Ethereum (ETH) wallet

Ethereum Wallet: A Smart Wallet for Smart Contracts

Ethereum is more than just an alternative blockchain to Bitcoin. It has grown to become a base for smart contracts, decentralized applications, NFTs, and cryptocurrency creation. That has helped its price skyrocket with the potential to beat Bitcoin to the number 1 position.

Before we get into the details of how a wallet works on an example of Atomic desktop and mobile Wallet's features. Let's check how Ethereum became so popular, and why it's called the killer of fiat currencies.

Ethereum Blockchain: On Track to Number 1

Ethereum was created by Vitalik Buterin in 2015. It can be used as a store of value, but its main features include its ability to execute smart contracts on the blockchain with the help of the Ethereum Virtual Machine. It also allows you to develop decentralized applications (Dapps) that run off its native smart contracts blockchain. Ethereum blockchain was seen as the digital silver and Bitcoin the digital Gold, based on price performance.

Now, Ethereum is poised to take over Bitcoin by market cap in what is known as a flippening. The Flippening was on course to happen earlier in 2021, but with the slump in crypto prices, it seems more reasonable that it might happen later in 2022.

If you look at the graph below, you can see that throughout 2021, Ethereum had some great returns going from a year-low of $1,332 to $4,800 in only 10 months! Incredible, don't you think?

This price action clarifies why investors are lining up behind Ethereum to overtake Bitcoin within a year. Price predictions also point to Ethereum hitting highs at $10,000 per token.

What Can You Do with Ethereum?

The question should really be, what can't you do with Ethereum? Unlike fiat money, the options are seemingly limitless. Well, for one thing, you could build your own cryptocurrency. You may have heard of ERC-20 tokens, right?

It stands for Ethereum Requests for Comment 20. If you have a cryptocurrency that is ERC-20, you have an Ethereum-based token! ERC-20 emerged as the technical standard for smart contacts. As of 2021, some 450,000 different ERC-20 cryptocurrencies exist on Ethereum's main network!

What else can you do? You can buy and sell Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). Ethereum has become one of the primary cryptocurrencies used in the NFT market because of its programmable smart contracts. Smart contracts are automatically executed when your pre-programmed conditions are met.

Though this is a whole new dimension for the network, it has led to some unwanted consequences on Ethereum's network.

Let's have a closer look at one: Ethereum's spiking gas.

Ethereum Gas fees

Ethereum is currently on Proof-of-Work (PoW), meaning, like Bitcoin, miners get rewards for verifying transaction blocks in the form of new Ethereum tokens. Though the process feeds itself, transactions incur network or gas fees. Why is that important? A fundamental reason why fees are included for each transaction is to keep spam off the network.

Think of it as email. If it costs to send each email, the amount of spam you'd receive will drop dramatically. The same goes for applying gas fees to Ethereum; the purpose is to keep spam off the network and keep available bandwidth open to paying users.

Due to the popularity of NFTs on platforms like OpenSea, the mainnet has become overloaded with transactions, pushing fees up, higher, and higher. This resulted in a cost barrier for sending and receiving payment using the Ethereum network.

Gas fees are well over $100 per transaction, as of writing. If you're buying and selling NFTs for thousands or millions of dollars, the fee is relatively small. For everyday transactions, like moving some Ethereum from one Eth desktop or mobile device to another, the fees are high.

Gas fees aren't the only issue with using an Ethereum account for transactions. Scalability is another issue for Ethereum right now is that its blockchain bandwidth has hit its ceiling.

Ethereum has high hopes for Ethereum 2.0. What's that? Let's dig deeper into the Ethereum upgrade.

What is Ethereum 2.0?

Currently, Ethereum is suffering from network congestion, high gas fees, and scalability issues. To remedy the situation, the major upgrade to Ethereum 2.0 has been in the works for a long time to address these issues and should come in Summer 2022.

The biggest change will be the move from PoW to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, replacing miners with validators. That differs ETH from many other digital assets. The validators will now stake their coins at a chance to validate blocks and receive rewards for doing so. Crypto staking allows you to validate blocks and earn extra passive income from the process. Think of it as interest on your money at the bank.

PoS makes the network more scalable and accessible. Currently, the Ethereum network can store only a limited amount of data at any given time. If several transactions are pending on the network and can't fit into the current block, they must wait for a new block to be added to the network before it can be validated. Sharding, a method for distributing data across multiple computers, also addresses the scalability issue. This allows you to have several transactions across a distributed network of multiple machines. That means the network will process more transactions, resulting in network decluttering.

Why is this all important for you as an investor? If the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade is successful, that'll send the token to new highs and help it overtake Bitcoin's number 1 position.

Now, if you decide you want to buy Ethereum, you'll need an Eth wallet to hold your tokens. Let's dig deeper into how an Ethereum wallet works.

How Do Ethereum Wallets Work?

When you have some Ethereum, you'll need a place to securely store it. That's where software wallets come in. An Eth wallet is essentially a program that allows you to send, receive and store your digital assets. The Ethereum wallet generates an address that you can give to people who want to send you Ethereum.

An Ethereum wallet is decentralized. That means it isn't connected to any centralized bank or company; it's independent and stands on its own. That leaves you with more control over your own assets, and only you can touch them. You don't have to worry about a third party having access to your funds.

Your Ethereum wallet also helps you connect to other dApps, like the NFT marketplace OpenSea, where you can buy and sell NFTs. As a plus, your wallet can even store your NFTs! With the smart contacts and ecosystem, you're able to do much more than with a cryptocurrency that's only a store of value you send and receive, buy, or sell.

All these functions available in an Ethereum wallet are different from other coins. That's why you'll want to think about the following before you select an Ethereum wallet:

• Buying crypto with a credit card

• Connecting to dApps

• Access to Decentralized Finance (DeFi), where you can borrow, lend, and stake crypto

• Withdraw/add funds via a bank account

• Access decentralized token swap sites

• Access whale-sized wallets for accounts with large sums of Ethereum

Where can you find all these features? Atomic Wallet is a free Ethereum wallet. It supports Ethereum, allows users to create an Ethereum account, has the basic features of a wallet plus, much, much more!

Ethereum Crypto Wallet

Atomic Eth wallet has many features. We'll go over 4 features in this article and how to use them.

1. What Is an Ethereum Wallet Address?

It's like your mailing address; you give it to anyone who wants to send you some Ethereum! You might be thinking, where's my address and how do I use it? Easy; you'll find it on Atomic Wallet's main screen for each asset. For Ethereum:

1. Go to Ethereum (ETH) and open it (If you don't see what you're looking for, just start typing in the search bar)

2. Find send and receive at the bottom

3. Click on receive, and then you'll see your wallet's address for that particular asset (Remember: each asset has its own wallet and address). You can also Buy Eth with your credit or debit card right here, in Atomic's interface.

A crypto wallet address is 42 characters in length and always starts with the prefix 0x. An example of an Ethereum address is: 0x51D817EC8cd11c099fedC851A3801A5e4a9058E

Always make sure you're sending your ERC20 tokens to an Ethereum address, or you could lose them forever, without any way to get them back. This applies to all cryptocurrencies, not just Ethereum. If your ERC20 tokens go to the wrong Ethereum address, you won't benefit from a return-to-sender feature.

We can't emphasize this enough, always double-check your addresses!

2. Seed Phrases

Each time you create an Eth wallet, you need to create a seed phrase. It usually consists of 12 random words in a particular order. Not only are the words important, but so is the order. Jot it down and place it somewhere for safekeeping. This is your one and only chance to set up your passphrase. We'll get to passphrases next but for now, save your seed phrase.

This phrase allows you to regain access to your wallet if you forget your password or get a new device and you need to re-download your wallet. While you keep the mnemonic in a safe place, you wouldn't lose access to your crypto assets. You also need the phrase to activate your old wallet on your new phone or tablet. Don't forget to delete your wallets from your old phone and wipe the device off any data once it's all migrated to your new device.

3. Passphrases

You should have created your seed phrase to transfer your cryptocurrency wallet to another device. Most wallets provide you with the seed phrase as the first layer of security. Additionally, you should use a passphrase to enhance your wallet's security even more. You wouldn't just leave your cash lying in a vault without closing the door, and you wouldn't do it with crypto, either. You must ensure your crypto is as secure as possible.

A passphrase is like two-factor authentication, but the questions are about things you know, not something you are/have. Many traditional security questions ask things like: what's your grandmother's maiden name, what city were you born in, what was your best friend's first name, etc. It used to be that only you could answer these questions but, it's getting easier for cyber attackers to find out information about you.

4. Private and Public Keys

You've probably heard the terms private and public keys when talking about encryption. Your cryptocurrency wallet must have a private key to generate a public key and identify your wallets on the network. You also need to store it in a safe place, like your seed phrase. Learn how to store it properly in our blog post. Don't save it on mobile devices or any kind of online notes!

The public key is a hashed version of your private key only available for decryption in one direction and for one time. The public key is decrypted to show the private key and send funds to the correct address. This one-way encryption is called hashing, and it's the most prevalent form of encryption in the cryptocurrency world.

Do I need an Ethereum Hardware wallet?

Well, that's a good question. Ethereum hardware wallets provide you with an additional level of security, which web wallet or browser extension doesn't have. On the other hand, the basic levels of security like mnemonics make it impossible to hack your wallet without knowing the exact phrase. And hardware wallet, like any physical device, is costing money.

Ethereum Transaction Fees

Let's take a look at transaction fees. In the crypto world, fees are ever--present., and If you're a savvy crypto investor, you'll want to pay attention to how much it's costing you to transact.

When you buy cryptocurrencies on Atomic Wallet, you'll pay a flat 2% fee with a minimum fee of $10 per transaction. You'll have to check your bank, as they might also charge a fee too. Finally, 'you'll need to pay a network fee or miners' fee.

Atomic Wallet has zero fees for swapping, sending, or receiving cryptocurrencies. That said you'll need to pay the network fees to that respective cryptocurrency network. You can check the network fee on Atomic Wallet's swap pairs page, for that transaction.

Atomic desktop and mobile wallet

There are many wallets for storing crypto. These apps can be mobile wallets or desktop wallets. They also can be used as web wallets, browser wallets, and hardware wallets. Some of these apps are custodial wallets, and some of them are decentralized cryptocurrency wallets. While choosing from the best Ethereum wallets out there, let's take a look at Atomic. It's a desktop and mobile wallet app, one of the so-called hot wallets - a multi-coin wallet that can store more than 300 different cryptocurrencies. It allows you to buy, sell, trade, stake, send, and receive crypto coins and tokens. As a reward for using Atomic Wallet, you'll receive up to a 1% cash back for your transactions in the form of Atomic Wallet's token, AWC.

Follow these 5 easy steps to download and start using your Atomic Ethereum Wallet:

1. Go to Atomic Wallet's main website and download the installation file for your operating system. You can choose a desktop wallet for any popular OS. (To install a mobile wallet, go to the Apple Store or Google Play Store to get the mobile app for your phone or tablet.)

2. Click Run Atomic, then click Create Password.

3. Enter a strong password, and click Set Password.

4. Save your 12-word seed phrase in a secret place, you'll need it to restore access to the wallet. If someone obtains your seed phrase, they can take over your wallet. That's why you have to be very careful where you store it.

5. Click Start Using Atomic, and you're ready to start trading!

Now, let's navigate the Atomic Desktop Wallet feature tabs.

1. Crypto Wallet

When you open the app, it will take you to the wallet interface. In the first tab, Wallet, you can see the balance of all available coins and your wallet addresses for different currencies. You have the option to sort the tokens by volume or hide zero balances. Atomic Wallet lets you store Ethereum, send Ethereum, and add any custom ERC-20 (Ethereum-based) tokens to the wallet. That's a remarkable feature!

2. Swap Ethereum

The swap tab allows you to swap tokens through partner exchanges, like ChangeNOW, Changelly, and ShapeShift.

3. Settings

In the Settings tab, you can change your password and store private keys securely in an encrypted form. You can also import an external wallet into the Atomic Wallet, but you have to enter a private key. You can also use the wallet to connect to another decentralized swap or import external Ethereum accounts.

Let's now take a more detailed look at your Ethereum wallet's features. That way, you'll be familiar with the ins and outs that allow you to store you're Ethereum funds more efficiently and securely.

FAQ

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is a blockchain-based - cryptocurrency. Ethereum is a store of value and a smart contract. It is programmable and can be used to create smart contracts and other cryptocurrencies based on the ERC-20 standard.

Ethereum is second only to Bitcoin in market capitalization and possesses more features and functions. These features have made Ethereum integral to the cryptocurrency world: more than 450,000 cryptocurrencies are ERC-20.

What is an Ethereum Wallet?

An Ethereum wallet could be a simple application that allows you to store your crypto assets: send and receive Ethereum. Some wallets, though, are very advanced, allowing you to buy and sell NFTs, write smart contracts, and much more. Atomic Wallet lets you do more than just send and receive. It helps you buy, trade, exchange, stake your coins, receive rewards for using Atomic Wallet, and much more. It's also really beginner-friendly, so it's a great option to keep your crypto funds. Moreover, it's really cozy to have the same wallet both on a desktop and mobile phone (Android and iOS devices).

What are Ethereum gas fees?

Gas fees make the current Proof-of-Work system work as they pay for the transactions. A portion of these fees also goes to the miners verifying the transaction blocks. Ethereum's network and popularity grew Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). That led NFT swap platforms, like Open Sea, to become the primary consumers of gas fees in NFT exchanges. In turn, that That's making resulted in gas fees becoming rather expensive. As of writing, you'll have to pay well over $100 per transaction.

How many Ethereum tokens are there?

Ethereum has 119.2 million crypto tokens in circulation. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum doesn't have a fixed supply. Miners receive rewards in Ethereum to keep mining. When Ethereum first debuted in 2015, it had around 72 million tokens.

That said, once Ethereum moves from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake, the number of new Ethereum tokens created will dramatically decrease. This, combined with proof-of-stake, will likely create a supply shock and push up the price. That's only an educated guess, and by no means investment advice. Please do your own research before you invest in any asset.

What happens when Ethereum moves from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake?

In the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade, Ethereum will move from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. That'll make blockchain transactions much faster and more environmentally friendly. It'll also slow down the growth of the total Ethereum tokens in circulation.

This upgrade will also introduce the Beacon coin, which you'd use for staking in the PoS mechanism. This new chain will merge into the mainnet. Finally, the upgrade will include a massive scale-up, to create more bandwidth and scalability to handle larger transaction volumes.

Resources

Atomic Ethereum Wallet

Get your Ethereum Atomic Wallet here.

Atomic Wallet Academy

Learn about cryptocurrencies and Ethereum in our Academy.

Atomic Wallet FAQ

Learn more about using Atomic Wallet in our FAQ

Ethereum Website

Learn more about Ethereum on the official website.

Ethereum Gas Fees

Learn more about how gas works and what will happen after the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade.