blockchain//wallet

A cryptocurrency wallet is key management software: it does not *store* coins, which live on-chain. Wallets evolved from keystore files, backed up one per account, to HD wallets, backed up with a single seed. Metamask, a browser extension that manages keys and signs, is the most widely used HD wallet for Ethereum.

A cryptocurrency wallet is key management software: it does not store coins, which live on-chain. Wallets evolved from keystore files, backed up one per account, to HD wallets, backed up with a single seed. Metamask, a browser extension that manages keys and signs, is the most widely used HD wallet for Ethereum.

In the keystore era each account had its own encrypted file, and losing that file meant losing the account forever. In the HD wallet era one seed phrase recovers all the accounts, so losing the device no longer means losing the keys.