How safe is a hardware wallet?

[sunil0021]

I recently bought Ledger X to move my crypto from exchange networks, one of the reason for this is the Indian government is planning a bill to ban crypto and i want to be prepared if this happens and the 2nd is exchange networks are nowadays putting holds on accounts.

I haven't moved anything yet but just curious what happens to the funds if the wallet gets broken? how safe do you think the hardware wallet is ?

 

[Gogol]

what happens to the funds if the wallet gets broken

If you have the seed list saved (they should have given you a couple of good looking seed card for exactly that ), you can restore it easily. No problem.

How safe is a hardware wallet?

As safe as any other custodial wallets out there, when it comes to the private key. However, it is much more safe than having a software wallet practically..

Why? Because the private key for a sw wallet is saved in your device, and can be accessed by the hacker if your machine gets hacked. On the other hand, the private key for a hw wallet is saved inside the wallet hardware, and the key is never revealed. It is only used to sign the tx and send the tx back to the caller. So, the only way it can be extracted is by having physical access to the wallet (that too is tough.. I have heard that there's a way to get the pk by using buffer overflow exploit. Not everyone knows how to do that).

 

[shadow2015]

. I have heard that there's a way to get the pk by using buffer overflow exploit. Not everyone knows how to do that).

for that to occur I guess the HW needs to be connected to an external source(laptop,PC etc) I guess.

 

[Gogol]

for that to occur I guess the HW needs to be connected to an external source(laptop,PC etc) I guess.

Yeah that should work, because ledger also allows you to update itself over USB connection. So, if the exploit itself could be made to look like firmware update, it should get the system overwritten. Also yes, the hw wallet is like a potato without any power/connection. It won't do anything lol.

 

[R4v3nbl4ck]

I haven't moved anything yet but just curious what happens to the funds if the wallet gets broken?

Wallets don't actually store crypto. Crypto is always stored on the blockchain. A wallet is just a tool to access the blockchain.
If it breaks, you can access your funds from any other wallet (software or hardware) by simply entering your seed phrase or private key.
It's as if your computer broke and you wanted to access your emails, you can do that from any device in the world as long as you know the password.

 

[Razentyler]

I recently bought Ledger X to move my crypto from exchange networks, one of the reason for this is the Indian government is planning a bill to ban crypto and i want to be prepared if this happens and the 2nd is exchange networks are nowadays putting holds on accounts.

I haven't moved anything yet but just curious what happens to the funds if the wallet gets broken? how safe do you think the hardware wallet is ?

Smart move, Even I got myself one after this Indian Gov shit lol

 

[R4v3nbl4ck]

Smart move, Even I got myself one after this Indian Gov shit lol

I just read this morning they will not regulate crypto at least until spring. They seem to change their mind every week or so.

 

[Razentyler]

I just read this morning they will not regulate crypto at least until spring. They seem to change their mind every week or so.

After this decision change of banning to regulating, I personally stopped counting on their news completely.

 

[R4v3nbl4ck]

After this decision change of banning to regulating, I personally stopped counting on their news completely.

Same here, but I stumbled upon the news on Reddit. I don't care about this FUD (I'm not even from India, but even if I was, it's just FUD), but I thought I'd let you know.

 

[Razentyler]

Same here, but I stumbled upon the news on Reddit. I don't care about this FUD (I'm not even from India, but even if I was, it's just FUD), but I thought I'd let you know.

After this personal experience, I sure do get it

Fortunately I did HODL all the time lol

 

[bartosimpsonio]

Bad guy breaks into your home. Wakes you up with a handgun to your childrens head.

"What's the hardware wallet password"

That's how secure it is.

Thus I keep my money at real banks.

 

[Huncho]

Ledger is perfect but be careful with fake ledger extensions which say to save your private keys online. If they know your private key they will definitely get everything from your ledger. Just type them only on paper.

Also, the ledger is good but, check what they support at ledger live. For example, you can't have ADA on the ledger. you need to download and install another wallet that will work with the ledger. Only ledger live supported coins can have ledger addresses.

 

[shadow2015]

Ledger is perfect but be careful with fake ledger extensions which say to save your private keys online. If they know your private key they will definitely get everything from your ledger. Just type them only on paper.

Also, the ledger is good but, check what they support at ledger live. For example, you can't have ADA on the ledger. you need to download and install another wallet that will work with the ledger. Only ledger live supported coins can have ledger addresses.

thx, thats helpful, I was checking this online. would you recommend any other HW wallet? which could support other coins.

 

[Razentyler]

thx, thats helpful, I was checking this online. would you recommend any other HW wallet? which could support other coins.

Trezor

 

[Huncho]

thx, thats helpful, I was checking this online. would you recommend any other HW wallet? which could support other coins.

Personally i have ledger nano s which right now I don't use it, because i put all my crypto assets on binance staking why not to earn good rewards. But i will keep my ledger for future maybe they will upgrade and i will need it urgently .

 

[Gogol]

thx, thats helpful, I was checking this online. would you recommend any other HW wallet? which could support other coins.

Ledger nano s is what I suggest too. It is cheap, and works just fine. I have installed 3-4 live applications in it, which is more than what I need.

 

[Borderless Hustle]

Recovering your coins from a hardware wallet is easier than recovering it from a software wallet like Electrum.
If you're paranoid like me, here's what I do, I keep my keys in 2 hardware wallets.
In any case don't keep too much on an exchange.

 

[Kitty Solam]

Hardware wallets are typically as safe as isolated minimalist computers can be - the code is widely auditable and on the Ledger side we're using smartcards to add additional protections against physical tampering and possible software exploits (the keys live in a specific area of the operating system that's only accessible by following a given code execution path, guaranteed both by software and hardware)

When using a paper wallet you trust the environment you're using it on both when generating the keys and when spending - it's possible to be safe if you audit the key generation code carefully and maintain a perfect digital hygiene when spending (always sign offline on a non updated computer to avoid malware, then broadcast), it's also easier to use them on ETH than it is on BTC and BTC alts but still nowhere as convenient as a hardware wallet, especially when the device can be used for multiple isolated tasks beyond just ETH (ERC-20 tokens, other cryptocurrencies, SSH, GPG ...)

 

[Sheldon Mooze]

I've been a little worried lately since everything is going great imo and find myself perturbed by the fact that so many people are relying on these hardware wallets to store their ETH. These ETH will be potentially worth X times what their worth now and I don't want imagine if a group of black hat hackers find some type of exploit to these wallets. That's why I recommend keeping your ETH out of exchanges and in cold stored paper wallets. If anybody could share their opinions on this it will be greatly appreciated and maybe I'm not the only one.

 

[Huncho]

Ledger nano s is what I suggest too. It is cheap, and works just fine. I have installed 3-4 live applications in it, which is more than what I need.

Yes and you can delete and reinstall applications easily, you need the app to receive and send. Your coins are saved even though you do not have the application installed.

Nano X is with large storage to have more applications installed and have Bluetooth and the phone app I think.