Skip to main content

Bitcoin for Beginners: Which Hardware Wallet to Use

Real Hodlers Use Hardware Wallets

Bitcoin for Beginners: Which Hardware Wallet to UseTrezor and Ledger, two of the best known wallet manufacturers, have grown to become the industry’s go-to cold storage solutions. Both companies, who make a range of devices, have successfully met the demand for offline storage that is secure and user-friendly. No cryptocurrency wallet is 100% secure against all known attack vectors including acts of god, but Trezors and their ilk come pretty close, provided they’re bought directly from the company or an approved reseller.  Spending $100 or more to secure several thousand dollars’ worth of crypto – which has the potential to appreciate into many thousand more – seems like a pretty good investment.
But for anyone who balks at the cost of purchasing a hardware wallet, it’s possible to achieve the same result on a budget. There’s nothing to prevent you from installing a wallet onto a thumb drive, or better still a pair of them to ensure redundancy, and encrypting them. Similarly, an old iPhone with Bread wallet or the Bitcoin.com wallet installed makes for a durable cold storage device. Note down your recovery seed and then keep the device offline, save for when you need to access the wallet.
For anyone determined to use a dedicated device, however, these are the main options:

Trezor

Trezor dubs itself “the original and most secure hardware wallet” and it’s highly regarded by hodlers. Available in black or white for around $109 a pop, the device will allow you to store all your ERC20 tokens together with almost two dozen coins including BTC, BCH, LTC, DASH, and ZEC. Water-resistant and sturdy, the Trezor features a small display for confirming transaction details, 2FA, password manager, and a bunch of other features.
Bitcoin for Beginners: Which Hardware Wallet to Use

Ledger Nano S

Small and lightweight, the Nano S by Ledger will hold bitcoin, ethereum, and several other altcoins. Like the Trezor, the Nano S is highly rated by the crypto community, and this week Ledger celebrated selling its one millionth Nano S. The device uses a small OLED display and side buttons that are pushed to confirm transactions. If you want to get your hands on one you’ll need to be patient though – the next units aren’t scheduled to ship until late March.
The company also makes the Ledger Blue, an enterprise-grade hardware device, which has a larger screen, added security features and a $330 price tag. Like its sibling, the Nano S, the Ledger Blue is currently out of stock, with no confirmed shipping date.
Bitcoin for Beginners: Which Hardware Wallet to Use

Keep Key

Although not as trendy as Ledgers or Trezors, the Keep Key wallet is another capable contender. It allows for storage of bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum, litecoin, doge, and dash, with more coins due to be added. There’s also the ability to exchange between cryptocurrencies directly from the device using Shapeshift. It retails for $129, and is available for pre-order only, with no confirmed shipping date.
Bitcoin for Beginners: Which Hardware Wallet to Use

Bitlox

Bitlox looks a bit different from the rest of the wallets featured here. Rather than connect to your laptop via USB, it uses Bluetooth only. The wafer thin device, which resembles a smart card, can store bitcoin and retails for around $100. Support for altcoins is coming soon.

Digital Bitbox

A hardware wallet that’s as minimal as it gets, Digital Bitbox eschews a screen altogether in favor of compactness. It uses a micro SD card, is Tor and Tails compatible, and has optional 2FA. The Swiss-made device crams an impressive amount of security features into a very small space. Just don’t lose it.
Bitcoin for Beginners: Which Hardware Wallet to UseOf all the hardware devices on this list, Trezor and the Nano S have been extensively tested at scale by millions of users, which certainly inspires confidence. That’s not to say they’re any more secure than devices from other manufacturers though. The most important thing is that you get as much of your cryptocurrency as possible out of centralized exchanges and onto a device that you control the keys to. Only once you’ve achieved that can you truly claim to have gained your financial freedom.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Satoshi Revolution – Chapter 5: ICOs

The Satoshi Revolution: A Revolution of Rising Expectations. Section 2 : The Moral Imperative of Privacy Chapter 5: Implementing Crypto Privacy by Wendy McElroy ICOs: Peril or Menace or Expression of Satoshi Spirit? (Chapter 5, Part 2) It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way… – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities Crypto advocates differ dramatically on the impact of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). They are a valuable dynamic that financed Ethereum’s smart contract; they are a blank cheque for scammers; they give government a wedge with which to separate cryptocurrency from freedom. The damnable thing is that all the assessments may...
Post a Comment
Read more

MYSTERY OF BERMUDA TRIANGLE FINALLY SOLVED

MYSTERY OF BERMUDA TRIANGLE FINALLY SOLVED   17 COMMENTS    23472 VIEWS Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved? Scientists believe they’ve solved the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle ― and it’s not UFOs or sea monsters. It’s another kind of monster: monster waves. The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil’s Triangle, is a region in the North Atlantic that is generally bounded by Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Over time, a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared there under mysterious circumstances. According to “The Bermuda Triangle Enigma” on Britain’s Channel 5, scientists now believe conditions in that area were just right for massive rogue waves. “There are storms to the south and north, which come together,” said University of Southampton oceanographer Simon Boxall, per the Sun. “And if there are additional ones from Florida, it can be a potentially deadly formation of rogue waves.” Boxall said these rogue waves could reach 100 fee...
Post a Comment
Read more

EZeugo Is the Right Candidate For Idemili North Constituency.

A sound mind is a healthy body, unfortunately most of our people suffer from various diseases as a result of their life style,water the drink, type of food the eat (poor dieting) and drugs abuse which in return leads to many complications in the later stages of their lives. Majority of our people over the age of fourty  suffer from specific health problems E.g heart diseases, advanced diabetes, blood pressure (BP). In my view the issue of health is not limited to health services, health is a specific culture that can be attened by harmonizing body and mind. To reach this health conditions, in addition to a good healthy services, base on my background in Health and Environmental Safety (HES) I Ezeugo have a good health investment programs that will help improve following area - health education, Custom and traditions, food and environmental hygiene, sports, provisions of safe drinking water, public awareness in various aspects of life. Ezeugo have all it take to make Idemili...
2 comments
Read more