MYCELIUM Review

Mycelium is an industry leading mobile software Bitcoin wallet. The wallet combines enterprise-level security as well as many other features making it far more than just a wallet. The team behind Mycelium started from a team of hardware engineers in 2008 and is now comprised of a semi-open source team of developers and manufacturers. The Mycelium wallet is one of the most widely used Bitcoin wallets with hundreds of thousands of users worldwide. What makes the Mycelium Bitcoin wallet so popular and does it live up to the hype? Find out in our in-depth review below.

Contents

• Features
• Who should use it?
• Security
• Privacy
• Supported Coins
• Pros and Cons
• Summary

Features

Mycelium is one of the most feature-rich mobile software wallets on the market. It provides users with a diverse range of features that both beginner and experienced users will appreciate. See the wide range of features listed in the points below.

• Hierarchical Deterministic Wallet

The Mycelium wallet uses what’s called a “master seed” or “mnemonic seed” which can be used to successfully derive future Bitcoin addresses for the restoring of a wallet.

• Single Address Accounts

This type of account allows users to delete their private key from a device so that the wallet becomes inaccessible and their funds are locked up. When the user wants to gain access back to their account and transact their funds, they can simply import their private key back into their mobile device.

• Hardware Wallet Compatibility

The Mycelium wallet allows users to store additional coins on the wallet with the use of a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S. In other words, the Mycelium user interface can be used with hardware wallets such as the Ledger Nano S, Trezor, and KeepKey.

• Bit ID

This is an open source protocol that allows for a secure authentication process, rather than a classical password authentication process.

• ‘Watch Only’ Accounts

This type of account has the Bitcoin address stored in the account without the corresponding private key, this prevents the wallet from sending out transactions, but allows users to watch for outputs. This is an excellent feature for users who want to stock a wallet and see their outgoing transactions, or simply to watch your own without being able to send from this wallet.

• Various Integrations with Trusted Third Party Services

Mycelium is partnered with Cashila, which allows the user to pay bills in the European SEPA zone. They’re partnered with Glidera, a service allowing users to buy and sell Bitcoin using a bank account in the USA and Canada. They’re partnered with Coinapult, which allows users to hedge against fiat currencies such as USD, EUR, and others.

• Marketplace

Mycelium has their very own decentralized in-person exchange called “Mycelium Local Trader”. This decentralized exchange marketplace connects users with one another and facilitates the buying and selling of Bitcoin in a safe and secure environment. This service also has a reputation feature, which is automatically calculated based on the number of successful or abandoned trades. Another feature of this marketplace is a secure chat functionality using end to end encryption with your Bitcoin keys.

As you can see from the myriad of features above, Mycelium is far more than your standard mobile software wallet. As well, Mycelium is constantly innovating and evolving. They plan to add many more features in the near future. So, what you see now is only the tip of the ice burg.

OS Compatibility

Mycelium is fully compatible with both Android and iOS mobile devices. The Mycelium Bitcoin wallet app can be downloaded from the Mycelium website or the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Who should use it?

No matter if you’re a beginner cryptocurrency user or an experienced crypto veteran, the Mycelium wallet is for you. The user interface is intuitively designed, allowing for a seamless Bitcoin storage, management, and trading experience. The wallet supports enough sophisticated and advanced features to appease the needs of most everyone and the wallet is portable via your phone, so you can take it everywhere you go. The wallet is very convenient while maintaining enterprise-level security, especially with the integration of hardware wallets. Therefore, the Mycelium wallet has the potential to be suited for everyone’s needs. However, if you plan on storing significant amounts of cryptocurrency on Mycelium, it is highly recommended you use the security of a hardware wallet to unlock your Mycelium wallet.

Security

The security of a cryptocurrency wallet is of the utmost importance. After all, it’s supposed to be the main function of a wallet, the storage of your cryptocurrencies in a safe and secure manner. All other features should be second to security. Since Mycelium has so many additional features, do they compromise security? The answer to this question is no. Mycelium has been around for years as it is one of the first mobile software wallets ever created. Over the years, the team behind Mycelium has implemented some of the latest security protocols and have taken many measures to ensure their users’ funds stay safe. The Mycelium wallet app has more satisfied users than any other crypto wallet in the world and maintains the highest rated mobile software wallet on the Google Play Store. With stats like these, it’s evident that the Mycelium wallet can be trusted and is secure.

The first security measure worth mentioning by Mycelium is access to the app and its services with a standard PIN. The PIN must be entered to open the wallet, make transactions, and export private keys. Therefore, it is very important to keep this PIN private and secure. Apart from the standard PIN security measure, the Mycelium wallet utilizes a hierarchical deterministic wallet design. This enables the user to restore their wallet with a 12 word mnemonic key phrase if need be. Another security feature which is unique to Mycelium, is the ability to add watch only accounts. These accounts do not allow you to spend the crypto associated with them, but you can keep an eye on them. Therefore, if you have a secured cold storage account, you can check up on the balance without actually storing it on Mycelium. As for the Bitcoin addresses with the private keys stored on your device, they are heavily encrypted with AES-256 encryption and are never stored or transmitted to Mycelium servers or anyone else.

Privacy

The Mycelium Bitcoin wallet takes their clients privacy very seriously. They do not collect any important personal information and the user can stay anonymous. Even the Mycelium Local Trader Marketplace maintains complete user privacy by using your Bitcoin private key for registration and authentication. The only information the Mycelium servers obtain is your Bitcoin address, nickname, entered location, sell orders, and trade history. While this is a fair amount of information, none of it is critically important to identify the user. However, since Mycelium knows your Bitcoin address, it is possible for blockchain investigators to follow a stream of data and potentially find out who you are. Therefore, the Mycelium mobile wallet is not as private as some wallets, such as the Samourai mobile wallet. However, the level of privacy by Mycelium is sufficient for the majority of users.

Backup Features

Being able to restore and backup your cryptocurrency wallet is probably the second most important aspect of any crypto wallet, next to security. If a user’s mobile wallet is lost, stolen or destroyed, they need a way to recover their funds. Thankfully, the Mycelium software wallet utilizes a hierarchical deterministic wallet design. This enables the user to restore their wallet with a 12 word mnemonic key phrase if they need to. This is a standard feature across nearly all wallets and is necessary to maintain safe and secure storage.

Supported Coins

The Mycelium software wallet supports only one cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. This is rather surprising as much of the competition supports multiple cryptocurrencies, and Mycelium was the first mobile wallet to the markets. However, Mycelium features many other aspects in which other wallets do not. Also, they have big plans for the near future and will begin supporting an extensive number of cryptocurrencies soon.

Can you trade cryptocurrencies from inside the wallet?

A very unique aspect about the Mycelium software wallet is the ability to do so much more with your Bitcoin. You don’t have to just simply store and send Bitcoin to other wallet addresses, you can actually use it. For instance, Mycelium has partnered with Cashila, a service allowing users to pay bills with Bitcoin in the European SEPA zone. As well, Mycelium is integrated with Glidera, a service allowing users to buy and sell Bitcoin using a bank account in the USA and Canada. Also, they’re partnered with Coinapult, which allows users to hedge against fiat currencies such as the USD, the EUR, and others. & to answer the initial question of this heading, Mycelium users can in fact trade Bitcoin from inside their wallet. As mentioned earlier in this review, Mycelium features their very own decentralized Local Trader marketplace service. Using this service, traders can buy and sell bitcoin with each other.

Price

The Mycelium wallet is absolutely free to use and is available to download for free from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

Setup Guide & How to Use it

Getting started with the Mycelium Bitcoin wallet is simple and easy. The whole installation and setup process can be done in a matter of minutes by following a few simple steps. See the steps listed below.

Step 1: Install the App

Using your mobile device, whether it’s an iOS or Android, navigate to the App Store and download and install the free Mycelium Bitcoin Wallet.

Step 2: Create Wallet

Click the Mycelium wallet icon to open the wallet and select “create new wallet”.

Step 3: Set your PIN

Now, set your PIN number to secure your wallet. Make sure to write this PIN down on a piece of paper and store it in a safe and secure place, just in case you forget it.

Step 4: Secure your Recovery Phrase/Mnemonic seed

During this step, you will be shown your mnemonic seed, which is a series of 12 random words. Consecutively write these 12 words on a piece of paper, confirm they are correct and store them in a safe and secure place. Do not store these words on a computer or device that’s susceptible to hackers.

Step 5: Receive Bitcoin

Now that your wallet is set up and secure, you can receive Bitcoins by sending them to the address shown in the receive tab.

Step 6: Send Bitcoin

You can send Bitcoin by going to the send tab, pasting an address to send too, and entering in the amount of Bitcoin. You will be prompted to enter in your PIN code upon sending Bitcoin.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• A diverse range of Features
• Highly secure
• Hardware wallet compatibility

Cons

• Not as secure as hardware wallets
• Only supports Bitcoin
• Some wallets have better privacy

Support

The Mycelium wallet has exceptional customer support that has been developed and refined over a number of years. Clients can reach customer support via a support ticket system as well as on their various social media platforms. Additionally, users will find an extensive library of articles on the support page and a comprehensive FAQ page. All in all, users should have no problem finding the answers to the questions they might have.

Summary

If you’re someone looking for a mobile Bitcoin wallet, then the Mycelium wallet could be an excellent option for you. The wallet has an excellent track record and is loved and used by many. As well, it is packed with sophisticated features that are far more advanced than standard crypto wallets, and they bring a whole new level of experience to the user. One downside to the Mycelium wallet is the potential security threat of it being a software wallet that’s connected to the internet. Therefore, it is susceptible to malware and hacking attempts. Users must use the wallet with precautionary measures and caution to ensure the security of their funds. However, a unique feature increasing the security aspect of Mycelium is their integrated support of various hardware wallets to secure the Mycelium wallet services. All in all, the Mycelium wallet is one to consider when choosing a mobile software wallet for Bitcoin.