Hive on Ledger for Improved Security and Increased Outreach
Last week the news of Hive being supported on Ledger was released by both the creator of the Hive application on Ledger and who made integration possible (@engrave) and the official Hive account.
I reblogged one of the articles, but haven't talked about it yet.
And I believe this is news worthy of more coverage.
Ledger offers a technology much more secure than a browser extension, no matter what browser extension we talk about. Ledger isn't as straightforward to use as Keychain is, that's why it would be recommended to protect with it the private owner key, but not the active and posting keys.
Currently, Hive Ledger is not integrated with Hive Keychain, but engrave said in his post he is "eager to implement or help implement Hive Ledger support in other wallets, like Vessel and Keychain to make the experience even better and easier for the end user."
That's looking from the point of view of an existing user of the Hive ecosystem.
But let's see things from an outsider who is looking to maybe invest some serious funds into Hive or an app on Hive.
And that person uses Ledger to give transaction permissions because he doesn't trust Metamask or another browser extension either. Why would we ask him to trust Keychain to secure his transactions if all he trusts is that little device he holds in his hand?
Until engrave finished this integration we couldn't offer the option of Ledger to anyone wanting it to secure accounts on Hive.
Checking Out Hive App on Ledger
I have a Ledger Nano S. It has a very small memory, only 138k, but I wanted to see this version first. And most applications installed take a significant portion of that memory.
Currently, I have two apps installed, for bitcoin and for Binance Smart Chain. The first one was an obvious choice, and the second one is because it gives access to a wide number of tokens without the huge fees on Ethereum, and is integrated with Thorchain (that's where I got the idea of adding it).
Together, they take up 104k of memory.
So, here's our Hive app. :)
The problem is there's only 34k left and the Hive app is 44k.
So next I'll have to decide what I want to use the Ledger for besides a bitcoin cold wallet. Or maybe I should buy another Ledger (with extended memory?) for anything that is not a cold wallet.
For now, my attempt to try out Ledger for my Hive accounts ends here. Maybe in the future, it'll become a priority, as my assets on Hive will grow.
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Are you planning to do a mini review and hands on? And let us know if it is worth it. 😄
I might do that. About being worth it or not, it's all about tradeoffs. Trading convenience for security and vice versa.
I would buy a new Nano S Plus model with more memory, but it's possible to shuffle apps. If you need Hive, remove something else, later on you will be able to access your assets by just installing the old one again.
Thanks! I will probably buy a Nano S Plus too, but it's good to know apps can be shuffled without causing any issues.
Didn’t know Ledgers have so little memory.
Will the memory requirement go up overtime when the apps get updated?
Nano X has more memory. But it's more expensive too.
I haven't noticed anything like that happening. We can think of these apps as drivers on Windows, to some degree. There are separate apps developed that can be installed on our laptops (for example), and these apps are bigger and I suppose they can grow.
Thanks for further spreading the news @gadrian
A potential solution to the problem described at the end is that you can add or remove applications on and off your ledger without causing issues to the wallets/accounts.
Given, it does make it inconvenient if you want to do a transaction on a chain that you don't currently have an app loaded for, but fixing that is as simple as removing an app and the adding back in the one that you want to use.
DYOR to be sure, but I have safely done this myself a number of times with no issue.
Essentially the Seed phrase is what secures the ledger, so adding and removing apps can be done without impacting the actual wallets permanenetly.
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Thanks for this tip! Actually, it makes sense that the apps could be added and removed at will since all transactions are on-chain, not on the Ledger, which only holds private keys to access wallets.
I'll make sure to test what you just said to see if it works with wallets created on Ledger Live, but I don't see why it shouldn't.
Thanks, Adrian.
This is great information, and sounds like it will be a big issue moving forward.
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I think so. I will probably become even more important for people already on Hive after Hive Ledger will be integrated with Keychain.
Ease of use is very important. I love using Keychain. Hivesigner, not so much. Haven't gotten to the cold storage wallet stage yet. Soon it will be time to really start looking at that. Now that Hive is being integrated it seems like a really good time to do that.
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It's often a tradeoff between convenience and security. The more of one of them the less of the other. Ledger is very secure, but not as easy to use as Keychain.
Somehow I am not surprised. A few more hoops to jump through to keep your crypto secure.
Keychain is super easy to use.
I only found out about Ledgers recently, and little did I know there were already plans to integrate Hive security onto Ledgers.
I'm sure the devices are very costly though, and that would completely make sense considering the level of security they offer.
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They are not so expensive. Ledger Nano S is the cheapest, but I see they don't sell it on their official shop anymore. Nano S Plus is under 100$ (the price is in my national currency and I haven't calculated what it means exactly in USD). Ledger Nano X is more expensive, about twice as much as Nano S Plus.
For a small account on Hive you don't really need Ledger to secure it. That should be more of a focus of the whales and orcas.
Absolutely right. I was just curious on the price though, that’s all.
It’s relatively cheaper than I imagined. But with the way things are going in my country (Ghana), it’s expensive if it costs more than $50. That could make for someone’s monthly salary:(
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Cool thanks!! I have a ledger. I'm going to check it out.
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Just make sure you read the instructions well and the post by engrave which I linked in the post. If you have multiple accounts try it first on a test account. And only lock the owner key using the ledger, not the active or posting keys.
Thank you. I will do that.
Keep us updated. Exciting times. Do you plan any articles about cold storage?
Maybe. It's a good idea.
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Thanks Bradley!
Ah, it's too bad to see that ledger didn't work out for you. This wasn't an issue that I thought could happen but I guess this is why crypto is more or less in a development phase. It might get better over time if enough people complain about this issue.
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It will work. I didn't know I could uninstall an app that I don't use and install it when I need it on the Ledger.
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Thanks for sharing the info on some of the limits of Ledger sticks. Helps with the buying decision.
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Check out the comment made by iviaxpow3r. While installing and uninstalling apps may not be the best user experience, it may work.
Nice cover on this. Thanks for sharing
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Thanks. Yep, I'll need to dive deeper into this, now that I found out we can interchangeably use these apps (install and then uninstall them).
Great news. I am so glad Hive is coming to Ledger. Can't wait to get it added. Thanks for sharing.
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It is already on Ledger. It is only recommended to have the owner key on Ledger though, because there are too many transactions on Hive, especially using the posting key, which would make your life miserable if you'd have to approve every one of them with your Ledger.
Ah, I didn't consider that I could only add my owner key and use it for transactions that require that!
Thanks :)
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