Ripple update: Securing your Crypto with a Ledger – Things to Consider
I wrote this for a friend. This is how you should setup, verify, and secure your wallet/keys.
The Nano is a hardware wallet. It generates the private key inside the USB dongle. It has a very limited API set and the private key is locked away in the hardware only accessible from the the OLED display on the device in the form of a 24 word BIP39 “seed” https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mnemonic_phrase .
When you setup the ledger you copy that down from the device screen. I made a table with two 12 row numbered columns to write down the seed words (to mirror the metal seed backup layout). Then you have to re-enter it to verify. Then you can load wallets which also generate self-deterministic keys in the ledger H/W. The Seed can restore the wallet to any other ledger, or to any BIP39 standard software wallet. Of course once you load a software wallet onto a computer, it means your key is no longer secure because it’s stored digitally and a hacker can potentially access it.
The Nano uses a 4-8 digit pin, if you enter it wrong 3 times it wipes the device and it must be recovered from seed. Once the wallet is setup, it’s a good idea to test a small deposit, reset the nano and restore the wallet from the seed. This ensures you will be able to do it should the need arise.
The seed phrase must never be shown to anyone, have a picture taken of it. don’t do it in front of a laptop or with a phone in the room. If anyone gets the seed they can load the wallet and transfer all your coins/tokens into their own wallet.
To protect from fire use titanium plates (crypto steel or similar) to punch the 24 word seed into the metal plate. The Nano will cost $100, the Plates ~20, the Punch Set $15 and a jeweler’s plate ~$15 (4x4x3/4 works great). It won’t rust or melt in a fire. Once punched, burn the paper seed word completely.
The nano should eventually be kept in a safety deposit box at the bank. The pin protects it even from the state (and you could always have a contingency plan others could enact to move your funds should it get seized by one of the alphabet agencies), and it protects you from home invasion to steal your crypto (there are several brutal cases of this – do not keep that shit at your home if it has significant money on it).
The seed should be kept with another person (preferably far away) you trust at a separate location from your home. You could put it in a safe (time locked) or bury it in a garden. A comment below suggests using plasti dip spray paint to coat the metal and disguise it. The same person or another person should know what it is, and how to recover it or who to take it to in the event something should happen to you.
There’s currently a billion plus in lost XRP because a millionaire investor died on the way to drug rehab and his family can’t recover it.
You can deposit to the address without the ledger, but to spend you need the nano plugged into an internet connected computer and it requires a button press on the nano to confirm any spend. At the bank you can bring in a laptop, plug in your nanno, and transfer to your brokerage, credit card account, and wallets for the week/month, and lock it back up.
When it comes time to spend you will have a credit card with an account that you load up with XRP to spend directly into fiat and mobile wallet for direct XRP purchases. For larger fiat withdraws you can go back through uphold or similar and into a bank account.
https://uphold.com/en/blog/uphold-and-libra-credit-bringing-crypto-backed-credit-to-uphold-members (Now Wirex and others)
About Ripple (XRP)
Ripple connects banks, payment providers and digital asset exchanges via RippleNet to provide one frictionless experience to send money globally. Banks and payment providers can use the digital asset XRP to further reduce their costs and access new markets. XRP is the fastest and most scalable digital asset today.
Author: OtnSam
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