Ever since Bitcoin has rocketed to $6,100 (as of this writing), I already wanted to have a bitcoin hardware wallet for my cryptocurrencies. Way back in August when I bought Bitcoin at $500 +/-, it was still small. But now it’s already hard to entrust your entire money to an online wallet such as coins.ph. Hacking such was what happened to Mt. Gox (The Biggest Bitcoin Heist) in 2011, and the Bitfinex hack in 2016. Recently, more online wallets have increased their security levels. I am already spreading out my Bitcoins to several online wallets, plus now, with this recently bought hardware wallet. Spread your money into multiple baskets.
I’ve recently bought a Ledger Nano S Hardware Wallet courtesy of my friends at work. Here in the Philippines, it would normally cost around 6,000 to 6,500 pesos, but I got mine for only 4,150 pesos. Shipping cost was already shouldered by a friend, thus making me pay only for the actual product plus customs and taxes.
I was so excited to try it out. You must first install the Chrome Extension of the Ledger Wallet Bitcoin. After that, just follow the instructions here, on how to configure your device.
Once you’ve setup your pin and your recovery phrases, you are good to go! For this, I tested out sending 1,000 pesos from my other wallet. It took 5 days for the transaction to be confirmed. My advise next time would be to use medium/high priority next time in choosing a transaction fee.
I had to wait for several days for this transaction to be confirmed. Overall, I like this new gadget because of its ease of use. My only problem now is how to keep this secured since I’m prone to losing things. If you already have a large amount of Bitcoin, perhaps you might want to reconsider getting your own hardware wallet already.