Comparing Hardware Wallets
Choosing the right hardware wallet can be overwhelming, but our website breaks down the features of the top products to help you make an informed decision.
Hardware wallets are an essential tool for those who want to keep their digital assets secure. These devices allow you to store your private keys offline, so they can’t be accessed by hackers or other online threats. But with so many hardware wallets on the market, it can be challenging to choose the right one for your needs. That’s where our Hardware Wallet Comparison website comes in.
This website is the most comprehensive resource for comparing the features of top hardware wallets. It provides an in-depth analysis of each wallet’s security features, user interface, usability, compatibility with different cryptocurrencies, and more.
Why Hardware Wallets are important?
Hardware wallets store your private keys offline, so they cannot be hacked or accessed by malicious actors. Your private keys are essential because they allow you to access and transfer your digital assets, so keeping them secure is crucial.
Software wallets are another option for storing your Bitcoin, but they are less secure than hardware wallets. Software wallets store your private keys on your computer or mobile device, making them vulnerable to hacking or malware. If your software wallet is compromised, your Bitcoin is at risk.
You can read more about the reasons to use a hardware wallet in our article:
Comparing Hardware Wallets
The website is designed to help you choose the right hardware wallet for your needs by comparing the features of top devices available in the market.
The website provides an in-depth analysis of each wallet’s security features, user interface, compatibility with different cryptocurrencies, and more. It uses a user-friendly interface to make it easy to compare each wallet’s features side-by-side.
Some important features when choosing a Hardware Wallet:
Screen
You need the screen to validate the transactions you are going to sign. In a multisig scheme, you don’t need a screen on all your devices, but at least on one.
Air Gapp
100% air-gapped can sign transactions, create/restore a wallet and upgrade the firmware without connecting the device to a cellular network, wifi, Bluetooth, USB, or NFC. So, you reduce the risk of any malware on your computer/mobile affecting your security.
Secure Element
A secure element is a microprocessor chip designed to store and process sensitive information. It is used in hardware wallets to store seed phrases and private keys, providing added protection against physical attacks.
Supply Chain & Physical Attacks Protection
Before a hardware wallet gets into your hand, many people might have handled it before you. These people can include the shipping company, the retailer, the shipping person, and many more. If anyone of them is a hacker, they can modify the hardware wallet, install some malware, put it back together, and ship it to you. Some manufacturers protect you against these supply chain attacks using different approaches, for example deleting the whole system if they detect a breach. A complete deletion gets rid of the private key, meaning there will be nothing left for the hacker to salvage.
Tokens Supported
If you are a Bitcoiner, you probably want a BTC-only hardware wallet, or at least one where you can install BTC-only firmware. If you also have other altcoins, then you need to take a look at the list of tokens supported by the wallet.
Open Source
Although there are diverse opinions about security vs open source, in general, an open-source hardware wallet is a good feature.
PIN Protection
There are multiple PIN protections you need to be aware of:
- Support to entering the PIN directly on the hardware wallet
- Alphanumeric PINs are always a good feature because they let you increase your wallet security.
- The duress wallet is a personal safety feature: Create a duress wallet and add funds you are willing to lose. If you must reveal a PIN under duress, give the duress PIN instead of your main PIN.
- Dynamic Keypad. This feature randomizes the numbers associated with the buttons on the keypad. Cameras and shoulder-surfers watching won’t figure out your PIN based on the keys you press.
- Countdown to reset/brick PIN is an important feature, because it will reset/brick your wallet after N wrong PIN entries.
Passphrase Support
A passphrase is an advanced feature that can be used to protect your accounts. When this feature is enabled, your device asks you to enter a secret phrase in addition to your numeric PIN every time you connect your device. When you enter a passphrase, your device combines the already existing randomness of your recovery seed with your own chosen input and computes a new wallet.
Some hardware wallets allow you to enter the passphrase on the host device you’re using instead of the wallet itself. But this also means that the host device you’re using will learn your passphrase, which is part of your backup, and this makes it less secure. Entering your passphrase on a malicious host device allows an attacker to secretly pass a different passphrase to your wallet. So, the attacker can hold your coins for ransom and might only give out the correct passphrase after you have paid them.
Multisig Support
Bitcoin multi-sig allows having up to 15 possible signers to approve any transaction. When using multi-sig, you will have at least one seed phrase per signer, so you can store them in multiple locations.
Coin Control Support
Coin control is a feature in some Bitcoin wallets that allows users to have greater control over the selection of inputs (also known as UTXOs — Unspent Transaction Outputs) when creating a transaction. This increased control provides users with benefits such as enhanced privacy, transaction fee optimization, and more efficient management of their Bitcoin holdings.
Custom Node Support
For Bitcoin to function reliably and securely, it relies on the voluntary participation of thousands of individuals worldwide. Nodes, which make up the Bitcoin network and verify transactions and blocks, are crucial to this process. There are many reasons to consider running your own Bitcoin node, including personal benefits and the benefits to the security and resilience of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
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