ZachXBT sparked controversy after claiming on his Telegram channel that hardware wallets are “complete garbage” for serious use of cryptocurrencies.
According to him, people who often handle huge amounts would be better off using a spare iPhone as a login device.
ZachXBT details the daily struggle of hardware wallet users
Crypto Investigator’s Telegram message was blunt:
“Quick look: All hardware wallets are complete garbage and I would not recommend using them for important tasks like signing transactions or storing funds,” he wrote.
He went further, arguing that using only a separate iPhone as a wallet could provide a better experience than any device on the market right now, while specifically criticizing Ledger.
“Ledger is the worst, Ledger Live has regular UI/app updates for no good reason that breaks simple actions,” ZachXBT said.
Back on the X, it is included Several issues that hardware wallet users may encounter when making a typical high value, time-sensitive transaction. Issues included dead batteries, mandatory hardware and software upgrades, user interface changes, and site errors preventing multi-signature transactions from being signed.
Soon after, security researchers, wallet developers, and ordinary cryptocurrency users began responding to ZachXBT’s post. Axel Pitblaze Agreed The on-chain investigator criticized hardware wallets, but questioned whether the phone was really a better alternative to them, as they would still leave the user with “one device and one seed as the only point of failure.”
Instead, I recommend setting up 2 of 3 secure multisig setups with separate recording devices. He also advised cryptocurrency holders to store their initial statements offline and conduct a test before transferring large amounts, while keeping spending wallets separate from long-term holdings.
Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm also agreed with the idea behind ZachXBT’s proposal but He argues Mobile wallets lack one important feature: BIP39 passphrase support.
The developer faces a long prison sentence after he was convicted To run an unlicensed money transfer business in 2025, he pointed out that the additional passphrase layer is the main advantage of hardware wallets and called on software wallet makers to add support for it, which, in his opinion, would make them more useful for self-custody.
The discussion also attracted responses from hardware wallet companies, including one of the largest, Trezor, Saying Because since the phone is running a full operating system, it has many potential attack points. Meanwhile, the hardware wallet is designed as a dedicated device that keeps private keys away from public computing environments.
Keystone Wallet has taken a more balanced stance. team I confess ZachXBT wasn’t “wrong” about the capabilities of a quarantined phone, but he emphasized that most users are better served by purpose-built units, since phone security relies heavily on strict user discipline.
Ledger position
As of this writing, Ledger has not responded directly to ZachXBT’s claims. However, she did make a timely post on her X account, where male Its core security model is based on keeping private keys away from devices connected to the Internet.
“A private key that never touches the Internet cannot be phished, deep faked, or deleted from existence,” she wrote. “This is all betting on the hardware.”
However, these devices are not completely immune to human error. For example, an incident that occurred earlier this year saw a victim He loses $282 million worth of BTC and LTC were stolen from their devices offline through a social engineering scam.
this post ZachXBT hardware wallet criticism raises debate on self-custody of cryptocurrencies appeared first on CryptoPotato.
