Hardware wallets are all the craze right now. If you spend enough time in the crypto space, you will understand that keeping a significant amount of digital assets on an exchange is far too risky. It’s because even though you own the login details to your exchange account, theoretically, you do not own the cryptocurrencies inside your account dashboard. Crypto exchanges hold the private keys to all users’ accounts, so they are the owners of everybody’s cryptos.
Today, there are different crypto hardware wallets, the most popular being Ledger Nano S and TREZOR. However, one can make a hardware wallet himself and in this article we will list down the steps to do so.
Crypto hardware wallets and why they are important
Since crypto exchanges are not fit for the storage of digital assets, then the place to store them is crypto hardware wallets. The main advantage of crypto hardware wallets is that they are ‘cold.’ Cold means that the primary gateway of your digital assets and private keys is not used and revealed online.
Furthermore, the private keys of a cold wallet never leave the confines of the physical wallet, unlike hot wallets in which internet servers hold your cryptos.
One of the reasons why crypto-hardware wallets are crucial is that Centralized exchanges are prime targets to cyber attackers, and they get hacked too often. On the other hand, decentralized exchanges do not need users to relinquish control over their private keys.
You can use different cold-storage hardware offerings, and there is no shortage of options to keep your cryptocurrencies safe. But these hardware wallets can range from $50 to $200. Hence, this article is not about spending an average of $50 on a new hardware wallet. In the following, find out how to make a crypto hardware wallet yourself!
How to make a homemade cold hardware crypto wallet
Before making a crypto-hardware wallet, here the things you will need:
- Three to four USB Storage Flash Drive USB Storage Flash Drive AntDisk 3.0 Flash Drive 32GB Memory Stick.
- Axcrypt (Windows / OSX / Android / iOS) or VeraCrypt (Windows / OSX / Linux).
- A crypto wallet – You can use Ledger Nano S because it holds a good number of coins, but any crypto wallet would do. However, to know more about Ledger, take a look at this ledger wallet review and ledger nano s review.
Once all these have been put in place, here is how to make a homemade crypto wallet:
- Step 1: Format the USB Storage Flash Drives with GUIformat to ensure the USBs are well-formatted.
- Step 2: Download and install the encryption software for your PC. You can install wallets by moving to the USB that you want for your homemade hardware wallet.
- Step 3: Remove the nodes in your wallet. To do this, you need remote nodes. Make sure you use remote nodes that are compatible with your wallet. It is also essential to note that remote nodes allow you to use blockchain without downloading the whole blockchain into your PC. This will ensure your USBs have enough storage instead of downloading the blockchain, which generally occupies lots of storage space. It will also hasten up the process of making your DIY hardware wallet.
- Step 4: Once you have created your wallet, ensure you backup your storage phrase and vital data linked to your wallet.
- Step 5: Once you have correctly installed your wallet onto the USB, ensure you save relevant information related to your wallet into the USB.
- Step 6: The next step is to duplicate and backup copies of your USBs. You can make as many as possible. Have one saved in your local bank. You can give the other to a sibling close to you who does not know anything about cryptocurrencies.
- Step 7: The last step is to encrypt all your USBs – including the backup or duplicate ones you made. You need to know that if you want to use axcrypt, right-click on the USB drives and select encrypt.
Make sure you have your encryption phrase key saved in a secluded place that only you can access. It is recommended that you write them down and store them safely, like inside a book or any place in your home.
Conclusion
If you hold cryptocurrencies, protecting them from hackers should be your number one priority because digital assets are the number one target of cybercriminals.
If you follow the above-listed, you’ll be well on your way to successfully create a DIY crypto hardware wallet that supports many cryptocurrencies, without needing to be dependent on network connections to access your funds.
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