Why You Need A Hardware Wallet

Because if you keep your money in a software wallet, or God forbid: on an exchange, then eventually that’s exactly what’ll happen! If you want to take this crypto business seriously, you want to invest and you want to be responsible, you need a hardware wallet. In crypto, rug pulls, scams and hackers are inevitable; you might as well protect yourself from as much of it as possible!

What’s a Hardware Wallet?

A hardware wallet is basically a really secure USB stick, that only you can get into, just for your crypto. Unlike software wallets (MetaMask is the perfect example), a hardware wallet is a physical device that stores your private keys offline. Private keys are the passwords to your crypto—if someone gets them, they’ll steal your money.

Wow, that would be financial ruin!

And while it is possible for you you to physically lose your hardware wallet, it’s not very likely, because they don’t really go anywhere. Once they’re set up, you just leave them somewhere safe at home!

There are heaps of different brands out there, some of which we’ll get into later, but some of the more popular wallets include Ledger and Trezor.

They’re small, portable, and they keep your crypto safe.

For the same reason you need a bank account.

You can’t go through life carrying your life savings on you—it’s not practical, and it’s pretty risky. Holding money in a software wallet, like MetaMask, is the equivalent of carrying cash in a wallet. It’s fine, but you don’t really want to be walking around with thousands and thousands of dollars on you. Given enough time, eventually it will go missing.

There’s a bunch of good reasons for a hardware wallet, but first the biggest reason to get a hardware wallet is security. Software wallets are connected to the internet, which makes them vulnerable to hackers. Hardware wallets, on the other hand, keep your private keys offline. Even if your computer gets infected with malware, your crypto stays safe.

If you lose your private keys or someone steals them, your crypto is gone forever. That’s the same as someone finding your PIN number. It could happen, but it isn’t very likely.

Plus, using a hardware wallet will keep you safe(r) from all the bad actors out there. Because unfortunately, scams and hackers are absolutely everywhere; despite crypto maturing and becoming more mainstream, there’s no signs that these hacks are going to let up. A hardware wallet lets you sleep at night knowing your crypto is safe.

Not necessarily!

In fact, keeping some crypto on an exchange or in a soft wallet has its advantages—we just wouldn’t recommend keeping a LOT on there. That’s because software wallets (MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Phantom etc) are great for small amounts of crypto, like we said earlier. They’re also great for frequent, quick trading. But for long-term storage and particularly for large amounts of crypto, they’re just not as secure as a hardware wallet.

Remember:

Software Wallet: Your everyday wallet. Perfect for carrying a little cash.

Hardware Wallet: Your bank vault. Ideal for storing your life savings.

So hopefully that’s enough to convince you, because trust us, there is no worse feeling than waking up and finding your wallet drained. The only thing more gut wrenching than losing all your precious, hard earned FrogWifHat coins to a phishing scam - is investing in it in the first place.

And before we forget, here are those wallet options we were talking about. Honestly, their functionality is essentially the same - but do a bit of research before you buy, to make sure that it meets any specific needs you might have.