What to consider when purchasing a hardware wallet and the best wallets to buy

Keeping your capital safe and secured has always been a focal point when it comes to cryptocurrency trading and investing. And for a while now people have been using digital wallets to help them in protecting their cryptocurrency so to speak. But the above wallets are usually software wallets and will now and then have flaws, so looking into purchasing hardware wallets have been seen as the best option.

To understand what a hardware wallet does is simple, a hardware wallet is a special type of bitcoin wallet which stores the user's private keys in a secure hardware device. The keys are mostly kept in a protected area of a microcontroller, and cannot be transferred out of the device in plaintext. The hardware wallet also resembles a standard USB device.

Why Get a Bitcoin Hardware Wallet?

There are a number of advantages that a hardware wallet has over a standard software wallet like a hardware wallet is completely immune to viruses and is difficult to downright impossible to be hacked. Software wallets are also an open source, so a user needs to validate the entire operation of the device constantly.

Hardware wallets are truth be told the best method of keeping your cryptocurrency as safe as possible, while still allowing you access to it. To access it a user just needs to connect the device to a computer and verify transactions on the wallet’s interface. Unlike software wallets, hardware wallets also give you more ownership over your keys because they’re stored on a dedicated chip that you can hold on your person.

The transactions are also verified on the hardware wallet itself by using the display panel and buttons part of the isolated system. And luckily even if you plug in your hardware wallet device into a computer that is affected by malicious software or viruses your private keys will not be compromised or be in any danger.

Which Devices to Consider

Knowing that a hardware wallet holds so much advantage over a typical software wallet, one can look into what will be the best hardware wallet to purchase. Doing some research can lead a person into making a wiser purchasing choice. According to the Bitcoin community and a wide range of different investors, there are a couple hardware wallets that have been voted the best wallets of 2017, these hardware wallets are a great purchasing option.

Ledger Nano S Bitcoin hardware wallet, allows the user to store different cryptocurrency coins as well like, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Zcash, Dash, Stratis, and, of course, Ethereum. With a very appealing design, the Ledger Nano S Bitcoin hardware wallet is also the most affordable.

Another great wallet is the Trezor Bitcoin hardware wallet. For some time now this wallet has been a close competitor of the Ledger Nano S wallet. Created by SatoshiLabs this is one of the most secured wallets out there. Resembling a calculator, this hardware wallet randomly generates nine digit pins and a 24-word recovery seed key making it inaccessible by non-users.

The KeepKey is also a popular wallet to purchase. Even though it isn’t that advanced as its competitors and is way bigger, it can still do a perfect job in providing complete security and accessibility. It also supports six cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin.

Another favourite for those interested in DApp access and holding a wide range of altcoins may be interested in the ELLIPAL Titan or Mini.

Buying a hardware wallet is necessary for today's unsecured digital networks, and as mentioned with enough research and background checks purchasing the right hardware wallet won’t be difficult. If you are on a search to find the most secure way to store your crypto, I highly recommend checking out our article where we break down The Best Hardware Wallets.