Cryptocurrency is decentralized in nature.
Its decentralized nature and cryptographic protection to keep users anonymous make it easily susceptible to different attacks if you don’t protect your digital currency.
Why do you need a cryptocurrency hardware wallet at all?
You are entirely responsible for protecting your cryptocurrency and it is generally not a good idea to store your digital coins in exchanges. Because you never know when will the exchanges go bust(Hello, Mt.Gox) or slow down your transfers(Hello, Coinbase) because they don’t have the capacity to handle massive users during peak times. And by storing a decentralized and anonymous currency in a centralized exchange managed by a company, you defeat the point of the amazing technology.
Currently, there are many ways you can store your cryptos such as paper wallet, desktop wallet or hardware wallets. However, the most used and also the best way to store crypto is to use hardware wallet.
In this article, we will focus on the best cryptocurrency hardware wallet that you can get right now. One thing that we want to convey to the CoinSocial readers is to never compromise on a hardware wallet. Always look for the best while making a purchase. Because you don’t want to store $10,000 in bitcoin in a 3rd rated wallet and fear losing it all.
Now that we have discussed the importance of hardware wallets let’s list them one by one.
Best Hardware Wallet You Can Get Right Now
Ledger Nano S
Our first choice is the Ledger Nano S. This is the best hardware wallet that you can get right now. It supports a wide variety of coins including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and others. When you first look at it, you will find it very similar to a USB drive. However, it doesn’t work like USB.
The device is created by Ledger, a technology company. They specialize in hardware security and encryption software.
Coming back to the ledger, it is the best in the class. It is very user-friendly, and there are plenty of online tutorials that you can follow to set up your wallet (we will cover the tutorial soon).
For starters, you need to configure the device by first writing down your unique 24-word pass. It will be generated while setting up the device for the first time. Keep this 24-word pass to yourself and put it in a secure place. Keep multiple copies of it. If your device fails, you can use the same 24-word pass to recover all your funds into new Ledger nano S. You will also need to set a 4 digit pin that will be used to unlock the device everytime you use.
Once the setup is done, you need to connect the device to the computer and install each coin apps for transferring them. The app is also easily available through Google Chrome. The hardware wallet works well with all the major operating systems including Linux, Windows, and MacOS.
The app interface is also top-notch. You can easily breeze through the coin transfer. Once the transfer is done, disconnect the device. Congratulations, you have secured your coins!
Note: Only buy this from official or Amazon.com website. Don’t buy from eBay because those could be modified. This applies to all the hardware wallet that we discuss in this article.
Trezor
Our next hardware wallet is Trezor. Trezor is equally popular in the crypto market. And, it is very similar to Ledger Nano S. Just like the Ledger Nano S, you can store popular cryptos in the wallet such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.
In terms of looks, it resembles the remote key for cars. It has a small display and can be set up easily. Similar to Ledger Nano S, you will get a 24-word recovery phase. The recovery phase is required to access the device or use it to access funds in a new Trezor wallet.
To ensure that only you are accessing your device, you need to fill captcha on your computer which is little different compared to how Ledger Nano S verifies information on the computer. Trezor also has a good ecosystem. This means that there are apps available for all the major operating system. Not only that, you can even use Trezor with Android devices making it portable.
KeepKey
KeepKey is a beautiful piece of hardware. It is touted as one of the best hardware wallets. However, it comes with a heavy price tag. Yes, it is one of the most expensive hardware wallets out there. Only buy this if you are an experienced cryptocurrency investor and know what you are doing.
The first thing that you will notice about it is its big screen. The screen offers excellent user-friendly experience compared to other hardware wallets out there.
To use the device you need to first set it up. There is an inbuilt chip that generates the random passphrase and private key for you. However, the length need not be 24-word like other hardware wallets. You can set it to either 10, 18 or 24 words. As described earlier, you need to write it down and store it somewhere safe in case you want to recover your funds in case of hardware failure.
Overall, an excellent product with a great display. It supports major coins. However, it is pricey and might not be ideal for new crypto users.
Final Thoughts
There are many other hardware wallets such as Ledger HW.1 Cold Storage Safe or Ledger Wallet Nano Bitcoin Security. However, both of them can only be used for BTC storage. If you are only into Bitcoin, you can go forward with them as well.
All of the above hardware wallet that we listed comes with the self-destruct option. This option is initiated after a certain number of passphrase failure. You might want to try it out by loading very small amount of crypto and loading it to back up with the passphrase. Only do it if you feel confident.
That’s it! We have come to the end of listing our best hardware wallets. Which one are you getting? Comment below and let us know.