TON 💎 Wallets

Don't worry, we were recently new to Cryptocurrency too and we understand just how confusing something very simple can be to newcomers. This guide is written for you!

What is a Wallet?

Just like a real-world wallet, it is where you store your crypto currency "coins" also known as "tokens" - in our case we're interested in TON.

There are different types of wallets, falling into 4 categories, so let us define each one:

1. Custodial Wallet

This means that the Wallet is in the custody of a third party, just like your bank account would be in the custody of the bank. The benefit is that you have additional protections in case you lost your passwords. You have to trust the custodian. Telegram is custodian of the Telegram @Wallet for example, or our favorite @CryptoBot. You don't need any passwords for the Wallet, the secret keys are controlled by Telegram. As long as you can log into Telegram, you can easily access your @Wallet. This is the best option for a total beginner, to get used to sending and receiving TON from within Telegram itself.

2. Non-custodial Wallet

This means that you are the custodian, the one and only. With it comes great responsibility. Simply: you must write down (in several places, with pen and paper or some people even etch it into metal for durability) your 24 passwords that come with any TON Wallet. The benefit is that no one but you has access, the downside is that you must take care of your backup passwords. If you want to use TON a lot or save or store substantial amounts, this is the best option provided you take those precautions. It is easy to forget where something was written down or stored, years later, so keep that in mind and act accordingly. It is easy to send and receive to any Wallet from your Wallet.

For a full list of approved Wallets see the official TON site: www.ton.org/wallets

3. Cold Wallet

This means the Wallet is not connected to the Internet, so cannot be hacked. If you are storing very large amounts, consider cold storage. You keep those 24 words written down safely with all due precautions, but don't use that Wallet online.

3. Hot Wallet

This means that the Wallet is used online, via the Internet. This is convenient for using TON for payments, exchanges, sending and receiving. See: www.ton.org/wallets

Note that if you use a Web Wallet (in the browser) then it is particularly easy to lose access to it or even forget about it, compared to an app Wallet. Be sure to write down those 24 words and keep them in more than one place, safe and secure!

Summary:

In general your most convenient and practical wallets are likely to be the "hot custodial" ones protected by Telegram's secure infrastructure, using at least @Wallet and @CryptoBot within Telegram, as well as "hot non-custodial" ones listed at www.ton.org/wallets. Those wanting to store large amounts long-term can investigate cold wallets further. TON NOTE ELITE subscribers have the most up-t0-date analysis.

How to send or receive TON?

Using a Wallet it is extremely easy. You may also have more than one wallet, for different purposes. For example, you may use the fast, secure and open source TONhub wallet for your regular transactions, and TONcoin Wallet for business transactions. Both have interfaces appropriate to such use, though there are some current usability issues.

At the time of writing, these are the two main groups with competing wallets, and both have various usability issues, depending on your use-case priorities, so either do your own research (not easy currently as most information is second or third hand) or join the exclusive TON NOTE ELITE channel (1 TON/month) for the latest analysis and info.

The MacOS wallet is a good secure wallet too, you may use this for your savings.

Note that once you send cryptocurrency, including TON, there is little chance of getting it back if it went to the wrong address, so take care to scan the QR code of the other person, or PASTE their Wallet address into the Send address box.

In all cases the most important thing is to keep written copies of your 24 passwords for any wallet you create, in more than one safe place. Never reveal those passwords to anyone, any support or customer service will never ask for them, only scammers, because whoever has them will have all your money in your wallet and can steal it!

It is also important to note that an address for TON won't be the same one for BTC or any other cryptocurrency, each currency and each wallet has its own address.

The advantages over other means of payment using third parties such as banks, money transfer services, etc? Anyone anywhere can send any amount to anyone instantly and receive it within seconds. No middle men. Extremely low fees (less than a cent).

Receiving is just as easy: click on Receive and share your Wallet address with whoever you want to receive from. They could scan your QR code that is also made available for you to share in person, or, the Wallet address itself can be shared over the Internet etc.

Privacy

A note about privacy, as those new to cryptocurrency wallets and transactions may not know this, or be confused about it.

In a bank account, your transactions are usually only visible to bank employees with relevant clearance, maybe some government departments, but generally not to the public. The public won't see your transaction history and bank account balances.

With cryptocurrency (including TON at the time of writing, but we suspect this may change later this year) things are very different. Like everything there is a pro and a con. So, here is what anyone can see using a browser such as ton.sh or a Wallet monitor such as TON Wallet Checker Bot -- very useful for monitoring some of your own wallets or those of others that you are interested in.

• Current Balance of the Wallet
• Full transaction history, with dates and times, stored forever
• Any comments made in the "Comment" or "Message" box when sending
• Wallet address sent to or received from, for each and every transaction

Scary right? Well not necessarily!

It does NOT show WHO owns which Wallet, and when you get any Wallet that is non-custodial only YOU and anyone you share the address with or make payments to or receive payments from, will know as much as you care to share about that Wallet.

For example: your identity. WHO you are would only be known if you share that information e.g. to a centralized exchange, a merchant, a friend, and they can indeed look up your Wallet and see the above mentioned bullet point information.

On the other hand, you could have multiple wallets for different purposes. Some Wallet addresses you may use to only send or receive from those who don't know who you are, and don't disclose in any social media posts linked to you, or to send and receive between your various wallets, to conceal who owns the money and your entire balance.

For example, as stated earlier, you may use one wallet as your private storage wallet, and another as your transactions Wallet, perhaps another for business. Also you may have the Telegam wallets mentioned earlier above and any number of other Wallets.

Just keep in mind that whoever you send to or receive from can look up your balance and transaction history, even if they won't know what most of those transactions are for if there are no comment messages attached, or the Wallet addresses aren't known to them. So there are many advantages but this could be a disadvantage.

And yet, no middle man, no restrictions, free to send and receive any amount that you have to or from anyone anywhere in the world! How great is that?

No PayPal, Bank, etc to freeze your money. No one to say you cannot have an account.