How to Store NEO
Just like Bitcoin, NEO is one of the fastest growing cryptocurrencies in popularity. Due to its remarkable technological effect on the industry, NEO has been acknowledged as the Cryptocurrency network of the year. The programming languages offered by NEO have also made it possible for several decentralized applications to be created.
Many people universally have bought NEO and GAS tokens. For purposes of storing these virtual assets safely, the owners must make an effort of getting the best NEO compatible wallets available on the crypto market today.
The Price Rates of NEO
The increasing price rate of NEO has made its developers and investors to see it as a good investment portfolio. Early 2017, NEO was going for $0.14, since then it has fluctuated up to an all-time high of $51. $28 is, however, the stabilized price of a NEO block.
How is NEO Different from GAS?
NEO is merely the primary token of the blockchain, and it is also necessary for the development of decentralized applications. There are 100 million NEO tokens in supply, and each one of them is indivisible. 100 million also happens to be NEO’s full supply limit. GAS, on the other hand, is crucial for NEO’s operations. Its maximum supply is hard capped at 10 million tokens. Gas is automatically generated when a user holds NEO in his or her wallet after acquiring it from the Exchange. It comprises a series of fractions and, therefore, a division is possible. Just like NEO, GAS’ supply limit is at 100 million.
How to Select Ideal NEO Wallets
Despite the growth of this cryptocurrency, its infrastructural development has been dragging. NEO lagging in necessary infrastructure like wallets has paved the way for wallet scams like myneowallet.io. On the other hand, there are also good wallets out there. Keep the following in mind while shopping for your electronic wallet.
Security and Back up: whenever you are storing something with money value, protection is necessary to preserve them. Facilities like pin codes, back up keys and seed keys are essential.
Private Control Keys: a proper wallet should have features for you to own and store keys to your e-wallet.
GAS-claiming Capability: not all cryptocurrency wallets instantly claim free GAS that you get for holding NEO. Remember to check for a wallet that claim’s GAS.
Compatibility: the electronic wallet must be compatible with your operating system, and the different versions of the operating system. If you have an ‘’Android’’ operating system get an Android NEO wallet, the same applies for a “Mac” OS, get a Mac NEO wallet.
Ease of use: cryptocurrency wallets should be both elegant and have a user-friendly interface.
Types of NEO Wallets
The wallets and Exchanges of NEO are not as popular as those of Ethereum. The fact that NEO is still in the early development stages can be used to explain this, however. Nonetheless, as you have already learned, there are several reliable wallets that can be used to secure your cryptocurrencies. These wallets are categorized into four types including the hardware wallets, desktop wallets, web wallets, and paper wallets. Each of these categories comprises a series of wallets that one can choose from.
1. Hardware Wallets
When thinking of holding NEO for mid-term or long-term, hardware wallets might be your best option yet. Hardware wallets keep your cryptocurrency safe from prying eyes of hackers.
Ledger Nano S (hardware wallet)
Ledger Nano S added support for NEO wallet in last quarter of 2017, and it even works with the NEON wallet. You can also claim any earned GAS using Ledger Nano S + NEON combinations. The most worthwhile thing about Ledger Nanos S + Neon wallet combination is that you don’t have to enter the private key or keep it in your computer. Not typing in your private key will reduce the chances of getting hacked to a great extent. One can only send NEO or GAS if they have access to your Ledger Nano S hardware, this makes this wallet very secure.
2. Desktop Wallets
Desktop wallet clients are software you obtain from the internet, and they can be downloaded to your computer to run them. Desktop wallets should only be used with a secure gadget, one that has all the necessary firewalls and anti-virus software. Security should be top notch because every day there new malicious software that can invade your computer. The malicious programs and viruses can steal all your private keys if you are not careful. Some viruses are specially made to target popular cryptocurrencies, so it is better always to be alert. Once downloaded the desktop wallets come with installation instructions that will guide you on how to make them run.
NEON Wallet (desktop wallet)
So far, the NEON wallet for desktops is arguably the best NEO wallet on the market. Even though NEO developers did not develop this wallet, they have reviewed it for an extended period and found it to be 100% safe for use. City Of Zion officially produced this wallet. City Of Zion is an independent and international group of open source developers working on NEO blockchain. NEON wallet allows for storage and, sending and receiving of both the NEO assets, i.e. (NEO and GAS). Also, it is easy to claim your automatically generated GAS if you hold NEO in the NEON Wallet.
When using NEON Wallet to transfer NEO funds, private keys are never stored on NEON’s servers. This means you do not have to worry about security and you have fool control of your funds. The NEON lightweight client is available on different versions like Windows, Mac. Linux in English language only. Nonetheless, this wallet is associated with some risks which can be easily mitigated if NEON is used correctly.
NEO GUI (desktop wallet)
The NEO GUI is one of the official NEO desktop wallets.. Being a GUI wallet, it allows users to interact with it via a graphical user interface. The NEO GUI, unlike the NEON wallet, is a synchronizing wallet, and this infers that it downloads the blockchain onto your system. The system takes long periods to download and also takes up a lot of space on your hard drive. After completion of the blockchain download, NEO GUI allows users to create a new password-protected wallet. GUI will also let users make a backup of their wallet by importing their private key in WIF or HEX format. The NEO GUI as you would expect, allows users to send and receive both NEO and GAS, along with GAS generation rewards for NEON tokens holding. At present, this wallet is only available for Windows 7 SP1 and later (in English and Chinese only).
NEO CLI (desktop wallet)
This is another official wallet developed and managed by the NEO developers. The primary difference from the NEO GUI wallet is that it is a CLI wallet. This type of wallet is controlled by command line prompts. It is for advanced users who are comfortable with the command language but is not ideal from a beginner’s perspective. NEO CLI not only offers top-notch security for your NEO Coins but also allows for the basics of storing, sending and receiving both NEO and GAS. It moreover allows natural claiming of GAS generated tokens for holding NEO tokens. The NEO CLI wallet is currently available for Linux and Windows only (in English language only).
3. Web Wallets
When it comes to web wallets, you have to be extra careful because you are most vulnerable to malware attacks. Always confirm that you are on the right URL, you can do this by checking your browser bar. Often “phishing” websites which are created to take advantage of people, and obtain their private keys are always on a lookout for victims. Add the correct URL to your browser’s bookmarks and only access it from there. Try to avoid clicking on shady links in an email, twitter or any other media form, always use your bookmark.
NEO Tracker (web wallet)
NEO Tracker wallet is a ‘light’ web-based wallet developed independently from the NEO development team. It is written in a javascript and is an open-source project that allows NEO holders to interact with and explore NEO blockchain via the web. The NEO Tracker officially acts as an offline wallet in that it uses your machine’s browser to generate the necessary data, and nothing is ever stored on NEO Tracker’s servers.
The NEO Tracker wallet allows its users to store, send and receive NEO and GAS, on top of claiming any GAS generated relating to the amount of NEO that they hold. Despite the fact that the NEO development team did not develop NEO Tracker wallet, it uses the best practices to secure your funds. This wallet allows users to take their NEO into cold storage by enabling the printing of paper wallets. Also, when you generate a NEO Tracker wallet, you get a keystore file to download. The file will contain your keys, which are in an encrypted form. This wallet is currently available through Chrome and Edge internet browsers (in English only).
NEOWallet (web wallet)
The NEOWallet is a free secured ‘light’ web wallet which does not store your private key in its servers, meaning it is an offline wallet. It was developed by the OnChain development team, who also do the maintenance and management. Furthermore, NEOWallet allows users to make transactions as well as to store NEO and GAS. They can also claim their generated GAS if they are holding NEO in the wallet. As for now, NEOWallet is an open source wallet that is available for access through Chrome and Edge browsers. It only supports English and Chinese language.
NEO Wallet (web wallet)
This one is a web wallet for storing NEO coins. The wallet was developed and is maintained by the NEO community development team. The NEO Wallet can have a confusing naming similarity with NEOWallet, but NEO Wallet is an entirely separate project. This wallet does not store or upload any wallet files or private keys onto its servers. This means that similarly to NEO Tracker, NEO Wallet is officially an ‘offline’ wallet. This wallet allows all messages to be encrypted before transmission; this is because it is based on Application Programming Interface (API) system.
Getting started with this wallet is pretty simple. All that needs to be done is for you to visit the official website, and create a new wallet by setting up your preferred password. NEO Wallet permits users full interaction with the NEO blockchain, hence allowing them to store, send and receive both NEO and GAS. It also one of those wallets that enable users to claim GAS generation for holding their NEO tokens. NEO Wallet is currently available in English and Chinese through both Chrome and Edge internet browsers.
4. Paper Wallets
A paper wallet is merely a printed piece of papers; these papers contain a cryptocurrency public address and a private key which are accessed using QR code. NEO paper wallets are mostly preferred by those people who are planning to store their NEO coin for extended time periods; this is also known as cold storage. The printed piece of paper must be stored safely because if at any moment it gets into the wrong hands, you might lose your funds.
Ansy (paper wallet)
One of the very notable advantages of using Ansy paper wallet is that as it takes the form of cold storage, and the wallet is not connected to the internet. The fact that your printed paper is stored securely, this implies that Ansy paper wallet should reduce the risk of your NEO coin from being hacked. Using of QR codes which apply to public addresses allows for Ansy paper wallet, to allow its users to send any amount of NEO to be stored. Through the use of their private keys, Ansy paper wallet users can easily access their NEO tokens or GAS coins for spending.
As much as the paper wallet is compatible with NEO and GAS, when the tokens are taken into cold storage, the wallet does not allow for GAS coins to be generated by the holders of NEO. Ansy paper wallets are available for download either through Chrome or Edge internet browsers.
Arman Shirinyan
Alex Dovbnya
