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Trezor vs Ledger- Which Cryptocurrency Hardware Wallet is Best for You?
Storing cryptocurrency safely is key. With so many stories about stolen cryptocurrency due to improperly stored private keys in internet browsers and email accounts, it’s absolutely essential that you take proactive steps to store your cryptocurrency long term. Trezor and Ledger are the two most-prominent hardware wallets that have been on the scene since 2013 and 2014 respectively, giving them a long history of performance. Hardware wallets are essential pieces of technology that any investor in cryptocurrency should use to safely store their cryptocurrency and the market has two prominent players in Trezor and Ledger.
The safest way to store your cryptocurrency is to take coins offline and put them on a hardware wallet. The hardware wallet is a physical device that stores the private key and protects it from being stolen. Trezor and Ledger are both called “cold wallets”, which are isolated from the internet. You may have heard of a “hot wallet”, which is connected with the internet without an air gap and is vulnerable to attack. The most famous cryptocurrent hack occurred at MTGOX, in which the service’s hot wallet was pilfered from, leading to massive losses as Bitcoin was moved in an unauthorized attack. When you use a cold wallet, which can be hardware or a paper wallet which simply has the private key, seed phrase or QR code on a piece of paper, you have security and ownership over your property.
Trezor and Ledger are both supported by excellent technology. The Ledger Nano X uses a two-chip system to keep the owner’s private key secure. The unit uses a “secure element” to protect the keys from both physical tampering and software attacks. Tampering with the unit circuitry and electromagnetic attacks are fended off using the second chip. The Trezor hardware model can use a microSD card to further protect the keys inside. The microSD card can be stored independently from the Trezor, adding an additional layer of physical security, which is a nice touch and a further gap.
As previously mentioned, Trezor and Ledger are the two most prominent hardware wallets on the market. Both are USB-style devices that can hold more than 1,000 cryptocurrencies and store the owner’s private key, thus protecting the owner from loss that results from hacking and pfishing. Storing cryptocurrency on exchanges exposes owners to loss from hacks, and as the old adage goes, if you don’t control your keys you don’t control your coins. The primary reason to own either a Trezor or Ledger hardware wallet is to safely control your cryptocurrency, and both units do a great job of this.
Ledger can be used with both Andriod and iOS operating systems while Trezor only works with Android systems. Both hardware wallets support plenty of coins, but Ledger supports a few more popular coins that Trezor does not, including XRP.
Both Trezor and Ledger have a long history of performance, offer the user security by holding their owner’s private key and are reasonably priced. Trezor was hacked in 2017, but the firmware of the product has been updated. Likewise, Ledger the company had a data breach, but the units themselves are secure.
As an investor in cryptocurrencies, I am considering a Ledger. The Ledger has a dual-chip encryption mode and is bank-secure. It can also work on iOS, which is good for me as an iPhone user. Either hardware wallet would be a good choice. The Ledger Nano X costs about $150, and has a wide range of supported cryptocurrencies. Which hardware wallet do you prefer?
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