Ethos Wallet Review ▷ An all-rounder among the crypto wallets?

A new wallet called Ethos promises to offer the entire crypto ecosystem under one roof.

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The smart wallet

The core offer of the Ethos app, the smartwallet, is a multi-crypto wallet that securely stores your coins and yet stores them in an easy-to-use way. With incomparable security and an elegant user interface, the wallet supports a large number of coins across different blockchains. More coins are added every day to make the wallet even more universal.

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Safety

The most important question about wallets that are new to the market: How secure is my wallet really?

Unfortunately, even popular wallets lack security. It is advisable not to keep a large number of coins on the same wallet. Instead, investments in more secure hardware alternatives such as Trezor or LedgerNano empfohlen.

With security features ranging from 256-bit seed to biometric authentication, the Ethos smart wallet Taken every possible step to ensure the security of your digital assets.

The smartkey

In the past, all you had to do was write your private key on a piece of paper and keep it in a safe. Then came Ethereum. And Ripple. And Litecoin. There were a lot of altcoins available quickly, which made it difficult to write down separate private keys.

So a new concept had to be created. A large number of public keys and addresses for different coins (from a single starting "seed") were generated. This made it possible to effectively compress addresses into a single key.

With this key you can restore the same addresses on other platforms. This made it possible to access different platforms without the need to transfer information to a server.

The Ethos Smartwallet implements this concept as a “SmartKey”, a 24-word sequence generated by random movements during account setup.

Virtual keyboard

As has been shown in the past with many wallets, the mere use of a private recovery seed and a PIN does not guarantee security. In order to prevent so-called “keyboard recordings”, the Ethos app uses a virtual keyboard to enter important data.

Two-factor authentication

While using a PIN to log into every crypto wallet is standard, Ethos goes one step further and also mandates biometric authentication to ensure your wallet can never get into the wrong hands.

NOTE: As of now, the Ethos app will not log out automatically. While the Ethos team is working to fix this until the next update, it is currently safest to log out manually.

Even if the app is protected against sophisticated hacker attacks, it will not protect the wallet from mere human error. Do not reveal your recovery seed to anyone, and do not save the recovery seed on your computer.

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Setting up the smart wallet

Step 1: Getting started with Ethos is very easy. Since this is a mobile app, simply download the Ethos app. When running, you should be greeted by a login screen.

Step 2: Register with Ethos and review your confirmation email. After confirmation, you can log in to start creating your own smart wallet.

Step 3: A click on 'Add New' brings you to the selection of two different modes: The Smartwallet and the Watchfolio. Now select the smart wallet.

Step 4: Next you will be asked by the app to give your wallet a name. You can of course change the name at any time.

Step 5: Now comes the interesting part: to create a random recovery seed, you have to shake your phone.

Step 6: Once the process is successfully completed, you will receive a numbered list of 24 words. This is the smart key of your wallet. Make sure you write down all of the words in the correct order.

Step 7: Once you've written down the words, Ethos will ask you to enter three specific words. After you have passed this test, the app asks you to select a four-digit (or higher) PIN that will be used to encrypt your previously generated smartkey and also serve as the password for using the wallet.

Step 8: You have created your own smart wallet.

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Receipt of coins on your smart wallet

In your smart wallet, tap on “Add Coin”. You will be shown a list of the available coins and tokens. Select the coin you want to add, then tap the coin again and select 'Transact'.

This is where things get a little tricky. You see, receiving coins in a wallet requires the transmission of the wallet's public key - a density alphanumeric string that needs to be accurately reproduced by the funder. To make this as easy as possible, most wallets (including Ethos) use QR- Codes. Hence the small QR code symbol that says “Send / Receive”.

Tap on the symbol and on the coin that you want to trade. You will be shown a QR code representing your address; scan it with another to transfer money to you. Congratulations!

If you're over-eager to send those newly received coins (maybe to make a payment?) Follow the steps above again and just make sure you hit the 'Send' button. Instead of showing a QR code, you will be asked to scan one or enter the code manually. Since sending funds is a riskier business than receiving funds, the app would check your credentials with your biometrics and PIN before proceeding with the transaction.

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The watchfolio

The most tedious part of investing in cryptocurrencies is monitoring - you have to manually keep an eye on every coin you have in your various addresses and remember the price points at which you bought them. Besides, you have to Search numerous exchanges before you know where your investments are going.

The Ethos Watchfolio aims to solve this problem.

With the Ethos Watchfolio, you can use any coin you own (even if you don't have any - this feature can come in handy if you just want to test the market). You set entry prices to track relevant statistics and changes in real time. The whole thing is supported by easy-to-understand diagrams and graphics. Since the Ethos Smartwallet ultimately aims to enable you to trade cryptocurrencies from the app yourself, you can of course also sell and buy coins for a lifetime.

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Ethos Watchfolio review

Follow the first steps in the wallet section until you come to the choice between Smartwallet and Watchfolio; this time, tap the watchfolio instead.

They are immediately brought to your watchfolio, because, unlike a smart wallet, a watchfolio is only a hypothetical collection of coins, not actually storage. Therefore the Watchfolio does not need any security controls. Browse through the coins of your choice and select the amount, price and date of your trade to have it added to your watchfolio. You can even create a wish list to compare the performance of some new coins before deciding to buy them.

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Coinprofiles

The watchfolio itself is not very interesting. The practical application only begins in combination with the in-app coin profiles of the EthosUniversal Wallet. Ethos tracks key marketing statistics of each supported coin, along with a small snippet of their history and the reviews submitted by the user. Even more useful are the well-illustrated coin courses, which will help you make informed investment decisions without having to look around the internet.

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Coming soon Ethos wallet features

Like any new application, the Ethos Universal Wallet has only just begun to implement functionality. Positioned as a crypto ecosystem and not just a wallet, there are still many features that can be expected.

Airdrops

Ethos has partnered with a number of lesser-known tokens that will be given away in the near future. The exact conditions for the events are not yet clear; Initially it was assumed that only pre-registered users of the wallet are authorized. However, after the wallet was released, Ethos made it clear that new users could also join - the full details are not yet known.

Custom crypto domains

Imagine having to enter 2001: 4860: 4860: 4860 :: 8888 every time you tried to search for something on Google. This is exactly how the blockchain currently works. Each account is represented as “mwkXG8NnB2snbqWTcpNiK6qqGHm1LebHDc” which makes it impossible to remember or manage the account.

By giving your wallet a unique, legible name, you can use Verified Wallet Domains to reserve your space on the blockchain so that you can send and receive payments without any problems without messing around with unwieldy texts and numbers.

Cold storage

A thorn with crypto wallets is their inability to store coins offline. This exposes the entire inventory of the user to potential attack.

However, Ethos has stated from the beginning Hardware wallets to make superfluous. How exactly this will be achieved is far from clear. The founders of Ethos called it a "nano-ledger in the sky," which makes it a kind of offline storage device for its users' private keys. Indeed, if implemented correctly, the innovation has the potential to remove any other wallet, hardware or not, and catapult Ethos into the # 1 position of crypto-owner wallets.

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Fiat Gateway

Perhaps the most anticipated feature of the Ethos Universal Wallet. Basically, a fiat gateway would allow a user to convert their digital assets into traditional, "fiat" currencies. Conversely, you are able to buy your favorite coins with your credit card or sell your excess reserves. As simple as it sounds, the function is not trivial to implement and requires a number of licenses and authorizations in order to function smoothly; therefore, this feature is only offered by leading crypto exchanges, which charge high fees for it.

This wouldn't just like the business of Exchanges Coinbase which currently have a monopoly over the transaction of cryptocurrencies, but also redefine payments. Cryptocurrencies would now be used as a practical transmission medium, which goes beyond regulations and national borders and would render service providers such as PayPal with their extravagant fees useless.

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Partnerships

The Ethos Wallet seeks to partner with services across the spectrum of the financial industry. Ethos wants to take cryptocurrencies out of their niche in order to redefine the world.

Fusion

The ultimate goal of the Ethos project is to break down barriers that prevent cryptocurrencies from being seen as a legitimate alternative to paper currencies.

Fusion Financial is working to integrate securities and cryptocurrencies into a single investment market. Fusion is a SEC-regulated automated investment service that follows a hybrid investment model that combines traditional stocks with well-functioning cryptocurrencies.

Payroll

Despite all the advantages like freedom and unlimited liquidity, a cryptocurrency is actually quite difficult to use. In order to promote crypto adoption it is necessary to bring it into the realm of small, everyday (vital) transactions. To this end, Ethos has announced a partnership with the renowned payment solutions provider, Payroc. Payroc manages payment gateways for small and large businesses. The integration into the Payroc ecosystem gives Ethos the opportunity to offer merchants direct and hassle-free crypto payments.

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Summary

Predictions in technology are dangerous and inaccurate. However, the Ethos Universal Wallet is an example where even a cursory glance through its aspects reveals a mature, well-designed ecosystem with incredible potential. There is no reason not to call Ethos a game changer in the cryptocurrency world who could change the status quo for the better.