Best Ravencoin Wallets: Top 6 Safest Places to Store your RVN
Ravencoin (RVN) is a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain that was developed as a way to store and transfer assets from one party to another seamlessly. It is decentralized, open-source and peer-to-peer.
It uses proof-of-work like Bitcoin, but with a critical unique difference. Ravencoin remains ASIC resistant thanks to the X16R algorithm it uses for consensus. This feature of Ravencoin made it immediately popular when it was released in January 2018 and it remains popular to today.
We have previously written a guide about how to mine Ravencoin.
However, irrespective of whether you mine RVN or buy it for an investment, you are going to need safe wallet to store your coins. In this post, I will give you some of the best storage options for Ravencoin as well as some top tips for safe coin storage.
Top 6 Best Ravencoin Wallets
Despite Ravencoin's recent popularity, there are not that many third party wallets that support the coin. Given that they did not complete an ICO and are not an ERC20 token, more work is required by wallet developers to integrate the coin into their code.
Having said that, there are still a few strong storage options that you can use. These have either been released by the core developers themselves, companies aligned with the team or third party enthusiasts in the community.
With that being said, below is a list of some of the best Ravencoin wallets in order of preference.
Official Ravencoin Desktop (Desktop Wallet)
One of the best choices in cryptocurrency wallets is always the official wallet, and Ravencoin has you covered with their own official wallet that can be downloaded and installed for Windows, Linux or Mac OS.
The wallet is easy to use and you’ll have a backup seed to use in the event you need to reinstall the wallet on a different device. The official desktop wallet does download the entire blockchain, so it takes some time to fully synchronize, but once that’s done you’re helping to secure the Ravencoin network, which is a positive.
Moreover, given that this is the official wallet that has been developed by the Ravencoin team, you can be sure that it will have broad community support. The core developers are constantly updating the wallet code so you can be sure that the wallet will always support the latest Ravencoin features.
Because this is a desktop wallet it is pretty secure, but you still have to make sure your computer isn’t infected by a virus or malware. You also have to make sure that you are only downloading the wallet from the official Ravencoin website or GitHub repository and not from another website our source.
Trezor (Hardware Wallet)
Hardware wallets are always among the most secure place to store your cryptocurrency, whether you’re talking about Ravencoin or some other cryptocurrency. Thankfully, the team at Trezor has recently released firmware for their hardware device that supports Ravencoin. You can use the Ravencoin Electrum wallet with your Trezor.
Users are especially fond of the Trezor because it uses open source firmware, unlike some of its competitors. It is also a multicurrency wallet with support for over 1,000 coins. The entry level Trezor is the Trezor Model One which retails for €69 and can be bought directly from Trezor.
Warning ⚠️: Do not buy any hardware device from third party sellers
Trezor also adds to its security features by requiring the device to be authenticated before it can be connected to your computer. And it can only be accessed if the device security code is entered properly, otherwise it will fail to draw power from the computer, and plugging it into the USB port has no effect.
While the Trezor Model One should be suffecient for storing RVN and most of your other coins, there are some popular coins that it does not support. You could opt for the Trezor Model T which covers a wider selection of coins as well as being more user friendly with its RGB LCD screen. You can get this for €149.
If safety is your main concern the Trezor is probably your best bet for secure RVN storage.
Trezor devices have gained significant popularity within the cryptocurrency community, and here at the Coin Bureau, our team relies on Trezor devices to securely store our private keys. To delve deeper into the features and capabilities of Trezor devices, we invite you to explore our dedicated Trezor reviews:
Official Ravencoin Mobile (Mobile Wallet)
The Ravencoin developers have also created an official mobile wallet, and it is available for both iOS and Android operating systems. This is a great wallet for those who need access to their RVN when out and about and would like to send RVN.
The Ravencoin mobile wallet was developed by Medici ventures. This is the venture capital arm of Overstock.com which has been investing in blockchain related startups. They are an active supporter of the Ravencoin project and have even used the blockchain to transfer securities.
The wallet has a sleek design and in fully encrypted to keep your RVN as safe as possible on a mobile device. You’ll also enjoy PIN protection on the wallet to keep it secure from physical thieves or in case you lose your mobile device.
Of course, this is still a mobile wallet and they are way less secure than other options. Hence, you will probably not want to store too many coins on your device and keep the bulk of your RVN holdings in an offline wallet.
Pocket Raven (Web Wallet)
The Pocket Raven is a web based wallet service for Ravencoin. It is written in javascript and is completely open source, making it fully transparent. It works seamlessly with the Ravencoin blockchain and can even be used as a multi-signature solution. Obviously a web wallet isn’t going to be the most secure solution, but it is a quick and easy way to get a Ravencoin wallet up and running.
This might be a good solution if you’re mining RVN and need a quick wallet to send your proceeds to. It could also be good if you’re away from your desktop computer and don’t know your wallet address. Simply create a quick web wallet to receive your RVN coins and them when you get home you can transfer them to your main desktop wallet.
In order to create a new wallet, you will have to choose a unique username and password. The Pocket Raven will create an address as a combination of both of these and you can create multiple address with the same username but different passwords. The operators of the site do not have access to these details in any way.
Warning ⚠️: You are the only one with access to these details so make sure you don't lose it.
Ravencoin Paper (Paper Wallet)
A paper wallet can be as simple as writing your private keys on a piece of paper. For something a bit more fancy there are Ravencoin paper wallet generators which print your private keys neatly, and also print a QR code to make transfers easier. A paper wallet is an extremely secure method for storing Ravencoin, since it isn’t connected to the internet, which means it can’t be accessed by hackers.
You will have to keep the paper itself secure from thieves and other potential disasters such as fire or liquid spills. It isn’t unusual to print several copies of a paper wallet and keep them in different secure locations.
If you are going to be creating a paper wallet with this software, best practices would be do it in an offline state. Given that the wallet is generated on the client side with the browser, it does not need internet connection to be created. There are two options to do this with the Ravencoin paper wallet generator:
- You can head on over to the paper wallet website, disconnect from the internet and then generate your wallet.
- You can download the website files from their official GitHub and open the wallet in your browser in an offline machine.
Once you have your private keys, you should print it on a secure printer and store it in a cold storage state. Do not save the paper wallet in PDF on your machine at all as it is unencrypted and easy to steal from.
Ravencoin Wallet with Miners (Desktop Wallet)
This is a third-party wallet for Ravencoin that includes mining software. This means you can mine RVN from the wallet, just by keeping it open and running. It uses your CPU, so it isn’t likely you’ll find a block at current difficulty levels, but if you do it’s worth 5,000 RVN which is a nice payout.
The wallet itself is a basic design and not a lot of bells and whistles with it's best feature being the added mining option.
Conclusion
There you have it, 6 of the best Ravencoin wallets currently available. Which one you end up choosing will depend on your own individual preferences and use cases.
The core wallet is the one with the most support and is officially sanctioned by the developers. Running a full node on the Ravencoin network means that you are helping to keep it secure and well distributed. Of course, it does not beat the security of a hardware wallet or the usability of a mobile wallet.
Perhaps the best solution is to use an array of different wallets. You can store the bulk of your holdings in an offline hardware wallet / paper wallet while using the desktop or mobile wallet for your more regular spending requirements.
Irrespective of which wallet you do end up choosing, make sure that you are following wallet security 101. Keep your private keys secure, backup your seeds and don't tell the world about your stash of RVN.
No one needs to know what you are hodling! ?
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Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.
