Have you finally started investing in Bitcoin and other growing cryptocurrencies? It’s about time. As they say, you definitely should’ve started a few years ago.
But the opportunity for impressive returns continues, especially as so many new altcoins are hitting the market and seeing crazy growth. Cryptocurrencies are still considered new, so you can still get in on the early adoption phase and reap the rewards.
But before buying coins, you need to have a safe place to store them.
Wondering about the Ledger Nano S supported coins? This is one of the most popular hardware wallets for cryptocurrencies, and overall it provides support to over 1,000 different cryptocurrencies.
So if you plan on diversifying your crypto assets, you’ll be safe with the Ledger Nano S wallet.
Keep reading to see a list of Ledger Nano S coins, along with the benefits of using a hardware wallet in the first place.
Why You Need a Crypto Wallet
When investors first get into cryptocurrencies, they are often confused about the whole wallet thing. After all, when they invest in stocks and other traditional securities, they typically remain in the brokerage account where they purchased them.
But cryptocurrencies are different. They aren’t simply representative assets, like stocks. Stocks represent shares of ownership in a company.
Rather, cryptocurrencies are valuable in and of themselves. In many ways, they are like gold or even cash. And when they sit in your account on a crypto exchange, they aren’t technically under your control.
They are under custody of the exchange until you withdraw them to your own personal wallet. And this might seem safe enough until you realize that exchanges, although they offer reliable security, are the main targets for crypto hackers and thieves.
That’s because these exchanges collectively house millions, if not billions of dollars of crypto assets at any given time. In fact, in August 2021, a popular crypto exchange in Japan lost almost $100 million worth of cryptocurrencies.
As they say in the crypto world, “Not your keys, not your crypto.” Keys refer to ownership of crypto assets. When you purchase cryptocurrencies, the transactions are recorded on the public blockchain.
Rather than coins actually moving into your account when you purchase them, they come under the control of your private key. Your private key is what protects your crypto assets, and is used to withdraw or send cryptocurrencies elsewhere.
Storing your assets in your own wallet, under the control of your own private key, is the only way to keep them safe.
Benefits of a Hardware Wallet
It’s important to know that not all crypto wallets are equal. There are a few types of wallets available, mainly hot or cold wallets.
Hot wallets are those that are connected to internet-accessible devices at all times. This includes browser wallets, which are stored in an internet browser extension such as on Google Chrome.
Another form of hot wallet is the desktop or mobile wallet. These are software applications that you download to your device, managing them either while connected or disconnected from the internet.
Both of these types of wallets are considered safer than storing your crypto assets on an exchange, but ultimately not the safest solution for large amounts of crypto. Even though they are under your control, they are connected to the internet.
If your device is ever hacked, which isn’t uncommon, thieves could potentially access and steal your crypto assets.
The other type of wallet available is the hardware wallet. These are physical storage devices, similar to an external hard drive. But they only store cryptocurrencies, as opposed to photos and other documents.
You connect them to your computer using a USB cord only when transferring coins from your wallet to an exchange. When complete, you disconnect it. Therefore, your assets are rarely connected to the internet and are in the safest possible place. The hardware wallet encrypts all of the data stored on it, so it’s extremely unlikely you will ever lose your cryptos.
The Ledger Nano S is one of the most popular and reliable hardware wallets available.
Ledger Nano S Supported Coins
So which coins does the Ledger Nano S support? Basically, any coin you’d want to hold for more than a few minutes of your time, the Ledger can handle. It’s important to understand the difference between tokens and coins, though, as you’re likely to have both in your portfolio.
Coins refer to cryptocurrencies that exist on their own, independent blockchain. This includes big-name cryptos like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot, or Tezos. On the other hand, tokens are assets created on other blockchains. Most of these altcoins live on the Ethereum blockchain, classifying them as ERC-20 tokens.
On top of that, know that the Ledger itself provides direct support for only 23 coins. However, you can store over 1,000 different assets using additional apps added to your wallet.
Coins Supported Directly by the Ledger
The following 23 coins are supported directly by the Nano Ledger S. No third-party applications are needed to store them. These include;
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Polkadot (DOT)
- Flow (FLOW)
- Tether USD (USDT)
- IOTA (MIOTA)
- Cosmos (ATOM)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Algorand (ALGO)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Binance Coin (BNB)
- Stellar (XLM)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Monero (XMR)
- Tron (TRX)
- Dash (DASH)
- Neo (NEO)
- USD Coin (USDC)
- Compound (COMP)
- Dai Stablecoin (DAI)
- Aave (LEND)
This list alone contains a handful of the coins that investors are looking to hold for long-term growth potential. But for other popular coins like Solana, Avalanche, Terra, and many others, you’ll need to install third-party apps on your Ledger.
The only issue with this is that the Nano Ledger S only supports six additional applications. So while you can store over a thousand different crypto assets on your wallet, you can’t store them all on there at the same time, since app space is limited.
Other Coins Supported by the Ledger
Using third-party apps, you can still store and manage hundreds of other crypto assets. With the ether wallet integration, for example, you can securely store all ERC-20 tokens, which are those built on the Ethereum blockchain.
Since this is the most widely used blockchain, there are 829 projects based on the ERC-20 coin standard, with hundreds of thousands of token contracts using Ethereum.
This includes some of the most popular crypto assets, like the Binance coin (BNB, and stable coins like USDT, USDC, and DAI.
Should You Get a Hardware Wallet Right Away?
Hardware wallets usually cost around $60, though more expensive ones can cost over $100. Should you get one right away?
For many newbie investors, it might not be necessary, unless you plan on dropping a ton of money into your crypto investments right away. Generally, however, if you plan on starting out with a few hundred, or even a few thousand dollars, you can utilize one of the free desktop or mobile wallets available.
You can even use multiple different software wallets to store different cryptocurrencies so that your investments are safe across multiple accounts.
Once you have a sizable amount of cryptocurrency, it is definitely recommended that you purchase a hardware wallet, as they are undeniably the safest way to store your crypto assets.
Alternatively, if you simply value security and peace of mind, you can buy the hardware wallet right away. The Leder Nano S is the most affordable option anyways.
You can also download the Ledger Nano S app. Otherwise known as Ledger Live, it’s the app you’ll use to transfer coins from your hardware wallet to your device, so you can move them around as needed.
You can send and receive crypto in the app. You can also buy and exchange crypto assets. Plus, you can lend and stake your assets so you can earn a passive return while holding your coins.
It’s a great way to put your crypto to work for you, while also retaining control and ownership of your precious assets.
Setting Up Your Hardware Wallet
When purchasing a hardware wallet, it’s crucial that you only purchase from reputable, certified sources. You need to ensure your new hardware wallet was not tampered with.
When setting up your hardware wallet, you’ll be given a seed phrase, a random string of words that controls your private keys. If anyone else knows the seed phrase, they can take control of your crypto assets.
So if you bought a hardware wallet of eBay for example, you have no way of knowing if the seller plugged the wallet in, wrote down the seed phrase, and then repackaged the wallet to sell to an unsuspecting victim.
When starting up your wallet, make sure the box, and interior shrinkwrap, is intact. It should prompt you with a seed phrase upon firing up the wallet. If not, then contact the wallet provider for support.
The most important thing you can do is write down your seed phrase in a safe, secure location. If you lose it, you could lose access to all of the crypto stored on the wallet. No one can help you get it back.
It’s one of the strengths and weaknesses of being in direct control of your assets.
Take Control of Your Assets
Hopefully, you enjoyed our Ledger Nano S review. The Ledger Nano S supported coins is as expansive as it gets. Basically, any coin you’d actually want to hold, you can hold using this hardware wallet.
If you are holding a lot of cryptocurrencies, you’d better protect them using your own wallet. You can’t trust others, even popular exchanges, to protect your assets.
Looking for more crypto and investing tips like this? Head over to our blog to continue reading today.
