Beginner question regarding hardware wallets

[Porfirii]

Hi @Porfirii, you are correct! I saw their price on US Dollars and i automatically thought that the company was from the USA. Thanks for pointing out to me!

Glad it helped!!

So double good news for you now: you will be able to buy from the original retailer saving the import tax, while at the same time you take advantage of the Black Friday discount as Csmiami has pointed out

[crypto.curious]

Since you have already helped me so much, if you don't mind of helping me a bit more. I wanted to ask one more question regarding software wallets (since i am going to be needing one!), i am thinking of installing the one called "Exodus" but i don't see on their site any compatibility with the Ledger. In these cases what can somebody do? I mean...is there any way of using it and still use Ledger?

Best regards.

[Rath_]

i am thinking of installing the one called "Exodus" but i don't see on their site any compatibility with the Ledger. In these cases what can somebody do? I mean...is there any way of using it and still use Ledger?

No, Exodus supports only Trezor devices at the moment. You could recreate the same wallet using your recovery phrase, but that would defy the point of having a hardware wallet. Why do you want to use Exodus in particular?

[crypto.curious]

i am thinking of installing the one called "Exodus" but i don't see on their site any compatibility with the Ledger. In these cases what can somebody do? I mean...is there any way of using it and still use Ledger?

No, Exodus supports only Trezor devices at the moment. You could recreate the same wallet using your recovery phrase, but that would defy the point of having a hardware wallet. Why do you want to use Exodus in particular?

Hi @Rath_, i just saw Exodus wallet and it looked really nice as a user interface, that's all. Honestly speaking i am starting out now so treat my experience as a complete n00b! If you have any good wallet suggestions please do tell me.

Best regards.

[o_e_l_e_o]

If you have any good wallet suggestions please do tell me.

It depends on what coins you are going to be holding with your Ledger Nano.

If you are planning on using a lot of different altcoins, then Ledger Live is going to be your best bet. I think it's not the best piece of software, especially when it comes to bitcoin, but it supports hundreds of alts all in the same place without having to download individual wallets for each one, so there is no denying that it is good from that point of view. Regardless of if you use other software too, you'll still need to use Ledger Live to update the firmware on your hardware wallet.

For interacting solely with bitcoin, I would recommend Electrum. It pairs easily with Ledger hardware wallets, gives a very nice interface, and gives you some functionality that Ledger Live does not have, such as being able to view all your addresses and manage individual coins and outputs.

It is possible to use both - for example use Electrum when you want to spend bitcoin, but use Ledger Live when you want to spend alts.

[Rath_]

If you have any good wallet suggestions please do tell me.

I would recommend you using Electrum and Ledger Live just like o_e_l_e_o said. While you might not use all of its features right now, it is definitely a future-proof wallet. Beside the features mentioned above, it supports the Lightning Network and RBF (replace-by-fee) which is useful if you set a too low fee for your transaction. If you don't like it, you will be able to switch back to Ledger Live without any additional effort. In fact, you can use both at the same time for Bitcoin. Select "Use a hardware device" during initial setup if you decide to give it a try.

[clifjw]

For interacting solely with bitcoin, I would recommend Electrum. It pairs easily with Ledger hardware wallets, gives a very nice interface, and gives you some functionality that Ledger Live does not have, such as being able to view all your addresses and manage individual coins and outputs.

Please forgive the hijack crypto.curious, but being new also I have wondered when people refer to linking/pairing a software wallet with a hardware wallet. I have an Electrum mobile wallet, and am looking to get a Ledger Nano S (can't afford the jump to a Nano X at this time, and besides I understand it's still just as safe just without a few features), so please may I ask what is meant by "pairing" say Electrum with a hardware wallet like a Ledger? What does it do for you?   

[Rath_]

I have an Electrum mobile wallet, and am looking to get a Ledger Nano S (can't afford the jump to a Nano X at this time, and besides I understand it's still just as safe just without a few features), so please may I ask what is meant by "pairing" say Electrum with a hardware wallet like a Ledger? What does it do for you?  

It means that you don't create a new wallet in Electrum, but you use an existing one which was created during initial hardware wallet setup. Electrum acts as a watch-only wallet if your "paired" hardware wallet is not connected. All the transactions require you to plug in the same device and confirm them by physically interacting with the device because the private keys are stored on the hardware wallet.

[o_e_l_e_o]

so please may I ask what is meant by "pairing" say Electrum with a hardware wallet like a Ledger?

It simply means using the Electrum interface to interact with your hardware wallet.

Electrum is a piece of software. It can function on its own as software wallet, and if you use it like this, then the private keys are stored on the phone or computer on which Electrum is running.

The Ledger Nano S or X is a hardware wallet. When you use it, the private keys are stored on the secure element of the device and never touch your phone or computer, and so it is much safer. However, the hardware wallet also requires software on the connected phone or computer to be able to view addresses, create transactions, and all the other things you need to be able to do to use a wallet. The software Ledger provide to interact with the hardware wallet is called Ledger Live. However, it is missing some important features and so many users like to use different software, such as Electrum. When you pair Electrum with a hardware wallet, the private keys remain on the hardware wallet, but you use Electrum's interface to interact with them.

[clifjw]

I see. So the original Electrum software wallet I've already created remains on my phone and can be accessed as well? (wanted to use that as minimal BTC spare online funds wallet)

When I set up the Ledger, if I want to use Electrum mobile software to access the Ledger hardware wallet I'll have to specify this at the time I set up the Ledger? Will that then create a new wallet on Electrum, or is it just a linked reference to the hardware wallet? Or is that what's known as a watch-only wallet?

I think I'm just getting it all mixed up in my head. 

[o_e_l_e_o]

So the original Electrum software wallet I've already created remains on my phone and can be accessed as well? (wanted to use that as minimal BTC spare online funds wallet)

Yes. You can use the same Electrum installation or app as its own software wallet (with the keys stored on your phone/computer) and as an interface for your hardware wallet. You just tell it if you want it to open the saved wallet file or connect to your hardware wallet each time you launch it.

When I set up the Ledger, if I want to use Electrum mobile software to access the Ledger hardware wallet I'll have to specify this at the time I set up the Ledger?

Not quite. You should set up the Ledger using Ledger Live the first time you use it. This is so Ledger Live can perform its authentication checks, and update to the latest firmware. It will direct you through the process of setting a PIN on the device, and then writing down your 24 word seed phrase. You'll then need to use Ledger Live to install the bitcoin app on the Ledger device. Once you've done all that, you can use Electrum to access the wallet you've just created.

Here is the set up guide for the Ledger Nano S: https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002481534. Start here when you receive your device, and work down the menu bar on the left to set up as a new device and update to the latest firmware.

Once you've done that, you can follow these instructions to start using Electrum with your hardware wallet: https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005161925-Set-up-and-use-Electrum

[clifjw]

Ah great stuff that all makes sense. I think I understand now. Many thanks o_e_l_e_o for explaining it in detail. I'll also trawl those Ledger articles before getting the Ledger so I'm clear.

[crypto.curious]

If you have any good wallet suggestions please do tell me.

It depends on what coins you are going to be holding with your Ledger Nano.

If you are planning on using a lot of different altcoins, then Ledger Live is going to be your best bet. I think it's not the best piece of software, especially when it comes to bitcoin, but it supports hundreds of alts all in the same place without having to download individual wallets for each one, so there is no denying that it is good from that point of view. Regardless of if you use other software too, you'll still need to use Ledger Live to update the firmware on your hardware wallet.

For interacting solely with bitcoin, I would recommend Electrum. It pairs easily with Ledger hardware wallets, gives a very nice interface, and gives you some functionality that Ledger Live does not have, such as being able to view all your addresses and manage individual coins and outputs.

It is possible to use both - for example use Electrum when you want to spend bitcoin, but use Ledger Live when you want to spend alts.

Oh!!!! This means that i can use as many software wallets i want and somehow connect them to my Ledger device!!! This is clearing up many many of my questions! I thought that after you install a software wallet and link it to the hardware device...that's it...these two stay linked forever! Now i understand as to the "why" the Ledger Nano X has 1TB of internal memory!

Best regards.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Oh!!!! This means that i can use as many software wallets i want and somehow connect them to my Ledger device!!! This is clearing up many many of my questions! I thought that after you install a software wallet and link it to the hardware device...that's it...these two stay linked forever!

The software wallets are simply an interface to use the private keys which are stored on the Ledger device to sign transactions. You can use as many different pieces of software to interact with the hardware wallet as you like. You can use Ledger Live, Electrum, MyEtherWallet, Monero GUI wallet, etc., all with the same Ledger device.

Now i understand as to the "why" the Ledger Nano X has 1TB of internal memory!

It doesn't. Its internal memory is only 2 MB. It does not need to store large software packages like Electrum or Ledger Live - it only needs to store your private keys and the means to use them.

[crypto.curious]

Oh!!!! This means that i can use as many software wallets i want and somehow connect them to my Ledger device!!! This is clearing up many many of my questions! I thought that after you install a software wallet and link it to the hardware device...that's it...these two stay linked forever!

The software wallets are simply an interface to use the private keys which are stored on the Ledger device to sign transactions. You can use as many different pieces of software to interact with the hardware wallet as you like. You can use Ledger Live, Electrum, MyEtherWallet, Monero GUI wallet, etc., all with the same Ledger device.

Now i understand as to the "why" the Ledger Nano X has 1TB of internal memory!

It doesn't. Its internal memory is only 2 MB. It does not need to store large software packages like Electrum or Ledger Live - it only needs to store your private keys and the means to use them.

Oh!!!! So this means that after i buy my coin from any exchange i need to give to them my public key in order to transfer the coins to my wallet, right? Or they provide a wallet for themselves and then you need to transfer from their wallet over to your own?
One more question that i am wondering about, is if i want to buy a coin that is not supported by the device (eg. EOS) what is the 'proper' way of doing it? I mean is there any way of using the hardware wallet again in these cases or just wait for an upgrade from the manufacturer?

Best regards.

[Rath_]

Oh!!!! So this means that after i buy my coin from any exchange i need to give to them my public key in order to transfer the coins to my wallet, right? Or they provide a wallet for themselves and then you need to transfer from their wallet over to your own?

That depends on the exchange. Most of them provide a wallet which you should not use for a long-term storage. You need to provide your address to withdraw from them. If you are going to use Ledger Live then you will need to connect your device every time you want to get a new address and verify it by looking at the device's screen and pressing a button.

One more question that i am wondering about, is if i want to buy a coin that is not supported by the device (eg. EOS) what is the 'proper' way of doing it? I mean is there any way of using the hardware wallet again in these cases or just wait for an upgrade from the manufacturer?

EOS is supported, but you can't use Ledger Live to manage EOS coins. You need to install third-party software and their app on your Ledger to be able to do that. If some coin does not have their own app available for installation on Ledger then you need to wait for the coin developer or the community to develop one. You can see a full list of supported coins here.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Oh!!!! So this means that after i buy my coin from any exchange i need to give to them my public key in order to transfer the coins to my wallet, right?

As Rath has said, when you buy from a centralized exchange, the coins go to your exchange account, and you then need to withdraw them from that account to your own wallet. But it is not your public key you use to do this; it is your address. The two are linked - most of the addresses you will use are created by hashing the relevant public key, adding a specific prefix to signal what type of address it is, adding a checksum at the end, and then converting the whole thing from Base16 to Base58.

An uncompressed public key might look like this:

Code:

04BAF331BD699197D8D3303BEE1C984E323B7FAFE517D0E7489C3A42BA5A3A9DCA9F80B0ABF9869B36463E745BA04222CE03901288F1BD5A14384EF773A59E9BFD

Once we hash it as needed (SHA-256 followed by RIPEMD-160), it looks like this:

Code:

7192785A75DFEF885B99940D2B60F11E2F5ADD83

Once we add the necessary prefix and the checksum, it looks like this:

Code:

007192785A75DFEF885B99940D2B60F11E2F5ADD83EE39278F

And then finally, we code it in Base58 to create a more familiar looking address:

Code:

1BMWpbo5ijfh2JeCJwjWQojpbsBUW1EHnv

[shide2020]

What is hardware wallet? Course am new here.

[jossiel]

What is hardware wallet? Course am new here.

We have a thread[1] for that, get there and read what does hardware wallet means and what are the types of hardware wallets.

[1] Hardware Wallets