Overview

The Ledger Nano X is Ledger’s newest hardware wallet.

The main idea behind the device is that it is the easiest way to secure your Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

After testing the device, I can confirm that this cryptocurrency hardware wallet is very easy to use.

In fact:

It’s the easiest, most smooth setup I’ve ever experienced with a hardware wallet.

And I’ve tested every single hardware wallet.

What’s in the Box

The Ledger Nano X comes nicely packaged and includes the following items:

• Ledger Nano X
• 1 USB C cable
• Keychain for device
• 3 recovery sheets
• Ledger stickers

Price

The Ledger Nano X is priced at $119. This also includes free shipping to almost every country.

Ledger is currently offering 20% off all devices. Just click this link and use the code LedgerLive-BBWW at checkout.

Here is the Nano X compared to the other three popular hardware wallets:

Device Design

Here are some pictures of the Nano X.

The device when you open the box:

The Ledger Nano X screen is much bigger than Ledger’s previous hardware wallet, the Ledger Nano S. The buttons are much bigger as well and easier to click:

Background on Ledger - A Bitcoin Security Company

Ledger has been creating hardware for Bitcoin security since 2014.

Since then it has received over $85 million in funding from some of the world’s top investors. Its most recent raise was for $75 million in January 2018.

According to Ledger’s website, they have sold over 1,100,000 Ledger Nano S devices and have clients in over 165 countries:

Ledger Nano X Supported Coins

The Ledger Nano X supports a wide range of coins.

To add a new coin to your device, just go to “Manager”. From there you can tap the blue install button on any coin you want to add to your Nano X:

Ledger Nano X vs Ledger Nano S

The Ledger Nano X is new, so what’s the difference?

The Ledger Nano X costs $119 vs $59 for the Nano S.

The Nano X connects to iOS devices, while the Nano S only works with desktop computers and androids.

They both support the same coins.

The Nano X also has a slightly larger screen that displays at a higher resolution.

Finally, the Nano X is just a studier, more hefty device.

Ledger Live

Ledger Live is Ledger’s proprietary wallet interface software. It makes it simple to connect to a Nano X and send and receive a multitude of coins quickly and easily via bluetooth.

Ledger Live makes it easy to send Bitcoin...but at a cost.

However, there is a cost to this simplicity. On most blockchains, transactions must be broadcast via a node on the network, be it for Bitcoin or Ethereum. When you use Ledger Live, you are using Ledger’s corporate nodes to broadcast your transactions. Because of this, Ledger will know all of your public addresses and, therefore, how much Bitcoin you own.

Ledger claims they cannot tie names to Ledger Live accounts, but in crypto its better not to trust anyone and use a wallet interface that uses a full node you run yourself. This if, however, more complicated than most users are willing to put up with and Ledger does a great job of making it simple.

Just be aware of the tradeoffs and what is important to you: privacy or ease-of-use.

Setup

The Nano X can be setup using an iOS device, Android or computer.

In this setup example I used my iPhone XR to setup the Nano X via bluetooth, but the steps are similar for other devices.

Ledger has a new app called Ledger Live, which is what I used to setup the Nano X:

BEWARE: There have been scams involving fake versions of their hardware manager app, Ledger Live, on the google play store.

⚠️ Please beware of fraudulent Ledger Manager apps going around on the Chrome web store. Always install our client applications from https://t.co/sGf0KTmar7 or https://t.co/nG1CwfwfgA

You can report these fake applications as malware here: https://t.co/KvUrfVSjRC

— Ledger (@Ledger) July 25, 2018

Make sure you only download the app through the link on the Ledger Live page on Ledger’s site.

Once opened, select the device you’re setting up. I chose Nano X, but it will work with any of Ledger’s devices.

If your device is brand new, select “Initialize as a new device”:

In this step, set a pin code on your device. You don’t actually need to use the app for anything yet, the app is just guiding you through the steps.

Ledger’s app has some really nice security suggestions. Follow them!

Now, write down the 24 words that you will see on your Ledger Nano X’s screen. You still don’t need the app yet, it’s just guiding you.

Ledger offers more tips here, definitely make sure you’ve followed all of their suggestions in order to keep your Bitcoin and cryptocurrency safe!

Ledger will ask you to confirm that you followed their advice. Great feature!

More confirmation:

Now we can get to actually pairing your Nano X with your phone.

Make sure bluetooth is turned on on your phone. If so, you should see this pop up on your phone screen. You should see the verification code showing on your Ledger Nano X:

I had a failed pairing attempt and I’m not sure why. But on my next attempt it worked.

The wallet and my phone connected!

Pairing succesful:

Now that your device is paired, select it from the menu in order to proceed:

Ledger Live will tell you to set a password lock. This is so if someone gets access to your phone they can’t see any information about which coins are on your Ledger. This is mostly a privacy concern and not a security concern.

Setting a password:

Ledger offers some warnings about your password:

After that, choose which data you’re willing to share with Ledger:

That’s it, the device is ready to use! Although this process seemed long, it didn’t take me more than 5 minutes to complete all of it.

One last warning from Ledger:

Adding Coins to your Device

Each time you want to add new coins on your Ledger, you need to install its respective app.

Here, for example, I chose Bitcoin and it installed the Bitcoin app on the Nano X:

After that, you will need to open the Bitcoin app (or whatever coin you installed) on the device:

Then you can create an account for that coin and start receiving funds:

Success!

I can now send and receive Bitcoin:

A QR code pops up on your device to receive funds:

You will be asked to verify all addresses on your Nano X as well to make sure your phone has not been hacked:

Ledger Nano X Full Node Support

Ledger recently announced coin control and full node support for Nano X is coming soon (though we do not yet know when).

You can watch the full announcement below:

Ledger Live will soon feature Full Node support, as announced by @ledger CEO @_pgauthier at @surfinbitcoin.

"we want to build products on the principles of privacy and liberty" pic.twitter.com/NCSgKzhrsl

— David da Silva Rosa (@dldasilvarosa) October 2, 2020

With full-node support, users can now connect their full node to Ledger Live, Ledger’s native wallet software, so that they no longer need to utilize Ledger’s node and thereby expose their xpub (and, by extension, all of their blockchain activity).

Ledger Nano X Coin Control

Coin Control is the ability to select which UTXOs you spend so that you can decide between a LIFO (Last In, First Out) or FIFO (First In, First Out). This has tax implications but also security implications as well. If you have tiny amounts of Bitcoin in a UTXO, you can avoid spending it, which prevents others from tracking you in what is called a ‘dust attack’.

In the same announcement mentioned above, Ledger promised that Coin Control would be coming to Ledger Live, and now its finally here as part of Ledger Live’s advanced settings. That makes Ledger the only one of these hardware wallets to support coin control natively.

Coin Control in Ledger Live

Does the Ledger Nano X Work with Billfodl?

Yes, you can use backup tools like PrivacyPros Billfodl to protect your Nano X’s backup seed.

Using Ledger Nano X with Uniswap

The best way to make trades on Uniswap using your Ledger Nano X is to connect your ledger wallet to MetaMask, one of the more well-known ethereum desktop wallets.

For a brief tutorial on how to connect your ledger wallet to Metamask, you can reference this video:

Once you get your Ledger connected to Metamask, then you can easily connect Metamask to your Uniswap account.

Just go to Products -> App in the top menu of Uniswap

Then select “Connect to wallet” and choose Metamask from the pop-up.

From there, just follow the prompts.

It is worth noting that many users are experiencing issues with using their Ledger wallet to make uniswap trades, however it is unclear if this is an issue with Ledger, Metamask, Uniswap, or some combination of the three.

Languages

The Ledger Nano X supports most languages. The setup process will be displayed in the language of your choice, so don’t worry if you don’t read English.

D’cent vs Ledger Nano X

The D'cent biometric wallet

D’cent is still a new wallet. The Ledger Nano X has been around much longer. With hardware wallets, it’s usually better to use the more tried wallet. The D’cent wallet also has more features, which can also lead to more ways to get hacked.

Anti-Tampering Seal

Ledger no longer uses anti-tampering seals, since it is easy to counterfeit them. An anti-tampering seal could, therefore, give a misleading sense of safety.

Instead, Ledger has opted to provide software tools to verify is a peice of hardware is genuine and/or has not been tampered with. This software is called “Root of Trust”

You can learn more about Root of Trust here.

Has Ledger ever been hacked?

There has never been a known instance of a Ledger getting hacked in a non-laboratory setting. That means that security researchers have been able to compromise a Ledger device in a lab setting with unlimited time and resources and lots of expertise. However, no user has ever reported a device being compromised in the real world by an attacker who was not able to socially engineer someone to open the device for them.

That being said, Ledger (the company) has had its databases hacked. On July 29, 2020, Ledger sent out an email to all previous customers that began,

Our ecommerce and marketing database leaked. We immediately fixed the breach. Contact and order details were involved. Your funds are safe.

Pascal Gauthier CEO, Ledger

You can read the full report here.

To be clear, this breach did not affect any customer funds held on Ledger devices. This was a breach of Ledger’s ecommerce customer database. For the most part, emails and addresses were leaked, and for some customers, what they had ordered in the past was also leaked.

How to Buy Ledger Nano in Canada

Ledger has been building and refining hardware for Bitcoin security since 2014. With the recent announcement that Canadian crypto exchange VirgoCX chose Ledger Vault’s storage solutions for its custody of clients’ funds, the French company gained a foothold in the Canadian market.

Hardware wallets are one of the most secure ways to store your cryptocurrency. As of 2020, there are three main players in the game: Ledger, Trezor, and KeepKey.

We’ve compared the three different brands before, and now we’re going to focus on how to buy a Ledger hardware wallet in Canada.

What are your options?

Ledger offers two models of hardware wallet, the Ledger Nano S and the Ledger Nano X.

Both devices support an impressive number of different coins and crypto assets: over 1250+ at last count. This puts Ledger above their competitors Trezor and KeepKey in terms of number of assets supported.

The main difference between the Ledger Nano S and the Nano X is the fact that the X is Bluetooth-enabled. This means that you can trade on the go, pairing the Nano X to your smartphone and managing your assets on the Ledger Live interface.

At CAD$159.00, the Nano X costs just over double the $79.00 Nano S, so if Bluetooth functionality is not a dealbreaker you may be better off with the Nano S.

Whichever model you choose, rest assured that you’re buying one of the most secure hardware wallets on the market. Ledgers contain CC EAL5+ certified secure chips, which is a technical way of saying that they exceed the international standard for hardware security.

Where to buy Ledger in Canada?

When buying a hardware wallet, it’s important to ensure that you’re purchasing from a reputable source. You may be able to find a cheap Ledger on eBay, but there’s a reason it’s cheap: a compromised hardware wallet would allow someone to gain access to your crypto, even after it’s left their hands.

Since that’s exactly what you’re trying to avoid by buying a hardware wallet, make sure to buy a brand new model from a trusted vendor. Ledger’s own website is your best bet, or their official Amazon store.

Where else to buy a Ledger?

Ledger lists three approved third-party retailers on their site. If you’re in Québec, The Crypto Shop in Montréal and Hey La Gang! in Saint-Jérome have got you covered. Otherwise, Marsan Exchange is an online retailer covering all provinces.

How to Buy Ledger Nano in the UK

So you want to buy a Ledger wallet. We don’t blame you. As the value of bitcoin increases, the need to keep your coins safe becomes more and more important.

A hardware wallet is one of the most secure methods of protecting your bitcoin and the Ledger Nano S and the Ledger Nano X tick a lot of boxes.

Here’s how the two Ledger wallets compare with the models from Trezor:

If you’re in the UK, you can get your hands on a Ledger Wallet in one of the following three ways: direct from Ledger themselves, on the official Ledger Amazon store or from one of the two official resellers.

Buy from Ledger’s Website

A simple way to get your hands on a Ledger wallet is to buy from their official website.

Should I get a Nano S or a Nano X?

The Ledger Nano X is the newest model from Ledger. It is around twice as expensive, a little bit bigger than S, and it has bluetooth connectivity. Both models have the same high standards of security and are compatible with more than 50 different crypto currencies.

Thanks to its connectivity improvements, the Nano X is more suitable for use on the go with your smartphone, while the Nano S works well if you only intend to keep it at home and transact every now and then.

How long does it take to arrive?

The wallets are shipped from their warehouse in France and are sent out one to two days after you place your order. Ledger ships with DHL or Colissimo and should take less than a week to arrive at your door. Whoever you ship with, you’ll be asked to sign for delivery when your wallet arrives.

Buying a bundle of Ledgers Saves You Money

One additional advantage to buying from the official store is the occasional special offers and bundle deals that Ledger offers on its site. Perhaps you want to buy a Ledger for every member of your family, or simply want to buy one of each model so that you have a backup and a wallet for every day use.

What happens if I want to return my Ledger

First of all, don’t send back the words for your private keys. Under no circumstances should you be sharing the 24-words you wrote down when you launched the wallet, and that includes with Ledger themselves.

You have 14 days to return your device. You should contact Ledger before sending your wallet and get an Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) Number that should be included with the original invoice and sent to the address provided by their customer service team.

Get your Ledger from one of Ledger’s official UK partners

There is one official UK partner for Ledger. They are called My Hardware Wallet and they specialize in crypto wallets and security solutions. As well as the Ledger Nano S, and the Ledger Nano X, you can also buy some of the Trezor models too.

The advantage of buying from a UK based seller is that your wallet will arrive more quickly than buying direct from Ledger in France. So if you are in a hurry to protect your crypto then this might be your best bet.

Either way, we wish you luck securing your hard earned Bitcoin.

Don’t Forget to Back Up Your Ledger

There are some great products out there for backing up your new Ledger device. The point of these devices is to make sure if there is a fire or flood in your house, your coins survive even if your Ledger doesnt.

Using these devices, you store the Ledger’s recovery phrase in a stainless steel body, by using either laser cut tiles or a stamping method. You can learn more about those options below:

Can I Trust a Ledger from a Reseller?

One thing you won’t find on the packaging are anti-tamper seals. Ledger doesn’t use anti-tampering seals on their packaging, as they can give a false sense of security. Instead of trusting a sticker to tell you that your device is genuine, Ledger has developed an online test to do just this, called Root of Trust.

Each Ledger device has a set of keys: one public, one private. The Nano sends its public key to the Ledger server, which answers with a challenge in the form of a randomly generated number. If your device can provide a correct signature for this challenge, it’s genuine. If it can’t, the device has been compromised and it will be blocked.

This means that you don’t need to trust the retailer you bought your Nano from. You can verify the authenticity of your device yourself.

Congratulations on deciding to take control of your crypto with one of the best hardware wallets on the market. To secure the seed phrase of your Ledger Nano and make your holdings even more secure, check out our guide to the best steel wallets.