Topic: They say hardware wallets are the safest - page 5. (Read 1185 times)

I usually had a pretty hard time trusting any wallet that I had to download offline. For example, there was a time I used to generate paper wallets but I was very paranoid every single time no matter how safely I generated them.

Hardware wallets basically removed this fear - with Ledger, you just open up Electrum (or Ledger Live) and you generate as many accounts as you wish without having the constant "what if some stranger knows it" fear. Moreover, carrying it in your pocket is safer than carrying a wallet around, as long as you stored your Ledger seed properly. Losing your wallet means losing everything you had in it while losing a Ledger means recovering your funds when you get back home. It's not like you can insert a random code inside a software and get back your lost ID, cash, cards etc.

Being offline, you don't have the fear that a keylogger might get to unlock your software wallet and get your funds out either. Although it might not be the most secure wallet, HWs avoid the hassle and constant stress of possibly not doing something right and having all your funds flush out of your addresses. This is mostly why I love my Ledger. Think of it as a mini & handy airgapped device you can conveniently carry around in your pocket.

It's easily stolen from some people because they do not have the necessary education to know how a digital wallet or file can be safely protected from hacks and thefts. With every new generations, it'll be easier and easier to get them understand why Bitcoin is better than centralized currencies and why it's such a genius idea. After all, you should store your keys the same way you store your precious metals or other valuable stuff you have.

Maybe people say that because it's true, but not everyone will agree that it's the safest way. Maybe you should try to find some of the most important features offered by hardware wallets compared to online, desktop or mobile wallets so you would understand the difference. But here are a few positive things that make me use a hardware wallet.

- generating a seed is done via device, and seed is only visible on device screen which is not the case with any desktop or mobile wallet where your seed can be exposed to any malware which is currently present on the device.

- some hardware wallets use secure chip (Ledger devices), which makes a big difference from storing your crypto on a regular USB stick.

- hardware wallets are not only for storing, but making transactions in the safest way possible protecting the user from himself, in the sense that he must check all the parameters of the transaction before sending.

But any way to store cryptocurrencies, no matter how secure, is not resistant to human stupidity - and that includes hardware wallets. People lose their money because they do not know how to use the means at their disposal, but this is a problem that goes beyond this discussion.

There are literally dozens of threads, posts, and articles that talk about hardware wallets, its pluses and minuses compared to other wallets, and when and why you should use it. I don't think you need to make a new threads and challenge people to change the way you think.

1. If your hardware wallet stops working, your funds are safe.
2. If your hardware wallet is lost, your funds are safe.
3. If your hardware wallet is stolen, your funds are safe.

All for as long as you still have your seed with you.

Following on from your posts in this thread (https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/how-to-i-get-rid-of-electrum-5259587), it seems that you do not understand what a seed phrase is, what it does, and why you should use one.

This is absolutely not true, and is the entire reason that every good hardware wallet tells you in big capital letters to back up your seed phrase. If your hardware wallet dies, breaks, gets lost, is stolen, etc., then you just recover from your seed and you won't lose a single satoshi.

Can you explain why you think private keys can easily be stolen? They can only be stolen if you are careless with them, such as backing them up in text files like you suggest in your opening post.

1. Hardware wallets are not the safest. A correctly configured cold storage is safer. But hardware wallets are close enough to optimum between safety and every day convenience.
2. Hardware wallet signs the transactions. A txt file cannot do that without a wallet.
3. Hardware wallet works based on a seed which is recommended even by the manufacturers to write down after first generating it. That seed works in the same way in most wallets and will also work in a new hardware wallet too, so destroying your hardware wallet is not the end of the world.

All in all your points against hardware wallets are invalid and there are pluses too.

Please go through this video first https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc3HQqCSl7A

On hardware wallets, private key is generated offline, public key is used to generate addresses, this is done in a way that private keys can not be compromised or revealed to hackers even while sending or receiving funds

Hardware wallets are created in a way they are malware resistant but it is still good to be careful of the malware as they can change addresses during transaction, as for me, I check and recheck the address I inputed before initiating any transaction.

For bitcoin storage, I prefer airgapped devices, they are the safest as they generate private key offline and no connection at all to the internet. A good example are the two electrum wallets I use, one as airgapped(only for signing transaction through the use of QR code and private is completely offline) and the other one as a watch only that generated the transactions to be signed using QR code.

There are many HD wallets that are not hardware wallets, there are online/hot wallets that are HD wallets in which private keys are not generated offline and can be hacked.

The reason why the private key can be easily stolen, is one of the reasons why bitcoin will never be a standard currency.

My opinion.

Do you own a hardware wallet? I believe you some misunderstanding on the way it was used. There is a recovery seed for the hardware wallet in case its stop working. You can access again your old wallet address using the recovery seed by inputting it to the new one. I've been using trezor for almost 5 years and so far it is still running smoothly since I'm not using it on regular basis and will never used it frequently.

Best thing about hardware wallet is you will not worry that someone will get your private key since it was intact on the device itself. So as long as disconnected then your funds is safe.

So if it is not the hardware wallet that is the safest 'so far', then what a mobile wallet than can be hacked any time? in an exchange that can be breach any time? I guess not.

There has been some reports that I've read tackling hardware wallets being altered and set up by the seller so they can steal your funds, I don't know how they are doing that by there are cases that funds in hardware wallets is missing.

Aside, hardware wallet should be use like a vault, you don't need to use it daily to avoid implications on the hardware. At the end of the day it is the user's responsibility of anything that he owns.

With hardware wallets, when you use them to send your funds, your private keys will not be disclosed. Even when the computer you use is infected by malwares or viruses.

HD wallets are deterministic ones and from a single seed, you can create many private keys and from a seed you can create many child keys, then grandchild keys. They don't require to have private key to create public keys. It is the point to save you if your computer is compromised. Hackers will not be able to steal your all funds if they can not have access to your private key.


https://github.com/bitcoinbook/bitcoinbook/blob/develop/ch05.asciidoc

Why do they say that? Correct me if I'm wrong. Isn't, hardware wallet, a hardware like usb, that generates private keys without being online on the internet?

Why do I not like them? Because, in addition with a txt file that you can encrypt with many ways and save it in many places, if your hardware stops working, you're a dead man. And you're going to fix it somewhere? Not that recommended. If you're a paranoid of course.

Prove me wrong, by not telling me the cons of software wallet. Prove me wrong, by telling me the pros of hardware wallet.