Today, I'll be comparing two of the best devices on the market right now: the Cold Card Mark IV by Coinkite and the Ledger Nano X, the flagship offering from the company Ledger.
Ledger Nano X vs. Ellipal Titan Comparison:
These devices are both great in their own right. But today, I'll be comparing them on design, security, and functionality. I'll be giving you guys a recommendation on which one you should be buying based on your use case. As always, all the links to the things we're going to be talking about today are in the description. So, go down below and smash the like button for Bitcoin security, and let's level up your brains.
So first, let's go ahead and talk about some of the basics like design and cost. The Cold Card Mark 4 is this little calculator-looking device. It's very transparent. You can see all of the components that went into building the Cold Card. It's got these clicky little physical buttons on a little zero through nine keypad here. It's got a little check mark for "yes" and a little "x" button for "no." A new Cold Card Mark IV is going to run you $158 plus shipping, and then another $82 for optional accessories that will allow you to run the Cold Card fully air-gapped, which is something we'll cover later on in the article. This could bring your all-in cost to about $240. But you do get a 5% discount if you pay in Bitcoin. Five percent off will bring your all-in cost to $228 for the entire set, or around $150 for just the Cold Card.
The Ledger Nano X is currently Ledger's most premium device. It sort of looks like a little USB stick. There's a little metal shield guard on the outside, and then there are two clicky buttons on the outside of the device. In the middle of the device is a screen when you have it plugged into power or a computer. The screen will actually come on even if it's not connected to power as long as you have it charged. But I haven't charged mine in a very long time. A new Ledger Nano X is going to run you $150 on Ledger's website. When I added one to my cart earlier today, there were no shipping fees included. So, it's just going to be the tax on top of this. As for design similarities, it is 2022, so thankfully both of these devices are using USB-C. Ultimately, the Cold Card feels a little more cyberpunk and non-descript, which is pretty cool if you're into that aesthetic, and the Ledger feels a little bit more sleek and fashionable. Maybe it's because of how many famous people I've seen wearing them as jewelry and using them as props in rap music videos. Ironically, the Cold Card is more expensive, so maybe people should be using the Cold Card for jewelry. But that's also maybe against the whole ethos of using a Cold Card. They really designed this so that it would actually look like a calculator and not like a Bitcoin hardware wallet.
Next, let's go ahead and talk about security because that's probably the reason that you looked into buying these devices in the first place. Who really cares what they look like, right? Both devices have a chip inside of them called a secure element. You can actually see where it is on the Cold Card because of the transparent electronics and how it was built. A secure element is basically the industry-standard way to hold secure information like a private key for your cryptocurrency wallet. Additionally, both devices have pin codes and decoy pins to ensure the physical security of the device and you while you're using the device. If someone tries to make you give them your pin, you could give them a decoy pin that would lead them to a decoy wallet, and your funds should theoretically be safe on the original wallet.
The Cold Card Mark IV has verifiable source code. I'll leave their GitHub down in the description. You can go down there and audit it yourself. But the biggest security benefit to the Cold Card is that you can run it fully air-gapped. Air gap basically means that you can run the Cold Card and do everything you need to do with it without ever connecting it to another device. In my Cold Card tutorial that I'll link up in the cards, I send and receive Bitcoin only ever linking the Cold Card up to a nine-volt battery.
Whereas with something like the Ledger Nano X, you have to USB-C it to a computer or USB-C it to your phone or Bluetooth it to your phone or to a computer. But you're always having to connect it to a device that has likely been linked before to the internet, and those devices might have viruses or some malware or something that is compromising the security of those devices.
As for smaller features, the Cold Card also has anti-phishing protection built right into the device. Coinkite, the company behind Cold Card, deletes customer records on a regular basis. If you just heard me say that and you're thinking, "Well, that's great, but who cares about that? It seems like not a big deal." Back in 2019, Ledger's customer database was actually hacked, and customer addresses were leaked on the internet. This could have happened to any company, and any company that collects a lot of personally identifiable information becomes a honeypot for hackers like this. But a lot of people in crypto are actually super paranoid about their personal security for good reason. So, this is actually a really cool practice from Coinkite.
Ledger, on the other hand, has proprietary source code but has been audited and verified by an SSI, which is a French cybersecurity agency. It is great to have proprietary software like this audited by some independent third party, especially since it isn't auditable by the community. I consider Ledger's to be very secure, and I use Ledgers in my Bitcoin multi-sig setup. But I think the Cold Card is the clear winner here in terms of security. I think the fact that the community can audit the source code is really great. It's very transparent. You know exactly, like the device, the device hardware is literally transparent. And then obviously the ability to air gap your Cold Card makes it just the most secure device that you could want.
Last but not least, let's go ahead and talk about functionality. Obviously, both wallets allow you to generate addresses to send and receive Bitcoin. You can retrieve your x-pub from both devices and export that x-pub to some other wallet. And you can even perform partially signed Bitcoin transactions on both devices. As for Cold Card specifics, the Cold Card is obviously Bitcoin-only. So if you are looking to store any other cryptocurrency, you literally can't store them on the Cold Card. The Cold Card Mark IV also has the ability to enable NFC tap payments, which is something that hasn't come out yet on a Ledger device. So theoretically, in the future, if there's like a Square payment terminal at your coffee shop that accepts Bitcoin, you could pay with a Cold Card as long as it was powered on.
That being said, if you are looking for something with a lot of features, this is really where Ledger shines. Ledger devices support over 5,000 different coins and tokens. Link down in the description to which tokens and coins are supported on Ledger devices.
Some common FAQ:
What is the difference between Coldcard and Nano X?
The Coldcard offers the ability to run fully air-gapped, enhancing security, while the Ledger Nano X has broader cryptocurrency support and a sleek design.
Is Coldcard safer than Ledger?
Coldcard's transparency,
open-source code, and air-gapped operation can be considered safer for some users, but Ledger's devices are also secure and have been audited.
What's better than Ledger Nano X?
Better" depends on your needs; if you prioritize security and transparency, Coldcard might be preferable, while Ledger Nano X offers wider coin support.
What is the difference between coldcard and Ledger wallet?
Coldcard emphasizes transparency and air-gapped operation, while Ledger Wallet focuses on a sleek design and broader coin support.
