Hassan Maishera
Do you consider yourself a crypto power user? You might not use that specific term – perhaps you prefer “degen” or “tradooor” – but you’ll recognize the signs that you fall into this bracket. You remember the bull market of 2017. Your web wallet has over 1,000 Ethereum transactions. You’ve spent a silly amount on gas. And your wallet is filled with the dregs of memecoins, ERC20s, NFTs, and other digital dust.
As a hardcore crypto user, your smartphone, web browser, and desktop are likely littered with crypto wallets of all kinds. Some for Bitcoin, some for Ethereum and EVMs, others for Solana, and another for Cosmos or whatever blockchain ecosystem is currently capturing your attention.
While it may once have been necessary to deploy different wallets for different chains, that’s no longer the case. The latest wallets provide access to all the leading blockchains, both EVM and non-EVM, and incorporate support for the dapps that operate on them. We are living in the age of One Wallet to Rule Them All. If you’re a power user who does more DeFi, degening, and dapping than 90% of other crypto users, this guide is for you because the following wallets were made for you.
Core
The bulk of DeFi and NFTs still centers around EVM chains including Ethereum, Avalanche, and the ever-expanding world of L2s. It’s a crowded field in terms of wallets that satisfy these needs, but there’s a strong case for placing Core ahead of the pack. If you like your web3 experience full fat – with maximum dapps, bridges, chains, and DEXes bundled – then Core has got you covered.
Available for web browser and mobile, Core is particularly good for all things Avalanche including moving between the C, P, and X chains and staking AVAX. Core’s utility isn’t constrained to a single ecosystem, however: it’s also suited to networks including Bitcoin and Ethereum, whose assets can be moved cross-chain. One of the wallet’s best features is its dashboard for viewing your portfolio.
If you’re the sort of crypto user who has tokens stored in multiple chains, dapps, and protocols, Core will help you keep track of them via a single screen. The wallet also boasts seedless design, providing multiple authentication methods including social sign-in and 2FA.
XDEFI
There’s a lotta wallets promising to do it all and XDEFI can be added to that list. To be fair, it’s a claim that’s got some weight to it in this instance. 34 blockchains are currently supported and not just EVMs either: there’s also Cosmos, Bitcoin, and Solana. Beneath the hood, some clever design allows token balances to be aggregated. So if you’re holding USDC on three chains, for example, it will show as a single balance.
XDEFI is a wallet for active traders. This means its feature set is geared around making it safer to perform DeFi activities without impeding access – because when you’re aping into the latest memecoin, speed is of the essence after all. There’s hardware support, importing existing web wallets is easy, and dapps are seamlessly integrated, making XDEFI a good wallet for crypto users whose tx count is into five figures and climbing.
Phantom
Phantom was once the best Solana wallet. It can now stake a claim to be the best all-rounder, having since expanded to EVM chains and to Bitcoin, where it supports Ordinals and BRC20s. The web wallet is defined by its excellent UI which makes navigating tokens, NFTs, and dapps feel intuitive. The NFT marketplace support and integrated token swaps are particularly good.
Once the “MetaMask of Solana,” Phantom has since transcended the chain it was born to serve. It now competes directly with EVM web wallets such as MetaMask and is arguably much more suited to the needs of power users. The ability to navigate through multiple and incompatible chains without needing to switch wallets is a godsend, while Phantom’s regular updates ensure that the wallet is constantly being improved to satisfy the demands of hardcore users.
Exodus
Exodus is a popular desktop and mobile wallet. If you’re a crypto OG, you’ll almost certainly have heard of it, and may have even used it in the past. Once more suited to parking your digital assets than doing anything productive with them, Exodus has since upped its dapp game. There’s support for more than 50 chains and DeFi integrations galore. The built-in swap feature allows assets on different networks to be effortlessly swapped.
There’s a lot to like about Exodus, from the attractive UI to the excellent customer support. If you’re a seasoned crypto trader you should know your way around a wallet, admittedly, but it’s good to know help is at hand should you happen to come unstuck. With regular software updates, Exodus is a well maintained and well optimized multi-chain wallet that works equally well on mobile as on desktop.
Rabby
Rabby is a serious wallet for serious crypto users. It’s available for desktop and as a web extension with a mobile version in the works. The browser extension is the most popular version, however, since it’s the easiest way to connect to dapps and go multi-chain to wherever the greatest financial opportunities lie. Rabby is positioned as being a better MetaMask, and those who’ve used it would be inclined to agree.
There’s a lot of nice touches that come bundled with Rabby, like auto-switching to match the chain of the dapp you’re connecting to. For anyone who’s navigated a multi-chain DEX such as Uniswap, and had to reload the page after realizing they’re connected to the wrong network, this is a godsend. Rabby also incorporates warnings when you connect to a site that’s linked to phishing, or a backdoored smart contract, reducing the likelihood of losing your hard-earned crypto.
Trust
Trust is a well named wallet, having built up a solid reputation over the past five years. It claims to have over 70 million users, and while many of these will be passive crypto holders, Trust is equally suited to those who prefer to keep busy. With support for over 100 blockchains, there’s more than enough to keep chain-hoppers happy. Naturally, there’s support for dapps too, making it possible to do all of your onchain trading within the confines of Trust Wallet.
Staking, that blockchain mainstay, is supported across numerous chains, as are NFTs, which are neatly displayed within Trust. From a security perspective, there’s lots to love too: the wallet’s passed multiple audits, allows spammy NFTs to be hidden, and supports the creation of encrypted backups. While it doesn’t sport the sort of advanced features to be found on some of the more hardcore wallets on this list, Trust is still a capable contender for traders who refuse to simply park their digital assets.
And the Winner Is…
If you use any of the wallets featured here, you’re already winning. But if you’ve yet to take the plunge, there’s a strong case for suggesting you start with Core. Its UI and well-rounded feature set place it just ahead of Phantom and Rabby. XDEFI is also one to watch, particularly if you’re interested in Thorchain and its expanding ecosystem. If you’re a crypto power user, you likely own several wallets already. What’s a couple more in your life? Especially when they promise to Do It All.
