Management of assets and wallets

BEGINNERS & HELP
#1

Hi all,

is there any specific course where the experts give some advice on the best way to manage wallets etc.

I have some BTC and ETC currently in coinbase right now but soon though I would like to start investing in some other assets like Dai, MCO, Enjin etc. Obviously some of these cryptos are only available on some wallets while not on others.
With this in mind is there any advice on the best way to manage all ones crpytos without completely losing track of the wallets they all exist in etc ?

thanks
E

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#2

A hardware wallet such as Ledger Nano S should be capable of storing all of those coins/tokens. I don’t think we have a specific course on storing cryptocurrencies. In the Blockchain and Bitcoin 101 course, we briefly went over on how we can store cryptocurrencies. Setting up a hardware wallet shouldn’t be hard, as long as you know the basics of how bitcoin and blockhain works you should be good. If however you do find yourself stuck when setting up hardware wallet, don’t hesitate to contact me or any of our moderators. We are here to provide help and support. :wink:

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#3

thanks @Mauro…

actually my question was in the context of software wallets. I have been using BRD and Enjin Wallet but just wanted to know a good strategy for keeping things in order i.e. how the experts do it :slight_smile:

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#4

I see. I haven’t been using a software wallet since almost 2 years. I highly recommend you think about getting a hardware wallet. I did however use Exodus in the past. I liked their interface, but you would have to check what kind of coins/tokens they can hold.

An expert would most probably use a hardware wallet. :man_shrugging:

I do have an enjin wallet but only because of the enjin assets. :smiley:

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#5

Which wallet do you use ? I am paranoid about battery failing etc. Is there a way to regenerate keys etc ?
Would really love if someone did a tutorial on best practices for this stuff as I feel that lost keys etc will be a big issue for newbs going forward

1 Like
#6

I use Ledger Nano S. Of course you can recover the keys if the device fails. You don’t rely on the device itself. Just save the seed phrase and don’t lose it. Let me explain.

I believe the ledger nano s generates a seed phrase with a standard known as BIP39. This means that even if the device fails you would be able to recover it with any wallet that supports this recovery phrase. It could be another Ledger Nano S or a completely different wallet. It can even be a hot wallet as well. However, if you do get a hardware wallet please don’t enter your seed phrase into a hot wallet. By doing this you would have removed the whole point of the hardware wallet by allowing your keys to be in the hot wallet. (You always have to look at the weakest link, just like in electricity.)

Here is a tool to get your private keys even if you can’t find a wallet with the BIP39 recovery phrase function: https://forkdrop.io/using-ian-colemans-bip-39-tool

Be careful when you recover your private keys. If your hardware device fails, the best way to recover your keys is to get a new hardware wallet and restore it that way.

I hope this makes you feel safer. Hardware wallets are considered to be the safest way to store your cryptocurrencies. :smiley:

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#7

thanks @Mauro, I think I will look into a Ledger Nano X, it seems to be the one getting all the ratings right now.

I was just thinking there… lets imagine crypto goes fully mainstream and maybe even the global reserve currency and everyone owns either soft or hard wallets.

Doesn’t that mean that every single person in the world will have to store their 12 secret words somewhere probably in their house. Isn’t this going to be a seriously attractive situation for armed/threatening burglers/thieves?
Maybe there will be a better way by then, maybe traditional banks will be converted to just hold private keys for people instead of green paper :slight_smile:

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#8

Oh yeah. Definitely go for that one if you can. I might actually get that one myself now. Completely forgot about it :smiley:

They would have to save it somehow. They could even remember it in their brain. :wink: But on the real note, most people may still like to pay for a service that will hold the private keys for them. This is likely to happen. But you are always free to be your own bank if you want to. You can also have both as well. Either way it gives us much more options than today. A hardware wallet can be embedded in to the phone.

Great questions either way. I really enjoyed talking to you these past few days. :raised_hands:

2 Likes
#10

I actually came to the forum to pose a very similar question.
As far as I understand, whenever you lose, break or whatever happens to your hardwallet, you can always buy a new one and restore it with the passphrase. The technology behind that is still unclear to me to be honest but for the time being, I will just believe till i dig into it.

How does the address attribution work on each ledger? Who assigns the address to each device?How can the device be connected to your personal addresses? I mean, imagine I get my brother’s ledger (that has never been used or that for any reason I need to get access to to get my assets temporarily) how can the device reconnect my seed phrase to my private keys/assets?
I assume you need to be connected to the internet, if yes to what servers? This is still unclear to me!
Coming back to the original question, do you need to be connected to the ledger to just check your performance on the app? how to track your assets on the go if you keep your ledger at home?
And if you do not want to keep all your assets on the ledger, how to keep track of the hot wallets you may have (for many reasons one may have several, right)?

Thank you in advance

1 Like
#11

A hardware wallet generates the seed phrase with a certain standard.

Because of that, you can recover your funds with a new hardware wallet or with any wallet that supports a standard such as BIP39. You don’t have to be connected to the internet. Its just a little program that will always give you the same keys if you input the same seed phrase.

To check your balance without the hardware wallet, you can simply use any wallet and connect the hardware device once. The wallet you use will now know which public addresses the hardware wallet has access to. This way the wallet can keep track of the funds without the actual hardware wallet.

If you wish to use a hot wallet, you would want to make a new wallet. DO NOT import the hardware seed into the hot wallet. This would make the hardware wallet pointless. Having a couple of % into a hot wallet may not seem as a bad idea if you send cryptocurrencies from time to time. A hot wallet will encrypt the private key when it is not in use, but will have to decrypt it in order to sign a transaction.

Hope this makes much more sense now. If you have furthure questions, feel free to message me back. :slight_smile:

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#12

I bought an Ledger Nano X last week. Once I wrote down my 24 words I completely reset it to make sure that I could regenerate the wallet. So I was reasonably confident after that.

One other thing I tried was to have it import the 12 word seed from my BRD wallet just to see if it would work (on startup it asks if your seed is 12, 18 or 24 words). To my surprise one of the words (I think it was either artist or goddess) was not in the selectable list in the Nano x, so was a bit confused about that

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#13

That is indeed weird. It should have it.Try again if you want.

List of all English words for BIP39 can be found here: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt

Ledger suports BIP 39: https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005297709-Export-your-accounts

BRD Wallet seems to be using BIP 39.

I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. :smiley:

1 Like
#14

So here I am, thank you for useful insight, I have been reading a lot on hard wallets and now thing are clearer. I am going to get myself one to start and next step is to learn how to use dexes etc. I haven’t explored much as I have been working a lot lately…I think then I will need to get straight on the Defi101 to understand how to use metamasks and dexes…as I do not know how they work as of now…mmm

#15

Just replying here to say following this discussion was very helpful. I had not heard the term “hot wallet” before. I’ve just received my Trezor one but the packaging was all mangled and the seal broken. I’ve contacted Trezor to advise on the situation but assuming the device works as normal, does not have anything installed on it, would I have anything to worry about?

#16

btw, lets say I have my 24 word phrase backed up and I loose my ledger nano x.

Then do I always need a new ledger to retrieve my keys and coins or can I import those words into another cold/hot wallet ?

#17

Hi @Mauro, thanks for all ur knowledge talking with @Emmett, I just bought the Ledger Nano X, its awesome… I am just starting the training & they are talking about Electrum? Since I have the Ledger, I don’t need a second kind of Software wallet, correct? Getting used to the Ledger, the software, I am learning, that whenever u make changes you have to connect ur ledger… but only then right? Meaning only when I MOVE crypto (bitcoin or whatever things I own - sorry newbie… lol) to my hardware Ledger does that have to be connected. Other than that, you put away somewhere safe & you can monitor all of ur crypto through the Ledger Live app, correct? But when ever I buy or trade, I have to pull the Nano out & connect?? Hopefully that all makes sense. Thank you for ur input! Nicole :smiley:

#18

Great Qn for us newbs Emmett!

@Mauro - appreciate your replies, thank you. Was hoping you may assist in understanding where to store the alt coins that the LedgerX doesn’t yet have support for (mostly the newer alts that @ivan focuses on in youtube. So, the LedgerX will hold many well known coins, however when i check for many of the alts Ivan discusses, the LedgerX doesn’t have ability to store them…so where is best place for these alts to be stored, if not on hotwallets?

thanking you in advance :slight_smile:

#19

Thank you @Mauro for the link :+1:
So as I understand correctly, firstly the private key is generated and then a seed phrase is derived from it?

#20

You don’t need a new Ledger, you can use any hot/cold wallet to restore your funds.

#21

I have 2 separate account types a personal one and a group one for myself and coworkers. I currently have mew - personal, coinbase wallet- group, and voyager - personal. I will be purchasing a hardware wallet for my personal crypto.

My question is which wallet app is the best to use? its a bit overwhelming because there are many to choose from. I am on an IOS system. Any help will be greatly appreciated.