Almost every drained wallet we look at reaches a recovery phrase that was typed into
something, photographed, or left on a machine that later ran something it should not have. A hardware
wallet generates that phrase on a device which has never been online and never lets it leave, so the
most common route in simply does not exist. Here are the 11 we have reviewed and scored,
with the setup rules that matter more than the choice itself. No affiliate links and no paid placement.
MSP Score /100:85+ Excellent70 to 84 Very good55 to 69 Fair<55 Caution
How the wallet score works: each is rated out of 100 across
security (30), chains (20), usability (20), features (20), transparency (10). Higher is better. Every score is broken down on the
venue's own page, and the full method is on the methodology page.
The choice matters less
than the setup. The gap between any reputable device and no device is enormous. The gap
between two reputable devices is small. Buy directly from the manufacturer, write the phrase on paper
or steel and never photograph or type it, and verify every receiving address on the device screen
rather than in the software. Get those three right and the brand is close to a detail.
Buy directly from the manufacturer. Never a marketplace, never eBay, never an Amazon third
party seller. Devices arrive pre configured with a recovery phrase already known to the seller,
packaged convincingly, and the buyer usually cannot tell. If a device arrives with a phrase already
written down, or asks you to use a supplied one, it is compromised.
Write the phrase on paper or steel, and never photograph or type it. The moment it exists
in a photo, a note, an email or a password manager, the device has stopped protecting you. That is
the whole point of it.
Verify receiving addresses on the device screen, not in the software. Malware on a computer
can change what is displayed there. The small screen exists precisely so there is one display the
computer cannot alter.
What a hardware wallet does not protect you from
It stops your keys being extracted. It does not stop you approving something malicious, because if
you confirm a transaction on the device it gets signed. Approval drains work perfectly well against
hardware wallets, and most guides leave this out. The device plus the habit of checking what you are
signing is what protects you, which is what the
approval risk checker is for.
Questions people ask
Is a hardware wallet actually worth it?
If you hold an amount that would genuinely hurt to lose, yes, and it is the single biggest
improvement available to you. Almost every drain reaches a recovery phrase that existed somewhere a
computer could read it. A hardware wallet removes that route entirely.
Which one is best?
The honest answer is that the differences between reputable devices are small. What varies is which
chains they support, whether the software is fully open, whether the screen is large enough to read a
transaction comfortably, and whether they work air gapped with no cable at all. Filter on those above,
then spend your attention on setting it up correctly.
Can a hardware wallet still be drained?
Yes. It protects the keys, not your judgement. If you approve a malicious transaction on the device
it will be signed exactly as instructed.
What if I lose the device?
Nothing happens, provided you have the recovery phrase. The device is a way of using your keys, not
the keys themselves. Buy another, restore, and everything returns. This is also why the phrase must be
protected as carefully as the funds, because it is the funds.
Should I keep my recovery phrase in a password manager?
No. A password manager is online, syncs to a cloud and is exactly the kind of target worth breaking
into. Paper is better and steel is better still. Putting the phrase into software undoes the entire
reason for owning the device.
Updated weekly · scanned 22 August
38 new tokens launched this week
We seal the list every week and keep re-checking every token on it, so you can see what actually happened to them rather than only what is trading today.
Risk warning:
crypto assets are highly volatile and largely unregulated. You can lose everything you put in.
Nothing here is financial, investment or tax advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy or
sell any asset. Figures are typical and change, so always confirm on the venue's own site.
