Configuration
What's the difference between local and hardware wallet?
Local Wallet
Local wallet is considered always online as it runs locally on the device that it is installed to, in some cases that does not hold for example if it's installed on a raspberry pi that is kept offline and only connected to the Ethernet when managing payments. But as a general rule we consider this option as hot wallet because it runs locally on the system.
When you chose this option the wallet will allow you to either import or create a new wallet locally on your system, it will encrypt the private key of the wallet with 512 bit AES encryption algorithm using a pin provided by you. Even though the wallet is locally stored, the encryption is good enough in case the device is stolen to transfer the funds off the wallet by importing it on a different device to recover the funds.
If a configuration file for this wallet is not found on the system users will be transferred to the wallet creation page where they can create a new wallet or import existing wallet using a private key.
Always write down your generated seed for each wallet version that you use regardless of if it's local wallet or hardware wallet, that's the only way to recover a lost wallet due to a device being stolen , damaged or lost.
Hardware Wallet
When the hardware wallet option is selected users under different operating systems will get a screen to select one of the supported devices. Users under the Linux operating system have to take few extra steps to make sure their device has access to connect with the software, users under Windows and Mac don't need to do anything extra.
Each hardware wallet is built on top of the open hardware platform Arduino, an Atmega chip provider that allow easy IOT integration with any type of software. Due to consistency openness and low price per chip we decided that it's the best option for our hardware version.
Compatible devices?
- Leonardo
- Mega1284
- Mega2560
- Micro
- NanoR2
- NanoR3
- UnoR3
You can purchase one of these chips from a local retail provider or from amazon or from the official store for users in America and Europe:
How does the hardware wallet work?
Connect the chip to your computer and then chose the chip from the drop down, make sure the chip name matches with the selected option as each chip has it's own boot-loader bandwidth and it will fail to be recognized. If the chip is found on your system you will see the light indicator for data transfer begin to blink, the software will download the latest firmware from our official repository and get the chip up to date with the latest security updates.
If the device is not configured you will be transferred to the wallet creation screen, where you will be asked to create a wallet or import an existing wallet using a private key.