Jaxx is a popular multi-currency hot wallet developed by Decentral, a well-established Canadian industry and crypto innovation hub that is known for its electronic exchangers (“ATMs”) among other crypto-related services.
Jaxx Wallet is a cross-platform app for both mobile and desktop (and as an extension for Chrome browser) that allows you to securely manage and exchange over 85 different digital crypto-assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash.
Liberty Jaxx is a rebuild and rebranding of the previous Jaxx wallet, released in early 2018.
New modules and features, including embedded sharing
The new version introduces a number of enhanced new modules and features, such as real-time portfolio charts and graphs, news feeds from a number of trusted sources, and a multi-chain block conductor. It also comes with built-in exchanges via the ShapeShift service integration, which allows cross-chain exchanges and conversions (but at a fairly high fee).
A handy wallet app
In many ways, Jaxx is similar to Exodus, another handy wallet app with support for many different crypto assets and integration with ShapeShift.
Ease of use
Similarly, Jaxx focuses on ease of use and simplicity, while maintaining a rich feature set and providing professional 24/7 customer support. Private keys are created and stored directly on user devices and backups automatically generate a mnemonic start number for secure storage.
Need personal information to set up your wallet?
No personal information is required, and once you’ve downloaded your wallet you can quickly set it up and start using it. The new Jaxx Liberty has password and PIN protection, and creating a wallet creates a secure 12-word start phrase encrypted on your own device. Jaxx never has access to this passphrase or your private keys, they are always safe on your own device. You can also use this 12-word startword to sync your wallet across multiple devices.
Can Jaxx store many types of cryptocurrencies?
Yes it can and it’s very handy when out of thousands of coins you store several of them on one wallet. The coins you can store in Jaxx Liberty include Bitcoins, Ethereum, Litecoin , Dogecoin, Qtum, EOS, Bitcoin Cash and many more. The full list can be found here.
Is it free to use Jaxx?
Jaxx Liberty is completely free to download and use. You can get the desktop version (Mac, Windows, Linux) and Chrome browser extension directly from the Jaxx Liberty website here . The Android version is available from the Google Play shop and the iOS version is available from Apple’s iTunes shop.
Can I set transaction fees automatically?
Transaction fees are set automatically, but are also regulated and sorted into three additional categories – Lower, Typical and Higher. Fees to miners depend on the state of the network (pay for increased network congestion etc.) at any given time, and higher fees increase the probability of receiving a transaction in the next block.
Secure large sums with a built-in cold wallet
Jaxx functions as a lightweight node, so it doesn’t load the entire blockchain locally, but rather queries the full nodes for information. The Jaxx team has also announced an integrated hardware wallet for cold storage and providing large amounts of value over the long term. A hot wallet is, by definition, as secure as the device and the environment in which it operates, so you should be careful about getting malware onto your devices.
Disadvantages (minuses) of the wallet
The downside is the fact that the Jaxx wallet is a closed source, which may raise some questions and concerns. There have been a few minor incidents in the past with another major vulnerability that led to a non-trivial amount of stolen funds back in 2017, but these issues have been resolved with a newer version and improved security models.
What’s the conclusion
In any case, it’s generally not advisable to keep large sums in a hot wallet (which may be safer than storing funds on centralised exchanges, but may not be sufficient for long-term secure storage).
In terms of simpler day-to-day use and committing fewer cryptocurrencies, Jaxx seems like a decent choice and well suited to beginners.
In any case, there have been some known problems in the past before the Liberty build was released. One of them was the weak security of the private key vault. Very similar to Jaxx, as mentioned above, is the Exodus wallet, which offers more or less the same features and functionality, but with slightly better security safeguards and a cleaner interface design.
FAQs
Is the Jaxx paper wallet safe? Yes.
A paper wallet is simply your personal key printed on a piece of paper.
In other words, it is completely cold storage – the safest type of wallet.
Is the Jaxx hardware wallet available yet? No. You have to wait for an update from Jaxx.
What is the safest Jaxx wallet? The latest updated version, which can always be downloaded from the developer’s official website.
