Overview
Lace is a free browser-based wallet for holding ADA and Cardano tokens, viewing your NFTs, staking, and signing into Cardano apps from your laptop. It is built by Input Output Group, the engineering company that originally created Cardano, so the wallet comes from the same team that builds the underlying network.
Lace runs as an add-on for Chrome, Brave, and Firefox. Install it once and it lives in your browser toolbar, ready when you need it. You hold the recovery phrase, which means only you can move your funds. There is no Lace account, no email, no company holding your coins.
Key Features
- A wallet that looks like a wallet. A clean home screen for your ADA balance, recent transactions, and a gallery for your Cardano NFTs1.
- One-click staking. Browse Cardano stake pools, pick one, and delegate. Your ADA stays in your wallet the whole time and earns rewards every few days1.
- Sign into Cardano apps. Connect to Cardano DEXs, DeFi apps, and NFT marketplaces from the wallet. Approving a transaction works like approving a payment, so there's nothing new to learn1.
- Pair with a hardware wallet. For larger balances, plug in a Ledger Nano S, S+, or X. Lace becomes the interface while the keys stay offline on the device1.
- Multi-chain ready. Lace also handles Midnight (a privacy-focused partner chain to Cardano), and Bitcoin support has been announced. One wallet for the whole Cardano family2.
What to Expect
Installing Lace takes about two minutes. You add it from the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-ons, create a wallet, write down a recovery phrase on paper, and set a spending password. The phrase is the only way to restore your wallet if you switch laptops, so keep it offline.
The interface is one of the cleaner ones in the Cardano ecosystem: large buttons, lots of breathing room, and a step-by-step delegation flow that walks you through staking even if you have never done it before. New users can also buy ADA directly inside the wallet using a card, through a payment partner called Banxa, so you don't need to set up an exchange account first1.
Lace also sends multiple payments in one transaction when you need to, useful if you're paying several people at once and want to save on fees. The published roadmap covers a mobile app, an app store inside the wallet, and a portable digital identity feature, all in development3. Day-to-day support is delivered through an FAQ and the project blog rather than chat4.
