Top 10 Cryptocurrency Hardware Wallets Of 2020

Top 10 Cryptocurrency Hardware Wallets Of 2020
Top 10 Cryptocurrency Hardware Wallets Of 2020
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Security is an important thing to consider before buying and storing cryptocurrencies. Hackers can steal your funds from exchanges or online wallets. With so many options available to choose from when shopping for a crypto wallet, it’s important to know the advantages and disadvantages they all offer.

With a growing number of options available for cryptocurrency storage, it is fundamental to find the right combination of performance, security, and convenience for your specific needs. In this article, you will find the best hardware wallets (also called cold storage), with a brief summary of how they function and where to find more information.

What Are The Types Of Cryptocurrency Wallets?

Before jumping into describing each wallet, it’s important that you know the different types of cryptocurrency wallets available to storage Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP, Litecoin (LTC) and other altcoins. There are five types of storage available:

  • Online
  • Mobile: downloadable and adapted apps for smartphones
  • Desktop or software: they are installed on your desktop
  • Paper: is an offline mechanism for storing cryptos and the process involves printing the private keys and addresses onto paper
  • Cold or Hardware: it is often described as a USB drive which allows for secure storage of cryptos, offline.

What Is A Hardware (Cold) Wallet?

While some people are happy storing their cryptos in software or desktop wallets, others want to use safer wallets. If you want to store cryptocurrencies for the long term, it is recommendable to use hardware wallets given to the great security they offer, even when it comes to daily transactions.

Hardware wallets, also known as cold wallets or USB wallets, store users’ private keys on a device, usually a USB drive. Private keys are random words generated to access crypto wallets in case you fail your password multiple times, forget it or if your crypto wallet gets stolen or lost. With this type of wallet, users can receive and send cryptocurrencies in a more secure way. One of the biggest advantages this wallet can offer is the fact that most of the time is offline, providing a higher level of security available for your digital assets. Integration with third-party apps and web interfaces are also available in some cases, providing users with a higher range of possibilities.

Even though hardware wallets are usually more expensive, the investment pays off by providing users with the safest option to store cryptos. Even if you lose your hardware wallet, you can always restore all of your stored cryptocurrencies in a new wallet with your private security keys. This type of wallet is usually recommended for people who have high amounts of cryptos saved.

Top 10 Best Hardware Wallets for Bitcoin And Other Cryptocurrencies

Below you will find the 10 best hardware wallets available in the market in 2020, which are being developed by companies with high levels of security and a friend interface.

1. Ledger

Relevant Features:

Review:

Ledger SAS is headquartered in Paris and San Francisco. The design of its products has a European, elegant, and attractive touch. Some of its main features offer a seed key (recovery seed) for the retrieval of cryptocurrencies, a user-friendly OLED interface and a flash unit with two buttons on the side to navigate the interface.

This company offers 2 different models of wallets, catering to specific crowds. In comparison, the Nano X offers the storage of up to 100 apps, instead of the 200 that the Nano S offers. Additionally, the Nano X allows offers a Bluetooth connection to manage crypto on-the-go, while the Nano S doesn’t.

2. Trezor

Relevant Features:

  • Price:
    • Trezor One: $36 (approx.)
    • Trezor Model T: $164 (approx.)

Cryptocurrencies: full list of cryptocurrencies supported by Trezor
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Website:  trezor.io

Review:

Created by SatoshiLabs, Trezor was the first secure Bitcoin hardware wallet in the world with OLED interfaces, and as of today they offer two models. The nine-digit randomly generated pins and a 24-word recovery start key ensures security in case the device is lost, damaged or stolen. Its purpose is to store private keys and sign transactions offline.

Trezor has a reputation for providing first-class security, protecting your assets against virtual and physical theft. What Trezor lacks in style makes up for it in security. Even if your PC or laptop is compromised with malware, your private keys will still be secured with Trezor.

Trezor also offers 2 products to cater to the most demanding crowds. The Trezor Model T supports more cryptocurrencies that the Trezor One supports. In addition, the Model T has a touchscreen that provides a security advantage during the recovery seed process, while the Trezor One only offers a two-button screen. The Model T also has a USB-C connector and a MicroSD card slot, a faster processor, and an operating system.

3. KeepKey

Relevant Features:

Review:

Developed by shapeshift.io, a relatively new company in the cryptocurrency market which is dedicated to both the development of hardware wallets and the integration of cryptocurrency exchanges inside crypto-wallets.

It doesn’t offer any advantages when compared to Ledger or Trezor. It offers support for fewer cryptocurrencies and the USB drive is at least twice as big and heavy as its competitors. It offers the possibility to access the wallet with a pin code and generally works the same way as any of the other wallets but with a simpler user interface.

4. BitBox02

Relevant Features:

  • Price: $110 (approx.)
  • Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum (ETH) and ERC-20 tokens.
  • Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
  • Website: shiftcrypto.ch/shop

Review:

BitBox is a hardware wallet with a design similar to a USB stick, built by the Swiss company Shift Cryptosecurity in 2017. Backups are automatically saved onto the complimentary micro SD card and the BIP-39 mnemonic seed can optionally be displayed to copy to paper.

The BitBox02 can also be used as a second-factor authenticator (FIDO compliant U2F) to secure your accounts on Google, Facebook, Dropbox, GitHub and more. In addition, the software has compatibility with the Tor and Tails operating systems, and claims to be built under the Swiss ideals of “quality, privacy and without backdoors”.

5. OpenDime

Relevant Features:

  • Price: $45 (approx.) (3 units)
  • Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin
  • Platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, Chrome OS
  • Website: opendime.com

Review:

Developed by Coinkite, OpenDime is a wallet focused on functioning as a secure device for daily transactions as if it were cash. This wallet is not recommended for crypto-holders or people who tend to keep large amounts of crypto-assets. Opendime is a small USB stick that allows you to spend Bitcoin like a dollar bill. Pass it along multiple times. Connect to any USB to check balance. Unseal anytime to spend online. Trust no one.

6. CoolWallet S

Relevant Features:

  • Price: $99 (approx.)
  • Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, and ERC20 Tokens
  • Platforms: Android y iOS
  • Sitio web: coolwallet.io

Review:

Developed by CoolBitX, CoolWallet S is a cool wallet designed to resemble a credit card with the goal of being used to make daily payments. This wallet works with a mobile application that connects via Bluetooth. The second released version of this hardware is waterproof.

7. Blockchain Lockbox

Relevant Features:

  • Price:
    •  $59 (approx.)
  • Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Stellar (XLM)
  • Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
  • Website: https://www.blockchain.com/lockbox

Review:

Developed by blockchain.com, the LockBox is a USB Type Micro-B hardware wallet designed specifically by Ledger for Blockchain. Blockchain has joined forces with Ledger to bring you the best of both worlds., featuring custom Blockchain firmware that allows easier access to the most widely used web wallet. It showcases a LED Display powered by your computer, which shows your balance when needed.

This crypto wallet is also FIDO Certified, which means that it can be used as a security key for Google, GitHub, Dropbox, and more. Furthermore, it requires no additional software to function since it connects with your Blockchain Wallet. It also offers a dual-chip architecture for extra security that guarantees cryptographic protection.

8. Coldcard

Relevant Features:

  • Price: $120 (approx.)
  • Cryptocurrencies:  Bitcoin
  • Platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac
  • Website: coldcardwallet.com

Review:

Also developed by Coinkite, Coldcard MK2 is one of the first cryptocurrency wallets developed to implement partially signed transactions (PSBT), proposed in the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 174 (BIP 174). This is why this wallet does not require additional software to perform transactions or use a client.

Cryptocurrencies and data are stored on a MicroSD card, but the secret keys are stored on a secure chip. It works with 24 security words. Coldcard has physical buttons and a small screen. The device is similar in size to a credit card. Users can modify some features of the wallet, since the software is open source.

Need more technical information?

If you need specialized technical information about any of the wallets described above, check the FAQ of each product by entering their website. A lot of the companies offer Youtube videos with reviews to also help you decide. You can also take a look at hardware-wallets.net for great detailed reviews of each product.