KEY TAKEAWAYS:
— Private keys are your essential link to your blockchain assets; offline storage is the best way to secure those keys.
— Most entrants to Web3 start out using a software wallet – but later opt for a hardware device that secures their keys offline, and isolated from hackers.
— But the way you make the transition from software to hardware storage is incredibly important – getting it wrong means your hardware device will not protect your assets.
— Every asset you migrate needs a completely new address within the hardware device – with private keys that have never been online.
Since you started this course, you’ve learned the basics of Web3, of blockchain, and of crypto security. There’s just one thing left to do before you begin actively exploring the space: learn exactly how to secure and migrate crypto assets using a hardware device. Let’s tackle that process.
The First Step in Crypto: Secure Your Private Keys
Whether it’s Bitcoin, Ether, NFTs, or a brand new token from a project you just started backing, all of your crypto assets have one thing in common – they ALL have a private key.
If you are you’re looking to secure and migrate crypto on a Ledger device, you might think this simply means recovering your private keys on your device. But doing this would be a huge mistake.
In this article, Ledger Academy explains how to properly migrate crypto assets into a secure hardware wallet.
Software Wallets Should Always Be Secured by a Hardware Device
A hot wallet, or software wallet, may well conceal your private keys, in the sense that they’re stored within the interface and you won’t need to write them down. But managing your keys within an interface on a connected device leaves a gap for sophisticated digital hackers to target your data.
Once Online, Always Online
Once your keys or recovery phrase have been online, even for a second, they are no longer safe. Anyone might have accessed them remotely. There is simply no way of knowing.
From here, one thing should be clear: if your private key started its life online, simply moving it into a hardware wallet will not make it safe.
What you need is a new key that has never been on internet-connected devices.
Migrate Crypto From Your Software Wallet to a Ledger
The entire premise of a Ledger device is that it keeps your private keys completely offline. This is the central proposition of a hardware wallet. But, what the device cannon do is protect keys that have already been online.
Never use your seed phrase to recover a hot wallet on a hardware device. Doing this may well recover your existing blockchain assets, but it won’t secure them.
