Independent comparison
Store Bitcoin
Once you've bought bitcoin, how you store it determines how secure it really is. Hardware wallets are considered the safest way to hold your own private key – here are the differences between the models we recommend.
Our pick
Bitbox - Hardwarewallet
- Headquarters
- Zurich (Adliswil), Switzerland
- Founded
- 2015 as an ETH Zurich spin-off (Shift Devices AG), now Shift Crypto AG; founded by Douglas Bakkum and Jonas Schnelli
- Regulation
- A pure hardware/software maker that never custodies customer funds itself, so no FINMA financial-services license is required
- Users
- no publicly disclosed user count; on the market since 2015 with the BitBox01, since 2019 with the BitBox02
- Founders
- Douglas Bakkum and Jonas Schnelli
- Current leadership
- Douglas Bakkum still leading as CEO
- Investors
- including SIX FinTech Ventures (an arm of Swiss stock exchange operator SIX) as a strategic investor
Strengths
- Firmware and app fully open source
- Bitcoin-only edition for maximum security focus
- Lean codebase reduces the attack surface
- Co-founder Jonas Schnelli is a long-time Bitcoin Core contributor
Weaknesses
- No iOS/iPhone support
- Touch controls take a bit of getting used to
- Limited selection of supported cryptocurrencies
Best for: Security-conscious Bitcoin-only users looking for a lean, fully open-source Swiss hardware wallet.
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Ledger - Hardwarewallet
- Headquarters
- Paris, France (with additional offices including London, New York, Singapore)
- Founded
- 2014 by an eight-person founding team including Éric Larchevêque and Nicolas Bacca
- Regulation
- A pure hardware/software maker that never custodies customer funds itself, so no financial-services license of its own is required
- Users
- over 6 million devices sold in more than 200 countries (as of 2025)
- Founders
- an eight-person founding team, including Éric Larchevêque, Nicolas Bacca, Joel Pobeda
- Current leadership
- Pascal Gauthier has led the company as Chairman & CEO since 2019
- Investors
- over $600m raised, including from 10T Holdings, Samsung Ventures, Cathay Innovation
Strengths
- Very broad support for different cryptocurrencies
- Large, active user base and lots of documentation
- Convenient companion app with buy/swap features
- Largest installed base of any hardware wallet maker
Weaknesses
- Secure-element firmware not fully open source
- A 2020 data leak exposed customer data (not funds)
- January 2026: a breach at payment processor Global-e exposed customer names/contact details (Ledger says devices, software and funds remained unaffected)
Best for: Users who want the widest range of supported crypto assets and an established, well-documented ecosystem.
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Recent news about this provider
Trezor - Hardwarewallet
- Headquarters
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Founded
- Introduced in 2014 by SatoshiLabs (founded 2013 by Marek Palatinus and Pavol Rusnák) as the world's first commercial hardware wallet
- Regulation
- A pure hardware/software maker that never custodies customer funds itself, so no financial-services license of its own is required
- Users
- over 2 million devices sold in more than 150 countries since 2014
- Founders
- Marek Palatinus ("Slush") and Pavol Rusnák
- Current leadership
- Matěj Žák has led the company as CEO since 2023 (previously Chief Product Officer)
- Investors
- no external funding known, self-funded since founding
Strengths
- Oldest hardware wallet maker (since 2014)
- Hardware and firmware fully open source
- Large independent security community audits the code
Weaknesses
- Interface feels less polished by comparison
- Older models had known physical attack vectors, since patched
Best for: Users who want the longest track record and full open-source transparency in both hardware and firmware.
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