Note I don't not receive a penny from Exodus. I just genuinely am impressed encouraged and satisfied with my experience with this wallet that I feel that need to share my experience to make this the go to wallet for all crypto users and newcomers as well. Also a special thank you to my wife Josseling who has rode with me through this inane bear market and continues to believe in me.
I first discovered Exodus wallet while illegally using google behind the Great Red Firewall that is China. I came across exodus.io by pure chance and it was and still is my favorite wallet . Despite some interesting missteps including the interesting decision to add customization themes with the infamous Craig Grant and Trevon James, but more on that later. My first impression with Exodus inspired my initial belief that cryptocurrency and the ecosystem did not have to be difficult and ugly, with Exodus offering a free user friendly and absolutely beautiful layout.
But who cares right? Well I do, and in a different way everyone cares, they just don’t know it. Mass adaptation is what all crypto enthusiasts refer to when asked when the space will actually grow and become mainstream. Well when everyone joins. But why would people want to use crypto in it’s super complex convoluted and egocentric community. In other words, the people programming and creating the services for the average person are the best of the best, programming geniuses and aside from them most people creating in this space are early adapters and innovators willing to leave their comfort zone and learn new tricks. But the average consumer is not. So the result is products that forget to implimen one of the most important aspects of selling and convincing any customer to use your product, user friendliness. All the brains and innovation in the world will not equal to sales or mass adaptation. Most exchanges are difficult to navigate for first time users. Sending cryptocurrencies consists of using long alphanumeric addresses that seem to make little to no sense and if you miss one letter or number in your address your money is completely lost, something that most people just wont be willing to risk. I find myself at times as well sending a small amount of crypto to confirm the address before sending the rest. Myetherwallet is not even close to being a consumer grade service. Many of the security features that we understand as early adapters are just too complicated and frustrating to the average customer. All of that is after having successfully buying Bitcoin or any other crypto in the first place, something which I covered in a previous article. “ The hypocrisy of crypto & the arrogance of our community”.
So from the complicated nano ledger S to the absolutely confusing manner which steemit runs, the crypto space was and still is in need of a company which is addressing the issue of user friendliness, and bold simple design.
The first thing you are greeted with when entering exodus.io is the big bold statement, “ Control Your Future Wealth”, which off the bat is a feel good tactic. As you continue to browse the website itself is very sleek straightforward and pleasing. To download the wallet is as simple as clicking the big blue DOWNLOAD button on the top right corner of the page. I remember the first few times going to the exodus website before deciding to download and use it, noticing that at the time ,early 2017, the wallet only offered services for a few coins, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin and Dogecoin. Don’t quote me as that being the exact number but it was something similar and maybe im missing a coin or two. After downloading the software which is available for both windows and Mac while also including Linux as well, it guides you through a quick step by step set up to get you going. Create a password to login, back up with an e-mail, and jot down your 12 word security key which will allow you to regenerate your wallet on any other computer or tablet if the current one which has the software installed is stolen or damaged, something that I was always asked first and when hearing the solution left the person I was helping navigate into the space, more excited and comfortable in the prospect of leaving their digital currency on the wallet. This is an image of what would welcome you on the first versions of the Exodus wallet.
One of the unique and gratifying options in Exodus is the ability to change the theme of your wallet to your liking. Which brings back the association with Trevon James and Craig Grant, controversial figures in crypto today after the downfall of Bitconnect. Well for a while there you could actually have a theme based off these two characters. Which brings to question what was the association with Exodus and these two? I believe it was nothing more than to bring users to Exodus which was relatively new at the time and those two “influence-rs” at the time had hundreds of thousands of followers, consequently Exodus has removed those themes and I am not sure if it was before or after the Bitconnect scandal, either way I believe neither JP Richardson or Daniel Castagnoli had ill intentions. To this day that is the only hiccup I have seen from this innovative company.
With the layout of the wallet allowing you to see your holdings in a pie graph which was aesthetically pleasing and real time updates of your portfolio value, it was easy to get caught up and lost staring at your portfolio watching it grow in value before your eyes as at the time the crypto market was going through a bull run. Colors which differentiated the different coins in your wallet and large buttons with big text just added to the friendly user experience.
Once installed you knew this wallet was not going to be just another wallet. Already blowing most of the competition out of the water Exodus releases updates every month with at times subtle changes or at times complete redesigns which never seem to take away from the fluidity of the wallet. Despite all the updates once aspect remains consistent and is the key to it’s simplicity and success. On the left hand side of the wallet you can find, Portfolio, Wallet, Exchange, Backup. Despite all the updates this set up has not changed. And it is as straight forward as it gets. Portfolio allows you to see your overall investment and value of your holdings. Wallet permits you to access specific coins and transact them as you wish to. Exchange takes you to the painless Shapeshift assisted portion of Exodus where you can convert once coin to another without having to know anything about block-chain and or how to use exchanges. Simply put what coin you would like to switch to what other coin pay a small network fee and just wait as the new coin deposits into your wallet. Not to forget the pleasing money falling sound effect which plays when coins enter your wallet.
The updates in themselves are an exciting event. With Exodus adding coins all the time, the company would announce and put a date up for their next update and if it included a coin you looked forward to then you would find yourself anxiously waiting for the next update release. Perhaps the most important aspect of this wallet which came with the updates is the extensive amount of coins its supports. At the time of writing it is 99 crypto assets. (Don’t judge me if I'm slightly off) the fact that in a little over a year Exodus has gone from five or six coins to just under 100, speaks to the amount of work and passion that is going on behind the scenes and what I believe is absolute dedication to become the wallet for the average consumer when Crypto does go mainstream. In no particular order Exodus includes;
ZRX, ARN,AST, APPC, ANT, REP, BNT, BAT, BNB, BTC, BCH, BTG, BRD, LINK, CND, CVC, DASH, MANA, DCR, DGB, DGD, DNT, EDG, EOS, ETC, ETH, ETHOS, FUN, GVT, GNO, GNT, RLC, KNC, LTC, LRC, LUN, MKR, GUP, MTL, MITH, MCO, NEO, NMR, OMG, PAX, POE, POLY, PPT, POWR, QTUM, QSP, RDN, REQ, RCN, XRP, SALT, SNGLS, SNT, XLM, STORJ, STORM, SUB, PAY, TRX, TrueUSD, VIB, WINGS, ZEC, ADT, AE, AMB, DAI, DENT, DCN, DRGN, 1st, ICN, KIN, KCS, MDS, MLN, PLR, QASH, R, RVT, SAN, TAAS, USDT, TNB, VERI, WTC, WAX, TRST.
This is an absolutely amazing array of assets supported by Exodus and the company is constantly challenging itself to integrate more and more coins. I was personally amazed that they managed to include NEO into their wallet and have yet to put any of my NEO in there as I am not sure if I would be able to collect gas from the wallet, something which I hope can be done, and if not at the moment im sure it will be sorted out in a future update. Which brings me to the way Exodus is handling the introduction of new coins and improvements to it’s platform without shocking average users but giving more advanced users their own personal experience.
No link on Exodus.io can be found that directs you to exodus’s sister wallet Eden. You will have to directly type into the URL exodus.io/eden in order to access this advanced wallet where new coins are tested before being integrated into the fully supported Exodus wallet. This speaks volumes to the respect that Exodus has for it’s users and it’s awareness of not complicating their product too much by avoiding technical problems for the average user and saving it for the beta advanced Eden where advanced users can , as they say , “Roll up their sleeves”. With introducing Eden Exodus acknowledges that moving forward is necessary but that moving forward should never compromise the ease of use for the average user, allowing for another wallet where mistakes can be hashed through demonstrates the company’s intentions and it’s commitment to put the customer first, something that we unfortunately lack in the crypto space. Furthering this argument I can point out to a few times where I needed some support at JP one of the creators of the wallet personally wrote back and stayed in contact with me until my issue was resolved.
As of writing Exodus has introduced a new logo, something fresh and stylish but keeping with it’s previous logo’s feel making sure that when some one sees the new logo they can immediately identify it as till being the company’s brand. On the website the status of all the coins and any network issues are kept up in real time with no issues of major importance currently hindering the wallet.
The future is bright for Exodus so long as they keep true to their mission. Mass adaption will come and people will always flood to the “pretty” and “easy to use” software that is pleasing to the eye and includes subtle sounds to excite the senses without realizing it. I hope more and more software developers in the crypto space take notice and begin to use Exodus as the standard for what the user experience should look and feel like. I am not worried that this would make Exodus irrelevant as I believe that Exodus would “Roll up it’s sleeves”, And take the challenge head on .
Douglas
Napoleon Trading
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