How to Choose the Right Cryptocurrency Wallet for You – NZ Crypto Guide (2025)

A cryptocurrency wallet is a digital tool that allows you to store your Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies – acting somewhat like a personal encrypted bank account.

You use your wallet to receive and send payments, acting as your heart of operations for interacting with the crypto world. Wallets are the most critical tool you will ever use in crypto – so careful wallet selection is imperative. For more info on how crypto wallets work, visit our main crypto wallet guide.

As there are 7 main kinds of crypto wallet (mobile wallets, desktop wallets, hardware wallets, exchange wallets, web wallets, browser extension wallets and paper wallets), knowing which one is right for you can be identified by understanding your crypto goals.

For example, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I plan to hold crypto short term or long term? Days, weeks, months, years, decades?
• How much crypto do I want to own? What will be the initial NZD balance of my wallet?
• As an individual, do I have technical skills? Or should I go for the easiest solution?

With this all considered, (and if you're like many New Zealanders) – you probably want the most secure option, that's simple to use, best suited to holding crypto over the long term.

Although they cost between $150 – $300 NZD, hardware wallets are simply the most ideal wallet for NZ crypto investors. Here at Cryptocurrency NZ, we strongly believe you should cut right to the chase and acquire a secure wallet off the bat, like Trezor or Ledger.

If you're going to be holding crypto for the long haul, investing a couple hundred bucks to bulletproof your holdings is an idea you can't go too wrong with.

Hardware wallets, as explained in our dedicated guide, are physical cryptocurrency wallets that hold your private keys in an offline fashion, meaning they are immune to remote hacks or other attempts to empty you of your hard earned money. A hardware wallet is like an interactive USB stick, which you must plug into your computer and physically hold down a button to sign off any outbound transactions from your wallet accounts. Hardware wallets are well known as the apex of crypto security, and you can pick one up pretty easily in NZ.

Trezor Model T

Purchase Cost: $219

Cold Storage: YesCloud Storage: No

trezor.io

OverviewWhy We RecommendPros & Cons

The Trezor Model T Wallet is a cutting-edge hardware wallet designed to provide top-notch security for managing cryptocurrency assets. With its sleek design and user-friendly touch screen, the Model T stands out as a versatile solution for New Zealanders seeking to safeguard their digital assets.

Buy Wallet

Visit our hardware wallets NZ guide to learn how to buy a hardware wallet in New Zealand.

Now, if you're not willing to spend $200 – $300 NZD on a hardware wallet, the next type of crypto wallet that you may want to consider is a trusted software wallet like Exodus wallet.

Exodus allows you to still store, send and receive crypto, however instead of being a physical device like a hardware wallet – you access it on a computer program on your PC.

Exodus official website: https://www.exodus.com/

Crypto Wallet NZ Holding Bitcoin

Software WalletFreeMulti-Currency

For more info, visit Cryptocurrency NZ's dedicated Exodus guide.

Exodus is free, easy to use, safe to operate, and is trusted by tens of thousands of Kiwis including the Cryptocurrency NZ team. Several in the CNZ team started with Exodus several years ago as our first wallet, and continue to do so with no issues. Just make sure to follow our NZ crypto wallet backup guide to make sure to properly backup your access details, including your password, private key and 12 word phrase. The only major critique we have is that Exodus is not open-source.

Exodus has never had a documented security breach, it's multicurrency (meaning you can store all kinds of crypto in your one Exodus wallet), and it's known to be very user friendly.

Across the world, there are thousands of crypto wallets available for your use. However we recommend sticking only to the most trusted, reputable options to ensure your wallet security. You can store crypto on exchanges, but we recommend against this.

Here in crypto, we have a saying; 'not your keys, not your crypto', and crypto exchanges hold your private keys for you. This means if an exchange is hacked, such as with what happened to FTX, Cryptopia, and Mt Gox, you will most likely never see your coins again.

We also generally recommend against using mobile crypto wallets, or only using them to store small amounts of coin to be spent on the day to day. Treat them as real wallets, it only takes you leaving your phone around unlocked for a bad actor to then run off and transfer all of your crypto to their wallet. You must also be aware of $5 wrench attacks.

Otherwise, it's very common for Kiwis to use web extension wallet like MetaMask, for interacting with Web3, decentralized applications and decentralized exchanges in NZ. However just be sure to only store small amounts in these wallets when you're not using them, and store the main bulk of your crypto in your hardware wallet or software wallet.