Hardware Wallet Demand Soars

As hundreds of thousands of new users pour into crypto trading every day, exchanges have begun blocking new user registrations. And now some of the most popular hardware wallets have been sold out.

While the majority of new users initially keep their coins on exchanges, more and more people are realizing that this is not necessary the best strategy.

Since the Mt. Gox hack in 2014, when $460 million of user’s funds was stolen from this Japanese exchange, cryptocurrency enthusiasts have been a lot more savvy with their private keys.

This is especially true for long-term holders, who have been turning to paper and hardware wallets.

Hardware wallets hold the all important private keys locked away on a USB drive and protected by an access PIN. They are a lot more practical than paper wallets for usage and day-to-day transactions.

As the value of cryptocurrencies grows, so does the danger of losing them due to a hack, virus, phishing or other type of malicious attack.

Hardware wallets promise an additional level of security compared to software wallets running on desktop computers. It is no wonder than that have been increasing in popularity.

The private keys and digital signatures needed to transfer coins or tokens are generated via these wallets; rather than being processed by your desktop or laptop computer; which can be easily infected with key loggers, viruses and other types of malware.

During the set up of any wallet, you will need to write down the seed words (recovery phrase) on a piece of paper and store it in a safe place. It is highly recommended to make at least 2-3 copies and keep them in different locations.  It is recommended to split them up as well, so no one location holds all seed words together.

The best thing about hardware wallets is that your private keys are kept offline. So there is no possibility of getting hacked. Even in the case of theft or damage to your hardware wallet, you can restore your coins and tokens with the recovery phrase.

If you want to store Bitcoin & other cryptocurrencies securely for the long-term, then you should definitely invest in a hardware wallet.

There are a few restrictions at the moment though. Not all coins are supported by hardware wallets. Many have gone out of stock and will not be available for months. According to our sources the sales of the most popular wallets have soured by over 300-times in the last few months of 2017.

Generally all Ethereum based coins and Bitcoin are supported. But for other coins/tokens, be sure to check that they are actually supported before buying a particular wallet.

The huge influx of new users means that the blockchain technology is experiencing massive global adoption. However it also brings with it additional security challenges.

Due to the immutability of blockchain technology, there are no second chances in the crypto sphere. So be sure to take your crypto-security very seriously.