Crypto New Year Resolutions:

New year, New Me, New Crypto Wallet Setup

Published in

AirGap

5 min readJan 18, 2023

Most people start the new year with new goals for themselves. These goals can be personal or professional and can range from exercising more to eating healthier, learning a new skill, and even managing finances better.

The recent happenings in the crypto industry, such as the bankruptcy of big centralized entities, have led to many people resolving to take control of their financial security, especially when it comes to their digital assets. One popular resolution in this regard is to set up a secure cold wallet.

Why are people so reluctant to finally set up a cold wallet?

Before we look into why, let’s first let’s have a look at what Cold Wallets are. Cold Wallets are physical devices that are designed to securely store your private keys and keep them offline. This makes them highly secure, as they are not connected to the internet and thus are less susceptible to hacking attempts.

However, there are several challenges associated with ordering and especially setting up a cold wallet. For one, they can be expensive, especially for high-end models like the Ledger or Trezor. Additionally, they may not be very user-friendly, since they often have no more than two buttons to navigate them, making it difficult to set them up correctly, which can lead to confusion and frustration.

On top of that, once the decision has been made to finally set up a secure Cold Wallet, it takes days till it arrives via shipping. By then the willpower might already have vanished to set it up.

Do not despair — have a look at AirGap

AirGap, helps users to overcome the issues listed above. Compared to traditional Cold Wallets, it offers the same level of security with the convenience of software. AirGap is an open-source, audited software wallet that turns a spare mobile phone into a cold hardware wallet.

The solution consists of two apps:

The core solution is the AirGap Vault which is installed on a dedicated offline device, like a smartphone.

The Vault signs transactions and protects your private key securely offline. Since it is not connected to any network, it becomes a cold wallet and is more secure than an ordinary crypto wallet.

The second app is the AirGap Wallet, the companion app of the Vault. It is a watch-only wallet that connects to a network to fetch data and interacts with the blockchain and displays this information within the app as a portfolio overview.

The Vault and the Wallet talk to each other seamlessly via verifiable QR Codes, no cables are required. Thus the solution is named; AirGap. Because there is a physical gap between the two solutions.

The transaction signing via QR Code allows for multiple possibilities for interacting with other solutions and with other wallets. Such as MetaMask, MetaMask Mobile, Sparrow Wallet, BlueWallet, and many more. Find a great overview and the dedicated setup guides here.

Advantages of AirGap over traditional Cold Wallets

The advantages of AirGap over traditional cold wallets include ease of use, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness. Setting up an AirGap Wallet is extremely simple and can be done within minutes, thanks to the touchscreen of the smartphone, which allows easy input. Furthermore, all your favorite coins are supported such as Bitcoin, Ethereum & ERC20, Tezos & FA1.2 & 2, Cosmos, Polkadot, and many more.

With it you do not need to wait for shipping, nor do you have to worry about pricing, since it’s free. The app can be used for iOS, and Android and even offers the option to download its reproducible APK on GitHub. Find the download options here

To get started, follow our setup guide or watch the setup-by-step video guide. The whole setup takes less than 5 minutes.

If you ever get stuck, our support team is here to help you. You can reach out to us via Discord, Telegram or visit our Help Center.

To get a full overview of all the features AirGap has we created an elaborated comparison list of the AirGap wallet with other popular hardware wallets.

Consider extra layers for secure recovery phrase backup.

AirGap Social Recovery Feature

A Seed phrase is a key to your funds, once you lose it you no longer have access to your funds. To help with this issue, AirGap has incorporated a social recovery feature into the AirGap Vault.

With it, the original 24-word recovery phrase gets divided into multiple shares, and then each one of them gets mathematically enhanced. Those pieces, or shares, can then be handed out to trusted contacts. That way, none of your contacts can access your funds themself. However, if you lose your recovery phrase, you have multiple people holding a share of the social recovery phrase, which can then be collected and used to recover the original Seed phrase, and with it, access to your assets.

AirGap Feature — Social Recovery

AirGap Recovery Plates

We provide a convenient way to back up your recovery phrase. Our AirGap Recovery Plates can be used as a backup in case your seed phrase gets lost or stolen.

The metal recovery plate is made from heavy-duty SAE 304 stainless steel with a melting point of 2550 °F (1450 °C). This means that it can withstand just about anything, including house fires (average is around 600° C) and other disasters. The plate can hold 12, 15, 18, 21, or 24 words, making it suitable for a wide range of BIP39/44 wallet setups, including AirGap, Ledger, and Trezor.

Using a metal plate in combination with the AirGap ensures that you have a good backup mechanism for your recovery phrase, giving you peace of mind.

You can use the promo code 5%OFF-2023 to get 5% off your first order in the AirGap shop. The promo code is valid till the end of January. This is a great opportunity to add an extra layer of safety to your digital assets, and it’s a small investment that can give you peace of mind. Visit the AirGap shop and get yours now.

Overall, AirGap is the best option for those who want to store their digital assets securely while enjoying the optimal convenience of a smartphone. . With its user-friendly interface, accessibility, and social recovery feature, AirGap makes it easy to manage and protect your digital assets.

Do you have any questions regarding AirGap?

Reach out to us via Discord, Telegram or visit the AirGap help-center.