𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲: 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲

There has been a lot of talk about a recently disclosed problem with the Ledger hardware wallet, and whether it’s safe to use it for storing your #bitcoin offline.

Ultimately, this choice is up to you, but 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥.

More on this below👇

While hardware wallets in general can be an excellent method for storing your bitcoin long-term, 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺. Such devices allow for public verification of the device’s entire operation. In the spirit of "𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺," open source hardware wallets align with Bitcoin’s fundamental ethos.

Open source hardware wallets receive development contributions from the wider community, leading to 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝘅𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. 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 wallet’s design and software, leading to an 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿-𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 that will be useful to more users.

There are several available options for fully open source hardware wallets, including the ColdCard by nostr:npub1wu4aye7ll0lnrrg638e90sehzsgpzx5t39t3mwl05aa0d0ap08esdz3vw0, Passport by nostr:npub1s0vtkgej33n7ec4d7ycxmwt78up8hpfa30d0yfksrshq7t82mchqynpq6j, and the nostr:npub17tyke9lkgxd98ruyeul6wt3pj3s9uxzgp9hxu5tsenjmweue6sqq4y3mgl. There are other hardware wallets that are 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 open source, like the BitBox02, KeepKey, and even Ledger, but they each have elements that are closed source.

And today actually marks 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝟲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 since the ColdCard was first released!🎉 While I am not endorsing one specific hardware wallet over another, it might be worth it to at least check it out on Coinkite’s website, especially on its 6th birthday.😉

Open source hardware wallets provide superior transparency, security, and community support. They’re aligned with Bitcoin’s core principles, making them a preferable choice for user autonomy over closed source options.

Remember to give this a 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙, and 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 it with others, so they can also keep their bitcoin safe and offline.

And be sure to 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸🔖 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 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀⬇️