The electronic interface to a user's bitcoins. The Bitcoin wallet is software in the user's computer or mobile device. It can also be a hardware device that interacts with software in the computer, and it can be a paper wallet. Many wallets that support Bitcoin are also used for Ethereum, Litecoin and other digital currencies. See
crypto wallet.
The wallet holds the user's Bitcoin balance but does not actually contain the coins. It stores the user's Bitcoin address and private key to access the Bitcoin blockchain. When people make payments, the wallets use the key to digitally sign the transactions proving ownership of their coins in the network, known as "unspent transaction outputs" (UXTOs). A wallet can also be part of a Bitcoin node (see
Bitcoin mining and
Bitcoin transaction).