This post provides a comprehensive guide to the best trending Bitcoin hardware wallets, enabling you to make an informed decision before purchasing one.
The cryptocurrency markets have witnessed a staggering loss of millions of dollars. Many have lost all their life savings, some have lost a significant number of cryptos and others may have one or two relatives or friends who have suffered such fate.
This is mostly due to the insecurities posed by storing coins in hot wallets or in exchange platforms.
Most of the time, the wallets or service providers don’t have any answers to what happened to your funds. Yes, it could be anyone, cybercriminals are real and all they need is an internet connection to monitor your funds and clear them leaving no trace.
This is where the hardware wallets for cryptocurrencies come into play.
Cold storage devices safeguard your cryptocurrency by keeping it offline, making it virtually impossible for hackers to access it. The security of your funds will totally depend on you if you are using a hardware wallet.
I will introduce the top hardware wallets in this post to help you make a better choice, don’t miss out on this.
Post Summary
Hardware wallets are devices that store crypto assets and leave the private keys on the device itself. You can use it on any computer without exposing your private keys online. Your keys never leave your device.
They are also called Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) wallets because a seed phrase will be assigned to your device on initialization for backup. In case of a missing or stolen device, you can easily recover your funds with this phrase using another wallet.
The wallet is useless in the hands of any unauthorized person because it requires a pin to grant access to the user.
Hardware wallets empower you to take complete control of your digital assets. Even though the wallets provide top-notch security, the user must be careful not to share vital information about the wallet with anyone i.e. the seed phrase and PIN code. Also, make sure you are buying a brand new device.
This is hardware wallets in a nutshell, I will go ahead to introduce the best wallets available following this list below;
Sit tight; this is going to be brief and straight to the point.
1. Trezor Hardware Wallets ( The Pioneer)
The word TREZOR means “VAULT” and yes, storing your cryptocurrencies in this wallet protects them from physical and virtual theft. It is equivalent to storing them in a well-guarded physical vault. Trezor is the first hardware wallet to grace the crypto security market and has ever since remained one of the top wallets in the market.
It has two wallets which are incredible and look almost like the regular car key.
i. Trezor One
The Trezor one is a veteran player in the security game and supports over 1000 Cryptos including ERC20 tokens. However, the wallet does not support Ripple XRP, Ada ADA and Monero XRM which I found very surprising.
The wallet is compatible with macOS, Windows 8+ and Linux computers.
The device costs $69 and it’s not the cheapest in the market even though it’s worth the price.
Read Trezor One Full Review Here.
ii. Trezor Model T
The Trezor T is a slight upgrade of Trezor One. It comes with a touch screen and supports more coins than it’s predecessor. In this version, Trezor included the coins lacking in Trezor one i.e. Ripple XRP, Ada ADA and Monero XRM.
The wallet is sold at $219, even for the touchscreen I still find this price a little too high. But in general, the Trezor T will give you what you are looking for in hardware wallet.
Read Trezor T full Review Here.
2. Ledger Hardware Wallets
Ledger is Trezor’s closest competition, established in 2014 by 8 experts in Paris, the company has garnered enough reputation in the cryptosecurity market over the years.
Personally, I like the design of the Ledger Wallets, as they look more like a USB flash drive, one can easily go unnoticed when carrying it.
Ledger’s proprietary technology called BOLOS is used to hold the private keys in a secure chip that is permanently kept offline.
The company has two reputable wallets currently on sale and software that works as an interface between your Ledger device and the computer called “Ledger Live”.
i. Ledger Nano S
The Ledger Nano S works almost like the Trezor.
It comes in the shape of a USB flash drive and requires the presence of its user for any transaction to be confirmed.
This is made possible through the inclusion of two hard keys that must both be pushed at the same time by its user before any Cryptocurrencies can be transferred.
Buying a Ledger Nano S is a huge step towards totally safeguarding your Cryptocurrencies against hackers.
Click here to read Ledger Nano S full Review
ii. Ledger Nano X
The Nano X is a superior hardware wallet, it is shaped and designed like the Nano S but somewhat bigger in screen and body size.
The wallet has a Bluetooth connection that lets you connect your smartphone to it.
Yes, this wallet allows you to carry out your transactions wherever you find yourself. All you need is to have your wallet around and a smartphone.
However, I found out that Bluetooth connectivity is not very swift. Ledger will have to work on that to perfect it.
The Nano X also has a rechargeable inbuilt battery, meaning you don’t have to connect it to any computer before it turns on
That’s it on Ledger wallets, now we move over to the next.
3. KeepKey Hardware Wallet (Beauty and Style)
KeepKey is a hardware wallet that stores crypto assets by keeping the private keys offline, backed by seed Phrase and has in-wallet exchange via Shapeshift.
A beautifully and well-designed device, covered in an aluminum casing. It has a wide area touchscreen that makes the device seem bulky. You will hardly go unnoticed carrying the device in your pocket.
If you are a fan of beauty and durability, you could try using the KeepKey. But one con I found about the device is its limited coin support (only about 40+ coins are supported). If you will be storing a lot of coins, then the Keep Key is not for you.
The KeepKey Shape hardware wallet is priced at $49, while the KeepKey Shape+ is priced at $79.
Read Keep Key full review here.
4. Bitfi Wallet (The Game Changer)
The Bitfi is a paradigm shift of the usual hardware wallet, supposedly the most secure Wallet system and does not store your private keys on the device.
The Bitfi Knox surpasses other forms of cold storage devices and it’s open source.
With the exact shape of a smartphone, the device’s touchscreen is one of the easiest to operate.
One very cool feature you will find interesting about the Bitfi Wallet is its unlimited coin support. The wallet automatically updates itself to install any new coin that’s added by Bitfi.
Read Bitfi full Review to be wowed on the device’s unique features.
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Conclusion
Still, think you don’t need a hardware wallet? Here are some historical hacks:
- Mt.Gox: This is a cryptocurrency exchange that was hacked twice in 2011 and 2014. A total of 750,000 BTC (worth 350 million) was stolen. The company declared bankruptcy and users lost their money.
- Bitfloor: In 2012, this exchange lost 24,000 BTC to hackers. They also got shut down and investors lost their money.
- Poloniex: This trading company lost 97 BTC to hackers in 2014.
- Bitstamp lost 19,000 BTC (worth $5 million) to hackers in 2015
- Bitfinix lost 120,000 BTC (worth $72 million) in 2016. However, they were able to pay users back slowly over a period of time and regain their trust.
In addition to the above, over 25 exchanges have been hacked in the past leading to investors losing their fund. This is one reason you need a hardware wallet.
That said,
The above are the best bitcoin wallets. This post will be updated as soon as there’s a need for that.
I hope this post was helpful for you to pick a good wallet?
Have you used any of these devices listed above?
If yes, I’d like you to share your personal experience and I’d be replying to any questions you may have about this post or hardware wallets.
Don’t forget to click on any of the social media icons to share this post and let others in on this.
See you in the comments.
What hardware wallets are available in Nigeria
you can order any of them and it will get delivered to you.
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