What is a Hardware Wallet, and why should I care?

So first off, you may not be familiar with the concept of a hardware wallet, also referred to as a digital wallet. You can think of it just as a way to store your digital currency. Just as you have a physical wallet to store physical money (and those plastic things we call money), a digital wallet allows you to store your digital cryptocurrencies. You can purchase crypto without the use of a wallet, and many users still do this today, storing their purchased crypto in a web wallet or on the exchange itself.

However, this is extremely dangerous and ultra-risky since the concept of cryptocurrency is very new to the masse,s and widespread adoptin, and regulations have not happened yet. Many exchanges may very well have issues with growth and regulations in the future, and some may shut down completely. A hardware wallet allows you to hold your currencies offline securely.

What makes a Hardware Wallet like the Nano Ledger S more secure?

There is one primary difference that makes a hardware wallet more secure than any online or exchange-based wallet, and that is because of the private digital key. When you create an address with any cryptocurrency, you have 2 keys that are created at the same time. You have what is known as a public key and a private key.

With a public key, you can think of it as the mail slot on your front door; people can send you crypto using your public key, but cannot control how it is delivered to your address. With your private key, it is the key to your front door of your house. Not only can you receive crypto, but you control “everything in the house,” so to speak.

This means that you can always restore your account even in the even the wallet fails. Hands down, if you are serious about crypto,o you need to secure your digital currencies with a hardware wallet.

Does the Nano Ledger work with all Cryptocurrencies?

Well, no, it does not. And this is one of the most important things you should research first in a hardware wallet. With the NanoLedgerr, there is a large number of cryptocurrencies that itsupportst right out of the box, and the Ledger team is constantly adding new supported coins.

 To save you some time, here is a complete listing of the supported cryptocurrencies for the Nano Ledger. If you hold major cryptos like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Neo, or Bitcoin Cash, you will be all set with this device.

How many wallets can the Ledger Nano have simultaneously?

 There is a limit to the current number of wallets that can have, which is 5 on the device at the same time. This means that if you had a wallet for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Stellar, and Bitcoin Cas,h you would have to remove one before you could add another such as Dogecoin, or purchase another device to hold the additional crypto.

Should I be concerned about security with the Ledger Nano?

The answer is yes, always… no matter what, security should be one of the first things on your mind in this digital world. Ledger, the company that produces the Ledger Nano and Ledger Nano S series, has just landed $75millionn in additional funding to increase the security of its Nano series digital wallets. This shows great promise that they will be putting even more attention to security, hardening their interface, platform, and also education and training for their users.

Can you transfer from Coinbase to it?

With the growing number of exchanges, Coinbase is getting a lot of attention these days. You will be happy to know that you can transfer your digital assets from Coinbase into the Nano Ledger.

How can I buy a Nano Ledger Safely?

Well, at the moment, they are out of stock in most places, including the Ledger marketplace. But it is still possible to find them available online. If you purchase online, make sure you reset the device even if it is new to eliminate the possibility of a hack. Recently, a man purchased a Ledger wallet that was waalrealreadyupon the device. He then purchased a very large sum of crypto and moved it to the device. Once the attacker noticed the transaction going into the wallet, they moved the money immediately out of the account, and he lost everything.

The device itself for the internals has no moving parts and is durable, le so in reality, it should last for some time; however, with the device being so new, I could not find enough data to determine an expected lifespan of the device. I would treat it similarly to a thumb drive or SSD drive since the underlying tech is the same.  In theory, the more that you use it, the higher the probability of failure over a longer period. I would estimate 5-7 years of regular daily use.

What if the Nano Ledger S crashes with all my crypto on it?

So, there are precautions you should take as soon as you receive your Nano Ledger device. One of these is to secure and store your recovery words (26 of them) when you set up your wallet. This means that no one will have access to the private recovery words, and it will allow you to completely recover your wallet in the event of a device crash or failure. If you have a safe or another secure area, such as a deposit box, it would be a great idea to secure these words in that area so no one else knows them.

What if Ledger, as a company, closes? Then what happens?

Your coins and tokens are still safe since they do not control your private keys, and you continue on. If you are storing your coins online on an exchange or in a web wallet, this is very dangerous, and there is norecoursee in the same scenario.

How is the support for the device?

I have nothing but great things to say about the team at this point, as support is very responsive, updates are on point, and the documentation online is excellent for just about any procedure that you need to perform on the unit.