Topic: 2 cold wallets for my crypto assets (Read 291 times)

   Creating and maintaining many cryptocurrency is a good way to keep your asset safe, splitting your assets into multiple hardware wallet keeping one in a cold device completely is having an extra layer of security, which is you don't sign approval with any of the whole device . Having multiple crypto wallet prevents you from losing all your funds to attackers ,and in other for you to have a crypto tracker portfolio, you have to trade three different cryptocurrencies .

In other for you to take proper care of your wallets you need to hold most assets in self-custody wallet because Self-custody is extremely important keeping control over your crypto asset .

Use different crypto wallet for different purpose .
Creating many wallet addresses connected to the same seed phrase and private key is like having multiple bank accounts with same like login details which  is not good, especially regarding the ability to become stronger against hackers and implementing access controls.

For example when you divide the company's assets into multiple crypto wallets with different seed phrases is advisable. Putting all together in a wallet can make seeing your company's crypto finances difficult, Instead, consider maintaining at least three crypto wallets,one for receiving payments, another for paying expenses, and a third wallet that acts like a savings account.
Using a different account helps you track your crypto finance ,also helps to implement proper financial control and having a clearer way of managing your crypto wallet,also securely managing your wallets' seed phrase .

which Trezor model would you recommend? I haven't purchased the Ledger alternative yet... I think I'll keep them both and do what you'll do, have ledger for small funds.

I am wondering if I should leave the Ledger Nano wallet due to its closed source. I have ordered a Trezor hardware wallet, and after receiving it, I will move all the funds into Trezor. The ledger will be used for small funds only. Though no incident has happened yet about the closed source of Ledger, I don't feel secure with Ledger anymore. However, if you don't feel secure with Ledger, then don't use it. Yet we aren't sure if they have private key access. Due to closed-source software, we can't see what data Ledger has been sharing with us. Just choose an open-source hardware wallet like Trezor.

Your funds are basically not in your wallets, they are stored on your recovery keys, or seedphrases. So in simple words, if you have to keep the funds (same funds) in two different wallets, then you have to import the keys into another wallet as well. So, basically, funds are single units means they are not duplicated if you store them in two different wallets. haha If that could happen then everyone would have billions of money and wallet companies would be the top rich people. Let's take an example.

You kept funds in wallet 1 and to store/show them in wallet 2 you have to import wallet 2 with wallet 1 key and now the funds are in wallet 2 as well. If funds will be gone from wallet 1 then they are gone from 2 as well. because basically, the funds are in the seed phrase not in the wallet. The security that these HW provide is they are not connected to internet all the time so they keep your funds save from major hacks and downsides. Overall if you don't have the key your funds are gone.

You can enable double signature feature to enhance the security, which mean if second wallet will approve then the tx will be made otherwise not.

There are many forms of so-called "cold" wallets. The term is generally used for a device or storage method that never goes online. If the device is online or connected to an internet-enabled device even just 1% of the time, then technically it is no longer a cold wallet. A piece of paper, for example, is a cold wallet (you only use it as a storage method for your private key). There are hardware wallets and electronic devices that are completely air-gapped, and can also be considered cold wallets. And finally, there are hardware devices that are sort of cold wallets, because you still have to occasionally connect them to an internet-enabled device (computer or mobile) to use them. But this does not mean that they can be hacked because they are designed in such a way that your private keys can never leak from the device's memory and are only used to sign transactions. This is true for some of them, it is hard to say for sure for non-open source devices.


It depends on your use case. What do you want to do with your cold wallet?


Because they can be verified by independent experts. Same as all other open source software.

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I see, thank you Stalker.

I need a cold wallet mainly for storing Bitcoin, the rest of my portfolio I will probably keep on the exchange because I plan to sell them in a month of so and buy others. Or the same ones when the price drops. Like everyone else. Short trades. It is Bitcoin investment that I want to move offline because I plan to buy more of it too at next significant dip.

There are many forms of so-called "cold" wallets. The term is generally used for a device or storage method that never goes online. If the device is online or connected to an internet-enabled device even just 1% of the time, then technically it is no longer a cold wallet. A piece of paper, for example, is a cold wallet (you only use it as a storage method for your private key). There are hardware wallets and electronic devices that are completely air-gapped, and can also be considered cold wallets. And finally, there are hardware devices that are sort of cold wallets, because you still have to occasionally connect them to an internet-enabled device (computer or mobile) to use them. But this does not mean that they can be hacked because they are designed in such a way that your private keys can never leak from the device's memory and are only used to sign transactions. This is true for some of them, it is hard to say for sure for non-open source devices.


It depends on your use case. What do you want to do with your cold wallet?


Because they can be verified by independent experts. Same as all other open source software.

Thank you

As said, it matters more to be offline than whether it's started or not.
I will add that in theory a hardware wallet should (absolutely) never send out the seed and just sign the transaction they should. Of course, in reality Ledger decided "heck with that", sadly.


There are hardware wallets that work completely offline and transfer information only via images.
You should take a look at 55 Hardware Wallets, compared feature by feature
Getting those open source and 100% airgapped should be a good step forward.

Also, if you consider them expensive and are you sure you can generate a proper seed by throwing dices (but beware, it's not as easy as you'd think, please read the topics on the matter in this forum) you can add for example SeedSigner to your list.


Because if it's closed source there can be literally anything in that code, including, as Ledger has shown, the possibility to extract the seed. Or the seed generator can be flawed (intentionally or not) and the seed is from a narrow set and can be found by brute force. Or... really sky is the limit.

This is what I needed to hear. Thank you!

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Thank you!

[moderator's note: consecutive posts merged]

If it is offline and isn't connected to the internet, it cannot be hacked. Having said that, if it is offline 99% of the time, and online for only 1% of the time, then there is a chance it can be hacked, in other words, your cold wallet must never be connected to the internet.
Choose a hardware wallet:
Open source hardware wallet
Airgapped hardware wallet
In open source wallets you can check/review the original code by yourself and make sure it is safe for use, in closed source wallets you have to depend on or trust the developers because you cannot review the original code.

Unfortunately, Ledger has not been doing a great job so far, It is a closed-source hardware wallet, and the team is not very reliable either, Trezor is a better choice, so why not sell this Ledger since you said it's not opened yet, and use the money to buy Trezor hardware wallet?

The feature I look for in a hardware wallet is cold storage with no internet access available, this makes your asset safer than others, and this is why I like Keystone and others like it.

Using the same recovery seed on two separate hardware wallets is not good, if one is down the other follows, its too many risks, instead I will advise splitting your assets and send into two separate wallets, like the Trezor and another hardware wallet, this means that you have to safeguard two different recovery seeds.

Hello again everyone and thank you for participating in this discussion.

I understood all the points that you made. The main two of which are:

1. Do not connect your cold wallet to the internet unless absolutely necessary!
2. If you own 2 or more cold storage wallets split your funds evenly among them for extra security.

I have few more questions if you don't mind:

1. If your cold wallet is offline 99% of the time does that mean that if/when offline it cannot be hacked?
2. Those who read this question please let me know which cold wallet you would choose if you were me with the knowledge you have today?
3. Why open source cold wallet is better than none open source wallets?

I could probably read about these things but my head is spinning already, my brain just can't process so much information within such a short time and it is very difficult to make a decision on your own without asking those who know all ins and outs of it already.

Last question:

Maybe if I keep Laedger Nano X that I got here on my desk offline I shouldn't worry about my funds being safe? And shouldn't look further? What do you think?

This is what I do but I hope that OP wont be using the ledger recover feature.

It is best to have that cold storage or wallet that you will store your funds and you will not connect it to the internet but just once in a while.

And stick only to the known ones, many haven't heard of this tangem thing.

Do not open a fresh account on Tangem and then proceed to import the account into the Ledger wallet, because it seems this is what you are talking about? Ifbyes its a bad idea.

If  one of these wallets get hacked, they are both gone, I will sell the ledger if I were you, since its still unboxed, and keep the tangem, this Tangem wallet as better feature and its open source too, ledger isn't an open source hardware wallet.

A single hardware wallet is enough for any amount of assets you own or plan to own, but if you insist on having two hardware wallet, then replace the Ledger with a Trezor wallet instead.

I think you can use same address on 2 separate devices but that doesn't mean your coins have double security.
If your ledger gets hacked and your coins are stolen from that device then your other device will reflect the same balance as on ledger.
If coins are transferred from one device then it will reflect the same on other.
It would be better to use two separate wallets instead and divide your coins among them.
This would decrease your risk of getting your coins stolen by 50%.

I would suggest you to use 2 wallet

1. Cold wallet to keep all your money and not connected to the internet unless you send it and use this wallet for HODL only and use hardware wallet
2. Hot wallet to use everyday and connected to internet you can use it for play with Defi like pancake or uniswap or anything like that

If Ledger knows your private key, there is no point in using it as a hardware wallet as the main purpose of these devices is to ensure that the private key generation is offline. Instead of trying your luck and venturing into using their hardware, why not use better, open source HW wallets?

"Crypto" is a broad term. There are tons of different cryptocurrencies out there, some working in slightly different ways.  Let's just stick to Bitcoin. That way, we can answer your questions more precisely.

In simple terms, wallets store your keys, which are essential for accessing your coins on the blockchain. Anyone who gets their hands on your wallet and its keys can also access your coins. It's like losing your apartment or car keys – if someone finds them, having another set hidden away won't help.


All good wallets encrypt your personal data (private keys). That's why you have to enter a password or pin to unlock it.


How come anything gets hacked? There is no such thing as absolute security.

It would not make sense to use two different wallet to store just hold one seed phrase or same wallet. The best is having different wallet on both two hardware wallets such that if one is compromised you don’t lose the funds on the other. Another idea is you can one wallet on two different wallets device with two different seed phrase by setting up a 2-2 multi sig wallet. If one gets compromised the attacker still needs the other to move out funds from that wallet


Yes the security of your wallet depends on how you treat your wallet entirely. First thing is where is your wallet connected and how to do you store your seed phrase. Just like Saylor said the seed phrase can be saved securely without anyone knowing if it is done offline and stored in a secure places.

The Ledger Nano X can be hacked if an hacker gets physical access to that hardware wallet and possibly breaks in by knowing the PIN. Or better still if the company keeps hold of your seed phrase and an hacker attacks there data base and steal does informations or details (this is one of the reasons why Ledger is not advised because of their back up of one’s seed phrase)

Yes I think I understood what you said the first time, I just didn't realise that your crypto is still on the blockchain even when in your wallet.

I was wondering: if your crypto is on the blockchain wouldn't it make sense to encrypt your personal details to ad to your assets so no one could steal them?
That way this crypto would be yours forever until sold?

Michael Saylor said that crypto is the only asset you can take to the grave because no one can know your seed phrase.

How come then Ledger Nano X were hacked??