Hot wallet vs cold wallet: what a cold wallet is, and what the records show
Hot wallet vs cold wallet: what is the difference?
A cold wallet keeps the private keys on a separate device that signs transactions, so the phone or computer you use never holds them; a hot wallet keeps them in software on an internet-connected device. 9 hardware wallets are on this register, and 6 have a primary-source incident recorded.
Documents last checked Reviewed by CryptoGuardz Register Desk, editorial desk
What is a cold wallet?
A cold wallet, on this register, is a hardware wallet: a device that generates and keeps the private keys and signs transactions itself, so the phone or computer running the companion app passes transactions to it and never holds the keys. A hot wallet keeps the keys in software on a device that is online: a phone app, a desktop app or a browser extension. Both are self-custody when the terms say so. The difference is where the key sits while you use it.
The companies put it in their own words. Trezor’s homepage says Your keys stay in Trezor, never on the internet.
(trezor.io), and its binding Suite terms say private keys are generated locally on your Device
and are never transmitted to Suite or anywhere else outside the Device
(trezor.io, read 2026-10-07). Keystone markets Keystone secures your digital assets with an 100% open source air-gapped cold wallet built for true self-custody
(keyst.one). Those are marketing statements, and the register reads them as claims to check against the terms, which is what the table below does.
Hot wallet vs cold wallet: what changes
What a cold wallet removes is one route to a drained hot wallet: malicious code that can reach the key on the device that holds it. The register’s software records show what that looks like. On 2025-12-24 a malicious build of the Trust Wallet browser extension was published outside its release process, and the record states 2,520 affected addresses and approximately 8.5 million US dollars drained (trustwallet.com). Atomic Wallet users reported unauthorised outgoing transactions in June 2023; the FBI attributed a 100 million US dollar theft to DPRK-affiliated actors (fbi.gov). In both cases the key was in software the attacker could reach.
What a cold wallet does not remove is a weak key, a phrase typed into the wrong place, or the provider’s software around the device. The hardware records hold all three.
- COLDCARD, 2026-07-30: Coinkite disclosed that a firmware bug weakened seed generation and that attackers regenerated private keys offline:
A COLDCARD firmware bug weakened seed generation. Attackers regenerated the corresponding private keys offline and stole funds; the devices themselves were not remotely accessed or taken over.
(coldcard.com). The device was never reached; the key was weak from the day it was made. - Blockstream Jade, 2025-12-16: Blockstream disclosed a firmware vulnerability that let malware on a connected host crash the unlocked device or run limited code, fixed in a later release:
No confirmed loss of user funds related to this issue.
(blog.blockstream.com). - Tangem, 2024-12-31: when a wallet was activated with a seed phrase, the private key was written to the mobile app’s logs. Tangem states:
No private keys were compromised, no user funds were lost, and no accounts were accessed.
(tangem.com). The hot part of a cold setup is the companion app. - D'CENT, 2026-09-17: unauthorised transfers from the software App Wallet mode, including hardware users who had restored the same phrase into it. D’CENT advises:
Reusing an existing recovery phrase may regenerate the same or a related key, so use a new recovery phrase whether on the app or on a hardware wallet.
(store.dcentwallet.com).
A cold wallet also leaves you exposed through the shop that sold it. SafePal and Trezor both have customer-data exposures on record, names and shipping addresses among them, and Trezor’s 2026-09-10 incident was a marketing email sent from its own provider account promoting a malicious app (trezor.io). A buyer whose address leaked is the target of a letter or email that asks for the recovery phrase. The device cannot protect a phrase you type into a website.
What a hardware wallet does not change
The device holds the key; the companion app is still software under terms. Of the 9 hardware records, 5 quote a clause letting the provider suspend or end access to the app, and 8 route swaps, purchases or staking to another party inside the app. Ledger’s terms disclose that third-party services may apply transaction or identity screening, and its terms prohibit illegal gambling. Liability is capped or excluded in every record that has a liability clause: for Trezor the Suite cap is the fees you have paid us
, which for a free app is nothing, and the device cap is its purchase price. A hardware wallet changes where the key is. It does not change who answers if the software fails.
The 9 hardware wallets on the register
From their records, in register order. Each name links to the full entry; the incident count links to the safety page with every incident dated and sourced.
| Wallet | Custody in the terms | Entity | Who can block an address | Incidents | Liability | Gambling clause | Chains named | Terms read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tangem | Self-custodial, by the terms | Tangem AG | None disclosed in the documents read | 2 | all loss excluded | Not disclosed | Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, TON, Tron, BNB Chain, Base, Polygon | Tangem Terms of Service (Official Mobile Application), last updated 14 September 2026 |
| Trezor | Self-custodial, by the terms | Trezor Company s.r.o. | None disclosed in the documents read | 3 | the fees paid for the app, and the purchase price for the device | Not disclosed | Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Tron | Trezor Suite Terms of Use, last updated 1 January 2026 |
| Ledger | Self-custodial, by the terms | Ledger SAS | Another party in the stack | 0 | all loss excluded | Illegal gambling only | Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana, Tron | Ledger Wallet Terms of Use, 4 November 2025 |
| SafePal | Self-custodial, by the terms | SkyGenesis Holdings Limited | None disclosed in the documents read | 1 | all loss excluded | Not disclosed | Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Tron, Polygon, Solana | SafePal Terms of Service, last updated 5 September 2024 |
| Arculus | Self-custodial, by the terms | Arculus Holdings, L.L.C. | None disclosed in the documents read | 0 | no cap recorded | Not disclosed | Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, TON, Tron, BNB Chain, Base, Polygon | Arculus Legal Notices, including the Arculus Cold Storage Wallet Usage Terms |
| D'CENT | Self-custodial, by the terms | IoTrust Co., Ltd. | None disclosed in the documents read | 1 | all loss excluded | Not disclosed | Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Tron | D'CENT App Terms and Conditions, change notice and text effective 20 May 2026 |
| Blockstream Jade | Not settled by the terms | Blockstream Corporation | None disclosed in the documents read | 1 | all loss excluded | Not disclosed | Bitcoin | Blockstream Terms of Use, effective 16 January 2018 |
| Keystone | Self-custodial, by the terms | Yanssie HK Limited | None disclosed in the documents read | 0 | the price paid for the product | Not disclosed | Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, Tron | Keystone Terms of Use, last updated 4 March 2026 |
| COLDCARD | Self-custodial, by the terms | Coinkite Inc. | None disclosed in the documents read | 1 | all loss excluded | Not disclosed | Bitcoin | Coinkite Terms of Use, last updated 9 June 2022 |
Bitcoin cold wallet: which ones name Bitcoin
All 9 hardware wallets on the register name Bitcoin on their own pages. Blockstream Jade and COLDCARD name Bitcoin and none of the other chains this register tracks. On Blockstream Jade the custody answer depends on the account type: the record states that for a 2-of-2 multisig account in the Blockstream app, Blockstream holds one of two signing keys and cannot spend alone. COLDCARD has no companion app of its own and is used with third-party coordinator software under those projects’ own terms.
How to set up a cold wallet
The steps below follow from what the hardware records say went wrong, not from any one maker’s manual. Use the maker’s own instructions for the device itself.
- Buy from the maker’s own domain, listed in the table above, and type it yourself.
- Let the device generate the recovery phrase. Coinkite’s advisory on its weak-seed bug exempts seeds that added at least 50 private dice rolls.
- Write the phrase down offline. Trezor’s own learn page says keys stay on the device
as long as you never enter your wallet backup anywhere online
(trezor.io). - Update the firmware from the companion app. An update does not fix an old key. Coinkite says:
Updating corrects future seed generation but does not repair an existing affected seed.
D’CENT told affected users to create a new phrase rather than restore the old one. - To move coins in, read the receiving address on the device screen, not only in the app, and send a small amount first. The device is the part that holds the key, so it is the part to trust for the address.
If you stay with a hot wallet
21 of the 30 wallets on the register are software only. The register sorts all of them by what their documents say on the sorted list, and the most-searched pairs are compared side by side: MetaMask vs Trust Wallet, Phantom vs Solflare and Trust Wallet vs Exodus.