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THE BEST COLD WALLETS ON THE MARKET
Investing in cryptocurrencies for the first time?
Not sure how to keep your assets secure? Here is a list of the best bitcoin wallets to keep your coins safe!
Traditional fiat wallets have a simple use case: to carry your personal items such as cash, bank cards, and the Starbucks gift card from your birthday last year. With BTC’s price continuing to surge and even Twitter now building a Bitcoin wallet for the masses, odds are that you either already have a Bitcoin wallet or you’re thinking about getting one.
Bitcoin wallets are a bit more complicated, especially if you are new to the crypto industry and have no idea what you are doing yet. Features such as security, multi-coin support, and cost play a bigger part in choosing the best wallet to store your cryptocurrency. Before you get started, make sure you understand the essentials, such as what a private key, public key, and recovery seed are and how to safely set up your Bitcoin cold wallet preferably offline, with pen and paper, using strong safekeeping measures afterward.
With less focus on appearance or convenience than the wallet in your pocket or handbag and a core emphasis on functionality, crypto wallets, also known as non-custodial or private wallets, act as your personal crypto bank, providing storage and safekeeping for your cryptocurrency portfolio’s private keys and providing unfettered access to your assets when needed. Bitcoin wallets are the embodiment of a core tenet in crypto ownership: Not your keys, not your crypto.
Thanks to the popularity of Bitcoin, there is a plethora of BTC wallets available, ranging from free to hundreds of dollars. An important distinction to make is whether your wallet is a cold wallet (offline) or a hot wallet (connected to the Internet) and whether it is a physical device (hardware wallet) or one that lives as an application on a desktop or mobile phone.
Crypto wallets come in many shapes and sizes, ranging from hardware wallets, shaped like USB sticks or smart cards, to mobile apps that can be linked to centralized exchanges or decentralized exchanges (DEX) that act as virtual storage units for your non-physical assets.
Choosing Right
The Importance of Choosing the Right Wallet
Personally managed Crypto wallets offer additional levels of safety over leaving your currency in a custodial wallet managed by an exchange. Services like PayPal (USA ONLY), Venmo(USA ONLY), Binance and the Coinbase wallets are examples of custodial wallets, meaning you are trusting the company to secure and hold your Bitcoin, as well as giving the exchange control of your private keys and, therefore, your Bitcoin. While in most cases your crypto is safe, disaster occasionally strikes and Bitcoin’s chequered past is littered with crypto hacks and scams, like Quadriga, Mt. Gox, Coincheck, Cryptopia, and many others, in recent years that cost exchange users billions of dollars.
Both centralized exchanges (CEX) and decentralized exchanges (DEX) are prone to hacks from malicious hackers, who are aware that huge volumes of crypto are swapped and purchased daily on these trading platforms. Because of these added risks with no benefits besides being easy to use as a beginner, custodial wallets are only recommended if you are making constant trades or using them as a short-term storage option.
Having your Bitcoin in a personal wallet, be it hot or cold, offers additional security that helps prevent theft, while still allowing you to actively purchase, sell, and swap cryptocurrencies.
So What's the Difference & What's the risk?
Differences Between Hot And Cold (Hard) Wallets
Just as hardware and software refer to physical and nonphysical computer parts, they refer to in what way you store your cryptocurrencies.
Hardware wallets, or cold wallets, store your seed phrase and private keys in a secure physical device and protect you against cyber attacks by air gaping your private key from the internet.
While the software counterpart for your cold wallet acts as a safe, still allowing your Bitcoin to exist on the blockchain and be staked, your physical device acts as a key for this safe. Each transaction requires your key, the physical device, to respond to the transaction, and your device has a pin for an additional layer of safety.
Hardware wallets are almost always the safest solution against security threats.
Hot wallets refer to virtual wallets that are online and facilitate the sending of cryptocurrencies to other users or exchanges. Being virtual means that your seed phrases and private keys are stored online and in your wallet’s browser or application, making them more susceptible to cybersecurity threats, where cold wallets use physical hardware like secure elements to protect this information.
Hot wallets are “hot” because they are always connected to the internet. This makes them more flexible and convenient to support a wider array of assets since there’s no hardware to deal with for integration purposes.
Confused yet? Don’t be.
Now, let’s start the hunt for the coldest and hottest Crypto wallets out there!
The 8 Best crypto Cold Wallets of 2023
The following hardware wallets are not listed in order of preference. You should take stock of your own personal needs first in terms of security, support, and platforms. For example, do you want your wallet with you every day, firing it up on the beach or at a restaurant, or do you want to keep it in a vault at home?
Do you just want to store some Bitcoin and ETH for the grandkids or do you want to stake Solana and buy up the hottest new projects on the Fantom ecosystem? Therefore, do your research on all of them and pick what works best for you.
Also, I’d like to clear up a very common misconception about owning a hardware wallet.
As electrical devices, you should ensure your cold wallet is stored safely, securely, and in the right environmental conditions (e.g. not too humid).
However, if your cold wallet gets lost, stolen, or damaged, your funds are OK (unless you have exposed your key or seed). The device only stores your “access codes” (for lack of a better word) and should protect them from unauthorized access with tools like a secure element or encrypted Bluetooth (where the wallet and phone must be within 10m from each other for example).
In case your hardware wallet stops working, simply restore access to your funds by using your recovery seed to create a new wallet (either on a new cold wallet or hot wallet). It’s as simple as that.
Buy our World Leading Cypher Technology (Photo shown on the left) to protect your crypto private key from theft.
1. SecuX W20 X TrendMicro Scam-alert Hardware Wallet
"Peace of mind, Multi-Layered security, compact and easy to use - Establishing Trust from the ground up" - See Westy's Unboxing overview here of the SecuX W20
Launching in 2018, with the W10, W20 and V20 Secux has won many prestigious global awards.
#1 GLOBAL CYBER SECURITY PARTNERSHIP
The SecuX W20 X Trend Micro is one of the first of its kind. Partnering with the # 1 Global Cyber Security Experts Trend Micro & the ChainSafer system, an integration that will bring secure and high-quality transactions. The AI-powered blockchain security solution alerts you against suspicious activities in real-time.
KEY FEATURES
Large 2.8" (7.12cm) touch screen with Dynamic keypad entry for added security. Certified CC EAL5+ Infineon Solid Flash CC EAL5+ Secure Element (SE) embedded chip. Offline & Unhackable,
Supporting for over 10,000 coins, tokens, and NFTs on over 300 chains. (note: this does not include Polygon, Solana, BNB smart chains - however they to have a product in their line up that can do these if you wish). Find out more here to see more Secux's cutting edge products and features.
Multiple layers of protection with ChainSafer - Its all about the TRUST!
Chainsafer offers unparalleled protection offering next level protection and awareness with web2 domain checks, Web3 Transaction Risk Analysis, to help users avoid phishing and scams. In the web3 arena, it conducts smart contract analysis for superior security and advanced online protection.
ChainSafer offers unparalleled protection utilizing sophisticated risk analysis to keep your Web3 assets secure. Through this risk analysis, Chainsafer guarantees transparency to empower you to make safe and informed decisions.. Find out more about Chainsafer direct from Trend Micro
FULLY INTEGRATED CRYPTO ECO SYSTEM
Integrate your wallet seamlessly with both MetaMask and WalletConnect to bridge the gap between your wallet and the wider crypto ecosystem
2. Ledger Nano X (Flexibility and Coin Support)
The Ledger Nano X is Ledger’s second-generation model of cold storage and is integrated with the Ledger Live platform to help you safely store and trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and over 1800 other coins and tokens.
It was market-leading Ledger’s first Bluetooth-powered hardware wallet. A small LED screen and two buttons allow you to navigate the menus and enter words and characters. All transactions initiated through Ledger Live require confirmation from the device.
Unlike most devices, including the affordable and super-popular Ledger Nano S, which require being plugged into your device, the best-selling Ledger Nano X connects with your IOS or Android device via Bluetooth. Your seed phrase is protected on the device, thanks to a PIN being necessary to use the device as well.
Please note that Ledger (established in 2014) has a bit of a history of being targeted for software-based phishing attacks and data breaches, so be very careful when dealing with correspondence or phone calls claiming to be from them.
Apart from that, there are a few good reasons why France’s Ledger sells the most hardware wallets, such as a well-earned reputation for excellence, an EAL6+ secure element, affordability, and massive coin support.
3. Trezor Model T (Coin Support and Open-Source)
The Trezor Model T is considered the first Bitcoin hardware wallet (2013) and is the Ledger Nano X’s biggest competitor, with a very loyal following.
While many of their features are the same, a big difference is that the Model T is fully open source, meaning all code used in the device is available for users to see, and is open to scrutiny. This unfortunately also results in the second big difference.
Trezor doesn’t use a secure element, a necessity for many users due to its anti-tampering and hacking capabilities, as an SE normally comes with closed-source technology. You can read more about their reasons in this blog post by their CTO Pavol Rusnak.
Trezor’s newest model also comes with a new user interface, Trezor Suite. Unlike the Ledger, which is a pleasant experience on both a mobile device and computer, Trezor Suite is designed to run best on your desktop. With support for more than 1,600 coins or tokens,
Trezor Suite allows transactions directly from its software through the company’s integrated exchange.
4. Ellipal Titan (Air-Gapped Security)
Ellipal Titan doesn’t use Bluetooth or USB technology to connect to a mobile app or computer, but rather uses air-gapped hardware wallet security.
Air-gapped security refers to having a device completely separated from other devices or systems.
The Ellipal Titan accomplishes this unique security feature by communicating through QR codes to sign transactions.
This safeguards your device from all WiFi, Bluetooth, and cellular attacks. If all of these security features fail, the last resort of security to preserve your stored coins and tokens is to activate its anti-tamper self-destruct feature.
This will preserve your Bitcoin holdings by deleting its stored private key to your account, allowing you to recover your coins later with your written down seed phrase at a later time.
If you would like a doomsday-prepping level of security, or simply as much peace of mind that your Bitcoin is safe, then the Ellipal Titan could be your preferred option of cold storage.
5. CoolWallet Pro (Bluetooth and Active Lifestyle)
The original CoolWallet was launched in 2016 as the world’s first Bluetooth-enabled mobile hardware wallet for Crypto storage.
Since then two further versions have been released, the CoolWallet S (for basic storage and decentralized trading) and the DeFi staking-focused CoolWallet Pro.
Unlike most cold wallets with cumbersome USB form factors, the CoolWallet looks and feels like a traditional credit card, with an eye-catching e-ink screen, and a lithium-ion battery that holds a charge for months. It’s tamper-proof, thanks to a patented cold compression printing technique and no space on the circuit to install malicious components during supply-chain attacks, and is very durable, waterproof, and bendable to a 15-degree angle.
The CoolWallet caters to Bitcoin investors who are on the go and like to carry their crypto discreetly with them in their actual wallets to retain 24/7 access to their assets in extreme weather conditions.
With an enhanced secure element (EAL 6+) that matches Ledger’s Nano X and several biometric security measures, including a physical button press to confirm a transaction, CoolWallet makes a strong case for some real estate in your actual wallet.
6. SafePal S1 (Air-Gapped and Affordable)
SafePal S1 is the first hardware wallet backed by the world’s biggest exchange Binance (which is also involved with Trust Wallet).
The S1 (which is currently experiencing some pandemic-induced stock shortages) uses a completely air-gapped (offline) signing mechanism and doesn’t use any WiFi, NFC, USB, or Bluetooth technology and safety measures like an EAL5+ secure element, self-destruct mechanism, and true random number generator. It supports a wide array of currencies and offers good value for users who don’t want anything too fancy.
Safepal is similar to Ellipal (both are air-gapped) but supports fewer assets at this time.
7. Keepkey
KeepKey is a trusted hardware supported with native ShapeShift support and features. It boasts a premium design, supporting a multitude of premier cryptocurrencies and providing easy access to them.
Meanwhile, the price should bring more smiles in both bull and bear markets, as KeepKey is one of the more affordable cold wallets on the market.