KeepKey is one of the oldest physical cryptocurrency wallets on the market, having been on sale since 2015. If you already have a good amount invested in cryptocurrency and you still don’t have a physical wallet, in this review we are going to talk about the advantages of this type of wallet, and of KeepKey in particular. KeepKey is a very functional and secure wallet.
A few years ago, the ShapeShift platform purchased KeepKey and integrated the functionalities of both, leaving the wallet in the strange position of being a physical wallet that depends on an exchange.
Also read: KeepKey Wallet Review: An Amazing Hardware Wallet
Table of Contents
Wallet type: cold wallet
A cold wallet (cold wallet) or offline is not connected to the internet. A cold wallet is not:
- A note on your smartphone or PC, because these devices are connected to the internet, even if you do not have backup copies of said note in the cloud
- An app on your smartphone because, once again, your smartphone is connected to the internet, even though the app doesn’t connect or have security vulnerabilities
- The wallet associated with your account at any cryptocurrency exchange
There are two types of cold wallets:
- Your private keys on a piece of paper (paper wallet)
- Your private keys in a physical wallet (hardware wallet)
The physical wallet
These wallets connect to your PC or smartphone to carry out your operations, leaving your private keys out of your system at all times. If it seems like too much work to connect the wallet, you may not need a physical wallet (if you transact very frequently) or it may be a good idea to have a hot amount to transact with, and the rest in the physical wallet.
KeepKey
KeepKey is one of the oldest manufacturers of physical wallets along with Trezor, and their wallet has become more affordable over the years and is a very affordable yet secure wallet. KeepKey wallets have support for over 300 cryptocurrencies and tokens, while other wallets have support for over 1000. But of course, the ones that support KeepKey are the most common, so they will likely be enough for us. The other pros and cons of this wallet may be much more important.
Normally we can buy a KeepKey for about 49 USD, although the official price is 79, which places it in the mid-range of physical wallets. Wallets with more functionality are around triple that price, like the KeepKey Model T.
Pros and cons of KeepKey
Advantages
- Portable, light, and very secure
- USB encrypted connection
- The screen is much larger than other wallets
- It does not have a wireless Bluetooth connection
- No limit on cryptocurrency addresses on the same device
- Economical price
Disadvantages
- It supports more than 300+ different cryptocurrencies and tokens, but its competitors support more than 1000
- Too integrated with ShapeShift if you don’t use that platform
How to use
It is good to get an idea of how this wallet works before deciding on one or the other. The KeepKey works by connecting to your PC via USB, so nothing can have direct access to your private keys. Next, we will see in detail how to use it.
Initial setup
The first thing is to connect our KeepKey with the ShapeShift website.
- Connect KeepKey to PC
- Go to the ShapeShift website and choose “Connect your wallet”
- Follow the instructions to update the wallet
Once this is done, we can initialize our wallet.
- Click “Initialize KeepKey”
- Choose a “label” or name for your device (this will help if you ever have more than one)
- Choose a PIN for your device, preferably 6 or more digits, and not repeat with other PINs (attention: the numbers on the virtual keyboard are scrambled each time for your security)
- Take note of the 12 words of your recovery key (they will be displayed on the screen of the same device to prevent them from passing through any PC or smartphone because in that case they could be compromised)
If a new KeepKey already has a PIN when you receive it, red alert! This means that it was already initialized and that it is not a new device.
Transfer and receive cryptocurrency from KeepKey
Once your wallet is ready, you can easily use it with ShapeShift. Unfortunately, using your device without an account on this platform has become more difficult over the years.
How secure is the KeepKey?
The KeepKey is very secure. Our private keys are always encrypted on the device, protected by the PIN. And the recovery phase will allow us (only us) to recover the accounts if we lose the device. These two points make KeepKey a more versatile solution in terms of security than, for example, a paper wallet.
The PIN is also entered using a virtual numeric keypad that appears on the screen with the numbers arranged differently each time, which makes it almost impossible for thieves to find out our PIN even if the security of our PC is compromised. And, furthermore, this PIN only works if you have the KeepKey physically on the computer you are using! What can recover our account anywhere is only the recovery key, and this has never passed through any device connected to the internet.
The really important thing about KeepKey is that, when we connect the wallet to the PC, this data does not pass over the Internet (not even through our local network), so it is very difficult for anyone to capture these communications, which of course are also encrypted. Transmissions over the USB port can only be attempted by being near the devices, making this an incredibly secure wallet.
The only thing that is worrying a lot of people is ShapeShift’s purchase and integration of KeepKey. For users who have no ties to this exchange, the KeepKey wallet has been made less attractive by depending on the software to use it from a third party.
Differences from other wallets
If we compare the KeepKey with other cheap wallets, these are the most important differences:
- The KeepKey has a larger screen so you can see more text at once
- The KeepKey only has one button, but there is no difficulty using it with computer software
- The KeepKey can store any number of cryptocurrency addresses, but it only gives us several dozen cryptocurrencies and tokens to choose from.
- The KeepKey is highly integrated with the ShapeShift platform, which makes it less attractive if we are not users of it
Conclusion
This is one of the oldest physical wallets on the market, and one of the cheapest. For all ShapeShift users, it may be the most convenient option but, for those of us who are not, we recommend understanding the pros and cons of KeepKey and choosing accordingly.