๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฒ: ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ
There has been a lot of talk about a recently disclosed problem with the Ledger hardware wallet, and whether itโs safe to use it for storing your #bitcoin offline.
Ultimately, this choice is up to you, but ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ.
More on this below๐
While hardware wallets in general can be an excellent method for storing your bitcoin long-term, ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ. Such devices allow for public verification of the deviceโs entire operation. In the spirit of "๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต, ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐บ," open source hardware wallets align with Bitcoinโs fundamental ethos.
Open source hardware wallets receive development contributions from the wider community, leading to ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐, ๐ฏ๐๐ด ๐ณ๐ถ๐
๐ฒ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐. Closed source wallets, on the other hand, rely solely on their own development team, limiting the pace and diversity of improvements.
They can also continue to be improved and iterated upon, when their parent company no longer supports it, or if they close down entirely. The broader community can continue to maintain and update the walletโs design and software, leading to an ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ that will be useful to more users.
There are several available options for fully open source hardware wallets, including the ColdCard by
@npub1wu4...3vw0, Passport by
@npub1s0v...pq6j, and the
@npub17ty...3mgl. There are other hardware wallets that are ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ open source, like the BitBox02, KeepKey, and even Ledger, but they each have elements that are closed source.
And today actually marks ๐ฒ๐
๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ since the ColdCard was first released!๐ While I am not endorsing one specific hardware wallet over another, it might be worth it to at least check it out on Coinkiteโs website, especially on its 6th birthday.๐
Open source hardware wallets provide superior transparency, security, and community support. Theyโre aligned with Bitcoinโs core principles, making them a preferable choice for user autonomy over closed source options.
Remember to give this a ๐๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ค, and ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ it with others, so they can also keep their bitcoin safe and offline.
And be sure to ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ this so you can reference it later, when buying a hardware wallet.
Know any other advantages of open source over closed source?
Let me know in the ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐โฌ๏ธ