It was a regular morning when I woke up to some shocking news. The Ledger device, which many of us had been using for years to store our crypto, may be putting our funds at risk.
The speculation that the Ledger device could expose our seed phrase to the internet had been circulating for a while, and people were expecting updates. Eventually, we got them. It turns out that the Ledger device can expose your seed phrase to the internet, even if you don’t choose to opt-in for the “recovery services”. All it takes is for the French government to knock on their door and ask for it.
This means that our funds stored in Ledger are actually less safe than funds stored on MetaMask. At least we don’t have any confirmation that other hot wallets can access or keep copies of our seed phrases.
It was nice while it lasted, but it’s game over for Ledger.
To those people downvoting my comments, I’m also a Ledger user. I’ve been using it for multiple years to store my crypto. I’m not happy that this happened and I hate the upcoming inconvenience of buying new wallets and sending crypto back and forth. But unfortunately, this is the reality.
Some people have argued that you can choose not to opt-in, but the truth is that you can’t opt out of the device being able to leak data to the internet. You can only opt out of Ledger doing it with intent.
Ledger recently doubled down on their stance on Twitter spaces. They described the product without addressing the relevant comments and concerns.
It’s a sad day for Ledger users, and it’s a reminder of the importance of being careful when managing our crypto. It’s always important to stay informed and to take all the necessary precautions to protect our funds.