Bitcoin Forum

Just bought and got my first real cold wallet from Ledger that I ordered from their website. :D (Now I finally feel like a real Bitcoiner/Cryptoner)
Now when I been in the crypto world for some few years I think the time was right to get my self a cold wallet because my holdings start to increase in value quite a lot actually and many of you already got a cold wallet I am sure of and I gladly take advice's and tips if there are any important thing to have in mind when installing it and using a cold wallet? Yeah I look some YT-videos about it, but I guess it never hurt to get more opinions and voices about something important you gonna do.

How ever I am happy I took this next step =)

Ledger? I feel sorry for you my friend. I mean, it's not bad, and above all it's better than leaving your Bitcoin holdings in an exchange but Ledger is a garbage company that lives off the fame of the past and in which your data is not at all safe. I mean, it's not bad, and above all it's better than leaving your Bitcoin holdings in an exchange but Ledger is a garbage company that lives off the fame of the past and in which your data is not at all safe. It is closed source and the treatment of your private keys is quite controversial. I recommend the following thread:

Ledger Recovery - Send your (encrypted) recovery phrase to 3rd parties entities (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5452900)

Sorry to disappoint you, Ledger's hardware wallet is not a cold wallet if you connect it to an online system. Read https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5452900.0.

I was going to say what @Poker Player's saying, even though it might hurt you, but you should know about the reality.

In addition this is the list of open source cold storage Open Source Hardware Wallets (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5288971.0).

I'm not sure if you've open the plastic wrap, I hope you not and if you have an option to return the product, I guess it's the better option.

There have been multiple threads in the past that show how unsafe ledger wallets are. Of what use is a cold wallet if it still has connection to a cloud?
It's same as storing your keys online which is infact very risky.
I will advice you to simply sell that ledger wallet off and get an old PC which you can format and use as an air gapped device..

Hey man congratulations to you for getting your hands on a hardware wallet. even tho, personally, I wouldn't say I like Legder. my experience using ledger was not so pleasant. but not security-wise. my problem was my ledger wallet's screen went dimm and I could not see anything anymore. they have very bad durability. but it will be good for 2, 3 years at last.  and still a lot better than Centralized, browser and desktop wallets,

Bro, you double-typed(pasted) your msg.

Thank you for this response. I did some findings about hardware wallets and Ledger Nano came out among the best so I have had the intention of buying it but your comment mean it is not a good idea. Could you be so kind to recommend a reliable alternative for me. I will appreciate that so much.

Ledger has many data breaches and they harmed their reputation with Ledger Recovery Service months ago.

Between Ledger and Trezor, I see Trezor is better.

If you only need a wallet for Bitcoin, you can use Electrum wallet, set a multisign wallet like 2/3 cosigner wallet or a cold wallet with Electrum.
https://bitcoinelectrum.com/creating-a-multisig-wallet/
https://bitcoinelectrum.com/creating-a-cold-storage-wallet-in-electrum/

If you need a wallet for altcoins, you can set up a multisign wallet with https://safe.global/

I never knew how deadly, dangerous and unsafe this ledger nano cold wallet could be, but seeing your reply and other people's reply make me see reasons to how irrelevant this wallet could be. So my question is that is this wallet completely useless? And if it's this bad and not safe why did the manufacturer not see the reason to why this will not be useful to people? Ore is there no other alternatives for its usage?

Yea, it is nice to own a hardware wallet... until you need to upgrade the firmware, then things turn into a nightmare.

We used to access the hardware through a browser plugin, but then that was stopped and they developed their own app, which also were problematic at times.

It sounds very nice, but you have to make sure you store the pass phrases to recover the seed, if something goes wrong.

The issue with these type of hardware wallets is that it’s closed source. You have no idea how it works on the inside. We assumed the ledger wouldn’t be able to retrieve the seed from the device but that wasn’t the case. This is because it’s closed source and we have no idea what it’s capable off.

That’s why you are better off using something like electrum where you can verify the source code yourself. It’s been out for maybe 10 years and it’s been proven to be secure by many people.

Just be careful about that wallet my guy, there's no way that with everyone concerned that you've brought that and talking about the closed source nature of the wallet that your bitcoin is safe there altogether. Another I like to point out is you could've just used an Electrum wallet, cheaper and much safer or you could've asked in here what's the best one to use to store your bitcoins.

Have you seen anyone say Ledger is a useless wallet? You are the only one who says it, no one else says it. And as adaseb explains below: Ledger's problem is that it is a closed-source hardware wallet and we have absolutely no idea what they are doing with our bitcoins. It's not deadly but it will endanger your bitcoins.

I bet you haven't heard about the scandals that Ledger has been involved in in recent years, making it from the most popular cold wallet position to the worst choice these days.

You can have a cold wallet without even purchasing a hardware wallet, one way is using Electrum to create a wallet in an offline device where you will be never exposed to the internet which means your seeds are safe unless you do something wrong.


And you could have chosen a better hardware manufacturer than Ledger because you can't trust Ledger anymore and they keep lying about everything.

I would like to say congratulations to OP for getting a hardware wallet, but I guess I will give credit to those who posted here regarding problems concerning Ledger.
I mean it helped me narrow my choices on which hardware wallet will I have to buy in the future.

TBH, I've been using Electrum ever since, and I haven't encountered any problems or hacks, or getting scammed whatever. I believe that it will all come down to the investors themselves. I can continue using Electrum for life, and still not fall into scams, and not get hacked. On the other hand, I can buy a hardware wallet, but if I don't know how to secure my private keys, I might still get scammed.

Overall, I guess I'll try to buy a Trezor in the future instead of a Ledger wallet just because of the problems that the wallet is encountering. As for OP, take care of your coins as always and still congratulations for having a hardware wallet. :P

If you look at it, the OP was looking for a cold wallet that’s why he opted for a hardware wallet which is not a bad idea but the choice of the hardware he choose to purchase is the problem. The main reason for a cold wallet is to safeguard the keys or the seed phrase and that’s where Ledger got it wrong, their seed recovery is what almost everyone is against coupled with the numerous hacks that they have been faced with which is very bad and not worth to trust but definitely hardware wallets isn’t the problem.

The electrum wallet you mentioned is a like an hot wallet except maybe you set it up as a cold storage which personally I think is even better than using a hardware wallets that it’s company might just run into trouble one day or changes policy that doesn’t align with you, but the problem is always the set up, a simple mistake in that set up will just make the wallet still be an hot wallet without you knowing.

So for a total newbie I will advise the use of hardware wallets still. But the choice should be an open source one like Passport, Keystore and others, so that the newbie doesn’t go through the process of setting up the wallet himself and making a mistake later

I been using Exodus and never had any problem either, I also got Electrum and TBH I feel it's to nerdy for me.  :)
I am still a newbie and in a learning process and this was perfect I created this post before I open it and got a very good lesson and learned something new.
But if we never try, we never learn :)

---

But you know what guys? No offense taken, opposite, I learned something new and weary important. But I don't think Ledger is that bad.
I haven't open the plastic yet, and with all these replies I will return it and get another one thank you guys for the replies it may have helped me a lot to save my money for the future, who knows?  :D

But I also heard many bad things about Trezor.  And I don't want to use Electrum as I mentioned I already got it but got most of my money on Exodus and it works perfect for me and also Solflare for Solana.
Then I got an old mobile phone without sim-card in and its kind a offline wallet, but I wanted to take the next step. and trust me, no offense taken opposite I am happy I got this news from you guys.

So the big question.. What should I buy instead? My limit is around $200 but could go to $250 I guess. - And I know I will get many different answers, but no wrong in that.
Share your ideas and then I weight them in and take a decision.

Also maybe the safest thing regarding hot or cold is to be aware of where you have your seed phrases? I don't know. I just don't want to wake up one day and see all the crypto is gone, I read some stories on this forum.

If you only know how many mines I been walking on in my life and mistake I did, but always recover and in the end it always end up well!  :)


Thanks guys for being honest.

@Poker Player @Apocollapse @aTriz @adaseb @pinggoki @Findingnemo @kro55 @LogitechMouse

As a member you should have ask the question on here before making the purchase, Ledger is a crap hardware wallet, because it's closed source, Trezor is better, I will never use any hardware wallet that's closed source, you won't be able to see how weak or strong they are, your data isn't safe with this type of company.

Someone very close to me bought this same Ledger Nano X and after I told him some facts why he shouldn't have bought Ledger he sold it to someone else and went for Trezor Safe 3 and he is loving it.

People are so lazy to do research this days, if you do your research well you should have gone with a better cold wallet with offline open source feature, sorry pal, Ledger isn't one of them.

Frankly, the problem with Ledger is that it is a closed source wallet and whether they are silently collecting our Seed Phrase or not we cannot determine, and that is a potential risk. But so far there have been no reports of people losing bitcoins due to using Ledger hardware wallet. So OP you can still keep using it since you just bought it anyway. But if you have better finances later, you can replace it with a better hardware wallet as some people also mentioned above.

Calm down. Just because you said something doesn't mean it must be true, it's your opinion.
We will see where everything ends up. You speak like you never did a mistake in your life.  ;D
And it's no big deal, I can return it if i want.



I see. So no reports but yet, then I think it's fine but I will see how I do. Thanks for your answer.


Seems this has come to an end.
Thanks for the replies and I think I will be fine and my coins to.  :)




EDIT: I have done more research and will stick to the wallet I bought. It is safe enough for me and Trezor is something I don't would change to, Ledger is better for my use of crypto and the coins I hold.
I mean I have read like on fifty different sites and everyone have different opinions about this, and people on this forum have opinions to and I respect them, but I wonder how many of them that actually has hold a hardware wallet in their hands?  Anyway huge thanks for all replies, it made me do more research so now I am 100% sure how I want to store my crypto with the one I bought.

And who knows maybe I would get same feedback if it was another wallet I bought from people that dislike that company instead? Nah joking but lets be honest this forum is what it is.

I want to say thank you to everyone that replied here it helped me in one way or another, that's how I choose to see it take the good things with me and leave the bad things behind, in the end it's mostly opinions but respect to everyone of you and your opinions.

Best regards
BabyBandit