OOOPAY - the most advanced electronic wallet

Full review of wallet Copay and conclusions about it

With the popularization of cryptocurrency, new services for storing it are beginning to actively appear.
Today we will talk about one of them - the Copay wallet, developed by Bitpay (official website https copay.io). Why does this wallet deserve attention, and how is it fundamentally different from dozens of others? The fact is that the developers from the Bitpay company have already managed to gain a positive reputation in the crypto world. Therefore, you should not miss the opportunity to take a closer look at their new brainchild, because this team has never released mediocre products. The first thing that immediately catches your eye even before installing the wallet is its multi-platform functionality. Copay is available for installation in the Google Chrome browser as an extension, as well as on Mac OS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android and Windows Phone operating systems.

Preparing for registration

Before you proceed directly to registering an account with PayPal, you should prepare. The fact is that during registration you may have certain questions:

• Which email is better to use.
• Which account type to choose.
• Which card is better to link.

First of all, you should decide which email is best to use. You must be aware that PayPal is a payment system, which means you will be dealing with virtual currency, which is equivalent to US dollars.

If your email is not secure enough, your wallet can be hacked and funds stolen. Therefore, it is not recommended to use free mailboxes, such as Mail.ru, Yandex.ru, and so on. It is best to use email from Google (Gmail.com). It has the best level of protection.

Also, before you open an account on PayPal, you need to decide for what purpose you are doing this. The thing is that you will need to choose one of two account types:

• Personal is an account for individuals. You will have the opportunity to pay for goods and services via the Internet, transfer funds to other virtual wallets, and so on.
• Corporate (Business) is an account for legal entities that need a system for accepting payments via the Internet. For example, if you have your own online store. This type of account opens up more opportunities for the user, for example, you will be able to issue invoices to your clients and accept online payments.

[reklama]
When you select an account type, you will see a full description of the capabilities of both accounts on the screen. It is worth noting that after registration, you can change the account type at any time if necessary.

Selecting a card to link to an account

The last question, but not least, is choosing a bank to work with PayPal. The fact is that to use all the capabilities of the system you will have to link a plastic bank card. At the same time, when paying for goods via PayPal, if there is not enough money in the virtual account, the missing amount will be debited from the linked card. This is very convenient, since you do not have to top up your virtual wallet. Conversion occurs automatically at the rate established by the National Bank at the time of payment for the goods.

You have a wide range of options when choosing a bank. Firstly, you can get a credit card from almost any bank in Russia. There will be no problems with this. You can top up your virtual wallet from such a card. But it is officially impossible to withdraw funds from PayPal to cards of Russian banks.

Of course, you can use the services of online exchangers, but in this case you will be charged a fairly large commission (8-15% depending on the service, exchange rate, amount of available funds, and so on).

Secondly, you can issue a virtual card in any currency, including US dollars. The choice of banks here is also wide. The capabilities of such a card are slightly wider than usual, but it will still be impossible to withdraw funds to it.

There is an easier and more profitable way to withdraw. You can order a US bank plastic card from Payoneer. To do this, you just need to register on the website and place an order for the card. Once you receive it, you can link it to your account in the system. With this card you can withdraw funds from PayPal at ATMs marked Visa or MasterCard.

So, we’ve sorted out the preparations, now we can move on to the question of how to create a PayPal wallet.

Installing Bitcoin wallet Copay

You can download the installation file on the official website of the wallet copay.io. Installation will take no more than 10 seconds, and the program itself will require about 200 MB of free space on your hard drive. After installing Copay, a shortcut will appear on your desktop that launches the client.

A special feature of Copay is its vertically oriented interface. The user will immediately be offered two buttons – “Start” and “Restore”, the meaning of which is clear without explanation. If you are opening a wallet for the first time, then you need to click on the “Start” button. After this, the system will offer three screens that will inform about the benefits of Bitcoin and the wallet. After viewing this information, click on the “Create Bitcoin wallet” button, and in a few seconds it will be generated. The system will prompt you to indicate your email to which important news will be sent. If you don't need it, just click the "Skip" button.

The system will prompt you to create a backup. If you have just installed a wallet, then there is no point in creating a backup copy, since the balance is zero. So just click the “Snooze” button. The system will definitely notify you about the importance of the backup copy, so do not ignore the advice and use it when the first coins appear in your wallet. For now, click on the “I understand” button, then “Confirm” and “Complete installation.” The wallet interface will appear in front of you, and it’s time to move on to setting it up.

Setting up Copay

To set up your wallet, pay attention to the bottom panel, where you select “Options”. This is where the initial client settings are made. Although the system offers a large list of parameters, in practice you will only need a few of them. Start with an address book where your contacts will be stored.

In the "Settings" section, you can configure the display of notifications by mail, as well as change the interface language. Considering that the Russian translation is not of sufficient quality, it makes sense to change it to English. Here in the settings you can specify the units of measurement by selecting the altcoins to which the BTC rate is tied. Initially set to US dollar.

The “Bitcoin network commission policy” option allows you to configure the amount of commission that will be charged when sending transactions. The following options are available:

• Urgently
• Priority
• Regular
• Economical
• Very economical

All options differ only in the transaction confirmation time and the size of the commission. Here, one immediately noticeable disadvantage of Copay is the lack of an option to manually select a commission.

Another item is “Wallets and Integration”, where you can configure wallets generated in the system. You can change the name, set the color of the wallet, activate the function of hiding the balance, and create a backup copy. “Advanced options” allow you to specify the wallet ID, network used, address type and derivation strategy. You can also export your wallet, see your transaction history, or delete an unused wallet.

“Advanced Features” allows you to activate the unverified funds option, which will be useful for the most impatient users. It is also possible to activate a general history of transactions for all wallets. In addition, there is a “Skip next steps” option, which deactivates the display of additional options.

Functionality

Receipt of funds from payers. Your electronic wallet quickly and reliably accumulates all the funds that clients transfer to you as payment for goods or services through terminals and other Payin-Payout.net tools. At the same time, you receive a notification about each payment via SMS or email.

Making mass payments. Through your personal account in the Payin‑Payout.net system, you can officially transfer funds to your employees, clients or partners. You will have access to massive cash payments to VISA and MasterCard bank cards, to mobile phone accounts (Beeline, Megafon, MTS). Funds can also be transferred to electronic currencies WebMoney, Yandex.Money and QIWI Wallet.

Withdrawal of funds. Each of our clients can withdraw money from their virtual account at any convenient time. You will be able to transfer funds to your bank account or an account in an electronic payment system, as well as receive the amount in cash.

Payment tracking. The Payin‑Payout.net electronic wallet is a convenient tool that automatically collects statistics on all transactions performed. You can find out at any time whether a specific payment passed or failed, clarify the amount of the credited amount, and much more.

How to use the wallet

To start working with your wallet, you need to click on the “Browse” icon. There are sections such as “Wallets” and “Next steps”. The first section presents the default wallet. If you need an additional wallet, then just click on the plus sign and select one of the proposed actions - create a new personal wallet, create a shared wallet, join a shared wallet, or import a wallet.

When creating a personal wallet, you just need to specify its name. Setting keywords, password and other settings is optional. After clicking on the “Create wallet” button, it will be generated immediately.

A shared wallet can be used as an electronic wallet for a family or an internal payment wallet for a company. Access to this wallet will be available to invited persons, the number of which is limited and specified during creation. Expenses that will be made from this wallet require multi-signature of several co-owners. For example, if the wallet has 3 users, then the payment requires confirmation from two participants.

You can join a shared wallet by clicking on the corresponding button or using a QR code received from another user. As for importing a wallet, this function is needed to restore an electronic wallet. The operation requires entering a mnemonic code consisting of 12 words. You receive this code when you create the first backup copy of your wallet, and it is recommended to write it down immediately so as not to lose access to your own funds in the future.

In the main window you can buy Amazon gift certificates, buy and sell bitcoins. The second item is more interesting to most users, so let’s take a closer look at the corresponding menu. Here you will see that you can buy Bitcoin through Coinbase and Glidera services.

In the bottom panel there is a “Receive” button, when you click on it you will see the wallet address and QR code that you can send to other users to send cryptocurrency to your wallet. In the same menu you can generate an address or request a specific amount.

Another interesting option on the panel is “Scan”. When you click on the corresponding button, the system will ask you to provide a QR code. This option allows you to read QR codes, which are used to identify a wide variety of transactions in the system.

And, of course, a very important option is “Send”. Its meaning is clear from the name itself. The function allows you to send bitcoins to other wallets. Just enter the address and amount, and then click on the “Submit” button, after which the transaction will be completed. It is worth noting that if there is no money in your wallet, then this option is not visible to you.

Best Bitcoin wallets

Each wallet has its own characteristics and offers its own methods of data protection. Some of them combine, for example, mobile and desktop versions. The choice depends on how often you plan to use bitcoins, how much you plan to store and how you will spend the funds. Answer these questions in advance and decide which option is right for you.

Desktop wallets are special software that you install on your PC. Such programs are good because they offer the highest level of security. This type of wallet may be inconvenient if you plan to actively spend bitcoins away from home. There are two types of desktop wallets:

• "thin";
• "thick".

To work with the “thin” one, a powerful computer is not required; third-party services are used to carry out operations. “Fat” downloads and stores the entire blockchain on a PC. Blockchain is a kind of journal that contains records of all transactions. It will take up a lot of disk space, and working with the wallet will require high system performance. Desktop wallets such as Bitcoin Core, Multibit, Armory, Electrum, Copay, Mycelium are popular.

Bitcoin Core is the first original wallet created that is considered official for the Bitcoin currency system. It was created by the same company that was at the forefront of the emergence of cryptocurrency. It can not only make transactions, but also create Bitcoin addresses. Among the disadvantages, it is worth noting slow operation and the absence of some useful functions.

The Armory client allows you to expand the standard functionality of Bitcoin Core. The wallet offers users three modes:

• standard;
• advanced;
• for experts.

Security is ensured, among other things, by using the on-screen keyboard and making transactions without connecting to the network.

Multibit client is a “thin” client. It is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac OS. The program interface is Russified. The application allows you to simultaneously manage several wallets. The functionality allows you to accept and send coins, view your balance and transaction history.

Electrum is considered the best among “thin” wallets. It provides secure data storage and allows you to recover your wallet after losing your password. When the user installs the program and selects a server, he is given a phrase of twelve English words called “seed”. Thanks to this phrase, the wallet will not be irretrievably lost if the computer breaks down or the key is lost. Versions of the program are created for all operating systems and are supported by mobile devices.

Copay is convenient to use due to the fact that the service is supported by all popular platforms. Nice design and clear interface simplifies the work. You can create a backup copy of your wallet.

Mobile wallets are convenient if you want to pay with Bitcoin in real life. To get such a wallet, install a special application on your smartphone. If the application supports wireless data transfer, payment can be made simply by touching the device to the reader. You can find many wallets in the app store: Blockchain, BitcoinWallet, BitWallet, BreadWallet, Coinbase, HiveWallet Circle, Xapo, but the most popular one is Mycelium.

Mycelium does not require downloading the entire blockchain to work, which saves free space on your smartphone. Another feature is the high speed of operation and connection. In addition to standard options, the application offers convenient additional options: QR scanner, address book, creation of encrypted backup files. The wallet interacts with many payment systems and exchanges: Cashila, Coinapult and others.

Bitcoin Wallet is a simple and reliable wallet for Android devices. No centralized service is required to conduct transactions. Many convenient functions: payment using a QR code, displaying the balance immediately in the selected real currency, saving used addresses.

Web wallets store keys not on the user’s computer, but on a remote server. Access is carried out over the network, so you can use bitcoins from any device available to you. There is a risk that the company that controls the servers will take possession of clients’ bitcoins. The most popular online wallets are:

• Blockchain, which is considered the most reliable, is used by more than 2,000,000 people. The service has a mobile application, its interface has been translated into Russian.
• Coinbase allows you to directly buy and sell coins.
• BitGo has a high level of security and requires two signatures to complete an operation.
• Coinkite offers to pay for mobile communications with bitcoins, and they can also be sent via SMS or email.
• Xapo combines the security of server storage and convenient access to data.

Hardware wallets are special devices for storing keys. They resemble a flash drive and connect to a USB connector.

There are several types of hardware wallets:

• DigitalBitbox;
• KeepKey;
• Trezor;
• Ledger Nano.

Each of them has a high cost, but guarantees the safety of data. Their advantage is that the keys are stored in encrypted form without access to the Internet. To use them, you need to enter a PIN code. If the device breaks or the user loses it, access to the wallet can be restored using a password. This reliable and proven method of storing cryptocurrency is often used to store large amounts when security needs to be given special attention.

Reviews and conclusions about the wallet

So, let's summarize. The Copay wallet is a fundamentally new functionality that involves not just an updated interface, but also a lot of useful options. Its only downside is that in order to get to the desired settings, you have to spend a long time popping them up in the menu.

The wallet is well protected, and its functionality is truly limitless. It is convenient for both businessmen and ordinary people. And if you consider that the developers of the wallet were the guys from Bitpay, then you can’t help but wonder if there is a more reliable and convenient Bitcoin wallet (not a hardware one, of course)