It’s likely that you or one of your friends already trades or makes investments in cryptocurrencies. No other asset tempts us with insane profits by fluctuating by 50%+ in only a few days. We don’t get an APY of 15% or more from any other banking product. There is no fiat money that allows for anonymous transactions. And the beginning of all this fun is a bitcoin wallet.
So, if you want to build a cryptocurrency wallet but don’t know how to code, here is the finest suggestion for a non-technical entrepreneur.
Top Takeaways:
- When creating a cryptocurrency wallet, the first decision to make is whether to create a custodial or non-custodial wallet. Non-custodial wallets are often used by crypto aficionados and knowledgeable individuals, while newcomers don’t notice a difference.
- Building a bitcoin wallet from scratch is a lot of work, but the reward is a more secure solution that doesn’t sacrifice functionality to the restrictions of crypto SDKs.
- Since you don’t need to link your crypto wallet with several blockchain networks, hosting numerous cryptocurrencies, you may build your crypto wallet more quickly by supporting fewer coins.
Bitcoin Wallets Market Overview
You’re in for a long scroll if you look for a cryptocurrency wallet on the App Store or Google Play. There were more than 200 mobile wallets available when I recently tested it on my iPhone, but as new mobile crypto wallets are constantly being developed, your results may differ.
The equivalent of the US population, or 300 million individuals, have already dabbled in the realm of cryptocurrency. Consequently, it is realistic to assume that the remaining 7.5 billion individuals will eventually join as long as Bitcoin and other digital currencies continue to reach record highs.
Here are some figures showing how quickly cryptocurrency is gaining popularity:
- 30+ crypto-related tweets every minute on Twitter
- As of September 2021, the value of all cryptocurrencies was $2.16 trillion.
- 6000+ coins now exist, with an average daily trading volume of $111 billion and a theft of cryptocurrency of $281 million in 2020.
Why You Should Create a Bitcoin Wallet
One requires a crypto wallet—software for “keeping” digital coins—to do any activity in the cryptocurrency world. The quotations, why? I’m happy you inquired.
In actuality, blockchains are peer-to-peer networked computers where anybody may get an address and begin sending and receiving cryptocurrency. A cryptocurrency wallet is comparable to a UI doorway onto the blockchain in this regard.
We may now discuss all the benefits that cryptocurrencies get from blockchain technology, including anonymity, decentralization, and security. To be really honest, however, we would all have to admit that the acceptance of cryptocurrencies is primarily motivated by the enormous financial rewards.
People are eager to get a piece of this crazy pie after learning about all the new opportunities to make money using decentralized financial products. Only digital currency may immediately increase by tens of thousands of Xs.
A crypto wallet may be useful in this situation.
This is the only method to onboard users to any DeFi product, whether it a loan platform, a cryptocurrency exchange, or any cutting-edge financial product. There is a huge market for and a wealth of such solutions, especially when you factor in banks and other established players that want to provide their customers access to crypto trading and investment alternatives.
Types and Examples of Crypto Wallets
You must be aware of the many kinds of bitcoin wallets available if you want to build a cryptocurrency wallet application.
BY GOVERNANCE
Whether you want to build a centralized or decentralized wallet is the first thing to think about. These treatments are also often called:
Cryptocurrency wallets that are both custodial and non-custodial
To create a custodial crypto wallet, you must create the private digital keys that the wallet needs in order to run on a server. There is a lot going on with these digital keys behind the surface, but for now, just consider them as a password for the wallet that is an organized string of words. Users often see them in this way.
Non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets produce this private backup phrase on the client side, i.e., directly in the wallet program. The advantage of this situation is that users don’t need to depend on a third party to protect their savings since no one else can access their money if they have the wallet’s keys. Not your keys, not your money, says the popular adage.
BY PLATFORM
We may utilize a variety of platforms to operate crypto wallets, depending on the software we are used to and the devices we own:
- mobile
- desktop
- web
- hardware
It’s important to remember that if you want to build your own bitcoin wallet, you don’t have to stick with one platform. Users often switch between several devices during the day. Therefore, it makes sense to reach out to people where they are by making your cryptocurrency wallet available on several platforms.
For instance, the very well-liked MetaMask cryptocurrency wallet now works as both an iPhone and Android smartphone app and a browser extension. Additionally, it is compatible with well-known hardware wallets for holding cryptocurrency like Trezor and Ledger. However, services like Lumi function as online applications, much like Gmail.
BY COINS AVAILABILITY
You’d be shocked to learn that not every wallet supports every currency listed on sites like CoinMarketCap. This is due to the possibility of currency on several blockchain systems. For instance, although currencies like Dogecoin or Litecoin trade on the Ethereum blockchain, Bitcoin exclusively uses the bitcoin network. Therefore, if you want to create a crypto wallet that supports many currencies, it must be multi-currency, which means it must connect to various blockchain networks.
POPULAR APPS FOR STORING CRYPTOCURRENCY:
- Trust Wallet
- MetaMask
- Crypto.com
- BRD
- Coinbase
- Exodus
Common Crypto Wallet Misconceptions
Although crypto wallets seem to be straightforward, I believe you might benefit from understanding them a bit more. By doing this, you’ll be better equipped to develop a cryptocurrency wallet solution that gains popularity right away.
PEOPLE CAN EASILY SWITCH FROM YOUR APP
Users may download another non-custodial app, input their secret word, and begin engaging with their cryptocurrency if you’re creating a non-custodial wallet. On the other hand, if you provide a custodial wallet, users will have to use it exclusively in order to access their cryptocurrency.
WEB WALLETS ARE THE LEAST SECURE OPTION
Although I agree that hardware wallets and mobile wallets for cryptocurrencies have more security out of the box, online wallets are not always less safe than desktop wallets. Any cryptocurrency app might eventually be compromised, therefore it’s your duty to educate users about good online behavior and provide them with cutting-edge solutions to safeguard their money.
Consider MetaMask, one of the most well-liked cryptocurrency wallets that is typically used as a web browser plugin. However, there are surprisingly few cases of reported hacking.
NO ONE CAN SEE YOUR TRANSACTIONS
Because all information is saved on the blockchain and is accessible to anybody who knows your address, they can track every transaction associated with your account. Naturally, it doesn’t mean your product is flawed. This fact only illustrates transparency, one of the characteristics of blockchain technology.
USERS CAN GENERATE A NEW PASSWORD TO THEIR CRYPTO WALLETS
Users will have no chance of accessing their cash if they forget their mnemonic passphrase. Sadly, it means they forfeit all of their cryptocurrency, much as when we lose a physical wallet in the real world. However, you may still assist them in regaining access to their cryptocurrency if you’ve created a custodial wallet.
Key Features of a Cryptocurrency Wallet
What features should you consider include in a bitcoin wallet that will see widespread adoption? The fundamental elements should consist of:
- Create a profile with a credit/debit card or a bank account.
- preferred addresses
- Transactional QR codes
- Prices and charts for cryptocurrency transactions.
- notifications of major price changes
- Security measures (auto blur when in the background, iCloud keychain, pin, FaceID, multi-factor authentication, encryption)
Since the details of your wallet will determine the features you choose, I won’t go into great depth about each one. However, to give you a sense of the amount of work that went into creating something as basic as signup, these are the things a competent blockchain engineer would have to think about:
- semi-automatic browser, email, and wallet app switching (while the user goes through the registration process)
- KYC procedure using face and text recognition AI as well as image recognition (to reliably scan a state ID) to double-check whether the user has put down his passcode.
- attribution referral codes for bonuses (AppsFlyer or similar)
- A piece of a secret mnemonic phase is blurred with the help of FaceID integration and PIN code creation so the user may write it down without being concerned about onlookers, viewing FAQ links for people who are having login issues
Overall, there are many factors to consider when attempting to develop a buttery smooth onboarding process for new clients. You can see why it’s an issue when you expand it to more complicated crypto wallet features.
Advanced Features of a Bitcoin Wallet
Add additional cutting-edge features to your cryptocurrency wallet to increase its appeal to users:
- import of paper wallet
- ability to change transaction costs
- Airdrop schedules
- different coin addresses (to support various coins right out of the gate)
- scheduled orders for purchases
- individual alerts for preferred price changes
- Quick online login, dark mode, and direct interfaces with DeFi products
If you’re developing a mobile app for the first time, it’s easy to get buried in sophisticated features and go over budget. I advise you to include the majority of these items on the roadmap and choose only a handful for the first minimal viable product.
Challenges You May Face When You Make a Bitcoin Wallet
What problems are you most likely to encounter while creating a crypto wallet? The following are the most typical technical and commercial challenges:
- When a blockchain forks, which is not very frequently, you must choose which version of the blockchain your wallet will support.
- integrating with various blockchains in order to enable more currencies
- Adoption is difficult despite the excitement since most consumers deal with numerous unknowns for the first time.
- Few crypto goods that fail, at least under the same name, ever get another opportunity.
assembling a competent development team with experience in both user-centric design and blockchain technologies
In keeping with technology talk, let’s briefly go through the tech stack needed to create a crypto wallet in the next section.
Technology Stack for Cryptocurrency Wallet Development
First off, depending on their prior expertise, several teams choose technology. Therefore, creating crypto wallets using a variety of tech stacks is fully doable. At the same time, such cryptocurrency initiatives will need a fundamental blockchain base. Here is an illustration of a tech stack that will function.
MOBILE APPS
Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android make this one quite simple. The most cutting-edge toolkits are available for creating a mobile crypto wallet for iPhones and Android handsets in these native programming languages, which are supported by Google and Apple.
WEB
Modern web development tools React and Node.js have a wide range of products on the market. By the way, you can utilize React Native or Flutter to reuse some “mobile” code for the web app if you want a cross-platform cryptocurrency wallet that will function on mobile devices and desktop browsers.
SERVER-SIDE SPECIFICS
For creating a scalable architecture, you’ll need Kubernetes and Docker; Golang and Solidity (at a least) for developing smart contracts (in case your wallet connects with a DeFi app); and Python, Ruby, or any other programming language for creating the back end admin site.
That is a very basic explanation of the technology stack needed to create a cryptocurrency wallet. If your development partner has any expertise with these technologies, consider that as even additional reason to cooperate with them. In a different article, we went into further depth on how to build a blockchain application.
How to Create a Bitcoin Wallet in 5 Steps
How would you go about creating your own bitcoin wallet? There are several factors to take into account. I propose that we go over each one individually.
STEP #1: START BY GENERATING A VALID BUSINESS IDEA
The creation of a crypto wallet starts with a concept. Since the market is still young, many product ideas come from our own experiences as we work through odd problems.
You will unavoidably need to do competitive study when you come into new issues with crypto and look for a solution. The issue you’ve run with may already have a solution in the form of a product. If that’s the case, look at methods to improve the product and make it more appealing to your target market.
In two situations, in general, you’d want to create your own bitcoin wallet:
- while developing a DeFi app (and need to onboard customers)
- if you have a concept for a cryptocurrency wallet with a unique feature
Example
Consider developing a cryptocurrency wallet that enables users to monitor their full portfolio of coins, including those they have in their wallets and those they have staked to earn interest, in addition to receiving and sending transactions.
Reach out to others and see how they approach this problem now that you have a concept and know your competitors—or lack thereof.
Speak to anybody who is willing to share their stories, including online strangers and random friends and family members.
Make a list of all the comments you’ve received in the form of use cases, and then connect each one to the functionality your crypto wallet would need. Your ability to create a compelling crypto product will increase as you get more knowledge about other people’s experiences with the problem you’ve discovered.
Advice:
- Prepare a lean canvas for your idea in draft form.
- Give as much specifics as you can about your target market.
- Plan out your monetization approach.
STEP #2: FIND A DEVELOPMENT PARTNER
It’s time to move on to the following phase after you’ve determined that there may be a high demand for your proposed cryptocurrency program. In actuality, you will want a trustworthy developer to create a bitcoin wallet. Finding a software development company with enough professionals to see through the development of your product idea from conception to completion is ideal. What experts are required for developing a cryptocurrency wallet?
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Product managers
Individuals who are able to find flaws in your company plan and provide solutions. people who match the technical features of the product with your ROI objectives. Typically, they have an experience in development and manage the whole project, from discovery to development to release and maintenance.
-
Project managers
When it comes to turning your company concept into a physical product, PMs are more hands-on. They coordinate the efforts of developers, DevOps, QA engineers, designers, and everyone else engaged in bringing your vision to life.
-
UX/UI designers
Because blockchains (where cryptocurrency really resides) can be accessed via crypto wallets, your app will require a captivating user interface that is tailored to your intended audience. That is handled by UX/UI developers.
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Developers
This is a rather broad phrase, to be sure. However, you should be aware that a variety of software engineers, including blockchain developers, back-end developers, front-end developers, and mobile developers, will be working on creating your bitcoin wallet.
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Testers
Additionally, you’ll need to incorporate thorough security tests since developers aren’t very adept at testing their programs (particularly from the standpoint of the client). Therefore, having QA experts on such a project is essential.
-
DevOps
Engineers working in DevOps often have backgrounds in server development or software management. They are aware of how to configure the tools to provide a continuous development process. That will be crucial for the efficient development of your crypto wallet software and any further improvements.
Advice:
Avoid hiring organizations that just give you a quotation without any inquiries and without reviewing the applications they produced for you. Instead, seek for businesses with prior expertise in the creation of cryptocurrencies.
In an ideal world, after you have assembled a strong team, you may begin with a discovery session to discuss your concept and seek their opinions on its technical viability, possible implementation difficulties, the ideal strategic roadmap, etc. That is how you can tell whether you are working with a team rather than hiring one, because partners obviously have a stake in your success.
STEP #3: CREATE AN INTERACTIVE PROTOTYPE
Your next actions after choosing a team to build a bitcoin wallet are:
- developing a minimal viable product (MVP) for your software
- making it available to the public, and maintaining it
Why should money be spent on a prototype before an MVP is really created? Coding is costly, particularly when it comes to blockchain-related programming, where demand much outweighs supply. There aren’t many accessible blockchain developers who are competent since the technology is still in its infancy.
A prototype, on the other hand, is far less expensive to create and is useful for determining the ideal features and user experience (UX) ratio for your crypto wallet in order to get the maximum momentum when it launches. That is also the best method for presenting your concept to investors.
An interactive prototype is what, then? It is a digital version of your app with all screens created and connected so that testers can interact with it and help you identify areas for development. Visit our quick prototyping page to learn more about how we handle this process.
Advice:
- To make sure the prototype properly satisfies consumers’ expectations, share it with your target audience on websites like usertesting.com.
- Another round of testing will confirm that you’ve correctly incorporated their advice.
STEP #4: DEVELOP AND TEST AN MVP
It’s time to turn your personal bitcoin wallet into a reality after the prototype has been thoroughly tested. In this coding stage, I won’t pretend that any advise I give you on creating a bitcoin wallet will make any sense to you. You must have faith in your developers.
The following are the two things you must determine (again, with the assistance of your development partner):
- custodial
- non-custodial
And the platforms you want to start off focusing on. Consider MetaMask. Why did they first make their wallet available as a browser extension? Because there are many tools available to create a bitcoin wallet on the blockchain, which was initially a desktop-centric, networked technology. Because utilizing this product doesn’t interfere with browsing coin charts, which often take up a large portion of the screen, is likely to be appreciated by users.
Speaking of various crypto APIs and SDKs, that is another choice you must make with your team in mind. Even while businesses can leverage certain APIs, such as Wyre API to allow crypto on-ramps and off-ramps rapidly or something like PayString to make managing payment addresses simpler, anything more serious will need careful examination. In order to help you better understand the technical considerations your team will need to make, below is a summary of a few technical issues:
Do you want to open them all automatically for all listed currencies, for select cryptos, or just at the user’s request? Different tokens need addresses on various blockchains.
Do you wish to integrate UI so that users may play around with transaction fees?
Advice:
- insist on Agile development and establish a consistent schedule for analyzing intermediate outcomes.
- Make sure you and your staff only use versions that have extensively tested.
- After the cryptocurrency wallet has created, do a security audit.
STEP #5: RELEASE AND MAINTAIN
Finally, we’ve reached the end of the process. Why do we need a cryptocurrency wallet? That’s correct, to welcome new users and enable them to benefit. From our DeFi app or take part in the whole crypto ecosystem.
Similar to the majority of mobile applications, you must transform the server side into a production-ready environment. And publish your cryptocurrency wallet apps to the Google Play and App Store before going live.
The wallet must also be connected to a live blockchain network after being unhooked. From a test blockchain used for development and testing. You may need to link your wallet to many blockchains, depending on the supported currency.
Advice:
- To assess how effectively your servers handle a large surge of consumers, always stress test them.
- Release the crypto wallet’s production version to a small number of users so they may test it out before releasing it to other people.
- If everything works well, be ready to handle feature requests (UserVoice or similar)
How Much Does it Cost to Develop a Crypto Wallet?
Spend between $120,000 and $200,000 to create a custom bitcoin wallet that adds real value and inspires creative crypto use cases.
If all you have is an idea, it’s preferable to begin with the discovery stage (which we refer to as Pre-flight Workshop). Then codify your idea into a quick prototype, which typically costs $20K.
Our Experience in Crypto Wallet Development
We are developing a cryptocurrency staking program that isolates cryptocurrency. From users so they may concentrate on the fiat profits the app creates using DeFi lending protocols. A crypto wallet is obviously one of the requirements for such a project. Even if it is used in the background to facilitate user onboarding for this specific project.
If you have any more queries regarding creating a bitcoin wallet, don’t hesitate to contact our specialists.
[This article from author geometry dash which was revised to include more current facts, was first published in September 2022]
