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Ledger Nano S Review: An Inexpensive Hardware Wallet for Secure Offline Storage

Review Updated
Lyle Daly
Author: Lyle Daly
Lyle Daly
Lyle Daly
Writer

Lyle Daly is a personal finance writer who specializes in credit cards, travel rewards programs, and banking. His work with Motley Fool Money and The Motley Fool has appeared syndicated in USA Today and Yahoo! Finance. He was born in California but currently lives as a digital nomad with a home base in Colombia.

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Released in 2016, the Ledger Nano S is a highly secure crypto wallet that comes with a low price tag. It allows you to store thousands of cryptocurrencies and manage them through the Ledger Live app. However, there are some areas where this wallet is showing its age, most notably its lack of memory. Read our Ledger Nano S review to check out all its pros and cons.

Ratings Methodology

Ledger Nano S

Ledger Nano S

Blockchain Support

25+

Compatability

64-bit computers including Windows, Mac, and Linux, Android 7+ smartphones

Storage Type

Cold

Price

$59

  • The Ledger Nano S is a non-custodial hardware wallet that provides topnotch security at a reasonable price. Limited memory is its biggest issue and can make this wallet inconvenient for storing lots of different cryptocurrencies.

    • Highly secure crypto storage
    • Affordable
    • Supports over 5,500 cryptocurrencies
    • NFT storage
    • User-friendly app
    • Limited memory
    • Small display
    • Less convenient than digital wallets
    • 2020 data breach

Full Ledger Nano S review

This wallet is a good fit for: Crypto investors on a budget who want to store their assets offline without spending too much on a wallet.

What is the Ledger Nano S?

The Ledger Nano S is a non-custodial hardware wallet that uses cold storage for cryptocurrencies. You can connect it to your computer to send, receive, and store crypto through the company's app, Ledger Live. Since this wallet keeps private keys offline, it's widely considered one of the safest in the world.

Top perks

Highly secure crypto storage

The most important feature in a blockchain wallet is security, and this is Ledger's strong suit. With the Ledger Nano S, the private keys to your cryptocurrency are kept in cold storage, which means they're offline. Because your wallet isn't connected to the internet, it's close to impossible to hack.

There haven't been any recorded cases of a Ledger Nano S wallet being hacked remotely. Ledger's hardware wallets have also received certifications from a French cybersecurity agency, ANSSI. If you want to keep your crypto assets as safe as possible, a Ledger wallet is a fantastic choice.

LEARN MORE: What Is Cold Storage in Crypto?

Affordable

The Ledger Nano S is one of the cheaper hardware wallets. It retails at $59, not including any taxes and duties. If you know anyone else interested in a Ledger wallet, there's also the family pack option, which includes three wallets for a 21% discount.

Supports over 5,500 cryptocurrencies

It's most convenient when you can store all your digital currencies in one place. You'll most likely be able to do that with a Ledger Nano S, because it can be used to store over 5,500 types of cryptocurrency.

NFT storage

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which include digital art, characters in games, and much more, have gotten extremely popular. If you've decided to invest in NFTs, you'll need a place to store them. The Ledger Nano S offers NFT support, allowing you to keep your NFTs and your crypto in one place.

User-friendly app

Ledger wallets work with the Ledger Live app. The app includes quite a few features you can use to manage your crypto, including receiving crypto, sending it to another wallet, and staking crypto to earn rewards on it. The best thing about Ledger Live is that it's easy to use, so it doesn't take long to learn how it works.

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What could be improved

Limited memory

One of the main complaints about the Ledger Nano S is that it only has 160KB of memory, and there's no way to upgrade it. This doesn't affect the amount of crypto you can store on it, but it does limit how many apps you can install. According to Ledger, you can install up to three apps on the Ledger Nano S.

The problem is that Ledger devices use apps to manage cryptocurrencies. Each cryptocurrency has its own dedicated Ledger app. So, to send and receive Bitcoin (BTC) with your Ledger wallet, you need a Bitcoin app, and the same for Ethereum (ETH), and so on.

When you hit your wallet's memory limit, you need to uninstall an app before you can install a new one. Your crypto is still stored safely even if your device doesn't have the app installed. But it can be frustrating for those with lots of different cryptocurrencies to be installing and uninstalling apps often.

Small display

The Ledger Nano S is about the size of a USB drive, and the display only occupies a small portion of the device. That's great for portability, but it also means the screen on this cryptocurrency wallet can be a bit hard to read.

Less convenient than digital wallets

Digital wallets, also known as hot wallets, are an online crypto storage option. Most are free, and you can get them on your computer, tablet, or smartphone. It's much faster and easier to send and receive crypto with digital wallets than a cold wallet you need to connect first, like the Ledger Nano S. It's also more convenient to keep your digital assets on crypto exchanges.

The tradeoff is that exchanges and, to a lesser extent, digital wallets aren't as secure. This Ledger hardware wallet and other cold wallets are better for those who prioritize maximum security over more convenience. For that reason, they're a popular choice as a long-term storage option.

2020 data breach

The Ledger website suffered a data breach in July 2020 due to a cyberattack. Nobody's crypto assets were lost, but hackers got information on some of Ledger's customers. This information included email addresses and in some cases names, addresses, and telephone numbers.

The data breach had no impact on Ledger's hardware wallets, the Ledger Live app, or customer funds. It hurt Ledger's reputation in the crypto community, though, especially because scammers used the leaked information to target customers.

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Which cryptocurrencies does the Ledger Nano S support?

The Ledger Nano S supports over 5,500 crypto assets. It's able to store just about all the market leaders, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), and the rest of the largest cryptocurrencies. It's also compatible with plenty of smaller tokens.

Ledger Nano S fees

The price of the Ledger Nano S is $59, not including any taxes or duties. If you want to buy multiple wallets, Ledger sells a family pack. It includes three Ledger Nano S devices for $139, a 21% discount.

There are no wallet fees to send, receive, and store cryptocurrency using a Ledger Nano S. Cryptocurrency transactions have gas fees, which are transaction fees charged by the blockchain network, not Ledger.

Is the Ledger Nano S safe to use?

The Ledger Nano S is one of the safest cryptocurrency storage options. Since it's a hardware wallet, it keeps your private keys offline in cold storage. These cold wallets are intended to fully isolate your private keys from devices that can be hacked, such as your computer and smartphone.

The device itself is protected by a military-grade security chip, Secure Element, designed to withstand sophisticated attacks. It also has a custom-built operating system, BOLOS, that's made specifically for protecting crypto assets. To top it off, Ledger Nano wallets are the first hardware wallets to be certified by ANSSI, a French independent cybersecurity agency.

A PIN code of at least four digits is required to access a Ledger Nano S device. If you ever lose your wallet, you can recover your crypto using your 24-word recovery phrase. Those are the only ways to access crypto stored on one of these wallets, and there has never been a recorded case of a Ledger Nano S being hacked remotely.

The Ledger Nano S is right for you if:

  • You want the most secure storage option for your cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
  • You're looking for a hardware wallet for less than $75.