Hardware wallets are devices built to store your Bitcoin or other crypto in an offline environment. It is best never to connect these devices to a laptop or computer that is or has even been connected to the internet. It turns out that the popularity of hardware wallets has received a boost, especially during this crypto winter.
How did that happen?
The explanation for the popularity of hardware wallets at the moment seems simple. If you’ve been following the news of the past few months, you’re no doubt aware that many major players in the industry are struggling with financial problems. These problems are so great that parties such as the American Celsius have had to block the assets of their users. During the bull market of 2020 to 2021, these parties have taken too much risk and that is putting their customers in a hard place in this bear market.
For many people, this is undoubtedly a reminder that it is important to take control of your crypto yourself. After all, Bitcoin was conceived as a currency that you can keep completely under your own management. With a bank or stock exchange platform you always run the risk that something goes wrong in the company and then your protection is often hard to find. A stock exchange platform can be hacked, but also get into financial trouble. Many people now see that and apparently flock to hardware wallets to solve that problem.
Ledger turnover increased by a factor of 4.5
Hardware wallet manufacturers are benefiting greatly from the failure of the industry’s major asset managers. Including Ledger indicates that their turnover has increased by a factor of 4.5 after the bankruptcy of Celsius. Ledger is not the only one, Trezor and SafePal have also recorded a significant increase in turnover in recent times. A Trezor representative tells Decrypt that they see that “users are waking up” and are no longer entrusting their crypto to the centralized players.
In principle, this is a good development for the industry. In this way, people become aware of the power of crypto and the possibility to keep their own wealth completely under their own management. The downside is that you need to know exactly what you’re getting into. If you make a mistake, there is no customer service available to reverse a transaction. Once a transaction has been processed in the blockchain, it is impossible to cancel it. Losing access to your wallet can also be fatal. A hardware wallet is therefore not always the solution, especially for beginners.