Learn › Chapter 9 of 11

Chapter 9 · Your shopping list

What to Buy to Secure Your Family's Bitcoin (and Where to Buy It)

Prefer to watch? This chapter is also a short video (about 4½ minutes). The full text is below.

In one minute: Where you buy matters as much as what you buy. Buy hardware wallets only from the maker's own website, typed in yourself, or from a reseller the maker lists as authorized; never second-hand, never from an ad. When the box arrives, it should contain no recovery words, and the maker's app should confirm the device is genuine. Then the list is short: one device and metal for two backups for Beginner; add metal for the passphrase for Intermediate; three devices from three makers, metal for three backups, a free app to tie them together and a printed copy of the wallet's map for Advanced. Nothing here pays us: no affiliate links, no sponsors.

You've picked a level. Before you buy anything, one rule that matters as much as anything on the list:

Where you buy it matters as much as what you buy.

In Chapter 4 you met the second-hand device that came with its words already filled in, and in Chapter 5 the fake app sitting in an official app store. A hardware wallet only protects you if it's genuine and nobody else has touched it.

Where to buy

• From the maker's own website. Type the address yourself. Don't click an ad or a search result: lookalike sites are common.
• Or from an authorized reseller. Makers publish lists of the stores they trust. Ledger, for example, says buying from Ledger, from its official or authorized storefronts on Amazon, or from an authorized reseller "is safer when combined with the Genuine Check," and warns that "numerous unauthorized third-party resellers operate across online marketplaces, including Amazon." ¹ If you buy on a marketplace, check the seller's name against the maker's list first.
• Never second-hand. Not from a friend, not "like new," not at a discount.

A note on your address. In 2020, one maker's customer list, about 270,000 names and addresses, was leaked online. Criminals later mailed fake "replacement" devices to some of those customers (Chapter 3). ² If you can, have the package delivered somewhere other than home, like a PO box or your office. Either way, Rule #1 protects you: no real company will ever mail you a device and ask for your words.

When it arrives

Before you do anything else:

1. Look for words in the box. There shouldn't be any. A real device comes with a blank card. If words are printed, written or shown anywhere before you set it up, don't use them, and don't use that device. ¹
2. Run the maker's genuine check. Every major maker has one built into its app: the app sends the device a challenge that only a genuine device can answer. Ledger tells you to run it "immediately upon receipt." ¹ Trezor's app does it when you connect the device. ³ Blockstream says that if a Jade fails the check, "contact support immediately and do not use your Jade." ⁴
3. Let the device make its own words. During setup, the device creates brand-new recovery words and shows them only on its own screen. Never accept words from anywhere else.

The lists

Prices are rounded and current as of October 2026. ⁵ The devices named are examples, not endorsements; all of them are popular, support every level in this guide, can run their maker's genuine check, and come from makers who've been around for years.

Beginner

• One hardware wallet. Entry-level models cost about $60–$100 (for example the Trezor Safe 3, Ledger Nano S Plus or Blockstream Jade Core).
• If you choose a Jade, get a Jade Core or Jade Plus. The cheaper Jade Classic can't run the genuine check from "When it arrives" above. ⁴
• Easier to use, costs more. Bigger touchscreens make every step easier to read and check, which helps a nervous first-timer. They don't make your bitcoin any safer; they make it easier not to make a mistake. Examples: Trezor Safe 5 (about $130) or Safe 7 (about $250), Ledger Flex (about $250) or Stax (about $400), Blockstream Jade Plus (about $150). ⁵
• If you'll use an iPhone, skip the Ledger Nano S Plus: Ledger says it "does not work with iOS devices." ⁵
• Metal for two backups. Two plain stainless steel plates and a center punch from a hardware store, or two ready-made metal backups (Chapter 6). Buy a spare plate and practice on it first.
• Free: the maker's own app.
• Paper and an envelope for your letter of instruction (Chapter 7).

Intermediate

Everything on the Beginner list, plus:

• Metal for the passphrase backup, kept somewhere other than your words.

Every device above supports a passphrase; you don't need a different one.

Advanced

• Three hardware wallets, from three different makers. That way a flaw in one maker's product can't touch the other two keys. About $220–$800 in all.
• Metal for three backups, one for each device's words, each kept in its own place.
• A free app to tie them together. Multisig needs a "coordinator" app on a computer that knows how the three keys fit together. A common choice is Sparrow, which is free, open source, and supports multisig with all common hardware wallets. ⁶
• Printed copies of the wallet's map. The app gives you the map as a file or a printable page. Paper is fine for this one: the map can't move your bitcoin on its own. But it does show your whole balance, so keep it as private as your bank statements, with a copy alongside each backup or with your letter.

What not to buy

• Anything second-hand, or from a seller the maker doesn't list.
• Any device that "comes with" words, or a "pre-configured wallet."
• Recovery services, "bitcoin vault" apps, or anyone offering to hold your words for you. That's just a different stranger with your keys.
• Metal kits made of lots of little tiles (Chapter 6).
• A Jade Classic, if you want to choose a Jade: it can't run the genuine check. ⁴

Talk about it

1. Which level did we choose, and what's on our list?
2. Where will we order from, and where will we have it delivered?
3. When the box arrives, who'll do the unboxing checks, and will we do them together?

Ordering is the easy part. Set a date for the setup afternoon (or weekend) before the package arrives.

Sources