One of the first things that must be done when operating the blockchain and crypto, after having studied the subject well, is to recover a hardware wallet, that is an electronic device that stores the private key of our address and that signs the transactions through the device itself, thus having additional security when working with cryptocurrencies.
We can equate these devices with pocket safes as only those who know the access data can access the device and also sign transactions, and only when the device is connected to our device.
Even if worldwide we find different hardware wallets, these unfortunately are not always compatible with the various wallets and ecosystems created, and therefore we prefer the brand that supports as many platforms as possible and in this case the Ledger brand, is the one that dominates the market in as compatible with almost every token, crypto and third-party applications, thus becoming an obligatory choice over the competition.
In this guide we will see how to initialize our new hardware wallet and what precautions we must keep in mind when buying this device, as the pitfalls can lurk around the corner.
Ledger nano S Plus initialization
The first thing to check before opening the package is to identify any tampering with the package, this is because in the past it has happened that some criminals had compromised the ledger with malicious software, impossible to check thoroughly and which caused significant losses. , also due to a compromise of some data occurred on external suppliers of user data.
Once we have made sure of the integrity of the package, we can proceed to open it and check that there is everything necessary, that is the hardware wallet, the guide, the USB cable and even the slips on which to write the seed of the wallet.
When we connect our wallet to the PC via the supplied cable, we will be greeted by a welcome message on the wallet screen, which invites us to download the software necessary to operate with the wallet, and which we can download from the official website here:
Once the software has been installed and started, we will have to follow the various steps and also choose our model, which in our case is the S Plus:
Now we have to initialize the wallet and since we are in the presence of our first wallet, we select the first option:
As the interface reminds us, we will need some time to complete the procedure, have a pen to write the words of the seed, and be alone when we are doing this whole operation:
The first step is to connect the wallet to the PC, and continue from the device until you find the item "Set up as new device":
Now we have to enter the wallet access PIN, consisting of a series of numbers between 4 and 8, so as to protect access to the device in case of loss, in fact if someone enters the wrong code too many times, the same device will reset by deleting the information contained within and thus automatically protecting our crypto:
After we have entered and confirmed the PIN, we proceed to transcribe the words of the seed of that wallet that we will have to keep to recover our crypto, in fact if we lose them, we will no longer be able to access them, a total of 24 words that must also be entered in the correct order:
Once we have written all 24 words, the wallet will ask us to enter them again, just to confirm that we have actually written the words we had shown previously:
Now we just have to keep the sheet with the 24 words in a safe place that only us know, as if this sheet is discovered by someone, it would be able to recover our crypto, and words that must not be shared with anyone:
Before concluding the procedure, the software performs a test on the device itself to check that both the hardware and the software of the same have not been tampered with by someone, as we said at the beginning, a fundamental step to be 100% sure that it is not there have been problems of any kind, and to do this just press the 2 buttons simultaneously:
And here our device is 100% safe and we can rest assured that no one will be able to steal the crypto from our wallet; if, on the other hand, our device should be compromised, then you must send an email to Ledger's support to provide all the details of the product so as to do a further check on that product and find out if further threats perpetrated by the criminals:
Finally, remember that this device has no battery inside and works only with the cable connected, and therefore we never have to worry about recharging it and thanks to the hole that we find on the device itself, we can add it to our keychain so as to always carry it with us and sign the various transactions, as as mentioned even in case of loss, no one would be able to unlock the device with the code.
For Italian readers here is the video with all the steps: