Phantom Wallet

Basic Information

Phantom Wallet is a friendly web/mobile non-custodial wallet focused mainly on the Solana blockchain. The wallet allows you to trade your assets and collect NFTs. Phantom Wallet is available on your mobile phone running on Android or iOS, as well as in Google Chrome, Brave, Firefox or Edge.

Functionality

A company called Phantom Technologies, Inc. has developed a friendly software wallet that makes it easy to trade cryptocurrencies and NFTs on the Solana blockchain. So far, according to the couple of million people who have downloaded their app, they are doing a good job.

Phantom Wallet has been made to explore Web 3.0 and everything that comes with it. You can buy assets from the wallet itself, so you do not need to use marketplaces like Binance or Coinbase. You can also swap your assets with low transaction fees and use a huge amount of decentralized applications (dApps) connected to the Solana ecosystem.

Because the wallet is non-custodial, the developers do not possess any of your data, nor do they track any of your personal information. To use the wallet, you need to create a password and save your seed. The wallet offers biometric authentication and you can further boost the security of Phantom Wallet by connecting it to your Ledger hardware wallet. The Phantom wallet code has been audited by Kudelski Security, and the developers are also offering a bounty to white hat hackers, which is something that not many of their competitors do.

Currently, the wallet only supports the Solana blockchain, but the developers recently announced that they are partnering with Polygon and the wallet will soon offer support for the Ethereum and Polygon networks.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Connection with Ledger hardware wallet – this can further increase the safety of your assets
Future support for the Ethereum and Polygon networks – right now, the wallet only supports the Solana blockchain, but the developers have announced that Ethereum and Polygon will be supported as well
Browser and mobile app versions – unlike most wallets available on the market, Phantom Wallet is available as a browser extension and mobile app too
Easy to install and use

Cons

Still a new product – as the wallet has not been on the market for long, it has not been tested as rigorously as other wallets; on the other hand, the developers are offering a bounty for people to test the wallet, which is a positive step forward

Supported Chains

Solana blockchain, but Ethereum and Polygon will supposedly be supported soon.

Tips from an Analyst

When it comes to crypto wallets, you should be careful. When installing the wallet, be sure to write down your seed and put it somewhere where no one other than you can reach it. Everyone who has access to your seed can steal all your assets located within that specific wallet. Please never put your seed on an electronic device as hackers can then steal your assets from you.

Considering the fact that Phantom Wallet is available on your computer browser or your mobile phone, you should treat it the same way as you would your own real-life wallet. This means you should never leave it unattended and secure it as well as you can. Phantom Wallet can be connected with your Ledger hardware wallet, and it is recommended that you do so, because it only increases the safety of your assets.

You can find some more help on how to use the wallet here. Please be sure to download the wallet only from the official site.

Personal Opinion

Despite the fact that Phantom Wallet has only been on the market for 2 years (2021), it has come a long way. The good news is that the developers are still moving forward, and they are planning to add the support of the second most used blockchain – Ethereum, and another favorite – Polygon. This is especially good news for those who do not like to have multiple wallets for multiple blockchains. Phantom Wallet provides a solid choice for people who want to operate on the Solana blockchain. The quality of the wallet can be seen in the amount of people who use it – and in this case, we are already talking millions.

So far, the wallet is on its way to becoming one of the best wallets on the market. Some would even say it already belongs there. To this day, there have been no known cases of successful exploits or hacks, and I just hope that the developers will continue to do a great job.