The Exodus Wallet: User Friendly and Secure, But No 2-Factor Identification

What is Exodus?

Exodus is a wallet for multiple cryptocurrencies which offers a simple to use User Interface and was officially released on July 29, 2016. This makes it one of the newer wallets for storing coins on the market, providing numerous options to access and transfer your crypto funds.

Time to buy the dip?

While this wallet is connected to the internet, it gives the users the control of their funds and private keys (they are stored locally on the device). The wallet’s primary objective is to be as simple and easy to use by individuals as possible. Its platform is supposed to be intuitive and visually appealing, guiding its users through the technical process in the most comfortable way possible. The wallet aims to give its users total control over their funds even if they do not have the experience of more seasoned crypto investors.

The wallet is desktop-based, and is not a full-node wallet, meaning that each cryptocurrency’s blockchain does not have to be downloaded.

The wallet is compatible with numerous cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Ethereum, Litecoin, and others.

A sample software wallet–Exodus.

History and About

Exodus’ development began in 2015 by the duo of JP Richardson and Daniel Castagnoli. The two developers have a vast amount of passion and experience in the sphere of blockchain.

Richardson has published more than 200 open source libraries, as well as writing code which is utilized in both Bitcoin and crypto software all over the web. Castagnoli, on the other hand, is the one responsible for the design and aesthetic aspects of the wallet. He has previously designed for companies as big as Apple and Disney, as well as Louis Vuitton.

How Safe is Exodus?

Exodus is a desktop wallet, so it encrypts all your blockchain data and holds them directly on your computer. This means you have total control of your funds all the time.

The wallet also offers a backup system, but will never hold any of the keys you have within its servers. This kind of system is particularly helpful if your computer ever experiences any technical issues.

On top of the backup, the Exodus team will provide you with a secure link to reactivate your wallet via email. The link is secured by a 12-word password and the Exodus key.

Exodus also offers a new feature where one can restore their 12-word passphrases by selecting a button within the password screen.

Users have provided a vast amount of positive feedback to Exodus. It has a 4.4 out of 5-star average on CryptoCompare from more than 260 reviews. Most of the positive comments relate to the simple and visually pleasing interface as well as the helpful support team.

However, Exodus has come under criticism for not providing two-factor authentication, which numerous other wallets have. This is an important aspect that’s missing and should be noted when deciding whether this is the wallet for you.

Does Exodus Have Fees?

Because of the simple and effective nature of the platform, one has to trade it off when it comes to cost. You are unable to select the amount that you pay for; the platform does it for you which means that some of the smaller transactions may be rather pricey. It’s possible that a $5 transaction can cost you as much as $12.

As such, it’s probably best for transactions of a higher amount but hardly ideal for smaller transactions.

How to Use Exodus Securely

Step 1: Download the wallet from the Exodus website but beware of phishing sites. Ensure the security certificate of the site you are visiting by checking the green text next to the website address. It should have the word “secure” and potentially the name of the company.

Step 2: Once downloaded, install the software and follow the on-screen instructions provided. Once this is done open the wallet program and click the “wallet” button on the left part of the screen.

Step 3: Select the crypto you would like to add to Exodus. After this press “recieve”. You will be provided with an address and a QR code. This is your public wallet address and is what you will provide to an individual who would like to send you some crypto. You may also utilize this to send cryptocurrencies from another wallet you own to your Exodus wallet. If you are sending cryptocurrency from a different device that has a QR code scanner, you can scan the QR code to receive the address.

Scandals and Controversy

The wallet has not had much in the way of controversy when it comes to hacking or other issues related to that. Most of the complaints on Reddit relate to the high fees and the tricky nature of being able to withdraw one’s funds at certain points. Once again, this needs to be factored in with a pinch of salt as it can be hard to distinguish whether it’s truly the wallet that’s causing the issues rather than the user.