content, which has already led to billions of dollars in losses in the industry.

$1.4 billion was stolen from a cold wallet on the Bybit exchange – an example of how blindly signing transactions can lead to a loss of funds.

Transaction Information

For instance, SafePal displays detailed information in 3 stages before signing a transaction.

That is why it is crucial that the hardware wallet’s screen displays all the transaction details.

Touchscreens: Ledger Stax, Trezor Safe 5, Ellipal Titan.
Monochrome display: SafePal.
Minimalism: Tangem (wireless card), Trezor Safe 3 (without a screen).

Wallets with detailed screens are both safer and more user-friendly.

Here you can find the pros and cons comparison of each wallet.

Let’s move on to the third criterion.

Features

When it comes to functionality, everyone chooses what they need. For example, support for multiple blockchains, integration with a mobile application, or self-destruction upon hacking attempts.

Many prefer to store keys inside an NFC card, as seen with Tangem. In this case, the keys never leave the card (even when signing transactions). However, the risk of fraudulent contracts always remains – the risk that you might sign a fraudulent transaction.

Tangem NFC Cards

Based on the functionality you need, here are some points to note:

For multi-currency support: Ledger (up to 5500+ assets), Cypherock (9000+), SafePal – above 9000.
For mobility: Ledger Nano X (Bluetooth), Tangem (NFC card), Ellipal (QR/WiFi).
Emergency scenarios: SafePal (self-destruction on hacking attempts, complete isolation from any connections), Cypherock (storing not the entire key, but parts of the key on different cards).

Conclusions and a Spoonful of Tar

What should you choose?

Your choice depends on your priorities. For most people, SafePal or Ledger Nano S Plus is the optimal balance of security, features, and price. For the more paranoid, Trezor Safe 5 or Cypherock may be preferable.

With relatively equal basic security ratings (between 5+ and 6+), the final decision comes down to personal preferences regarding ease of management and the required features.

A spoonful of tar is also present on the side of hardware wallets.

For a comprehensive comparison, note:

EAL6+ security is not a panacea.

A high EAL6+ certification guarantees chip protection, but does not eliminate software or human-factor risks. For instance, despite its certification, Ledger has encountered vulnerabilities. A phishing attack via the client database led to a data breach. The closed-source nature of some devices also complicates independent audits, raising concerns in the community.

Ease of use vs. autonomy

The touchscreen of the Ledger Stax simplifies interaction but requires regular charging, which is not always practical. Trezor Safe 5, on the other hand, operates by connecting to a PC – the screen is smaller, but the device is not dependent on a battery. Here the choice comes down to tactile comfort or battery independence.

Innovation vs. proven reliability

Cypherock offers breakthrough technology—distributing the keys across 4 cards, eliminating the single point-of-failure risk. However, the novelty of the solution means it hasn’t been field-tested over the long term. For conservative users, Trezor or Ledger, with histories dating back to 2014–2016, remain safer as their vulnerabilities have been studied and addressed.

In summary, the comparison can be finalized as follows:

Maximum assets → SafePal, Cypherock, Ledger.
Mobility → Tangem, Ledger Nano X, SafePal.
Budget option → SafePal, Ledger Nano S Plus, Trezor Safe 3.
Extreme security → Cypherock (4 cards), Trezor Safe 5.

Leave your comments and ask questions. We will answer everyone!

Add a comment

Comments

Add new comment

Rate article

Category

Cryptocurrency wallets

Как Безопасно Обновить Прошивку SafePal - Полный Гайд

Максим Анисимов — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 10:38:53 +0000

How to Safely Update SafePal Firmware – A Complete Guide

Максим Анисимов Fri, 04/04/2025 - 13:58

Contents

Why update your firmware? You need to update your wallet’s firmware to gain access to new features and blockchains. In addition, updates improve security and performance.

Before updating the firmware, make sure you have backed up your seed phrase. This ensures that your funds remain safe regardless of what happens to your wallet. You will always be able to restore your wallet by importing this seed phrase. Now, let’s move on to the update process.

Firmware Update

To update, go to the SafePal downloads section and enter your device’s serial number. You can find it in the Settings menu – scroll down to the About section.

Enter your serial number in the field on the website, and it will provide you with the firmware for your device.

Download the file upgrade.bin and connect your wallet to your PC via a USB cable.

On your wallet, go to Settings, scroll down to the Upgrade option, and click on it.

The device will warn you that the firmware update might carry a risk of failure, and it will remind you that your seed phrase must be securely backed up.

After clicking Backup already, the wallet will open a window for transferring the firmware file. Typically, this is the WALLET (D:) folder. Drag the downloaded upgrade.bin file into the appropriate folder.

Attention: it is very important not to change the file name, as doing so may interfere with the update process.

Once the file is loaded, the device will ask if you want to proceed with the update or exit. Click Upgrade.

Your wallet will detect the new firmware and notify you that the update will take approximately 3 minutes. During this time, it is important not to disconnect the USB cable.

Now you can go grab a coffee while your wallet processes the update.

Alternatively, you can visit the version history page on the website to see what changes the developers have implemented.

Once completed, the device will restart and confirm the firmware version along with a successful update message.

That’s it — it’s quite simple!

The updated firmware fixes bugs and improves hardware wallet performance.

Tip: after restarting, check your settings to ensure that all functions are working correctly.

Discover all the hidden features of the SafePal S1 wallet.

Did you know? SafePal also offers a browser extension for instant dApp interaction and fast online transactions.

Update Summary and Security

In the end, although the wallet’s interface generally remains unchanged, certain bugs have been fixed and improvements have been made to its functionality.

Are the updates secure? When connected to a PC, the wallet activates a read-only mode – data on the device cannot be copied or altered.

The virtual disk where the firmware file is copied is an isolated zone that accepts only the firmware file (no other files are allowed).
When updates are activated, the wallet verifies the digital signature of the file to ensure that the firmware was downloaded from the official website.

Can the wallet be bricked during an update?

Yes, in some cases, firmware updates may disrupt the wallet’s functionality. For example, a Reddit user reports that the update completed successfully, but immediately after, the device stopped responding to the buttons, and connecting via USB yielded no results.

Although this is a very rare scenario, it is still possible. How can you avoid such situations?

It is recommended NOT to update your wallet immediately after a new firmware version is released. Once its stability has been verified by the community, you can proceed with the update.

What should you do if the wallet malfunctions during an update?

You will need to perform a factory reset. Make sure you have your seed phrase for recovery.

Go to the Settings menu → Reset Wallet.

Warning: this will erase all data from your wallet – including the seed phrase, displayed assets, and settings. Use a reset only in critical situations.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. We’ll answer everyone!

Add a comment

Comments

Add new comment

Rate article

Category

Safety

Cryptocurrency wallets

SafePal расширение для браузера: безопасность, пополнение, вывод

Максим Анисимов — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 08:14:05 +0000

SafePal browser extension: security, deposit, withdrawal Максим Анисимов Tue, 04/01/2025 - 13:00

Contents

You’ll learn how to safeguard your crypto against phishing and how to connect with hardware wallets. Also, save up to 95% on fees through L2 networks and make transactions without gas tokens thanks to the Gas Station feature.

The SafePal wallet browser extension allows you to store, manage, and exchange your crypto assets. It provides all the essential Web3 tools: DeFi, NFT, dApps, Swap, and support for multiple networks.

This extension is a standalone product and is not directly linked to the SafePal hardware wallet.

Wallet Appearance

Networks:

It supports numerous popular blockchains: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, Solana, TON, Dash, BNB, Polkadot, Kusama, Polygon, Dogecoin, Zcash, among others.

To help you save up to 95% on ETH fees, Ethereum Layer 2 networks are also available:

Arbitrum
Optimism
zkSync Era
Boba
Metis, etc.

The idea is that you interact with your wallet’s features through these networks while paying only minimal off-chain ETH fees. The results are then “proven” on Ethereum.

Platforms:

SafePal is available as a software wallet via a mobile app and browser extension, as well as a cold hardware wallet. This text focuses on the browser version.

Every wallet should first and foremost be evaluated in terms of security.

Security and Features

You’ll discover the three most crucial aspects of any wallet: security, cost-effectiveness, and ease of use.

Security:

Self-custody of keys – use the wallet as an interface for interacting with coins, while you retain your private keys with no intermediaries.

Compatibility with hardware wallets – connect to your mobile and hardware wallets (SafePal or Ledger) via QR code or Bluetooth to keep your keys encrypted.

Phishing alerts – the wallet detects scams, phishing attempts, and security vulnerabilities through its Phishing Detection feature.

Additionally, you can add a “watch-only” wallet address – without entering a seed phrase or private key. This is the Watch-only feature. Now, let’s move on to the economics.

Your Advantage:

Gas Savings – use the Gas Station feature so you don’t need to purchase network tokens when your balance is insufficient to cover fees.

L2 Networks – save up to 95% on fees by utilizing Layer 2 networks, then bridge back to the mainnet via cross-chain swaps.

Built-in Swap, Buy/Sell, NFT and dApps – conduct all your crypto operations right within the wallet interface.

Now, let’s explore its user-friendliness.

Ease of Use:

Multi-currency – manage different networks and coins within a single interface.

Cross-platform – use the wallet as a browser extension, mobile app, or even order the hardware wallet.

Simple Interface – switch themes, languages, and display balances in your local currency, for example, USD.

It’s time to test these features and security in practice. Let’s download and install the wallet.

Download and Installation

To begin, visit safepal.com, choose the extension, and select your preferred browser. We are using the version for Chrome. Install the extension.

After installation, you can pin it for quick access.

Click the extension icon to open SafePal, then click Get Started.

Creating a New Wallet

You have two options:

Create a new wallet
Or import an existing one.

The second option is useful if you want to import a wallet, for example from MetaMask. In this guide, we will create a new wallet.

Click Create New Wallet, set and confirm your password (remember, SafePal doesn’t store your password, so make sure you don’t lose it), then click Next.

The next step is crucial: SafePal will generate a 12-word mnemonic phrase needed to restore your wallet in case you lose access.

Backup

Make sure the screen is private, click Generate, write down the words in the correct order, and click Next.

Confirm the seed phrase by arranging the words in the proper sequence.

Keep this phrase in a secure place – losing it means permanent loss of access to your wallet and assets. Never share it to avoid compromising security!

After verification, name your wallet, click Confirm, and it’s ready to use! You can set it as your default wallet or simply start using it.

How to Use

Let’s explore the interface. At the top of the screen, you’ll find tabs for coins, NFTs, and DeFi, along with your wallet balance, which you can hide if needed.

Below are the core functions for crypto transactions: Send, Receive, Swap, Buy, Sell and More.

A list of coins appears below these functions, and you can use the search bar to find a specific coin, or click All to view all tokens.

Add new coins in the Manage Coins menu by selecting them and clicking Confirm.

For convenience, there are features to hide coins with a zero balance and to sort them by total assets, coin count, or alphabetically.

The bottom of the screen displays buttons for coin swaps, buying crypto, gas purchases, and accessing dApps.

Let’s start by obtaining your address.

How to Create an Address

To get your address:

Click Receive
Select a coin
Your address and QR code will appear. There are 10 available addresses that you can cycle through using the arrows.

For experts: clicking on BTC allows you to choose the address type: Legacy, SegWit, or Native SegWit.

Native SegWit is preferable due to its lower fees, if the recipient supports such addresses; otherwise, use SegWit, and reserve Legacy only for legacy systems.

Once you have your address, you can fund your wallet.

How to Fund

To receive coins, click Receive and select a coin from the list. For example, choose Bitcoin, then copy and send your wallet address to the sender or display your QR code.

Once funds are received, they will appear in your balance.

You can also receive coins by selecting one from the token list on the main tab. For instance, click on ETH, choose Receive, and follow the same process.

Your overall balance is displayed at the top, while each coin’s balance appears in its respective tab.

Transaction History

Click on a coin to view transaction details including the date, time, and amount. All transactions are shown at the bottom of the selected coin’s tab, with the coin’s balance, its equivalent in your local currency, and a button to copy your address at the top.

You can also view the current gas price, buy or sell coins directly in the wallet, top up gas, check application permissions, and view the coin on Blockchain Explorer or CoinGecko.

Scroll down to conveniently view not only the history of funds received and sent, but also the fees.

On the left, you see a list of transactions related to gas payments – the cost of executing operations on the Ethereum network. On the right, details of the selected transaction are shown.

You can clearly see how much ETH was spent on fees and how much was sent or received in the main transaction.

How to Send

To send cryptocurrency:

Click Send in the main menu or first select a coin and then click Send.
Enter the recipient’s address, then either click MAX or manually enter the desired amount, and click Next.
Review the transaction details, adjust the gas fee if necessary, and click Continue. The Custom option allows you to manually set the fee.
Your funds are sent, and the balance is updated accordingly.

Fees

You can adjust the fee if you want to save. When sending a transaction, the following fee options are available:

Less – the lowest fee, which may result in slower confirmations.
Standard – an optimal balance between speed and cost. Transactions typically confirm within a few minutes.
High – a higher fee ensures faster confirmation, especially during network congestion.
Custom – manually set the fee. Setting it too low may lead to long delays or the transaction being ignored.

Use Standard for most routine transactions as it strikes a balance between speed and cost.

Swap

Click Swap to exchange coins directly within the SafePal wallet.

Select the coins, enter the swap amount, choose a provider, review the details, and click Swap to proceed if desired.

However, it is recommended to first review the exchange conditions that the wallet found for you:

Exchange Provider – 1inch.
Fee – 0.2%, which is quite low and doesn’t significantly affect overall gains.
1% Slippage – allowing a price variance of ±1%, meaning the final USDC amount may slightly differ (e.g., from 12.38 to 12.63 USDC). This is standard in decentralized exchanges to account for price fluctuations during the transaction.

A 0.2% fee is comparable to exchange fees and quite low. However, check the rates on other aggregators (Uniswap, Paraswap) – it is possible that 1inch may not offer the best price for your amount.

Click on Provider (currently 1inch) to see the list of available options and their rates. For instance, you may find that Kyberswap offers a more favorable rate.

You can also click on 1% to adjust the allowed slippage percentage:

You can view your entire swap history in the upper right corner of this tab.

Buy

The wallet supports the Buy and Sell features for crypto transactions using bank cards.

Enter the amount you wish to spend, select the coin to buy, choose a provider, click Continue, and follow the provider’s instructions.

The buying providers will require verification: your full name, address, etc.

Providers may not operate in all regions and their lists may change. For example, there is Binance Connect, which allows you to safely and quickly purchase over 200 cryptocurrencies using Visa and MasterCard, as well as more than 90 local currencies (such as USD, CAD, EUR).

To sell cryptocurrency, select the coin, enter the desired amount, and continue with the provider. The history of your purchases and sales is available in the upper right corner.

NFTs

The NFT tab lets you receive and view NFTs from various blockchains within a single interface.

What are the benefits of owning an NFT? Let’s use ENS usernames as an example. Beyond speculative purposes, owning an ENS domain offers benefits such as:

Web3 Integration – an increasing number of services (wallets, NFT platforms, DAOs) support ENS, so owning an ENS domain provides extra features, simplified logins, etc.
Transaction Convenience – enabling friends, clients, or partners to send you crypto using a simple address like yourname.eth.
Personal Branding – if you’re actively engaged in crypto, DeFi, and NFTs, having a recognizable wallet name can be an advantage.
Investment Value – some buy ENS domains with the hope of reselling them at a profit (especially short or attractive names).

The available options include:

Manage NFTs – choose which collections to display.

View As – select the display mode.

Check Approval – manage smart contract permissions, such as who can spend or transfer your tokens.

Clicking on one of your NFTs will show detailed statistics:

Floor – the lowest current selling price for an NFT in the collection. For example, 0.00013 ETH means you can’t buy it for less.
Volume – the total sum of all buy/sell transactions. A high volume (136459 ETH) indicates popularity and liquidity in the collection.
Items – the total number of ENS domains in the collection (4,004,185). More items mean more variety.
Owners – the number of unique wallets holding NFTs from the collection (1,086,245). A higher number of owners suggests better decentralization and demand.

Clicking on an ENS will reveal further details such as the contract address, network type, and more.

Adding Tokens

To add a token not listed by default:

Open the Manage Coins menu.
Click the plus icon.
Select the network, then paste the token’s contract address and other token details.

Token details include: Contract Address, Name, Symbol, and Decimals. You can find these on blockchain explorers such as Etherscan, where they are provided under the Other info section.

Gas Station

Gas is the fuel for transaction execution on the network.

The Gas Station feature solves the problem of lacking tokens to pay for fees. For example, if you receive USDT but don’t have BNB to cover gas fees, you wouldn’t be able to send tokens. Normally, you’d have to buy BNB on an exchange, but Gas Station allows you to swap a portion of your other tokens for BNB right within the wallet.

In short, with Gas Station you can perform transactions without needing to hold gas tokens (e.g., BNB) in your balance.

You can access the fee-free gas purchase feature via the wallet’s More menu.

Select tokens to pay for gas in the Gas Station tab.

This menu also displays a gas tracker showing current fee rates.

For example, with 10 SFP you receive approximately 0.007773968 BNB.

According to the Gas Tracker, the transaction fee is minimal – about $0.01 for a standard transaction.

You can also check smart contract permissions for different networks in the More menu.

DApps

The wallet supports dApps tools including staking protocols, exchanges, liquidity farming, cross-chain bridges, NFTs, and more. This extends the wallet’s functionality from simple storage to earning rewards.

For example, you can use protocols for:

Staking – earning passive income and participating in blockchain governance.
DEX (Decentralized Exchange) – swapping tokens without intermediaries at competitive rates.
Farming – earning rewards for providing liquidity plus project tokens.
Bridges – transferring assets between networks while saving on fees.
NFTs – managing, trading, and gaming with non-fungible tokens.
DeFi and Web3 – access loans, games, and various applications all in one wallet.

To connect with dApps protocols, visit an aggregator such as DappRadar, review the projects, and choose one with potential.

Warning: when connecting to dApps, keep in mind that vulnerabilities in smart contracts, phishing attacks, fraud, and operational opacity may pose security risks to your wallet.

Then, open a website— for example, the 1inch exchange aggregator at 1inch— and click Connect wallet on the site.

Select the browser wallet version and confirm the connection in the wallet by clicking Connect.

Within the wallet, you will see the connected dApps. Clicking on one allows you to choose the network. Clicking the dApps icon shows the full list of connected applications, which you can disconnect if needed.

Staking

The browser wallet does not have a built-in staking function. It is available in the mobile app. However, you can connect to dApps protocols via the browser version to start staking.

For example, let’s connect to one of the popular staking platforms – Lido.

In this example, you will earn 2.8% per annum. For instance, if you stake 0.5 ETH, you will receive approximately 0.014 ETH per year as rewards (0.5 × 2.8% = 0.014 ETH) before fees are deducted.

We’ve now covered all the features of the browser extension. Next, let’s look at advanced settings.

Advanced Settings

Access advanced settings through the hamburger menu. Then click the gear icon to reveal the settings block:

Address Book – add addresses to your whitelist for quick access and to avoid errors when sending funds.
Chain Management – manage the display of coins/tokens, and add networks and tokens via the RPC URL.
Phishing Detection – enable protection against phishing sites with warnings about suspicious dApps and transactions.

Additional settings follow below.

Interface:

Currency – choose the currency in which your balance is displayed (USD, EUR, RUB, etc.).
Language – set the interface language (English, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, etc.).

Help:

Help Center – get instructions on wallet setup, sending/receiving funds, as well as FAQs on security and seed phrase recovery.
Support – use the form to submit tickets regarding issues (transactions, security, technical glitches).
Community – join the community via Twitter and Discord.
About – view the extension version. This is useful when contacting support.

There is also a toggle for switching between light and dark themes via an icon.

Private Key and Seed Phrase

To access your seed phrase and private key, create an account, or delete the wallet, open the hamburger menu on the main tab. Then click the wallet menu to see the options for exporting the seed phrase and private key.

The seed phrase is like a “sprout” from which the same wallet will grow across all blockchains. In contrast, you should save a separate private key for each blockchain since a key only unlocks the asset it’s associated with.

Import and Recovery

To import a wallet, go to the main tab menu, then select Add Wallet and SafePal will show import options.

Here you can recover a wallet using a seed phrase, a private key, integrate with Ledger, import other browser wallets, or create a watch-only wallet.

Watch-Only

Watch-only wallets are used to monitor other people’s crypto addresses to observe their trading strategies, DeFi activities, NFT holdings, etc.

To add a watch-only wallet, go to the wallet addition menu (as described above) and select Observation Mode.

Select the network and paste the wallet address, for example, Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum address – 0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045.

Now you can view all its activity on the network and the token balances.

Integration with Ledger

The SafePal extension supports integration with the Ledger hardware wallet. To pair with it, follow these steps:

Select Import → Ledger → Connect.

Connect your Ledger to the computer via USB, unlock it with your PIN, and open the Ethereum app.
In the SafePal interface, select the connected Ledger and click Connect.
Confirm the connection on the Ledger itself by pressing both buttons simultaneously.
Select an EVM-compatible address from the list (e.g., Ethereum, BSC, Polygon).
Confirm the selection to import the wallet.
After the message Import Successfully appears, your Ledger will be ready in SafePal for EVM transactions.

Conclusion: Is It Worth Using?

The SafePal browser wallet is a solid alternative to OKX wallet, 1inch, and MetaMask. SafePal has never been hacked, whereas MetaMask and TrustWallet have experienced some security issues in the past.

The extension offers convenient asset management, integration with both the mobile app and hardware wallets, along with good security. Its simple interface, Ledger integration, and support for EVM networks expand its appeal to experienced users.

SafePal combines cost-effectiveness, usability, and reliability, making it a worthy alternative to popular wallets like MetaMask or Trust Wallet—especially for those actively engaging with DeFi and NFTs. However, it is recommended to perform your own comparison of wallet security.

Feel free to leave questions and comments. We’ll answer everyone!

Support:

Add a comment

Comments

Add new comment

Обзор расширения кошелька Uniswap: Адреса, Обмены, dApps

Максим Анисимов — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 09:15:47 +0000

Overview of the Uniswap Wallet Extension: Addresses, Swaps, dApps Максим Анисимов Fri, 03/28/2025 - 13:08

Contents

You’ll discover how to securely store, effortlessly swap, and purchase cryptocurrency, while also connecting to DeFi applications using the Uniswap wallet—the official solution from the creators of the namesake decentralized exchange (DEX). The guide also outlines its drawbacks and includes comparisons with alternatives like MetaMask and Trust Wallet.

The Uniswap wallet allows you to swap, trade, and provide liquidity for various tokens without intermediaries.

In addition to standard features, you can also buy cryptocurrency using a card, bank account, or transfers from centralized exchanges.

Uniswap supports Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, ZKsync, Polygon, Zora, Celo, Avalanche and other EVM networks. However, it does not support Solana or Bitcoin.

Security and Features

This is not the most feature-rich wallet. However, it includes all the essential functions.

Security:

Seed Phrase – The wallet allows you to store your keys independently without sending them to third-party servers.

Open Source Code – This enables you and the community to review the application’s security.

Audits – The code is regularly checked by leading auditing firms such as Trail of Bits.

Revoke Unused Permissions – For enhanced security, it is recommended to disconnect unused applications via the Connections option.

Economics:

Free Usernames – Send funds to human-friendly addresses like vitalik.eth instead of a long 0x… address.

Built-in Swap and Card Purchases – Conduct all crypto operations directly within the wallet.

Decentralized Applications – Use any Web3 tools: staking, NFT, farming, liquidity mining through dApp connections.

Uniswap features a sleek design with a sidebar that can be resized to any dimensions instead of a small pop-up window.

Now it’s time to test the wallet in practice. Let’s install it.

Download and Installation

To get started, go to wallet.unisswap.org, download and install the extension for your browser.

We are using Chrome, and we will pin the extension for quick access.

Creating a New Wallet

After installation, you will be redirected to a page where you can choose to create a new wallet or import an existing one using a seed phrase or QR code.

Since we are just starting, select the Create a wallet option.

You will be offered a free username for Ethereum EVM networks. This username allows you to receive cryptocurrency instead of using a lengthy address like 0x7D16d2…

On the next step, set a strong password, confirm it, and click Continue.

Backup

It’s time to secure your wallet by creating a backup.

Before proceeding, ensure that no one is watching your screen and click Continue.

Uniswap will generate a 12-word seed phrase, which is critical for wallet recovery. Do not copy the words to your clipboard to avoid hacking—write them down in the correct order on paper. It’s best to make several copies.

Confirm that you understand: Uniswap Labs cannot recover the phrase if lost, and click Continue.

Warning: Keep your seed phrase safe—losing it means losing access to your wallet and crypto. Never share it!

Next, you will need to verify the seed phrase.

For confirmation, the wallet will ask for 3 specific words by their order. And that’s it!

Now you can open the Uniswap Wallet extension by clicking its icon or using the Shift + CTRL + U shortcut.

How to Use It

At the top, you will see your wallet name, address, and balance, and below – the main functions: Buy, Swap, Send and Receive.

Below, there are tabs: Tokens, NFTs and Activity. But let’s start with funding the wallet and managing addresses.

How to Create an Address

To get an address, click the Receive button. It displays: the network username, followed by the address and QR code.

You can also click on Networks to view the current networks, which is very convenient. By the way, in all EVM networks, the address will be the same.

Once you have an address, you can proceed to fund it.

How to Fund

To receive funds, use the same Receive tab – show the QR code or copy the address.

The funding methods are standard: transfer from another wallet, exchange, or swap service.

After funding, the coins will appear in your balance and asset list.

Click on a coin to view its statistics, transactions, and links. You can also perform other actions from there.

For example, click Swap to exchange coins directly within the wallet.

Swap

To swap, choose the tokens, enter the amount, and you will see the current exchange rate.

For example, swap ETH for USDC. Click Review to continue.

Review the details, and if the exchange rate and fees are acceptable, click Swap.

Is the swap profitable? Let’s look at the conditions:

Amount – You are swapping approximately $2.52 in ETH for $2.51 in USDC, meaning you “lose” about $0.01 due to exchange rate differences and a wallet fee (0.25%).
Network Gas – The network fee is about $2.57. This is the gas fee for an Ethereum network transaction.

This means that the transaction fee ($2.57) is higher than the amount you’re swapping (~$2.52). The wallet even highlights this in red.

For such small amounts, these swaps are usually unprofitable, because the network gas “eats up” nearly all the benefit (or even more). Typically, such swaps are worthwhile only with larger sums or on blockchains/networks with lower fees (for example, Layer 2: Arbitrum, Optimism, etc.).

Buy

To purchase crypto, use the Buy tab, which handles transactions in local currencies, for example, USD.

Third-party providers facilitate the purchase. They support debit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

The exchange providers (Topper, Transak, Coinbase) charge different fees. For example, Coinbase often has higher fees, while Transak may sometimes be cheaper. Before purchasing, check the final amount (rate + fees) on the provider’s portal.

Let’s see if these services offer any advantage for buying:

You swap $100 for ETH
Fee – $4.00, of which $3.90 goes to the purchase service and $0.10 to the ETH network.
As a result, approximately 0.047 ETH (after fees) is credited to your wallet. Registration with these services is also required.

Is it profitable? Not really. ETH is one of the most liquid cryptocurrencies, easily exchanged for other tokens or converted back to local currency. ETH is traded on almost all exchanges and can be purchased with lower fees.

Check the current ETH rate on CoinGecko before using the wallet’s purchase feature.

Note: Card purchases are not available in all regions.

How to Withdraw

To send funds, return to the main menu, select Send, and enter the recipient's address and amount.

Review the transaction and its fee via Review. Confirm the transaction by clicking Confirm Send.

The transaction history is available under the Activity tab.

Connecting to dApps

To connect the wallet to a dApp (for example, 1inch), go to 1inch.io, then click Connect Wallet and choose Uniswap Extension.

Confirm the action in the wallet by clicking Connect and select the network to work with the dApp:

Your address, network, and balance will be displayed at the top of the 1inch application.

Click the Uniswap icon to view the connected account details or to use functions such as Buy/Send.

To disconnect the wallet from an application, click the gear icon for Settings.

In the settings menu, select Connections to view the list of connected dApps or to disconnect any that are unnecessary.

NFT

The wallet allows you to view, buy, send, and store NFTs. These can represent digital art or collectibles that may potentially appreciate in value.

Let’s go through a specific example. To view your collections, navigate to the NFTs tab and click on one of your collections.

Here we see a collection containing 4.4k unique NFTs in the form of cartoon frogs from the Froggy Friends collection. Each frog has its own traits (such as accessories, facial expressions, background), and this asset is recorded on the Ethereum blockchain, verifying its authenticity and uniqueness.

The floor price is 0.022 ETH, which is relatively affordable for an NFT. The total trading volume of the collection is 1.4K ETH, indicating demand and activity, making it potentially interesting for investment.

You can also show off your NFTs to friends:

Other possibilities include connecting through dApps to NFT marketplaces. For example, to OpenSea—the largest platform for creating, buying, and selling NFTs—which allows creators to monetize content with royalties, and investors to access unique digital assets.

Staking

The wallet does not have a built-in staking tab. However, you always have the option to find profitable staking opportunities by connecting to dApps.

For example, let’s connect the wallet to the staking platform Lido and check the yield.

You earn rewards with an annual percentage rate (Lido APR) of 2.8%. For example, if you stake 1 ETH, you could receive about 0.028 ETH in rewards over a year (before fees). After deducting a 10% fee, the net yield would be approximately 0.0252 ETH.

In the end, the net yield of 2.52% is relatively modest compared to other opportunities in DeFi (for example, 10-20% APR in liquidity pools), but those alternatives are associated with higher risks (such as smart contract vulnerabilities).

Staking with Lido is more stable and predictable. If you plan to hold ETH long-term and want to earn passive income, you should compare different staking pool conditions.

Settings

Let’s review the available settings in the wallet extension.

Language – Allows you to choose the interface language.
Local currency – Sets the fiat currency (USD, EUR, etc.) in which token prices and totals are displayed.
Hide small balances – Hides tokens with amounts below a certain threshold, helping to visually organize the list by concealing negligible balances.
Hide unknown tokens – Hides tokens not recognized by the wallet, enhancing security by removing potentially “junk” or fraudulent tokens.

Next is a block with dApps and testing options:

Connections – Displays the dApps you have granted permission to interact with your wallet. Here, you can review and disconnect any unnecessary connections.
Testnet mode – Enables or disables the ability to work with test networks such as Goerli or Sepolia. This is convenient for testing transactions without risking real funds.

The following block concerns security and privacy:

Change password – Allows you to change the password that protects access to your wallet.
Recovery phrase / Backup – For backing up and accessing your seed phrase.
Permissions – Configures the sending of usage analytics to the Uniswap Labs servers. This can be disabled.

The next block relates to wallet support:

Help center – Takes you to the support section, where answers to common wallet questions are gathered.
Version – Displays the current wallet application version. This is helpful when contacting support or checking for updates.
Lock wallet – Instantly locks access to the wallet and its functions. To use the wallet again, you will need to enter the password.

We have reviewed all the wallet features. Now, let’s move on to the mobile application.

Mobile Application

The wallet is also available on mobile devices. Let’s take a quick look. Download the app via the App Store or Google Play.

Import and Recovery

Since you already have a wallet, select Add an Existing Wallet, then Import a Wallet.

Enter your seed phrase in the correct order and click Continue.

Once the wallet is found, click Continue.

You will be offered to back up the wallet in iCloud, but for security reasons it is recommended to skip this step. Click Skip in the upper right corner.

You can leave notifications enabled. However, it is important to remember that there are scam token transactions sent to lure you to phishing sites. So be cautious when opening notifications and links.

You can also set up Face ID, but we’ll skip that step for now.

As you can see, your wallet accounts and balances are synchronized with the extension.

The mobile app has the same functions and tabs as the extension, and you can also use a QR code scanner to connect to dApps (such as 1inch) by scanning the code and confirming the connection.

The mobile app does not support two-factor authentication.

Conclusion: Is It Worth Using?

To decide whether to use this wallet, you need to weigh its pros and cons.

Cons:

The creation of multiple accounts is inconvenient – you cannot switch between them; you must delete the seed phrase and create a new wallet.
No support for watch-only addresses in the extension (only in the app).
Lack of automatic wallet lock during inactivity.
The extension does not offer a light theme option.
Language switching does not occur in the extension, but in the operating system’s settings, which is inconvenient.

On Reddit, users note that the wallet can sometimes be glitchy in certain browsers and does not support all EVM networks.

Pros:

A simple wallet. With relatively few functions, the interface is not overloaded.
A sidebar interface instead of a small pop-up window, which increases usability.
Keyboard shortcuts for quick access.
Free usernames that simplify transactions.

In the end, the wallet seems too specialized for our needs. It offers rather few options and settings. You can explore over 100 other wallets in the comparison section and see that there are wallets with “Swiss Army Knife” functionality for all your crypto needs.

For example, the Rabby Wallet extension offers alerts for phishing dApps, transaction previews before sending to the network, permission revocation, automatic network switching, and more.

Rainbow offers hardware wallet integration, keyboard management, and plenty of hotkeys so you don’t have to use a mouse at all.
MetaMask offers phishing transaction warnings.
Trust Wallet provides an address book for frequently used addresses.

The interfaces of MetaMask, Trust, Rabby, and Uniswap are also different:

Trust and Rabby have a convenient portfolio-like display. MetaMask is well-advertised and offers a full-screen mode.

Final Wallet Comparison
Wallet	Main Features	Ideal For
Uniswap	Minimalism, only basic operations.	Beginners, those who appreciate simplicity.
Rabby	Protection from phishing dApps, transaction previews, automatic network switching.	Experienced users, security-focused.
Rainbow	Keyboard-driven management (hotkeys), hardware wallet integration.	General users, performance enthusiasts.
MetaMask	Phishing protection, dApp support, flexible interface (full-screen mode).	General purpose.
Trust	Address book, multi-chain, NFT and staking support.	DeFi enthusiasts, active users.

Compared to its alternatives, Uniswap is the simplest and most minimalist, making it ideal for beginners and those who do not require feature-rich wallets.