You earned a lot of wealth in a bull run and stored it in a wallet.
One day you open your wallet to check if it is all still there.
It’s gone.
What’s the point of earning a lot of money by investing in crypto and losing it to a hacker or some scam?
You can lose a lot of wealth by using the wrong crypto wallet
I would hate it if you lost money due to a bad crypto wallet. A secure crypto wallet is a foundation for investing in crypto.
Currently, the most secure option to store your crypto is a hardware wallet. They also call it cold storage. A hardware wallet keeps its keys offline on the device. This makes it way more difficult to access your funds. They need your physical device to get control over your crypto wallet.
I made a list of the best hardware wallets currently on the market. You can’t go wrong with these wallets because they are all secure. One is more secure than the other but others are more user friendly.
Here are some points you need to consider when choosing a hardware wallet:
- Which crypto coin am I trying to store in my wallet?
- What format do I prefer? Small with Bluetooth to connect to your phone or something with a display to show me my coins.
- What is my budget?
Trezor
Trezor is a popular hardware wallet. Trezor has great ease of use, wide compatibility with cryptocurrencies, is fully open-source, and has a good reputation. The price is not that expensive for a hardware wallet: Starting at $69.
Some awesome security features:
- SD card to encrypt your PIN on the device: Each time you want to unlock your device, you also need to provide the SD card. This way, if someone stole your Trezor, they can’t do anything without the SD card.
- Wipe code: If you are in a sketchy situation or want to throw away your Trezor wallet, you can delete your whole wallet on the device. You can restore your crypto on a different wallet using your recovery seed.
- Universal 2nd Factor (U2F): This is an alternative 2-factor authentication. Instead of your phone, you can use your Trezor to authenticate your login.
- GNU Privacy Guard (GPG): This feature allows you to store the private key of GPG on your Trezor device. GPG is used for encrypting your data on your computer. This feature is great because your private key never touches your computer, so hackers can’t get their hands on your private key, making it more secure.
Ledger
A Ledger is another safe and popular hardware wallet. Ledger has, just like Trezor, a wide range of supported cryptocurrencies. I use a Ledger because they support staking. This way, you can safely protect your coins and slowly increase your portfolio. Another easy functionality is Bluetooth. This way, you can easily access your funds with your phone. The price starts at €79.
Some awesome security features:
- Secure element chip: This type of chip is used for passports and credit cards. It is an extra layer that protects your private keys.
- Universal 2nd Factor (U2F): Ledger also supports the U2F. This way, you can use your Ledger as an authentication key.
- NFT support in Ledger Live. You can see and manage your NFTs in the software of Ledger. So if you are really into NFTs, this can be the best device.
NGRAVE
Ngrave is a new player, and its focus is quality and security. They don’t support the same amount of crypto as Ledger and Trezor, but not everybody looks for coin compatibility. They support the most used coins, such as BTC, ETH, and BNB.
What makes their product unique is that they don’t use any connectivity. So no Wifi, Bluetooth, or whatsoever. They use a camera and the screen on the device to communicate with your app on Android or IOS. This is great because you never expose your private key to any device. Nothing will ‘touch’ the Ngrave wallet. This will make it even harder for hackers to take control of your wallet. The Ngrave is priced at €398.
Some awesome security features:
- 100% offline: The Ngrave is super secure and doesn’t use WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, or USB.
- 2FA Biometric Security: You can unlock your device, create private keys and sign transactions with a fingerprint scanner
SafePal
SafePal S1 is a small, accessible, and a very safe crypto wallet. This is the cheapest of them all at $49.99. They support 54 blockchains and NFTs. But the best part is that they implement the same security measure as Ngrave. SafePal S1 is 100% offline and does not connect to any device directly. They use QR codes to communicate with the app.
Some awesome security features:
- 100% offline: The SafePal is just as Ngrave super secure and doesn’t use WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, or USB.
- Backed by Binance, the biggest exchange on earth
- Without Know Your Customer (KYC): There is less chance that hackers will figure out the wallet’s owner.
- Self-destruct mechanism: If the device sensors signals detect an attack, it will automatically delete the private keys. The user can always restore their wallet by using a mnemonic phrase.
My verdict
All these four hardware wallets are awesome. The best way to choose the right wallet is to look at the personal situation:
You just started in crypto? Choose a SafePal.
Do you trade and move crypto a lot: Choose a Ledger or a Trezor.
Do you have a lot of wealth and want super high quality and the best protection: Choose a Ngrave.
Stay safe, and best of luck.
Daniel Donselaar
