People who don't use hardware wallets: Why not?

[Lucius]

The main reason is the cost, to own a hardware wallet, they will have to spend a few hundred dollars to own it.

Unbelievable that after all the posts that you obviously haven't read, you still claim what some geniuses claim before you - what hundreds of $ are you talking about if every intelligent person who knows how to use the internet knows that it is untrue?

Please read my post and DaveF's post and stop spreading misinformation

[bittraffic]

Why not is because there is Bitcoincore that's free.

3) most people do not trust hardware wallets.

Even when I was aware of it since its existence. I also don't trust HW. Although I haven't heard anyone got hacked or hardware wallet codes are altered, I can't just rely on the words of the company but I do think they are true to thier words in serving Bitcoin holders.

Are the codes of these hardware wallets even open source?

[uneng]

2) hardware wallets are not cheap and they cost some hundred bucks. And low volume users cannot afford to buy these wallets.

I believe this is the main reason. Since they can store their coins in exchanges or online wallets for free, hardware wallets stay in second plan, because they are expensive, especially for small investors. If they have 200$-300$, it's likely they will prefer to use this money to acquire more btcs, instead of purchasing a wallet.

In my case, I spent about 150$ in an more archaic model (Trezor One) years ago, but I just did that after several years of personal bitcoin adoption. Anyway, if I was going to purchase the modern hardware wallets' models I would have spent much more.

But I don't think it's hard to setup and use hardware wallet. Anyone who is able to use an online wallet or exchange won't have any difficult at a hardware one. There are so many tutorials, guides and videos disponible that the whole process becomes pretty simple.

[_BlackStar]

I kinda agree with the assumption that for a few hundred dollar investment they probably wouldn't even consider hardware wallet despite having better security. I don't need hardware wallet if I only have $500-$1000 worth of bitcoin, for that I'm sure electrum and other non-custodial wallets can provide me with enough security.

But obviously we all have our own preferences when it comes to the security of investment assets, hardware wallet are not as expensive as most people think and I think they will be affordable for any new investor if they need better security.

[Ultegra134]

I never had a large amount of bitcoin to account for in a hardware wallet. However, after being infected once and getting away with it, I'm more positive about investing in one. Honestly, I don't think they're that expensive. Trezor and Ledger start at around €70–€80; it's not a prohibitively expensive amount of money if you're concerned about the security of your funds. Most people usually don't bother and are pretty careless, including myself, and resort to using exchanges, online wallets, or desktop wallets, thinking that nothing unpleasant will come in their way. Unfortunately, this cannot be further from the truth, because if you're not careful enough, it's very likely you'll get burned.

I'm now in the process of either creating an air-gapped wallet on a separate computer or purchasing a hardware wallet. I still haven't made up my mind.

[Oneandpure]

Still have several investor prefer hold or saving assets not in recommended and more safety place are hardware wallet, I don't think with some opinion about they don't use hardware wallet and prefer save Bitcoin or altcoin assets in exchange market account. Almost several years I know with cryptocurrency still not used hardware wallet for saving my fund, I know with safety saving place when holding assets in hardware wallet. I have earn profit as soon possible and not typical with long term holder and face difficult for selling fund as soon possible when holding in hardware wallet.

If I hold at exchange market just take few second only for selling my fund, but when using hardware wallet need several minutes later and I afraid with great moment waiting for our coins sending from hardware wallet credit faster in exchange account.

[Woodie]

If you have access to your private key and can remember were you store the keys, I honestly don't see the need of having a hardware wallet because this is just a luxury at the end of the day. Moreover because of the hardware wallets form factor its more likely to be stolen which will be a cost on one's part. Secondly if you get  get used with it, if the wallet remains chances are high that you won't spend your crypto which is a disadvantage for me.

[South Park]

Just purely out of curiosity. 99% of people who don't know how to properly create an airgapped device should be using hardware wallets.

There are probably many reasons but I suppose the main one is that the majority of those holding bitcoin or altcoins are small holders which will need to use a great deal of their capital just to buy a hardware wallet, and as such it is not a very attractive offer for them, another reason is simply ignorance, whether that ignorance is about how to secure their computer or how easy it is for scammers to get to their coins they simply do not understand the risks and they prefer to not use hardware wallets.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Just purely out of curiosity. 99% of people who don't know how to properly create an airgapped device should be using hardware wallets.

Of course yes, but you should ask if they can afford the cost of buying a hardware wallet..
For someone not to know how to create an airgapped device for their crypto savings simple means such a person is a newbie, and I can tell you that 99 percent of newbies can't afford a hardware wallet, even though they are not quite expensive, majority who come into crypto are not rich people but poor/average people looking for means to make money..
You don't expect them to spend the little money they wanna buy Bitcoin with on hardware devices, those who are rich I believe already know about the importance of hardware wallet in crypto, so they first go for it since they are buying bitcoin in/with a large amount of money.
But for the poor/average user out there, it makes no sense spending hundreds of dollars on a hardware device to end up saving just $10 worth of bitcoin inside. 

[TheStinger]

I think a lot of times when people start out as newbies they don't realize the importance, and then they get into a situation where they might have enough invested to justify it but are so tied into various defi protocols with their non-hardware address that they're afraid to switch. I definiely had a bit of that going on before I finally made the switch.

[thecodebear]

Cuz i prefer paper wallet. Paper wallet you dont have to rely on the software and hardware you are buying. You just secure it entirely yourself. Paper wallet is the best cold storage option.

For most people though, they buy bitcoin as an investment and literally dont know anything about it. Thats the majority of people. So they just keep it on the exchange.

Hell my mom has a whole Bitcoin she bought in 2017 and earlier this year she mentioned something about my bitcoin on coinbase and i was like uh hell no i dont have my bitcoin on coinbase and told her i store them myself and she said "how is that possible?" Shes got a whole Bitcoin, and will eventually make hundreds of thousands of dollars on it since i think i finally convinced her just to hold onto it for years, but she doesnt even know bitcoin is any different than digital fiat where you have to store it with an institution. Level of knowledge for most owners of bitcoin is that they barely know anything about it and they certainly won't figure out what a hw wallet is and how to use it, at least not until bitcoin and bitcoin knowledge is much more mainstream.

And even for those that do know a bit about what bitcoin is for, if you only buy a few hundred dollars or even a few thousand dollars and you're not all that likely to wanna spend like a hundred bucks just to keep your bitcoin somewhere other than where you've already been keeping it. And for those that get more serious and understand the importance of actually owning your Bitcoin, paper wallets are free and there is no need for a hardware wallet if you are just holding it long term.

Of the few people i know who have some bitcoin i think only one uses a hw wallet. He originally bought through robinhood but then read up on bitcoin more and bought a hw wallet and moved them off robinhood once robinhood started allowing that.

[AmoreJaz]

Just purely out of curiosity. 99% of people who don't know how to properly create an airgapped device should be using hardware wallets.

There are probably many reasons but I suppose the main one is that the majority of those holding bitcoin or altcoins are small holders which will need to use a great deal of their capital just to buy a hardware wallet, and as such it is not a very attractive offer for them, another reason is simply ignorance, whether that ignorance is about how to secure their computer or how easy it is for scammers to get to their coins they simply do not understand the risks and they prefer to not use hardware wallets.

i guess the same. if you are just a small holder, it is not worth buying a hardware wallet. you can even use electrum for btc. but paperwallets are also great. but if you are a big timer, definitely, cold storage is a must. but mostly only big businesses such as crypto exchanges are using cold storage. for other users, just use reliable non-custodial wallets. meaning you should not lose your private keys and other important details. it is on you if you can't access your funds owed to being forgotten where you hide your keys or passwords.

[darkangel11]

"My phone/computer is secure because I have an antivirus."

I continue to use Electrum on a desktop pc with Windows and had no problems with it. I don't feel like I need a hardware wallet if the computer that holds my coins is mostly offline and even disconnected from the wall. Why would I spend more money on additional hardware that doesn't offer much more security?

My short answer would be: my software wallet is 99% of the time offline. You can't hack into it.

[Yamifoud]

Just purely out of curiosity. 99% of people who don't know how to properly create an airgapped device should be using hardware wallets.

I haven't used any of these hardware wallets because it was not necessary for me. I use an online wallet like Electrum and for me, it was safe already. Maybe if you are holding a lot of Bitcoin this absolutely needed but for those who have not, I don't think so. If we talk about safety, even using HW couldn't give you 100% safety assurance OP as it will depend on the person who uses it. You might be safe of getting hack but not for the scammers - sometimes they will trick you out.

[Ryker1]

Just purely out of curiosity. 99% of people who don't know how to properly create an airgapped device should be using hardware wallets.

Now --they are 88% why? Because of the FTX and Binance CEO.
People learned how to keep their coins in the right wallet --they studied and researched for this.
They think that because custodial wallet has a staff to contact when they need to ask, that is why they think that their wallet is safe. Though I admit that I am one of them before but I learned and know how to keep my coins safe and perhaps this scenario will do the same to them one day they will realize such a problem.

[qwertyup23]

Just purely out of curiosity. 99% of people who don't know how to properly create an airgapped device should be using hardware wallets.

I am actually quite guilty of this- as someone who truly advocates a hardware wallet for maximum security, it is actually essential that every person who owns cryptocurrencies should at least have it. Unfortunately, I do not have one at the moment as I have no idea on how to actually use it.

Given the circumstances, I also hope that a person could teach me on how to purchase it locally in my country and use it. Though I do rely on my local exchange for the security of my BTCs, this kind of practice is potentially dangerous long-term given the nature of exchanges being prone to hackers.

[boyptc]

They think it's not worth it with the amount that they hold and it's quite expensive for them, so, instead of buying a hardware wallet and it secured. What they do is they're keeping it on exchanges but those with the right concerns, as of the moment, they're all good with the desktop wallets like electrum.

The latter is doing a good job for using that type of wallets.

[S A KHAIR]

I don't know why people don't buy hardware wallets but for me the reason is that I am using Electrum software wallet and I keep it on an old computer that has no internet connection and I have never encountered any any incidents in the past 5 years. I never thought I would have to buy hardware wallets and take care of them while staying safe with Electrum and an old computer.

[coupable]

There are many reasons, of course, and I think one of the most important is the lack of interest of the majority in protecting their savings in the safest way. Others may not even be aware of the existence of this type of wallet.
There is another type who is aware of the importance of these wallets and unfortunately cannot obtain them. For example, I live in a country whose citizens suffer from countless problems with customs and the customs administration, which refuses to allow individuals to acquire electronic devices, even if they are in the form of a gift. The only solution is to get out of my country so that I can buy the wallet and then return, because it is not even useful to recommend someone to buy it for you, given the specifics of protection.
Fortunately, there are other safe methods that can be used until the time comes to purchase a hardware wallet.

[dothebeats]

People mostly use bitcoin for short-term use that buying a specialised hardware to store whatever they have is somewhat counterintuitive. Not everyone has their sights set towards long-term, and not everyone has enough coins that a hardware wallet is required. So maybe that's why not, because not everyone is as hardcore or as serious as us here. Perhaps eventually we'll see a lot of people switching towards hardware wallets as the need becomes evident but now? Everyone is still kinda testing the waters.