Bitcoin Forum

Hi Guys,

I am new to this, so sorry if the question seems stupid or has been answered many times.

I have an Electrum wallet on my PC. I have recently purchased a new Ledger Nano S. I would like to know if it is possible to transfer my current wallet to this hardware, without creating a new wallet on the Ledger. Please notice that I don't want to create a new wallet. I just want my new Ledger to handle my current wallet. Is it possible? Or should I create a new Electrum wallet on the Ledger and transfer my BTC from the old wallet to the new one?

Thanks in advance guys..

Don't try to do this. Your hardware will only ever be completly secure if it's a brand new wallet created directly from your Ledger. Create a new wallet from your Ledger and move all your coins to it.

P.S: Don't store your backup seed in your computer, phone, online, in a picture, etc... Just write it down in the backup sheet that comes with the Ledger and keep it safe (you can also write it down in other paper pieces).

Possible? Yes.
Recommended? No.

The whole purpose of a hardware wallet is that the seed is being generated AND kept in an isolated offline environment.
If you use your seed which has been generated OR entered OR used on an pc with had an internet connection at ANY time, you are destroying the whole purpose of a hardware wallet.
You might as well stay with a desktop wallet in this case.

Just create a transactions. Fees are relatively low currently anyway. Don't cheap out on transaction fees. You are risking all of your coins which will be stored on your nano s (currently AND in the future) if you don't generate the seed properly.

Hardware wallets connected to an online PC do not count as being offline. They do provide some protection against malware though since they can only run software signed by the vendor and by design they are not supposed to reveal the seed or private keys to the PC.

You should go with your alternative solution, creating a new wallet for your Ledger Nano S is the only guaranteed way that your new seeds are not compromised. Also if you have the option to do it in another computer which is different from where your desktop Electrum wallet is you must do so as this also gives you assurance that you are not creating your wallet in a compromised desktop computer. Just keep in mind that hardware wallets are more for storing cryptocurrencies rather than using it daily as a regular wallet.

Thanks guys,

I understand and would do as recommended.