Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash
So you don’t want to miss out on this bull run and you are fomoing in on all the hot cryptos and don’t know the safe place to store them?
Well, you are not alone. Most people still don’t own a hardware wallet and store their crypto assets in a hot wallet or a centralized exchange. These solutions are risky! It is easy to hack your computer and access your software wallet, and with the centralized exchanges; you don’t own the private keys.
If you don’t own your private keys, you don’t own your crypto
Hardware/cold storage wallets come to the rescue.
They allow you to take responsibility for your own money, giving you all the control, and unrestricted access anytime, anywhere.
There are a lot of wallets out there, and it is confusing to find which one is safe, reliable, easy to use, and supports all your favorite cryptos.
So which hardware wallet is best for you? Let’s find out.
I am not affiliated with any hardware wallet providers.
Trezor T
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Credit: Trezor
Trezor Model T is one of the most popular hardware wallets out there. It has an LCD colored touch screen display that makes it easier to use and access without the need to type your pin on the computer. The model T cannot connect to the computer unless you unlock it with a pin.
Safety against potential risks-
Tampering: Trezor Model T comes with a holographic sticker stick to its USB-C port. If this holographic sticker is missing or looks damaged, don’t use the wallet.
Pre-configured Seed: If you receive the wallet with a Pre-configured seed phrase, don’t use that phrase. Trezor allows you to generate a seed phrase.
Evil Maid Attack: If your hardware wallet gets stolen, don’t worry. Trezor comes with a pin protection mechanism which after every attempt locks the device for 2 to the power n seconds, giving you enough time to transfer funds to another wallet with a different seed phrase.
The $5 wrench attack: In this type of attack, someone physically threatens to hurt you if you don’t tell them the pin-code or seed phrase. Trezor allows you to create a dummy account that you can access with a particular seed phrase. You can store a tiny amount in this account and save most of your funds.
Trezor Model T supports over 1500 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XEM, Cardano, and many more.
There is also a cheaper model of Trezor hardware wallet called Trezor One, but it does not support as many cryptos, does not have a color touch screen, and it still uses micro-usb.
Cost of Model T- 159 EUR ($190 approx)
Ledger Nano X
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Credit: Ledger
Ledger Nano X is another wallet with a large market share in the hardware wallet market. Ledger has a bulletproof history of being one of the most secure wallets out there, with no reported cases of a wallet hack. However, their sales database was hacked in June 2020, and the data of thousands of users was leaked. Hackers stole the crypto of thousands of users through indirect methods such as phishing.
So you might be thinking, why are we discussing ledger when their database has been hacked. Because:
This means that even if their database was hacked, hackers have no access to your crypto unless you, yourself, give them your seed phrase.
This kind of attack can happen to any hardware wallet, software, or any company/business that runs on the internet. Therefore, it is not just the Ledger’s problem.
Ledger has probably the best software to buy and sell crypto without compromising the security called Ledger live. It supports all the cryptocurrencies I use and has the same security benefits as Trezor wallets, except for creating a dummy account. Ledger Nano X supports over 1500 cryptocurrencies and you can store up to 100 cryptos at a time.
There is also a cheaper model of Ledger hardware wallet called Ledger Nano S which also supports 1500 cryptos, but it can only store 3–10 at a time. It has a smaller display, and it still uses micro-usb.
Cost of Ledger Nano X- $119
SafePal
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Credit: SafePal
SafePal S1 is the most advanced wallet (in terms of features) out there. It has a colored display that can properly display all the information more clearly than any other wallet. It has a camera on its back to scan encrypted QR codes and communicate with your phone, which is a handy feature given it does not have Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or any other form of communication medium, which in itself, is a feature for better security.
I would highly recommend this wallet to anyone who is new to space because of its ease of use and better design.
But there is one caveat. It does not support as many cryptos as its competitors. As of this writing, it is available for pre-order and would take a long time to ship to a lot of places.
In terms of cost, it is surprisingly cheap!
Cost of SafePal S1- $39.99
In terms of security, it does not matter which hardware wallet you use. Most of the popular wallet manufacturers don’t store any data that is stored in the wallet. This means that even if they get hacked or went out of business, your crypto is safe.
You will only lose your crypto if any bad actor gets access to your seed phrase or private key.
I use Ledger Nano X because it supports all the crypto I use, and its UX is very easy. It also has a good history and a lot of industry experts I follow use it.
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