Set up Your Solana Wallet

A cryptocurrency wallet gives you control over your cryptocurrency and your other digital assets.

You will need a Solana-based wallet to buy, sell, store and trade your Geckos on the Solana Blockchain.

This wallet will also enable you to receive, send, store and/or exchange your Solana (SOL) and other Solana ecosystem tokens.

There are several types of cryptocurrency wallets to choose from. Typically, they will fall under two main types: hot and cold wallets.

We recommend making use of both hot and cold wallets for reasons we will explain here.

Hot wallet

The hot wallet, or software wallet, is an application running on an internet-connected device, such as a computer, a tablet or a phone. They are generally available free of charge, and usually take the form of a browser extension on web3-enabled browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Brave, among others.

Because hot wallets remain connected to the internet through your browser, they remain somewhat vulnerable to hacks. The risk is relatively low, provided you are prudent and only connect to trusted sites, but it exists. As such, we do not recommend using hot wallets for long-term storage of assets; instead, they are best used for convenience and speed of transaction.

They are ideal for mobile applications — such as using Solana Pay to purchase real world goods, or for minting a project when you're not at your desktop — as well as day-to-day transactions and access to token gated websites.

Examples of popular hot wallets are Phantom, Solflare, and Sollet, among others.

Cold wallet

The cold wallet, also known as a hardware wallet or cold storage, is a physical device that must be connected to a desktop (usually via USB) in order to send any outgoing assets.

Hardware wallets rely on this direct connection and several other forms of physical verification from the user to allow the transfer of any assets out of its protection. It is essentially a purpose-built USB flash drive that stores your private keys offline for the ultimate protection and storage of your valuable assets.

While the hardware wallet is undeniably the best way to protect your digital assets, it does take several extra steps to send outgoing transactions; the mild inconvenience is the cost of maximum security. This is why many choose to keep small amounts of SOL / USDC on hot wallets for ease of use while maintaining their long-term holdings in a hardware wallet.

Of note: It is imperative that you purchase your hardware wallet directly from a manufacturer to avoid any malicious activity. Do not buy refurbished or even “new” hardware devices from any third party as this can leave you vulnerable to security breaches.

An example of a popular hardware wallet that supports Solana blockchain transactions is the Ledger Nano S or X.

The following video, created by Magic Eden, explains how to setup a Phantom Wallet.

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