Please Buy a Hardware Wallet

[Zionatin]

No oen can take you seriously because you are using a signature for a scammy project. Sorry for that, but it makes my stomach leave my body (literally)

I totally agree. You often hear about people that lost (a lot) of money because they get hacked. Using a hardware wallet is definitely recommendable, but I do have to say that your post is a bit cheeky as well by sharing your referral links. Makes you come across less sincere. (Just on a side note)

Anyway, hardware wallets are always going to be the most safest thing that you can buy.

I prefer to buy a Ledger, instead of buying a blue bottle of Johnny Walker, seriously.

I got a ledger about a month ago and it makes me feel safe. I just didn't feel safe having that many coins on one address. You cannot put a price on safety.
Golden rule is if you have more then a few weeks worth of salary then you should invest in a hardware wallet.

Also backups people backups!! Make many of them and make sure you print some out.

[Dzernej]

I totally support this topic. I also propose to all that they buy hardware wallet and put their crypto on it. I think a lot of ppl are still blind and trust to have all in exchange wallets.

[bitart]

No oen can take you seriously because you are using a signature for a scammy project. Sorry for that, but it makes my stomach leave my body (literally)

I totally agree. You often hear about people that lost (a lot) of money because they get hacked. Using a hardware wallet is definitely recommendable, but I do have to say that your post is a bit cheeky as well by sharing your referral links. Makes you come across less sincere. (Just on a side note)

Anyway, hardware wallets are always going to be the most safest thing that you can buy.

I prefer to buy a Ledger, instead of buying a blue bottle of Johnny Walker, seriously.

I got a ledger about a month ago and it makes me feel safe. I just didn't feel safe having that many coins on one address. You cannot put a price on safety.
Golden rule is if you have more then a few weeks worth of salary then you should invest in a hardware wallet.

Also backups people backups!! Make many of them and make sure you print some out.

About backups:
If you have a hardware wallet, you have a seed for it (random words). Hardware wallets protects your coins, but who protects your hardware wallet?
When you set up your hardware wallet, you're instructed to write down your seed on a piece of paper.
If you are paranoid, don't type the seed into the PC and print it out several copies, but do it manually, with paper and pen. Make several copies of your seed. You can lose your hardware wallet, it can become defective, etc. no problem, if you have your seed, you can buy another hardware wallet and set it up with the seed you have on your paper, and you'll have your coins on the new hardware wallet in a second. If you don't have the seed, you don't have your coins... it's similar to private keys but because of the hardware wallet, it's easier to use the seed.
Put the seed into safe places (laminate the paper if you wish) or hardcore users can engrave the seed into small metal business cards to prevent it from fire and disaster...
Anyway, handle your seed as you would handle your life savings, put it into a safe box, etc...

[nokati]

I dont want to be buzz killer...but anything above 5000USD use a paperwallet and sign transactions on a dedicated offline pc.

Its hard to use it first time but just pend 300USD on a small laptop, by a printer for 50USD and use them only for offline signing. Spend some transaction fee and move a couple of times between paperwallets till you fully understand what your are doing. Storing any seriues amount even on a trezor (I have one), is a bad move.

under 200-300 use just your mobile
up to 5000 use trezor or ledger
above 5000, use paper wallet created on a dedicated offline pc and printer that you only use on that pc.

[yoseph]

No oen can take you seriously because you are using a signature for a scammy project. Sorry for that, but it makes my stomach leave my body (literally)

I totally agree. You often hear about people that lost (a lot) of money because they get hacked. Using a hardware wallet is definitely recommendable, but I do have to say that your post is a bit cheeky as well by sharing your referral links. Makes you come across less sincere. (Just on a side note)

Anyway, hardware wallets are always going to be the most safest thing that you can buy.

I prefer to buy a Ledger, instead of buying a blue bottle of Johnny Walker, seriously.

I got a ledger about a month ago and it makes me feel safe. I just didn't feel safe having that many coins on one address. You cannot put a price on safety.
Golden rule is if you have more then a few weeks worth of salary then you should invest in a hardware wallet.

Also backups people backups!! Make many of them and make sure you print some out.

Really I am more afraid of losing my hardware wallet and never being able to get back the Bitcoins once the hardware gets missing, that's one thing people should consider when buying these hardware wallets because though it offers the highest security it can get lost easily too.

[figmentofmyass]

Anyway, hardware wallets are always going to be the most safest thing that you can buy.

is that so? i prefer using a cheap offline netbook for signing transactions and broadcasting raw signed transactions from an internet-connected PC. i'm skeptical of the security guarantees of hardware wallets, especially after the meltdown and spectre vulnerabilities. meltdown/spectre highlighted the truth that devices are only secure insofar as our security assumptions are correct.

those security assumptions may be proven wrong overnight. just ask intel about that.

the bottom line is, do you really want to have all your crypto stored on one device? and further, do you really want all your private keys being plugged into an online computer? i don't care what ledger or trezor or anyone else says; that's just irresponsible.

Golden rule is if you have more then a few weeks worth of salary then you should invest in a hardware wallet.

that's a strange golden rule considering what we know about some hardware wallets: https://twitter.com/evoskuil/status/953455494705774592

the ledger/trezor mania is painting a big target on the backs of hardware wallet owners. the attack surface is wide and exploits are highly likely to be found eventually. plan accordingly. use dedicated cold storage. hardware wallets are fine for a limited amount of funds, but people should really stop treating them like they give you bank-level security. they don't.

[donte872]

A hard wallet is claimed to be the safest wallet for electronic money storage. Of course, hard wallets are not as free as other wallet types, but spend a small amount of money so you can be assured. Do not fear your electronic money can be stolen at any time. Never mind that "risk of theft will never come to you", because the hacker will not leave no one. As the cryptocurrency market becomes more and more accepted around the world and increases in value, your wallet will be more and more watched.

[bitart]

Really I am more afraid of losing my hardware wallet and never being able to get back the Bitcoins once the hardware gets missing, that's one thing people should consider when buying these hardware wallets because though it offers the highest security it can get lost easily too.

Just read the post above about the backups of the hardware wallet. If you have your seed, you can lose the hardware wallet itself, no problem. Just buy a new one and set it up with your seed, all your coins will be back to the new hardware wallet (doesn't matter if it's Trezor, Ledger Nano S they are similar, they use seed to generate the addresses keys etc.)
Also, in my opinion, hardware wallets are for the newbie or average bitcoiners, not for the hardcore ones. The newbies won't have the necessary information to set up an airgapped PC just for the purpose of storing the desktop wallet, and they won't be able to sign and broadcast a transaction, make backup of the wallet, because it needs time to learn it. Using a hardware wallet is easy and really straightforward. If newbies and awareage joes are becoming experts and will have the necessary knowledge, they will move forward to the safest storages (if they care, or if they have a higher amount of coins...) Using a hardware wallet is much safer than a desktop wallet on an internet enabled PC.

[mpufatzis]

If you have a Raspberry Pi ($35-45) you can use it as an offline computer keeping it off the net and changing the SD card.
It runs Linux, you can load any wallet (of any coin) you want and print paper wallets in a printer or sign your transactions.
When you are finished, change the card and save it in a secure place.
The card is minimal (mini SD) and you can hide it anywhere. This is my favorite cold storage method.

[hoodi]

Thanks for giving examples of wallets that you use, sometimes it is a pain in the ass to make a research yourself and much easier to follow someones advice.

[Aura]

You don't need a hardware wallet to store you Bitcoins safely, an air gapped machine will do the job too.
But it takes a bit more time to set-up as you have to verify the authenticity of the executable/installer and make sure your machine is not infected nor connected to the internet. I also think it's a better practice to do it your own way however I understand that non-technical people rather just buy a hardware wallet.

[hous26]

You don't need a hardware wallet to store you Bitcoins safely, an air gapped machine will do the job too.
But it takes a bit more time to set-up as you have to verify the authenticity of the executable/installer and make sure your machine is not infected nor connected to the internet. I also think it's a better practice to do it your own way however I understand that non-technical people rather just buy a hardware wallet.

Can you explain what this is?

[xhoondilan]

Thats a good news dude, Im looking forward using it in the future but for now my btc is safe and i dont do too much trading and i even tranfer my bitcoin once a week or month so my bitcoin always stay on my wallet. If my bitcoin is a high amount already i surely use hardware wallet.

[NeuroticFish]

I always kept an eye on this subject hoping that I may need this when my portfolio becomes fat enough.
And I was convinced that hardware wallet is one of the best solutions for safety. Until the last vulnerability of Ledger popped out.
Although it's a bit more effort, I also think that people should really consider an air gapped cold storage instead of hardware wallet.

[gareng1468]

lately hackers are constantly looking for ways to steal our data and assets, if the datacenter does not keep upgrading their systems would be hackers can find a bug to steal our data. storing assets in the form of wallet hardware is one of the safest ways to choose. I assume because their jobs are hacking they will do everything to get profit and will continue improvising to penetrate existing security systems.

[guybrushthreepwood]

Many people are too cheap to spend money on hardware wallets. They only support limited currencies as well so they're good for the big ones like BTC, LTC, ETH etc but for all the other tokens they likely won't be of any use.

You don't need a hardware wallet to store you Bitcoins safely, an air gapped machine will do the job too.
But it takes a bit more time to set-up as you have to verify the authenticity of the executable/installer and make sure your machine is not infected nor connected to the internet. I also think it's a better practice to do it your own way however I understand that non-technical people rather just buy a hardware wallet.

Can you explain what this is?

You could just google it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_gap_(networking)

Also:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_set_up_a_secure_offline_savings_wallet

Overview of existing solutions

The bitcoin ecosystem is still relatively young and unfortunately not many user friendly and highly secure wallets have been developed yet.

Today these are the two best ways to secure your bitcoins against theft:

1. Using a hardware wallet such as TREZOR.

A hardware wallet has two functions - it stores your Bitcoins in a hardened device that is designed to be simple and highly resistant to the usual range of attacks (viruses, hackers, keyloggers).

2. Create a cold storage wallet using BitKey.

Cold storage wallets generates and stores private wallet keys on a clean air-gapped computer.

Used correctly, an air-gapped wallet is safe from all online threats, such as viruses and hackers. It is however still exposed to offline threats, such as hardware keyloggers, extortion, or people looking over your shoulder.

To spend funds from cold storage securely, an unsigned transaction is generated on an Internet connected computer. An unsigned transaction is akin to to an unsigned check. The unsigned transaction is then transfered to the air-gapped computer to be verified & signed with the wallet keys.

Using a cold storage wallet on an air-gapped computer may seem tedious, but remember that security almost always comes at the cost of convenience.

Air-gapping is probably unnecessary and complicated for the basic user though and I would just recommend a hardware wallet instead. Using a computer, tablet or phone that you only use for your bitcoin wallet would be another suggestion.

[SeniorRalap]

Everyday I come on here and read a sad story about someone getting hacked and losing their Bitcoin / Ethereum.  I hate reading them but its like a car accident on the side of the road, you can't help but look.  Once you read the story it's clear that it could have been avoid had the user used a hardware wallet.  I dont have alot of Bitcoin or Ethereum but I recently purchased my own hardware wallet to keep them secure, I strongly suggest others in my situation (less than 1BTC total invested) to go out and buy a hardware wallet.  Right now.

Why do small fries need a hardware wallet?
We are the most vulnerable because we are less experienced.  Most of us haven't experienced losing coins yet, either directly or through a friend.  We probably download shit we shouldn't, left our private keys in some email we sent (I haven't done this but I could see myself doing something this stupid when I first started) and probably leave our desktop wallets open a bit too long.  The small fries are vulnerable so we need to protect our investments.

What is a hardware wallet
Its a devise that essentially stores your private key on it so you can't be keylogged and requires you input a password onto it, not your computer, before unlocking the wallet AND withdrawing any coins.  Its safe, its secure and only the person with possession of the hardware wallet can withdraw funds (at least I've been told no one has legitimately hacked a hardware wallet without possession of it).  It's easy to use. When you use a Ledger Nano S and activate it, the devise presents you with a private passphrase that does not show up on your computer.  You write down the pass phrases, by hand (do not type it out, take a photograph, or anyhing of the like), and if you lose or break your hardware wallet you can buy another and gain access to it with the private passphrases.  If you are really concerned about the passphrase being lost, buy a fireproof, waterproof safe and ziplock your private passphrase (waterproof safes are known to trap condensation which gets things wet - wet paper with pen = lost writing) so its airtight and lock it up.  Its really secure so long as you keep the pass phrase safe.  

Hardware wallets
Ledger Nano S - https://www.amazon.com/Ledger-Nano-Cryptocurrency-Hardware-Wallet/dp/B01J66NF46/
KeepKey - https://www.amazon.com/KeepKey-Simple-Cryptocurrency-Hardware-Wallet/dp/B0143M2A5S/
Trezor - https://www.amazon.com/Satoshi-Labs-bitcoin-wallet-white/dp/B00P5HU80A/

I have all my valuable crypto, that's currently supported, on my Ledger.  My Bitcoin, Ethereum and you can bet your ass once Deep Onion is supported it will be safely secured on there too.  The Ledger is easy to use and the instructions are crystal clear.  At less than $80, there is no reason not to protect your investment.  Even if you only have $250 in BTC/ETH, you will buy more so you might as well buy one of these now.  

I don't want to read another story about someone getting robbed of their Bitcoin and I want our community to flourish.  Secure your coins!

I think it's a great idea to make our assets safer. But I think the price of Hardware Wallet is very expensive and I'm not going to buy it. It's safe for me to put my COINS on the exchange. It's up to you to make your own choice.

[alihasangoto]

Right now dont have that much to buy a hardware wallet. But sure, its an great idea to use one if you have sufficient amount. I will go for it in near days.

[bhabygrim]

Yeah I really like and trust the hardware wallets,
For me it is really safe because hackers couldn't access your wallet so they couldn't take your money.

[hermankoles]

I see friends who have more than 3 BTS investments and continue to grow because of successful trading. profit is everything for them but they are reluctant to spend a little profit buying a hardware wallet that has the highest level of wallet security. for me asset security is the main thing compared to the multiplied profits but is vulnerable to attacks