Which hardware wallet to buy?

[JamesDaniel90]

Hi all,

I first started investing in crypto 4 months ago and up till now have just left all my investments on the exchange but thinking about buying a cold wallet to store my crypto on as I am buying more and more lately so want it all to be as safe as possible.

I hold the majority of my crypto on Coinbase with a little bit on FTX & Crypto.com.

I am looking for advice on which cold wallet to go with? Ideally I would like something that is easy to set up and use for a beginner like myself and not too expensive although I don’t mind paying a lot if it is worth it.

Would also be interesting to hear who is for and against using cold wallets and the reason why?

All suggestions/ advice welcome

Thanks

[hosseinimr93]

By Cold wallet, I guess you mean hardware wallet. Am I Right?
Note that a cold wallet doesn't necessarily have to be a hardware wallet. Any wallet created on an air-gapped device is also considered as a cold wallet.

If you want to to buy a hardware wallet, I recommend you to go for an open-source hardware wallet. Trezor is the most popular one.
I think the topic created by dkbit98 should be helpful to you.
[ LIST] Open Source Hardware Wallets

[noorman0]

There is no contradiction that hard wallets are safer from outside risk factors. Actually there are many hard wallet options out there like on this list, so far there are only 2 brands that are most recommended on this forum and are more beginner friendly, Ledger and Trezor. They have varying prices according to the type and features of each.

[JamesDaniel90]

By Cold wallet, I guess you mean hardware wallet. Am I Right?
Note that a cold wallet doesn't necessarily have to be a hardware wallet. Any wallet created on an air-gapped device is also considered as a cold wallet.

If you want to to buy a hardware wallet, I recommend you to go for an open-source hardware wallet. Trezor is the most popular one.
I think the topic created by dkbit98 should be helpful to you.
[ LIST] Open Source Hardware Wallets

Yes hardware wallet , like I said above I am new to all this 

I will have a look through the list thanks.


Is a hardware wallet a must? Or is leaving my crypto all on Coinbase OK?

How likely is it that Coinbase could get into trouble one day?

[hosseinimr93]

Is a hardware wallet a must?

You don't have to use a hardware wallet. But that's recommended.

Or is leaving my crypto all on Coinbase OK?

You shouldn't do that. If you keep your coins on coinbase, they will have full control over your fund. They can freeze your account at any time for any reason.

How likely is it that Coinbase could get into trouble one day?

They have full control over your fund and everything is possible


As said, it's not recommended to keep your coins on an exchange or any custodial service.
You should always keep your coin on a non-custodial wallet, so have full control over your fund. Non-custodial wallet is a wallet in which you have full control over you keys.

If you want more security, you should use a cold wallet. This means that the keys should never connect to the internet.
One way is to use a hardware wallet and another way is to use an open-source non-custodial wallet on an air-gapped device.

[mk4]

Getting a Ledger or a Trezor is good enough. I wouldn't recommend trying out other hardware wallet brands outside of both, and probably Coldcard if you're a bitcoin-only type of guy.

Is a hardware wallet a must? Or is leaving my crypto all on Coinbase OK?

How likely is it that Coinbase could get into trouble one day?

https://cryptosec.info/exchange-hacks

[jackg]

Is a hardware wallet a must? Or is leaving my crypto all on Coinbase OK?

It depends on how much you have there, I'd recommend if the amount you're storing on the exchange exceeds 10x the price of a hardware wallet, you're probably better off getting one.

If you have a smaller amount of funds you can also make a wallet with electrum and store your funds there (electrum.org - their wallet also works quite well with ledger and trezor).

How likely is it that Coinbase could get into trouble one day?

We can't know for sure but a lot of things can happen:
1. What if the exchange closes and you're out of the cryptospace for so long you lose your funds due to that.
2. The exchange could lose money due to a hack or poor financing.

There's always a risk with leaving funds on an exchange but there might also be a risk in entrusting yourself too.

I'd say ledger and trezor are the best warm wallets (cold wallets have no online interaction and require it to remain secure).

[JamesDaniel90]

I have £3,000 on coinbase so its getting to a stage where I feel I need to move this over to something more secure.

I am just totally new to this so would just like an easy to use wallet that isn't too complicated.

I have a question, if I was to move my crypto off of Coinbase and onto a hardware wallet - what if the price of a crypto I hold shoots up and I want to cash out profits?

How easy is it to trade when your crypto is not on an exchange but in a wallet of some kind?

[hosseinimr93]

I have £3,000 on coinbase so its getting to a stage where I feel I need to move this over to something more secure.

Your feeling is right. It's not secure to keep your coins on an exchange.

I am just totally new to this so would just like an easy to use wallet that isn't too complicated.

You can also use electrum. It's open-source and give you full control over your fund.
(Download electrum only from its official website and do not forget to verify your download.)

Note that electrum only supports bitcoin and if don't create your wallet on an air-gapped device, it wouldn't be as secure as a hardware wallet.
For 100% security, you should use electrum on an air-gapped device or as already said, use a hardware wallet.

I have a question, if I was to move my crypto off of Coinbase and onto a hardware wallet - what if the price of a crypto I hold shoots up and I want to cash out profits?

Then you will have to a make transaction and move your coins to an exchange.

[Husires]

Cold storage is a way to ensure the security of your coins if you have basic experience of how to do it and it is almost free.
 if you do not know how to do cold storage you may put your coins at risk.

Since you are a beginner and you have the money, I suggest you buy a hardware wallet, it is true that it costs a few dollars, but it gives you high security and requires you to take reasonable care, such as not sharing the seeds with anyone, make sure that you bought the product from the company and that it is not counterfeit, make sure that you generated Fresh seeds and that your computer does not have viruses or is physically connected to another device (this includes USB, etc.)

[JamesDaniel90]

I have just been looking at the different ledgers available.

They range from £55 to £155. - are the cheaper ones good or is it better to spend more on the expensive ones? This is something I plan to have for a long time after all.

I would like something that is easy to transfer my crypto to and from exchanges with less hassle as possible.

[sunsilk]

I have just been looking at the different ledgers available.

They range from £55 to £155. - are the cheaper ones good or is it better to spend more on the expensive ones? This is something I plan to have for a long time after all.

I would like something that is easy to transfer my crypto to and from exchanges with less hassle as possible.

The Ledger S still works perfectly for me. Read on the subreddit of Ledger for you to have an idea of what current problems have the more expensive ones which is the Ledger X: https://www.reddit.com/r/ledgerwallet/

The subreddit: /r/ledger is the older version and there's a pinned post there that everyone should go to the /r/ledgerwallet.

And while you're thinking of what you must buy, move your assets out of the exchanges as soon as possible. You'll never know when those exchanges will do an unexpected halting of withdrawals and transactions. That's a thing today in the news if you're following it.

[NeuroticFish]

Is a hardware wallet a must? Or is leaving my crypto all on Coinbase OK?

Hardware wallet is not a must if you technically know what to do to keep your funds safe.
Keeping them on exchange is usually not a good idea: their policy may chance, they can get hacked or go bankrupt and so on. People keep telling: not your keys, not your coins.

3k pounds is, however, not a life changing amount (or maybe not yet) and I can understand that you may not want to invest more, especially now with the bear market. Plus the exchange will get a withdrawal fee off you.
However, on long term you have to find a safe way for storing your coins. Good luck in finding the best solution for you. As many said, it may be that this solution is a cheap hardware wallet.

[JamesDaniel90]

I have just been looking at the different ledgers available.

They range from £55 to £155. - are the cheaper ones good or is it better to spend more on the expensive ones? This is something I plan to have for a long time after all.

I would like something that is easy to transfer my crypto to and from exchanges with less hassle as possible.

The Ledger S still works perfectly for me. Read on the subreddit of Ledger for you to have an idea of what current problems have the more expensive ones which is the Ledger X: https://www.reddit.com/r/ledgerwallet/

The subreddit: /r/ledger is the older version and there's a pinned post there that everyone should go to the /r/ledgerwallet.

And while you're thinking of what you must buy, move your assets out of the exchanges as soon as possible. You'll never know when those exchanges will do an unexpected halting of withdrawals and transactions. That's a thing today in the news if you're following it.

I have an Iphone and have read the Ledger Nano S only supports Android so looks like I will need the Nano X?

I also am invested in 10 different crypto not just 1 or 2, does that also mean I need the Nano X?

[DdmrDdmr]

<...>

It seems so, if we look at the following comparison chart, where Ledger Nano X connected via Bluetooth seems to be the solution for IOS (apparently, IOS 9 or above).

You can verify beforehand if Ledger is going to support those 10 different coins/tokens you mention here: https://www.ledger.com/supported-crypto-assets/coin

Even if you were able to use Ledger Nano S with your topology, you could still support having hundreds of different coins/tokens custodied by the device, but likely needing to play the remove and add app game to manage them. The said game is not necessary on the other Ledger devices (they support around 100 different apps), due to their larger capacity.

[BitMaxz]

I have an Iphone and have read the Ledger Nano S only supports Android so looks like I will need the Nano X?

I also am invested in 10 different crypto not just 1 or 2, does that also mean I need the Nano X?

Currently, most of the hardware wallets do not support IOS devices except on MacBooks or any MacOS devices.

Do you have other devices like laptops or a PC? Hardware wallets like ledger nano mostly support Windows OS and Android OS but not in IOS devices.

Only safepal s1 and ellipal hardware wallets that I know support IOS devices but these are not well-known HW wallets, unlike Ledger and Trezor.

[JamesDaniel90]

<...>

You can verify beforehand if Ledger is going to support those 10 different coins/tokens you mention here: https://www.ledger.com/supported-crypto-assets/coin

I have just typed in the 10 cryptos I hold and only Algorand showed - does this mean I will not be able to store the other 9?

[JamesDaniel90]

I have an Iphone and have read the Ledger Nano S only supports Android so looks like I will need the Nano X?

I also am invested in 10 different crypto not just 1 or 2, does that also mean I need the Nano X?

Currently, most of the hardware wallets do not support IOS devices except on MacBooks or any MacOS devices.

Do you have other devices like laptops or a PC? Hardware wallets like ledger nano mostly support Windows OS and Android OS but not in IOS devices.

Only safepal s1 and ellipal hardware wallets that I know support IOS devices but these are not well-known HW wallets, unlike Ledger and Trezor.

I have a laptop but have mainly used my phone up till now with crypto. Is it not convenient being able to use Iphone or do you just get used to using laptop?

[jackg]

I also am invested in 10 different crypto not just 1 or 2, does that also mean I need the Nano X?

Can you list them here? It might be that some are tokens on other networks (like erc20 for ethereum).


What wasn't mentioned above was that if you do want to move your coins to an exchange from a wallet (particularly bitcoin) you might end up waiting an hour or two for the transaction to confirm - that might not be long but it might be worth remembering.

[JamesDaniel90]

I also am invested in 10 different crypto not just 1 or 2, does that also mean I need the Nano X?

Can you list them here? It might be that some are tokens on other networks (like erc20 for ethereum).


What wasn't mentioned above was that if you do want to move your coins to an exchange from a wallet (particularly bitcoin) you might end up waiting an hour or two for the transaction to confirm - that might not be long but it might be worth remembering.

I have just watched a few comparison videos on the different ledgers available and I am leaning towards the Nano S plus. Yes the nano X has bluetooth but don't feel I need it.

This is my list:

Bitcoin
Quant
Algorand
Cronos
Decentraland
Gala
Polygon
Enjin
Shiba Inu
LCX


Will these all be ok to store on Ledge S plus?