https://bitswapdex.io/#/swap
Where do you see a button to connect to Ledger Live? You might be confusing Ledger Live to MetaMask, is that it?
When I click on connect a wallet I only get 3 options, but there is no Ledger Live:
- MetaMask
- WalletConnect
- Coinbase Wallet
I have never used that particular DEX, so I can't comment on how safe it is and if you can trust them. There doesn't seem to be any info about the exchange on Bitcointalk and very limited details on search engines. But overall, it is safe to connect a hardware wallet to a DEX. ForkDelta, for example, allows you to trade with a Nano S device. Your crypto can't get stolen from your device when it is connected to a DEX like ForkDelta or bitswapdex in this case. A transaction has to be confirmed physically from your side by pressing the buttons on your hardware wallet. A hacker or a fake site can't do that remotely. So you are safe on that front.
When you initiate a transaction, you need to check that the address on the site matches the one displayed on your hardware wallet. If they are identical, you can be certain that the funds are going where they are supposed to go. But that's all you can be sure of. Whether or not the other party or service is trustworthy is a completely different topic. Why exactly do you want to use this site?
2) I assume if i want to trade directly from my ledger nano x, i can not have usd on my ledger, but rather i can buy more cryoto with USDC? Is this correct? I wouldnt want to trade my crypto, so I would have to use usdc right?
Correct. Ledger Live can't store fiat currencies such as USD or EUR. You can buy other currencies for stablecoins like USDC on exchanges that have USDC trading pairs. You can also exchange your fiat for other stablecoins like USDT or DAI for example. USDC is also a crypto asset. Coins like USDC or USDT are known as stablecoins. They are pegged 1:1 to the US$, but they are still a cryptocurrency. But then i run into the same problem with coinbase because i would have to transfer usd to them, buy the usdc, wait for the funds to clear, then send to my ledger. Any ideas on this?
If you don't want to use Coinbase, try Binance for example. You can register an account and withdraw up to 2 BTC daily without undergoing KYC (identity verification). And they don't force you to hold funds for X number of days before they allow you to withdraw.3) Ive been contimplating whether or not the ledger nano x is the safest wallet after reading about cold wallets on bitcoin.org.
A wallet is generally as safe as the person using it. Paper wallets are the safest way when it comes to storing cryptocurrencies. They can also be tricky to set up if you don't know what you are doing. Hardware wallets are a good combination of security and simplicity. As for transparency, ledger nano x doesnt have any with its closed source coding, which no one can verify if the manufacturer has any secret things on the device that could jeopardize your money. On the other hand, devices like Keepsafe, and Trezza and Bitbox, are open source, but Ive been reading that open source has its downfalls as well because most of the time manufacturers use 3rd parties for the coding for their devices and never really check to see if the 3rd parties may have installed malicious code.
Ledger Nano is partially a close-source wallet. Most of it is open sourced. The secure element is closed source. It's not possible to verify what is happening in the secure element, but I am not aware of cases where money simply disappeared from Ledger devices without it being a mistake by the user who either got phished or someone stole his recovery phrase.For example, code that can empty your wallet at a future time and date and send your crypto to another address. What do you guys think about this?
I have never heard of such cases with Ledger or Trezor hardware wallets. Like I said previously, a transaction can only be initiated with a press on the buttons on your device. A coding vulnerability can't do that. Am i in good hands with the ladger nano x? Im nervous about which wallets to use, open or closed source.
As long as you keep your recovery phrase safe, you wrote it down correctly, and you don't lose it, you are safe. Never enter it on a software or web wallet, don't keep digital copies of it or share it with anyone else. Ledger had a huge leak a few months ago where customer data of over 1 million users got leaked. The leaked data contains private information (names, addresses, phone numbers), but nothing that can cause your crypto to be stolen. Your wallet will protect your private keys in its secure element. The Ledger security team can f**k up and cause you to lose your privacy. Open sourced wallets are always better than closed source wallets. The two most popular wallets are Ledger and Trezor. I explained the leak that Ledger had, now let's see what can happed with Trezor devices.
Trezor devices suffer from an unfixable vulnerability where a hacker can extract the recovery phrase from a Trezor wallet within a few minutes and with relatively cheap hardware. He needs physical access to it though, so it can't happen remotely over the internet. The vulnerability can be mitigated if you extend your seed with a passphrase (a 25th seed word) or by storing a code on a SD card that you are going to use when you unlock your wallet.
On the other hand, devices like Keepsafe, and Trezza and Bitbox, are open source, but Ive been reading that open source has its downfalls as well because most of the time manufacturers use 3rd parties for the coding for their devices and never really check to see if the 3rd parties may have installed malicious code.
I don't have any experience with the mentioned devices, but I think I have seen several negative comments about Keepsafe. Open-source software is an open book. If you know how to read it, you know what it does. Anyone with coding knowledge can check the code, find bugs/vulnerabilities, and report this to the developers. But since everything is public, hackers and scammers can take advantage of found bugs and use the vulnerabilities to steal coins or perform other types of attacks. I doubt a serious company wouldn't perform audits of the code before it's implemented. Their business and reputation is at stake. Many companies employ independent security experts who perform code reviews. 
