LittleBit's Guide to Onchain

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Hardware Wallets ​

If you're going to be holding a lot of cryptocurrency, it may be wise to use a hardware wallet for maximum security. Some hardware wallets even offer additional features such as FIDO keys.

TIP

FIDO key? What's that?

FIDO is a standard for online authentication, widely supported by websites today. If a website has ever asked you about a passkey or security key, that's what FIDO is. If a hardware wallet supports FIDO, you can use it as your authentication token on any website that asks for passkeys or security keys.

Burner Cards ​

Burner is a brand of the company Arx Research that makes hardware Ethereum and Bitcoin wallets in the form of an NFC card. You can scan one on your phone to open the wallet's interface in a web browser, where you can add funds (with Coinbase, Stripe, or MoonPay), send and receive funds, swap tokens with decentralized exchanges (DEXes), or connect to apps with WalletConnect.

Sadly they don't support as many Ethereum Layer-2s as software wallets, and they support no EVM L1s. Burner also has their own stablecoin called USD II ($USD2), which can be bought from within the Burner interface as well. They also give you a free ENS name (*.brnr.eth) for people to easily send you funds.

All Burner cards are protected by a PIN and will become permanently bricked if someone attempts to brute-force their way in.

If you just want a simple wallet, the Burner is for you.

They're also working on a Burner Terminal for merchants, allowing merchants to accept stablecoins from Burner cards and mobile Ethereum wallets in addition to an optional EMV version that will accept traditional credit/debit cards.

I only have an Ethereum Burner, but they also make a Bitcoin version for holding your Bitcoin savings.

Chains: 2 versions, one BTC, one ETH
Supported ETH Layer-2s (ETH ver. only): Base, Optimism, Arbitrum
Additional Features: none
Supported Usernames (ETH ver. only): Standard ENS (*.eth), Basenames (*.base.eth), Other ENS Subdomains (*.*.eth)
Platforms: hardware device; requires a phone with NFC and a web browser

Ledger ​

When people think of crypto hardware wallets, many think of Ledger first. They are a storied brand with a history of reliable products.

Their most recent devices have touchscreens. All of their devices have support for multiple chains as well as doubling as FIDO keys for online sign-in.

Their Ledger Wallet mobile app supports many actions with the physical Ledger signer device, including WalletConnect to connect to crypto apps while retaining the security of a hardware wallet.

Chains Supported: BTC, ETH, XRP, BNB, SOL, DOGE, ADA, TRX, SUI, AVAX, XLM, BCH, HBAR, LTC, DOT, XMR, ETC, FIL, POL, ALGO, ZEC, XTZ (possibly more)
Apps for: Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Additional Features: FIDO Support

Foundation Passport Prime ​

Foundation Devices (https://foundation.xyz) is a newer company in the world of hardware wallets, specializing in Bitcoin.

Their latest device, the Passport Prime, supports many additional features. It has a 50GB encrypted USB drive, TOTP authenticator, FIDO support with multiple keys, and the ability to hold seed phrases for other wallets. They're also releasing a developer platform, allowing for more usecases beyond what's built-in.

Foundation recently publised a developer showcase, with apps such as:

  • A version of Cake Wallet's offline signer app, Cupcake
  • A Nostr bunker
  • A password manager
  • A signer for the Spark Bitcoin L2
  • A version of Pubky Ring
  • A secure notes app
  • A calculator, for some reason

The Passport Prime also supports multiple communication methods for signing transactions, such as Bluetooth with their specialized QuantumLink protocol and an air-gapped option with QR codes.

Their Envoy mobile app is also an onchain Bitcoin software wallet.

The company also commits to keeping their entire stack open-source.

Chains Supported: BTC
Apps for: Android (Play Store/Direct APK/F-Droid), iOS
Additional Features: FIDO Support, Developer Platform (coming soon), TOTP Authenticator, Encrypted Drive

Blockstream Jade Core, Jade+ ​

The Blockstream Jade Core and Jade Plus are dedicated Bitcoin hardware wallets with support for Liquid Network as well.

Currently, the Blockstream Jade series are the only hardware wallets that I know of that support Lightning Network transactions through their Liquid Network integration. Sadly Lightning transactions have a high minimum amount, so you'll probably still want to use Jade for your savings and transfer to a Lightning or Cashu wallet to spend in smaller amounts.

The Jade series also features the ability to run in a fully air-gapped mode where all communication happens through QR codes, for the paranoid.

The Jade devices also support being a TOTP authenticator, but it is unknown whether this is a feature only on the Jade+ model or if it extends to the Core/Classic, as only the Jade+ has a camera for scanning TOTP setup codes.

Chains Supported: BTC (including Liquid with Lightning proxy)
Apps for: Android, iOS
Additional Features: TOTP Authenticator