So today i want to cover hardware wallets since it seems new people struggle grasping some important details about setting it up and how they ultimately work. For people that understand the technology behind hardware wallets will find most of this article common sence, but new people are entering the space fast and in large numberrs will learn threw trail and error. Ultimately this method of learning can cost someone huge financial lost so I ADVISE ANY NEW PEOPLE TO SEEK ARTICLES, VIDEOS ,POST AND EVEN MOVIES TO LEARN AS MUCH INFORMATION PERTAINING TO A SUBJECT MATTER YOUR ARE THINKING TO ENTER. I FIND IF YOU BREAK DOWN THE LEARNING TO INDIVISUAL SUBJECTS SUCH AS A CURRENCY, A WALLET, AN EXCHANGE AND SO ON . IT IS MUCH EASIER THIS WAY TO ABSORB THE INFORMATION RATHER THAN TRYING TO LEARN CRYPTO AS A INDUSTRY WHOLE IT JUST BECOMES OVER WHELMING. SO HOPEFULLY THIS ARTICLE ANSWERS SOME BASIC QUESTIONS AND ANYTHING NOT ANSWERED PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK.
We are going to focus on Trezor and Ledger . How to set them up, what is the difference , how do they work , and basic secruity. Both products are very similar in just about everything but there are some differnces especially in design:
As you can see above they look very different. Ledger is smaller and easier to carry but the trezor isnt much bigger and is one of the first if not the first hardware wallet. This year alot of companys will start to sell similar products but in the mean time i will stick to these two.
When you first purchase always make sure product apears to be new with pakaging not tampared with. Here are some basic set up steps that are very important.
Weather you buy the product new direct from company(WHICH I RECOMMEND. WHY SAVE A COUPLE BUCKS AND RISK YOUR SAVINGS) or from a third party follow the setup steps directly from the device its self.
SETUP THE PIN ON THE DEVICE AND NEVER ENTER A PIN THAT SOMEONE GAVE YOU OR THAT CAME WITH THE DEVICE.
GET YOUR RECOVERY SEED ( INDIVIDUAL WORDS) DIRECTLY FROM DEVICE . Always make sure to keep your written seeds in a safe place and i personally go to great lengths to protect them in case of theft or emergency. I never keep all my paper info together and personally i like to even separate different parts of a wallet in multiple locations in safes or safe deposit boxes.
IF YOUR DEVICE DOES NOT GIVE YOU A RECOVERY SEED THEN THE DEVICE IS NOT SAFE. IT MOST LIKELY IS COMPROMISED.
Make sure to reset device in the scenario your device came with a seed in the box or you never received one in the initial set up. I know with ledger if you enter the incorrect pin three times it will erase existing data on device and go thru start up again.BELOW IS A PICTURE OF A FRAUD THAT SOMEONE FELL FOR. WHERE THE DEVICE APPEARED TO BE KNEW AND CAME WITH A SCRATCH OFF RECOVERY SEED. HE DID OBVIOUSLY BUY IT FROM A 3RD PARTY LEAVING HIMSELF VULNERABLE FOR A SOPHISTICATED CRIME AND DID NOT KNOW ENOUGH OF HOW THE TECHNOLOGY WORKED TO KNOW A SCRATCH OFF RECOVERY SEED CANT POSSIBLY WORK OR EVEN MAKE SENSE.
Now the biggest misunderstanding new people have about hardware wallets is they believe the bitcoin and alt coins are being stored on the device its self. This is not the case. The device is mostly multiple additional lawyers of security and stores your private keys. The coins are not offline but stored in the block chain which is why if someone has access to your device and password or even a different device but has your recovery seed the person can effectively monitor your wallets and then take everything out at once.The seed is one of the most important things with any wallet due to it giving you access to backup your wallet onto a different device in the event there was a problem.
Every hardware wallet is compatible with different currencys. They mostly all connect via computer and USB port allowing you to access the funds on the block chain. Here is a list of currencys for both :
https://www.ledgerwallet.com/cryptocurrencies
https://doc.satoshilabs.com/trezor-faq/overview.html#which-coins-are-currently-supported
Although the trezor list doesnt seem as long it just puts ALL ERC-20- TOKENS into one category.
Bottom line is they are affordable enough where in my opinion hardware wallets are worth it. I love anything that adds to my security. They are both under a 100 dollars. PLEASE UPVOTE AND COMMENT WHICH ONE YOU PREFER OR ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE. THANK YOU .
By the way we know crypto is becoming mainstream when Walmart is selling hardware wallets lol.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Trezor-Hardware-wallet-vault-safe-for-digital-virtual-currency-Bitcoin-Litecoin/338447076