Topic: How can a person buy a hardware wallet where crypto is ban? - page 2. (Read 438 times)

Ban or no ban, Bitcoin hardware wallet was meant to be used privately, it increases your level of security for your assets compare to someone who always tell everyone that he has Bitcoin wish can attract criminals to his door or lead to arrest if Bitcoin is ban in the country.

Even if government warned you not to get involve with Bitcoin, how will they know if you do? I think the Ban is for the banks, meaning you can't publicly exchange Bitcoin into your local currency anymore unlike before, this was what happened when crypto was banned in my country and that was when I learned how to use Peer 2 Peer trading.

I think it's the same with what OP is saying, the Ban will only affect your Fiat to Crypto or Crypto to Fiat exchange.

No - unless you really want to deal with the authorities who can arrest you for illegal activity. You may be able to import a hardware wallet into a country where crypto is completely banned - but you may need to work with some corrupt government authorities including high-ranking government officials or the police.

But what's your goal? If you want to profit from selling hardware wallets - then trade with countries that don't completely ban crypto instead of threatening yourself with the law in force.

If it's banned in your country isn't your just putting yourself at risk? Some countries ban crypto industry or blockchain technology to avoid any transactions with decentralized system. In your post you OP, doesn't specified some information so it's hard to give advices and opinions. But based on your post, I think hardware wallet it's not really prohibited you can try searching online first in your country if there's available if there's none then it might not allowed. If that's the case try international orders of course check first if it's legit and for sure it wouldn't be a budget friendly since it's international delivery. And I think they wouldn't even know what's the hardware wallet purpose. Just be careful because once you are caught, you will have some record and they might have an eye for you or in short ban list.

Why should you choose a hardware wallet when you can still use the app on your computer or phone?
Do you really need the hardware wallet so are you wondering how to send the hardware wallet to your country?
Rather than complicate yourself with that, you are better off using an application or software as a place to store your crypto.
As long as you don't tell anyone about the crypto you have, you are still safe even if your country bans crypto.
But leaving it with your friends who are on vacation abroad or asking your friends who are abroad to send the hardware wallet to your home address can be a solution.
But I don't know how the process of identifying goods sent from abroad reaches your country and is sent to your home address.

The world has yet come to that point and I never read anywhere, in any nation that a person was arrested because of owning a hardware wallet or store Bitcoin, cryptocurrency at home. Nothing is serious like that so far but if I am living in nations like North Korea, I will be more careful. As I understood, in North Korea, you can be arrested and killed anytime for any reason the government is against you.

It is a good advice. Hardware wallet is not the only choice for us. Electrum wallet and other good open source, self custody wallets can help us to use free and don't have to buy a hardware wallet. It is important if buying a hardware wallet is risky for you.

If cryptos are illegal in your country to a point where it's illegal to own them, and the consequences can be a confiscation of funds and/or prison time and/or a significant fine, I don't think it's a good idea to buy a hardware wallet. I mean, it's likely possible to get one, but that's going to be incriminating evidence in such a country because if a person has a wallet, the authorities have a good reason to suspect that this person also has cryptos. So I side with those recommending a good non-custodial online wallet like Electrum if your choice is to keep and use cryptos in that country.

If cryptocurrency is banned in your country but you're interested in buying bitcoin privately and hodl in a hardware wallet and you also needs help on how to get one, well regarding the purchase of a hardware wallet, you can make order for it through international shipping and it will be handed over to you in person, but then you have to be very careful with the way you operate and needs to be more smarter, don't use a centralized exchange and don't let people know about what you're into with bitcoin since it's a decentralized p2p network, unless you exposed yourself, you can maintain being anonymous while using it.

A self custody wallet that is online doesn't give enough protection as a cold storage wallet, the op wants to buy a hardware wallet for a better security of their funds, so if they cannot get a hardware wallet, they have to set up their own air-gapped wallet using a self custody wallet like Electrum.

Op, i hope you know your problem doesn't stop at just getting a hardware wallet or setting up an air-gapped wallet, since crypto is banned in your country, you will have to take privacy very seriously, you mustn't buy BTC from any centralized exchange, it must be p2p and if you can, run your own node for privacy.

Why would they penalise you if it’s strictly legalised? Is it legalise or is it banned? They both are way way different mate. Anyhow you should check up with your customs whether hardware like this can be imported or not? It’s just that it falls under electronics category and not a crypto itself. If not then just generate a paper wallet from the VPN and get yourself a safe cold storage for very long period of time or until the time they open crypto channels for you guys. It happens to seem no problem at all. If you get Bitcoin address then you are good to go for receiving the funds. You may not be able to send them since for that you will need to install software wallet or access some exchangers that are banned. But consider this as your cold storage may be.

Do I understand correctly, crypto is banned in specific country, means it is restricted to trade and mine cryptocurrency only? No one forbids to hold crypto, meaning it isnt against law to buy a hardware wallet. If authorities ask, you can always say that you use that device abroad. I find it stupid to ban holding, that is impossible. What authorities can do if they find a strange looking USB stick near your PC? Confiscate it? But you should not care as long as you have a private key.

Hardware wallets are not picture frames where you need to display them, if you are having some Bitcoin and you travel down to a country where Bitcoin is banned, all you need to do is keep your recovery seed, don't go around looking for stores that can accept Bitcoin payment, Bitcoin holding has to be secretive, if you don't tell anyone they won't know.

When Bitcoin was ban in my country and I have a bad hardware wallet in my car safe with some USB drives I remember I was stopped and searched by the force but they don't even know what a hardware wallet looks like, they opened the safe in my car and they close it back, all are USB drives to them.

If someone you know talk about bitcoin in a country where it's banned, it's not wrong to deny knowing what Bitcoin is, this is for your own safety.

Things aren't as simply enforced as they sound. When you order something online from different countries, when they come at the borders of your country, they have to go through customs, through X-ray scanner and then the state-owned postal company will deliver it to you.
Even though if Bitcoin is illegal in a country, that doesn't mean that hardware wallets are illegal, it's like, THC is illegal but seeds are legal because they don't contain THC, they are legal till they grow.

But exclusively for you, let's imagine that hardware wallets are illegal too (which definitely aren't and can't be): First of all, customs should know how do hardware wallets look like, every custom should be informed about that in order to be able to detect it. Then, you have to keep in mind that customs receive so many items each day, they simply don't have time to check each of them, so, there is a chance that customs will probably miss your hardware wallet and you'll receive it without a problem. Then, you have to keep in mind that the thing that customs prioritize are guns, they mostly care about guns. When they check parcels, their priority is to exclude gun import in the first case.
So, even if hardware wallets become illegal, I wouldn't really worry if I were you. There is a very good chance that you'll receive your HW even if it's in black list.

It seems quite risky to import hardware wallets to any country where crypto currencies are banned, because that would be like importing illegal goods and the penalty might be imprisonment or a fine. However if you urgently need to import that hardware wallet, it seems that going through a customs official's channel should be fine to bribe them a bit, but of course it is very risky.
But the best way is that you can try a non-custodial wallet and you don't need to go through various complicated things in having a hardware wallet. And it should be safe to use a non-custodial wallet, because many people in countries that prohibit crypto adoption use non-custodial wallets to store their assets.

Since you are from Bangladesh, I will like you to ask people in this forum of on your local board if anyone is using a hardware wallet and how did he get it. You should also know the laws on crypto in your country so that you don't end up putting yourself into trouble. You can ease yourself the worries and stress of getting a hardware wallet by setting up an electrum wallet on an airgap device to serve for the purpose of a hardware wallet. It is safer that way but you need to be careful when doing this.

You can also use the Airgap Wallet mobile app with a phone that you don't use anymore. Preferably an Android phone, which allows you to switch off the networking functionality permanently, across reboots. Nobody is going to suspect an old phone being used a hardware wallet, at least not anyone you'd normally find at an airport.

Maybe receiving packaged shipping could also work, as long as the post office doesn't open your packages.

It is true that the hardware wallet doesn't contain any cryptocurrency (if crypto is not sent there beforehand), but in some countries it may not be allowed to be imported because it is an encryption device (a similar wording was voiced by the russian customs service some time in the past). So, HW devices can be banned (possibly for an indefinite period) regardless of direct connection with crypto currencies.

It is advisable to read the laws (of Bangladesh, if it is OP's country) on the possibility of importing hardware wallets and similar devices.

does this mean that they will also arrest people that own a hard wallet despite the hard wallet not having anything in it just because it is associated with cryptocurrency?
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OP (and his compatriots) have a unique opportunity to learn this personally.

You have to change your sentence a bit, because you are saying Crypto are legalized, so it means it is legal in your country. Your thread subject on the other hand says that it is banned in your country. So you should rather say that it is illegal in your country. 

Well, I would not invest in a hardware wallet or even buy one that might get confiscated by the postal services. I will much rather use online software to generate a off-line Paper wallet or use a air-gapped computer to do it. It is just as safe and it will cost you nothing.. 

I'm from a cryptocurrency ban country, luckily I got a Trezor wallet from a friend here on the forum but it had a lot of difficulty getting it shipped to my country.

It was shipped to another country and through another friend who works in shipping and customs clearance, I finally managed to deliver it to my country after much effort and time.

Therefore, the best thing is to ship it through a friend coming from abroad and put it in his pocket so that no one will notice it because it is very small. If you are afraid of getting into trouble, it is better to forget about it and use an Electrum wallet.

The Crypto Wallet serves solely as a repository for cryptocurrencies. However, given that your government has proscribed the use of cryptocurrencies in your nation, I find it implausible for someone to purchase a hardware-based Crypto Wallet merely for ornamental or keychain purposes.

Nonetheless, should you observe instances where certain individuals have successfully smuggled narcotics into a country, you might still be able to import a hardware Crypto Wallet into your country using a similar approach. Be sure not to jeopardize your standing within the legal framework of your nation, as it undoubtedly poses a threat to your future. If your curiosity about cryptocurrencies persists, consider visiting a country where cryptocurrencies are legally accepted.

Most of countries where Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are prohibited, they just make prohibitions against cryptocurrency trading, exchanges between people. They don't mind if you install a wallet software on your devices, use it at home or buy a hardware wallet.

Set up an Electrum airgap wallet and use it is better for your OPSEC.

There are risks for air-gap computers too so if you are not good with tech, use a hardware wallet is better.

https://airgapcomputer.com/