I came across this question #1480624 on Stacker News and expected to see the comments and suggestions from experienced stackers. I read @DarthCoin’s comment, and I think the post and guide he recommends are very useful, but still...

There are just so many wallets (custodial, non-custodial, private node, public node, and so on), plus all those comparison tables in the guide with the pros and cons of each wallet. For a beginner, it’s very difficult. I’d even say it’s difficult for many Bitcoin users. You need quite a lot of technical knowledge to really understand what’s going on and to grasp the details of each wallet. But not everyone is able to dive that deeply into the technical side of things.

What happens to those who don’t have that technical background, or who find it hard to navigate through this huge variety of wallets?

Are they basically destined to pick just any random wallet and risk losing their bitcoin?

I’d like to ask stackers with a lot of Bitcoin experience and strong technical knowledge (especially @DarthCoin, who from what I can see has written many guides about wallet usage) to suggest their top 3 or 5 wallet options (custodial or non-custodial, hot or cold) that they would recommend to a new Bitcoin user — someone with little to no technical knowledge, no experience opening or closing Lightning channels, etc.

In short, I’m asking you to recommend the top 3 or 5 wallets that can help beginners avoid losing their bitcoin while still being practical and easy to use, since you have the experience needed to make that judgment.