Jaxx Wallet Review

By Onose Enaholo - Updated 05 July 2023
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Jaxx is a multi-currency crypto wallet that has been a growing favorite among industry investors since its introduction in 2014. Jaxx wallet is ideal for beginners, and is still chosen by some experienced users who love its Shapeshift exchange integration and ease of use across multiple digital currencies.

Jaxx wallet is available across operating systems and device types, and is free to download and use. Most crypto users can download Jaxx now and use it without difficulty, but for those new to cryptocurrency wallets, we’ll give you a complete Jaxx wallet review so that you can understand the fundamentals of this excellent multi-currency wallet option.

What is Jaxx Wallet?

Cryptocurrencies are digital, and as such must be stored in pieces of software. The software solutions that do this storage job are called “wallets”. They don’t actually “hold” cryptocurrencies (which are actually permanently stored on their respective blockchains). Instead, cryptocurrency wallets let users interact with their coins: holding, sending, and receiving.

Wallets like Jaxx wallet make sure that the right coins show up in the right wallets with “private keys”. When you create a Jaxx wallet, you will be assigned a “Private Key”. This is a long alphanumeric code associated with your account and your account alone. It’s stored in your Jaxx wallet and no one else has access to it. As long as you have it, you can see and use your coins.

Jaxx wallet is a multi-currency wallet. Unlike many coin-specific wallets which hold only 1 cryptocurrency, like ARK for example, Jaxx can hold a bunch of different digital currencies. This is very convenient for investors and crypto users who have coins from many different projects. Jaxx keeps these coins safe and accessible, so you can use them when you need them.

Jaxx also uses an exchange platform called Shapeshift which allows users to trade supported coins for one another, without ever leaving the Jaxx wallet. Most of the time when an investor needs to trade coins, they take their coins out of their private wallets to a centralized exchange like Binance. Jaxx’s model is safer and more convenient for everyone involved.

There’s a lot more to say about Jaxx wallet, but we’ll spread it out throughout the rest of this Jaxx wallet review. If you’re already convinced, check out this well-designed, intuitive wallet today!

What Features Does Jaxx Wallet Offer?

The key feature of Jaxx wallet is the fact that it supports so many popular currencies from the cryptocurrency universe. Most crypto investors have more than a few different kinds of coins, and it can become cumbersome and confusing to maintain multiple wallets, one for each coin type. Jaxx holds enough popular cryptocurrencies that, for some, it’s the only wallet needed. These coins include:

  • Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Ethereum Classic, Augur, Litecoin, ZCash, RSK Testnet, Dogecoin, Iconomi, Golem, Gnosis, Digixdao, BlockchainCapita, Civic, Stox, Po-et, Musiconomi, Quantum (Qtum), Cofound.it, Maecenas, TenX, Basic Attention Token, iExec, Edgeless, Wings, Santiment, Status, Aragon, EOS, SALT, DaPowerPlay, Monaco, TokenCard, MatchPool, EnjinEthereum, Melon, CreditBit, BlockMason, Fuel, DomRaider, WorldCore, Bancor, Anon, Aion, Bitcoin Cash, Unicorn Gold, Storm, Swarm, SONM, Wax, Viberate, Presearch, UCash, Bitclave, Dentacoin, Polymath, Zap, Sense, Winding Tree, ShipChain

How to Download Jaxx Wallet

Jaxx wallet is a free download. The Jaxx wallet app is also free. Just go to Jaxx.io for the desktop versions of the Jaxx wallet. Or look on the Apple or Google Play stores (or wherever else you get apps for your device) for the Jaxx app. Once installed, you’ll be ready to store, send, and receive cryptocurrencies.

Is Jaxx Wallet Safe?

Jaxx is generally regarded as safe, though there was an incident several months ago where users lost $400,000 worth of cryptocurrencies. This isn’t a huge amount as far as a cryptocurrency hack goes (Coincheck lost half a billion dollars in user funds!!!), but any loss of user funds is a cause for concern.

However, it hasn’t been established that Jaxx wallet was at fault for this wallet. It’s just as easy that the culprit could have been user error. As this seems to have been an isolated incident, we wish to give Jaxx wallet the benefit of the doubt, and determine Jaxx wallet safe, for now.

Jaxx Wallet enables password and PIN protection. This is safe enough for most everyday users, but some wish that they would incorporate 2 Factor Authentication to take their security to the next level.

Jaxx wallet is not open source as many other wallets are. While this might seem like a mark against Jaxx wallet, you have to realize that Jaxx wallet makes its code visible in its entirety (minus UI). They do this for a reason. When code is open source, it lets other individuals take your code at will and use it for any purpose they like. The Jaxx wallet team doesn’t want its code used carelessly, but they do want knowledgeable users to be able to audit the code. So, making it visible, without being open source, is a happy medium that satisfies their private needs and the needs of the general user public.

As such, the Jaxx wallet code has been audited numerous times, formally and casually, and for all intents and purposes is considered stable and secure enough for widespread use by the cryptocurrency industry in general.

Jaxx Wallet App Vs. Jaxx Wallet Desktop Platform

In general, the Jaxx wallet desktop version and mobile app versions work equally well, but there are certain common complaints which one hears and which bear mentioning here. The app version has been known to take a long time to load and both the desktop and app versions of the Jaxx Wallet have been known to occasionally miss transactions, forcing users to repeat the desired action before the transaction goes through.

While this isn’t dangerous to user funds, it can be unnerving to new users who are afraid of losing their currency, or who are simply mystified by the world of cryptocurrency which they’ve just stepped into. In practice, we find that all forms of the Jaxx wallet generally work well. It’s simply that if a user is familiar with many different cryptocurrency wallets, these occasional bugs stick out and can be a mark against the wallet.

Fortunately, as updates have been introduced to the system by Decentral (the company behind Jaxx), bugs have become fewer and less frequent. The typical usage of either version of the Jaxx wallet is a seamless experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

What about Jaxx Wallet Ripple Support?
Jaxx wallet does not support Ripple. If there is a cryptocurrency you know and love, and which you’d love to see stored on your Jaxx wallet, let the devs know. Jaxx wallet team members are active in crypto media, and on forums like Reddit. Let them know what you think and band together with other people of the same opinion, and you could see your favorite coins added to Jaxx wallet soon!
Why does Jaxx Wallet use a mnemonic seed?
A seed is very similar to a private key. A seed is a code that can be used to regenerate your Jaxx wallet (or any other wallet or software with which a given seed is associated), even if your device or computer is destroyed. The word “mnemonic” basically means that the code is made of recognizable words, in this case 12 easy, short words. Jaxx wallet uses the mnemonic seed rather than a randomly generated string of letters and numbers (which would work just as well for your computer) because words are easier to understand and use for human beings. Trust us, when it comes time to use your seed, you’ll like the mnemonic better than the randomly generated gibberish other wallets use.
What is a paper wallet?
If you explore Jaxx wallet you will find the option to create a paper wallet. “Paper wallet” is a phrase often spoken but rarely explained in cryptocurrency. Basically, a paper wallet is a piece of paper upon which is printed or written your private key. Remember, the private key is what enables you to use your coins. If someone else has your private key, they can steal your coins. If your key is printed on paper, and exists nowhere else, it becomes very hard to steal. Because some people fear that hackers will steal a private key recorded on their device, they opt for paper wallets instead. It’s not a bad idea. Just don’t lose your paper wallet!
What is Decentral?
Decentral is the company behind Jaxx. It is one of Canada’s first blockchain startups, if not the first. Its roots go back to 2012, when blockchain was in its fetal stage, and founder Anthony Dilorio started meetups with other blockchain enthusiasts, including Ethereum’s future founder Vitalik Buterin. In these early days he began to understand the needs of the burgeoning market and created the company which would lead to Jaxx.
Will Jaxx release a hardware wallet?
Jaxx has announced its intentions to release a hardware wallet (sort of like the Ledger Nano or Trezor wallets, potentially). There is no word about where this product is in development, or when it might be released to the public. However, because of the long waits associated with buying hardware wallets, and the high numbers of counterfeits being bought and sold, a Jaxx hardware wallet would not be unwelcome.