How to keep your cryptocurrency safe and secure on a hardware wallet
Hello everyone!
Today I found a new Ledger Nano S cryptocurrency wallet in my mail and decided to share my thoughts and first impressions of it with you here on Steem.
Three weeks ago I read @marketingmonk’s post in which he covered John McAfee’s talk at the Blockchain Money Conference in London. As I am now keeping about one-third of my liquid assets in Bitcoin, it got me thinking. I began to seriously consider securing my cryptoassets with a hardware decide, aka ‘hardware wallet’.
And then I came across another fellow Steemian’s post, in which he, @cryptos, pointed my attention to a few Black Friday deals for crypto users, that also included discounts on hardware wallets. After having browsed few of the offers, I settled on Ledger Nano S, due to its relatively low price and compact form-factor. And also because one can store Ethereum and Bitcoin on it, use it to cryptographically sign documents, and it’s compatible with Mycelium Bitcoin Wallet that I like.
I ordered the device last Friday evening and it arrived less than a week later. I guess it had something to do with the fact that it was shipped from Ledger’s facility in France and I’m based in Sweden.
Say hello to my new crypto toy!
Setting up the wallet didn’t take longer than ten minutes and was very straightforward. I familiarised myself with navigation through the menus, using the device’s two buttons. I wrote down 24 words that will be used as a seed to restore my private keys on a new device, if this particular wallet ever gets lost, stolen or destroyed. Then I made a transfer of most of my bitcoins to the Nano S via Ledger Bitcoin App for Chrome. I just had to connect the wallet to my laptop via a USB cable (it was included with the wallet). I was surprised at how crisp and easily readible the device’s display was. It looked so tiny on photos, I was kind of sceptical whether it would be comfortable to read text and navigate on it or not. But the actual experience exceeded my expectations. But for those of you who would prefer a larger display on such a device, I would recommend KeepKey hardware wallet.
Also, I realised I forgot to include an ‘on-the-go’ adapter in my order, so I cannot use the device with my Android smartphone for the time being. It’s fine for now, though. I plan to acquire in the near future, anyway.
Not that I have been paranoid about keeping my crypto assets secure – I did take some obvious common-sense precautions, though – but I will definitely sleep better, knowing that the private keys to my Bitcoins are stored securely on an offline device. I can really recommend you getting one, if you are keeping a considerable share of your savings in crypto currency. I will be happy to answer your questions in the comments below.
(This was another one of my 100% Power Up posts)
I plan to buy a cold storage soon when I will reach a certain amount before to justify the investment. Very informative article and give me the confidence to buy this model :). One question, the feature of taking 24 words offline, how this works in case you lost the device or get it robbed ?
Sorry for a very late response, @chesatochi. If you lose the device or it gets stolen, the perpetrators cannot access your private keys without PIN code, so they are safe. You buy a new Ledger Nano S and restore your private keys by entering some of the 24 secret words in the correct order, when prompted to do so. Then it unlocks access to all your wallets that were previously stored on your original device. Easy and secure!
Incredible guide and good information
Thank you for sharing this nice post of security of our Bitcoins this is complete security
Thank you for taking time to read my post and for leaving this very nice comment. Keep up your great work you too, mate! :) I’ll be sure to follow you on Steemit from now on!
so walk me through how you would buy something with this. or is this more like a secure, savings bank.
Thank you for your question, @alaqrab, it's a great one! This device is more like your personal portable safe when you keep your digital gold that you bought somewhere else, the usual way. For example, you can buy bitcoins on Coinbase, Circle, Kraken, LokalBitcoins etc. and then transfer to your hardware wallet's address. It means that your private keys that grant you access to your cryptocurrency are kept securely on that device and only you have access to it. Please let me know if you are with me now or if you have further questions. I'll be happy to develop my explanation further, if needed.
Ah I see. It's a bit over my head. I am more intrigued about what the pros do.
I purchased some btc just last month for the first time from a btc atm. It was a small amount but still quite exhilarating. I used it to buy steem on the market. It's a small amount so I don't have much to guard against. That's the extent of my knowledge.
It sounds just like when I started with my first small purchase of BTC this past June. Now, half a year later, I'm trading cryptocurrencies, mining Bitcoin and ZCash at home, and storing my assets on a hardware wallet. It's a slippery slope, my friend, so be careful! ;))
Very Good