Summary
In this post I give you detailed information how to deal with Ethereum based tokens. These tokens are the so called ECR-20 tokens.
New token ICO's based on Ethereum, do require an Ethereum wallet address. Very recently I went through the process, and share with you the results of my research into this matter and the do's and dont's.
Cryptospace: Simple, right?
When started blogging at Steemit beginning of this year, Cryptospace seemed not that complex. With the relatively straight forward user interface and the inbuilt wallet and market we have at Steemit, it was for me not that complex to understand how to handle the coins we earn - when we get votes or when we curate other Steemians posts. Even moving Steem and SBD around through our internal market, is relatively straight forward as well.
Since March I also entered the world of trading and got myself an account at one of the crypto coin exchanges and trading platforms. The complexity started to increase a bit: "How to move Steem or SBD from our Steemit wallet to a Trading platform?". Luckily Steemit is full of helpful people, and various posts are written describing how to do this. I've listed some useful posts below:
Cryptospace: Bit More Complex
Recently I signed up for an ICO for some new Token (Authorship) based on Ethereum. During the signup process it was requested to enter my Ethereum wallet address. Since I never had one other than those at the exchanges I have accounts with, I thought: "Well, why not give one of my addresses at the Exchanges?" Then I read at the website of Authorship it was not recommended to give the wallet address of an exchange. "Ok", I though: "I have Exodus Wallet once downloaded and installed on my laptop' why not give that one? That wallet seems to be an allround wallet!" So, I did.
After signup with Authorship tokens, I was not 100% sure what I've done was right, since in my Exodus wallet I see a couple of different coin wallets, but I was not sure how such software would create another wallet for the new tokens. Also, I did not see a whole lot of new Ethereum tokens ICO-ed earlier this year. So I started to use this well know search engine to dig into this matter.
It turns out Exodus does support new tokens, but it will not allow you to get to the tokens itself through their software. When the new tokens are send to the Exodus wallet, they are not visible through the wallet user interface, but with private key these tokens can be moved to some other wallet that supports this new tokens end-2-end. With end-2-end I main the ability to see the tokens in the wallet, access the tokens and be able to trade the tokens.
I heard Jaxx to be one of the other allround wallets and that wallet supports more Ethereum based tokens, so I downloaded that one. But again, I saw quite a limited amount of supported coins and tokens. So again, I started searching in forums what tokens exactly are supported. Same story again as with Exodus; New tokens may not be visible in the Jaxx wallet.
MyEtherWallet
Finally I found this recommendation: Open an online MyEtherWallet. That wallet should support all Ethereum based tokens, including all the new ICO tokens, end-2-end. I did not open a wallet yet (but will do in the next days), but I go about this post on Reddit (here) which states:
We at MyEtherWallet just added the single most requested features: Sending any Ethereum token on the network via a super simple GUI. This is now live on MyEtherWallet.com and the Chrome Extension. Any token that is built on the ERC-20 spec is now supported and — yes — you can add your own super special token.
Meanwhile I found a short video explaining how to move Ethereum (ECR-20) based tokens from the Exodus wallet to MyEtherWallet.
The video below is a little longer, but also more explanatory. I recommend to watch this one as well, when you like to move tokens from your Exodus wallet to some other wallet, whether this is MyEtherWallet or to eg an Exchange like Bittrex, Liqui or Poloniex.
My Little Advises
- When sending coins or tokens from one wallet to another, try first with a small amount and determine if the transfer is done successfully. When successfully transferred - you received the coins or tokens at your destination wallet - move the wanted amount over using the exact same method. This prevents loosing coins and tokens.
- Only invest with money you can do without, since Cryptospace is a very volatile market and the values of coins and tokens may drop tremendously over night; Unlike stock markets it is not uncommon a coin looses 50% in a single day.
Free Authorship Tokens
- If you like some FREE Authorship tokens, simply click this link (here) and click the 75-Tokens-for-Free button and leave your (fake) name, (real) email address and your Ethereum wallet address. The tokens will be send to you within a week after ICO ending (14 September 2017).
- More information about Authorship you can read in the post (here).
Free WCX Tokens
- If you like some FREE WCX tokens, simply click this link (here). You get 50 free tokens at sign up.
- More information about WCEX you can find here (here).
Questions
- Which wallet(s) are you using for new Ethereum based tokens?
- What are your experiences with moving Ethereum based Tokens around from wallets that do not allow access to the tokens?
- What do you recommend: Ask Authorship to change my Ethereum address to MyEthWallet, or except them in my Exodus wallet and transfer them afterwards to MyEthWallet or any other wallet that support access to the tokens?