NEAR is a Proof-of-Stake blockchain that is extremely friendly to developers. They can seamlessly create decentralized applications on it thanks to its low-cost and high scalability.
The NEAR Protocol creators made several other outstanding products, and the NEAR Wallet is one of them. This article will focus on the different wallets that support the NEAR Protocol.
What Types of Crypto Wallet Are There?
We can divide crypto wallets into four groups:
Desktop Wallets
It’s a type of wallet installed on a desktop computer or laptop. Users get complete control over the wallet just as they would with a mobile wallet but in a desktop environment.
The main difference is that some desktop wallets for cryptocurrency have more advanced functionality, such as the ability to operate a complete node or the full crypto exchange integration.
The best desktop wallets of this type are:
Mobile Wallets
A mobile wallet app has more or less the same functions as a desktop wallet but on a mobile device. Mobile wallets are often more convenient due to their portable nature and the ability to scan QR codes for quick crypto transactions in stores or between peers. There are wallets that support NEAR for all types of operating systems like Android or iOS.
Web Wallets
These are blockchain web wallets that can be accessed anytime and anywhere as long as there is the internet. Examples include renowned platforms like MetaMask, Trust, and Guarda wallet.
Security is a concern for web wallets, but that can be managed with due diligence to ensure the web wallet you choose has a good history of high-level security and insurance.
Hardware Wallets
A hardware wallet is a portable device that gives users secure access to the crypto. It functions by generating a user’s private keys in a safe, offline environment while featuring an easy-to-use display. It usually connects via USB or Bluetooth to internet-connected devices like your computer. A separate screen in a wallet is used to verify and approve transactions to help prevent the disclosure of sensitive information to the internet-connected device.
When researching the perfect crypto hardware wallet, a user must consider many factors, such as security and privacy, transaction fees, two-factor authentication (2FA), the ability to lock and unlock withdrawals, customer support, and multi-chain support.
The Best Wallets for the NEAR Protocol
Crypto wallets are essential for buying, trading, and staking NEAR tokens. NEAR holders can choose any wallet: hardware or software, hot or cold storage, desktop or mobile. The NEAR Protocol encourages developers to create a wide variety of wallets and products that support NEAR.
Each wallet option comes with its own set of features, user interfaces, and security measures, catering to different preferences and requirements. In today’s thriving ecosystem, you have access to over 40 diverse wallet options. This extensive variety ensures that you can securely manage and store your assets while finding the perfect fit for your crypto journey.
NEAR Wallet
Since its inception in late 2020 by Pagoda’s core team, NEAR Wallet has established itself as a pivotal tool for users navigating the NEAR DeFi ecosystem. Tailored specifically for the NEAR blockchain, this non-custodial, web-based platform allows seamless management of NEAR and NEP-141 tokens. Its user-centric design and intuitive interface have made it a favorite among those eager to harness the full potential of their NEAR assets.
Considering the growth of NEAR’s ecosystem and Pagoda’s dedication to decentralization, a significant change was recently implemented. By October 2023’s end, NEAR Wallet evolved from a mere browser wallet into a full-fledged wallet hub. This hub is envisioned as a gateway for users to acquaint themselves with an array of NEAR wallets, ensuring they find the perfect fit for their individual needs.
Extended Operation of NEAR Wallet Until Year-End
To enhance user experience and accommodate new wallets joining the ecosystem, the NEAR Foundation extended NEAR Wallet’s operation until December 31st, 2023, rather than rushing last-minute transfers. Users are encouraged to transfer their wallets using the Transfer Wizard at wallet.near.org, with straightforward instructions available upon login.
The Transfer Wizard’s Role
As the transformation is underway, users have been introduced to the Transfer Wizard, a tool tailored to guarantee a smooth transition. It offers:
- Choice and Familiarity: Users can pick between Browser and Extension-based wallets, ensuring a continuation of the familiar wallet experience.
- Enhanced Security: Beyond facilitating the migration, the Wizard rotates keys, purges obsolete ones, and safely transfers accounts to the new wallet. It’s accessible via a banner on wallet.near.org. However, it’s noteworthy that the Wizard isn’t compatible with unfunded accounts or those using Ledger. For Ledger accounts, a manual import to a supported wallet is recommended.
Users are still free to manually migrate to a new wallet using a 12-word recovery phrase or hardware wallet.
The future of the wallet.near.org landing page
Originally, wallet.near.org was to become a wallet-centric landing page, but due to resource constraints, they are now inviting the community to create a site showcasing all NEAR wallets. This change, in collaboration with community partners, aims to improve onboarding and transaction experiences continually. Further updates will follow as plans progress.
MyNearWallet
MyNearWallet is a secure, non-custodial wallet tailored for the NEAR ecosystem, enabling users to store, buy, send, and stake NEAR assets. It supports unique features such as USN, a NEAR-native stablecoin, NFT collection management, and the ability to stake NEAR for rewards. Additionally, it offers access to over 500 dApps in the NEAR and Aurora ecosystem and ensures advanced security with Ledger hardware wallet support.
The team behind MyNearWallet is working on implementing a new feature to update keys. MyNearWallet 2.0, the upcoming version, will host a key storage solution that is designed to resist potential leaks. A mandatory 2FA will protect keys from attackers. The team sees the need to add this feature to the existing interface, given the current situation and the requests from the community.
The MNW provides a staking function, which is one of the best ways to make your NEAR tokens work. It also helps secure the NEAR network and generates returns on your NEAR tokens.
The MyNearWallet is a simple and secure wallet covering all primary functions, such as storing, transferring, and staking NEAR tokens.
Note: Please read our guides on how to stake your NEAR tokens using MyNearWallet.
NEAR Mobile Wallet
NEAR Mobile, a wallet developed by Peersyst, is designed to provide a seamless and secure experience for managing your NEAR assets.
The wallet’s simple and intuitive interface ensures a hassle-free experience, making it easy for both beginners and experienced users to navigate the app with ease. For NEAR, user security is of utmost importance, and NEAR Mobile prioritizes it by implementing robust measures to safeguard the digital assets.
Users can customize their language preferences and access the most recent updates effortlessly. With NEAR Mobile, users can enjoy the convenience of accessing and controlling multiple accounts directly from the phone. This flexibility allows them to stay connected to their assets anytime, and anywhere.
Note: For more details, please read our guides on how to stake your NEAR token NEAR Mobile.
Sender Wallet
Sender wallet, a non-custodial wallet built on NEAR, delivers a user-centric and unique product that grants users complete control of their crypto private keys and does more than hold their assets.
Built as a non-custodial wallet, Sender enables its users to retain full sovereignty over their wallets. The Sender Wwallet delivers an all-in-one experience that includes asset management, staking, NFT collection, and exchange.
Note: Please read our guides to know how to stake your NEAR tokens using Sender Wallet.
Users can safely store NFTs from their favorite projects in the Sender Wwallet. It features convenient built-in support for Ledger hardware wallets, adding an extra level of security for your assets. Even better, the Sender Wwallet also provides a feature to scan for suspicious addresses and has a blacklist to help safeguard your assets from fraudulent threats.
Sender is one of the most popular NEAR ecosystem wallets as it constantly develops and improves its functionality. Its mobile version is in beta testing now, and users must try it out if they want to manage several tokens, such as NEAR, USN, OCT, AURORA, REF, and PARAS, in one place.
Ledger Live
As a hardware wallet, Ledger provides an additional layer of security by storing your private keys offline. This ensures that your valuable assets remain safe from potential online threats. Users can conveniently manage their crypto portfolio and access various functionalities within a single ecosystem with Ledger Live.
Ledger Live app empowers users to manage and transact with different tokens effortlessly. One of the main features of Ledger Live is its ability to support the staking function. By staking the NEAR assets, users actively participate in network operations, contribute to the blockchain’s security and earn rewards.
Note: For more details, please read our guide How to stake your NEAR tokens using Ledger Live.
Omni Wallet
Omni Wallet offers a comprehensive solution for managing NEAR assets, combining ease of use with advanced features. It’s designed to cater to both beginners and seasoned users, ensuring a seamless experience in managing, buying, and staking NEAR tokens.
With support for over 10,000 tokens and compatibility with numerous blockchains, Omni Wallet stands out for its versatility. It integrates features like multi-chain NFT management, liquid staking, and in-app token swapping, all secured through non-custodial control, biometric authentication, and Ledger Nano X support.
For those interested in staking NEAR tokens, Omni provides a user-friendly platform that simplifies participation in network operations.
For a detailed guide on staking NEAR tokens using Omni Wallet, please read our guide How to Stake Near via the Omni Wallet.
MetaMask
What makes the MetaMask wallet different from other wallets is its encryption capabilities. All private keys and seed phrases of users are stored safely.
MetaMask offers flexibility to users who can easily switch from one mainnet network to another with utmost convenience and simplicity to connect to several other hardware wallets.
MetaMask users can swap NEAR tokens directly from their mobile or desktop wallet. This swap feature combines all information from the DEX aggregators, DEXs, and Market Makers. It helps to make sure that every user gets the best price at the lowest network or gas fees.
MetaMask does not control any user’s personal or private data on their servers. Everything is encrypted in the browser and protected by a user’s MetaMask password. So, when a user loses and needs to restore any MetaMask account , they can do that only with their Secret Recovery Phrase.
However, the MetaMask security measures will be meaningless if users decide to reveal their seed phrases to others, relying on them to give free money through exciting internet schemes. Hence, users can certainly rely on MetaMask for adequate security measures, but it is their ultimate responsibility to protect their funds by protecting their seed phrases.
MetaMask is a good solution for those seeking a convenient wallet that supports a wide range of blockchains.
While navigating and using the MetaMask extension, users should be careful about websites that ask to connect to the wallet. This is a way for users to make sure they don’t access a duplicate website (with an address similar to the real one) that could gain access to their password. Even if we are talking about one of the safest and most convenient Internet-connected wallets, we must be cautious.
Trust Wallet
The Trust Wallet is a non-custodial and decentralized wallet that allows users to store their cryptocurrencies.
Assets are stored at a digital address accessible only by the user, making it a secure and efficient way to store NEAR tokens. The Trust Wallet focuses on simplicity and ease of use. The Wallet is an open-source, community-driven, multi-currency wallet capable of storing almost all cryptocurrencies.
It’s the official wallet of the Binance exchange. It allows users to retain complete control of their assets and private keys stored on the user’s device. However, the Trust Wallet doesn’t support staking for NEAR tokens.
The Trust Wallet is mobile-only. There is no Trust Wallet Chrome extension. The mobile app has proved to be as safe as it gets—set up your password, save your secret phrase, and use it easily.
HERE Wallet
HERE Wallet is a mobile crypto wallet for the NEAR Protocol. Users can easily buy, sell and use assets with NEAR.
HERE is based on a liquid staking protocol. All users start to receive passive income immediately after depositing funds. The main difference from the other wallets is that the HERE Wallet offers non-blocking staking, which means NEAR is not locked in the HERE Wallet, and you can use it for no fee anytime.
The withdrawal of money from the HERE Wallet is automatic and commission-free. To use any services that work with the NEAR web wallet, you need to transfer money to a cold wallet in advance, which can be done in the application with one click.
The HERE Wallet gives an opportunity to buy NEAR without KYC and pay in BTC. The HERE Wallet provides private key storage and encryption that are more secure for users. All this functionality will be available in the web version soon.
Welldone Wallet
WELLDONE Wallet is an integrated, non-custodial platform where you can freely manage your assets across any network, making it one of the go-to wallets to transfer your NEAR account using the Wallet Transfer Wizard. Navigate smoothly between chains and delve deep into what Web3 has in store. Truly, with WELLDONE, you can keep all your eggs in one basket.
Currently, WELLDONE supports a total of eleven industry leaders: NEAR, Aptos, Celestia, Celo, Cosmos, Ethereum, Juno, Klaytn, Neon, Solana, and Sui. And that’s just the beginning. More EVM-compatible chains and Cosmos-based chains are on the horizon, broadening the scope even further.
The emphasis on user privacy and security is evident. WELLDONE Wallet ensures that all sensitive data is encrypted, keeping users’ digital assets and personal information under their control, with no unnecessary storage.
For developers, the inclusion of the Universal Provider is a boon. This feature amalgamates various Web3 providers into a single API, simplifying dApp development and guaranteeing compatibility with a range of chains right from the start.
Access to WELLDONE Wallet is versatile; users can engage with it through a dedicated web platform or browser extensions. This flexibility ensures a seamless experience when interacting with decentralized applications, no matter the preferred access point.
Nightly
The Nightly Wallet is a multi-chain wallet currently working on NEAR and Solana. It allows you to send and swap tokens and display NFTs, all in a single place. Nightly has already been integrated into the NEAR Wallet Selector.
Users can access Nightly by downloading the extension on Chrome, Firefox, Brave, or Edge. In addition, a Nightly mobile app is available now.
Nightly is also building an ecosystem that will include Nightly Wallet, Nightly Connect, and multi-chain projects.
NEAR holders have a wide variety of wallets. Some of them have not been mentioned in detail, such as Guarda Wallet, SafePal, NearFi Wallet, Ledger, Verida, BitGo, Narwallets, Portis, or Atomic Wallet. The NEAR ecosystem is growing fast, attracting experienced developers.
The Wallet Selector provides developers and builders with new options to connect their projects to NEAR, and in the future, it will allow mobile apps to connect to the NEAR blockchain seamlessly in just a few clicks. The Wallet Selector supports the NEAR Wallet, Sender Wallet, and Ledger Wallet. Thanks to NEAR’s open and inclusive approach, other wallet developers will be able to contribute to the NEAR ecosystem.
Note: For more details, please read our guide on how to stake your NEAR token using Nightly Wallet.
Meteor Wallet
Founded by a distinguished team that has also launched esteemed projects like Near Tinker Union and Enleap Near, Meteor Wallet provides a seamless and secure journey into the realm of Web3.
Simplicity and security are at the core of Meteor Wallet. With a strong emphasis on privacy, all sensitive information is encrypted, and no sensitive data is logged. This ensures that users have full control over their digital assets and personal information.
Meteor Wallet offers a user-friendly experience. The wallet is designed to be accessible and intuitive, making it easy for users to navigate and explore the world of Web3 applications and services.
With this wallet, staking your assets and earning rewards will be easy and smooth. Meteor Wallet also provides access to decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, empowering users to participate in various lending, borrowing, and yield farming activities.
Currently, Meteor Wallet is available on the web and as a browser extension, allowing users to seamlessly interact with decentralized applications directly from their preferred browsers.
Note: For more details, please read our guide on how to stake your NEAR token using Meteor Wallet.
Wrap Up
The NEAR ecosystem offers a great variety of wallets to use. The NEAR Wallet allows users to create and interact with NEAR accounts, to store their NEAR tokens and stake them to earn rewards.
In the NEAR world, anyone can find a suitable wallet, bey they meticulous delegators or NFT lovers. The best option is to try out different wallets to find the one that meets your requirements.
The NEAR ecosystem gives the communities access to funding by, among other things, providing an easy way to interact with the NEAR blockchain through different wallets. The NEAR ecosystem fund supports developers in creating a slew of wallet options.
Check our knowledge base on NEAR to get more information or connect with our NEAR blockchain manager.
