A hardware wallet gives you the power to own and control your cryptocurrency assets. But with great power comes great responsibility: when you’re the only one in control of your assets, it’s solely up to you to ensure they are kept safe. There is no bank or institution to turn to if your hardware wallet or recovery phrase is stolen or misplaced.
And using a hardware wallet doesn’t make you immune to physical threats or human error. So it’s best to apply the below basic security principles to ensure your assets are protected.
PURCHASE YOUR DEVICE FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE
Once you have decided on a hardware wallet, ensure you purchase one from a trusted source, so you can be certain that the device is genuine. An authorised reseller is a retailer who is authorised to sell directly to the consumer after purchasing stock from the manufacturer.
The easiest way to ensure you are buying from an authorised reseller is to check the manufacturer's retailers page. See below:
- Ledger - https://shop.ledger.com/pages/retailers
- Trezor - https://trezor.io/resellers/
- BitBox - https://shiftcrypto.ch/buy/
- Billfodl - https://billfodl.com/pages/authorized-resellers
- Satochip - https://satochip.io/
- SecuX - https://secuxtech.com/reseller/
If the website you are visiting is NOT listed here then we recommend looking for a different place to purchase your wallet. What might be a small discount on purchase price could easily turn into a massive loss of funds. It’s just not worth the risk.
STORE YOUR RECOVERY PHRASE SAFELY
If your hardware wallet breaks, is stolen or misplaced, your 12/24-word recovery phrase can be used to restore your assets. But if your recovery phrase is stolen or misplaced, there is no bank or institution to back you up or give you a replacement. And because of the secure nature and random mathematical sequences used to generate the private key, there’s no way you or anyone else can recover it, so you will lose access to your cryptocurrency. In other words, make sure you keep your recovery phrase safe and secure at all times!
The best way to do this is to:
- Never share your recovery phrase with anyone
- Never store your recovery phrase on a computer or smartphone
- Never store your recovery phrase online, where it can be easily hacked
- Never rely on your memory alone to remember your recovery phrase
- Store your recovery phrase on a device such as the Billfodl, that is virtually indestructible
- If you ever have to restore your wallets/accounts, only enter the recovery phrase into the physical device
DOUBLE-CHECK EVERYTHING BEFORE SENDING CRYPTO
Crypto transactions are basically irreversible so if you send money to the wrong address, you can’t get those funds back (unless the recipient is kind enough to trace your wallet address and refund you - not likely!). For this reason, we recommend verifying that everything is correct, whether you are sending small or large amounts.
CONCLUSION
While some of these best practices may require you to put in a little extra effort to secure your crypto wallet, it’s well worth it. Here at Coinstop, we remain committed to providing you with the latest in crypto security, so you can ensure your assets are safe. To visit our store, head to coinstop.io/collections/all