We explain which are the best wallets for Solana and the different solutions you can find. We have compiled web wallets, smartphone wallets and hardware wallets.
What is Solana?
It is a programmable blockchain, or in other words, it supports the deployment of smart contracts. This feature allows it to be used for the creation of dApps, DAO, NFT and many other elements. Currently, Solana is considered one of the most promising Ethereum alternatives.
It has a series of proprietary technologies or elements. It has 8 innovations that allow it to support more transactions per second than other blockchains. These innovations are:
- Proof-of-History (PoH)
- Tower BFT
- Gulf Stream
- Turbine
- SeaLevel
- Pipeline
- Cloudbreak
- Archivers
The major particularity of Solana lies in its Proof-of-History (PoH) consensus. This consensus mechanism is a variation of the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus by adding a historical record. This simplifies the transaction validation process without sacrificing security. It also offers greater scalability, theoretically allowing Solana to support up to 65,000 transactions per second.
Solana has the native and governance token SOL. This token is used for transactions, transaction fees or to deploy smart contracts. In addition, the SOL token is needed for stacking within the network. Additionally, we can find SPL tokens, which are tokens that can have different properties or characteristics, such as Ethereum’s ERC tokens.
In order to use Solana we will need a wallet to deposit our tokens. We have compiled the best Solana wallets, whether they are web, software or hardware. We will see the particularities of each of them and which ones can be the most interesting.
Why I should choose a non-custodial wallet?
Non-custodial wallets are those that allow us to create the seed words and store them ourselves. This type of wallets are the best if we want a high degree of privacy and security. Perhaps the biggest drawback of this type of wallet is that if we lose the seed words, we will no longer be able to access our funds.
Relying on third parties or wallets with custody can pose several risks. First, going through a KYC process that totally eliminates the privacy offered by blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Also, secondly, the company that safeguards our assets can block us from accessing them without prior notice.
The worst case scenario is the third one: that the company, usually an exchange, suffers a security breach. It has happened on quite a few occasions that an exchange service provider has been hacked and funds have been stolen. In this way, we would lose our money and it would be almost impossible to recover it.
To avoid blocking of funds (as has happened) or theft of funds, it is better not to have them in centralized platforms such as exchanges. Something quite common is to leave the amount of funds we need for our common operations.
Undoubtedly the best option is to use a non-custodial wallet. The seed words can be stored wherever we want. However, it must be a place where it cannot be accessed by anyone and, if possible, in a durable medium. Many users opt for hardware wallets, but others choose to engrave them in stainless steel, titanium or gold sheets, materials that are difficult to corrupt.
Top Solana official wallets
Let’s first look at the specific wallets supported by Solana developers. These wallets are non-custodial and are currently the best possible options. Note that they still have limited capabilities, but work is underway to expand their features.
Phatom
The most widely used at present due to its simplicity. It is characterized by offering high security and being completely non-custodial. It has a fairly easy to use user interface, very simple and clean.
Phatom is currently available as a browser extension for Google Chrome and Chromium-based browsers such as Brave and Microsoft Edge. It is also available as a browser extension for Mozilla Firefox.
The developers are working on its arrival on smartphones. They already have a functional wallet for iOS that can be easily downloaded. They do not yet have a wallet for Android, although it is in an advanced stage of development.
Phantom is a non-custodial wallet, so we will be responsible for the seed words. This wallet generates a total of 12 completely random seed words. Additionally, it has support for Ledger hardware wallet.
This wallet has access to NFTs and also supports SPL tokens. Additionally, it allows us to do stacking quite easily. It also integrates the token exchange function, although at the moment this function is limited, since it only supports Raydium, not supporting other DEX.
Note: They have recently closed an investment round in excess of 100 million USD. Thanks to this capital injection they plan to add users and developers for Web3, integrate other blockchain and expand the team of developers.
SolFlare
Wallet developed by Solana Labs, who are the developers of Solana’s own blockchain. This makes it the first functional wallet developed specifically for this blockchain. It has a very simple and intuitive interface, making it a great choice.
This wallet is currently available as an extension for Google Chrome and Chromium-based browsers, such as Brave and Microsoft Edge. It is also available for Mozilla Firefox browser.
The good thing about SolFlare is that it has an application for Android and iOS mobile devices. This app is simple and intuitive, supporting NFT and SPL tokens. Unfortunately, token exchange on the mobile version is not available.
It has a completely non-custodial system, so we are the owners of the seed phrase. This mnemonic phrase is composed of a total of 24 seed words. This makes it a non-custodial wallet with high security.
As mentioned above, this wallet supports both NFT and SPL tokens. We can easily exchange tokens, but only from the browser extension. In addition, this wallet supports different DEX, so we will always get the best conversion price.
Sollet
It is a non-custodial wallet specifically developed for use with DEX Serum. The Sollet wallet is a bit more complex than the previous ones, so it is recommended for advanced users and developers.
Currently this non-custodial wallet is only available as a browser extension. It is available for Google Chrome and Chromium-based browsers such as Brave and Microsoft Edge. It also has an extension for Mozilla Firefox browser.
One of the particularities of Sollet is that it allows us to add ERC-20 tokens, which are native to the Ethereum network. This allows us to have assets from two different blockchains. Note that the tokens can be divided into three groups:
- Supports SOL and most common SPL tokens
- Allows ERC-20 tokens to be added manually
- Allows to add SPL tokens manually if they are not listed (costs 0.002093 SOL)
Sollet is a high security non-custodial wallet with a 24-word seed phrase. This gives us a high degree of security. Unfortunately, it is not compatible, at the moment, with Ledger’s hardware wallet.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that it offers support for SOL and SPL token stake. Additionally, it offers the possibility of farming SPL tokens through the decentralized exchange Serum.
Best software wallets for Solana
For those users who have more than one cryptocurrency and want to have them in the same point, these wallets are the best. They allow us to control the assets in the same point in a very simple way.
Atomic Wallet
It is quite a popular wallet that in addition to Solana, supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Avalanche and more than 300 other cryptocurrencies and tokens. It has a very clean and fairly simple user interface.
It has a personal computer version and a smartphone version. It has versions for Windows, Linux and MacOS, and also for Android and iOS. This allows us to control and manage new assets from any system. It should be noted that the Android version offers approximately 7% APY for Solana stacking.
One of its strengths is that it allows to acquire cryptocurrencies by credit/debit card or by bank transfer. The problem is that we can only acquire BTC or Ether, it does not support other cryptocurrencies. Although then we can exchange these cryptocurrencies for Solana or any other, as it offers exchange function.
Atomic Wallet offers high security by means of a 12-word seed phrase. As always, we must keep them in a safe place and in the correct order.
It currently has two problems. First, it does not show the NFTs we may have, and second, it does not support SPL tokens.
Exodus Wallet
Cuesta this wallet with a very elegant interface and integrates different sounds for certain actions. Currently, this wallet supports more than 130 cryptocurrencies and tokens. It is not the one that supports the most assets, but it has some pretty interesting features.
It is currently available on PC for Windows, MacOS and Linux operating systems. It is also available in smartphone version, being available for Android and iOS. It allows us in all these versions to do SOL stacking through its own EverStake validator that offers an APY of approximately 6%.
One of the strengths of Exodus Wallet is that it does not require registration and verification as it is non-custodial. It has a seed phrase composed of 12 words that we must store in a safe place. Something quite curious is that it supports Trezor hardware wallet, but not Ledger.
This cross-platform wallet has two more peculiarities. First, it allows exchanging between the supported tokens, since it integrates support for ShapeShift. Secondly, it can be used with the FTX exchange through an extension.
Math Wallet
It is not the best known wallet, although it is gaining ground for having very interesting features. It is a fairly simple wallet to use, although it has unique features not available in other blockchain.
The interesting thing about this wallet is that it is available for browser, PC and smartphone. It is compatible on PC with Windows, Linux and MacOS, as well as being compatible on Android and iOS mobiles. As we said, it has an extension for Google Chrome and Chromium browsers such as Brave and Microsoft Edge.
It currently supports about 85 cryptocurrencies and tokens. Although it does offer a couple of rather interesting features. These are:
- MathVault: A service that allows stacking and access to DeFi services. It offers support for Solstake, from the SOL token.
- MathDapps: Solution that allows interacting with Dapps deployed in different blockchains.
- MathGas: A calculator of Gas or commissions from different blockchain.
Despite all the interesting points, this is a custodial wallet. This means that we will not have access to the private keys, and therefore, our funds are in the hands of a third party that we must trust. It has interesting functions that we can use without having to deposit our cryptocurrencies.
Trust Wallet
Let’s go now to a very interesting and popular open source wallet. It has a very simple and intuitive interface, ideal for any user. One of the strengths of Trust Wallet is that it does not charge fees for transactions within the application.
This wallet is only available for Android and iOS. Unfortunately, it is not available as a browser extension or for PC.
Trust Wallet is characterized as a non-custodial wallet. It makes use of a 12-word seed phrase system, offering high security. Here at all times the assets are our property.
It currently supports 53 blockchains. This means that it supports the native token of that blockchain, (SOL, in the case of Solana) and the tokens deployed within each of the blockchains.
It allows the purchase of cryptocurrencies by credit/debit card. Additionally, it supports NFT and stacking of different cryptocurrencies. It also offers support for different dApps.
Best hardware portfolios for Solana
The best way to store private keys, and therefore our cryptocurrencies, is with hardware wallets. Unfortunately, Trezor does not support Solana and other fairly recent blockchains. Currently, there are only two options that offer a high degree of security and support Solana.
Ledger
The most widely used hardware wallet today due to its high level of security. It allows storing the private keys of many different wallets and different tokens.
This wallet has a high security system and associated software. The Ledger Live software is used to manage our private keys and assets in a simple way. This software requires the generation of a 24-word private key, which guarantees a high level of security.
This Ledger hardware wallet integrates an encryption chip and intrusion and malware detection. It is complemented by the BOLOS operating system, created especially for this hardware wallet. Interestingly, the private keys are stored independently, not all together in the same memory space.
It currently offers stacking and has a large list of Solana validators.
ProKey
It is a slightly different hardware wallet, very focused on security and taking into account different details. It is characterized by its ease of use and configuration.
This ProKey hardware wallet has a security chip that protects against threats. A fundamental element to protect something as valuable as our private keys and, therefore, our cryptocurrencies.
It has support for more than 3000 different cryptocurrencies and tokens. Additionally, it allows you to exchange tokens in a simple way. It is compatible with Windows, MacOS, Linux and Android.
Conclusion on the best wallets for Solana
There are, as you can see, different types of wallets depending on the needs of each user. We have wallets that we could call official, software wallets for different platforms and physical wallets.
As the best wallets for Solana we have Phantom as official, which is the simplest and most intuitive. Then as software wallet we have Trust Wallet, which is quite complete and is open source. Finally as hardware wallet we have Ledger, which is the most versatile and supports the largest number of tokens.
