How to safely store cryptocurrency without SEED-fraza: TanGem Wallet equipment review

In June 2021, attackers sent fake devices allegedly to protect against data leakage to customers. To restore wallets, it was required to enter the SEED-fraza. After that, hackers gained access to user means.

A few months later, the Swiss company TanGem AG introduced a new hardware wallet-in the form of a plastic card and without a SEED-fraza. Test TanGem Wallet and talk about its advantages and disadvantages.

Why Seed Fraza is not the best backup

Mnemonic phrase (Seed-fraz or just SID) is a random sequence of 12 or more words that is needed to restore access to the means in case of loss, theft or damage of the wallet.

The user generates SID when creating a cryptocurrency wallet. It needs to be stored in a safe place: the holder of the SEED-fraza gets full access to the assets.

However, the user cannot be completely sure that his mnemonic phrase was not compromised.

Example: The attacker abducted Seed-Fraz. He is in no hurry to give himself out and waits for the owner to transfer the “sufficient” amount of funds to the wallet. After that, he removes cryptocurrency. The user learns about the compromise of the wallet only after the theft of assets.

“You can purchase a hardware wallet with the most innovative protection elements. In this case, the backup will be a simple Solana NFT тепер combination of words that can be photographed or rewritten. This is enough to get access to your money. Seeed Fraza is a “private key of Schrödinger”. It is unknown whether it is compromised or not, because a piece of paper or a file with a SEED-fraza does not have any reliable protection mechanisms, ”explained Andrey Lazutkin Technical Director Andrei Lazutkin.

He added that SEED-Fraz needs to be correctly written down and choose a reliable place for its storage. Because of this, newcomers can abandon non-codial wallets in favor of less safe centralized platforms.

Wires without wires and sidov

“If you want to keep a secret, you need to hide it even from yourself,” George Orwell, “1984”.

TanGem Wallet – Multilelet wallet in the form of a set of two or three plastic cards.

In each of the cards, the SAMSUNG S350A chip is built in, which is protected from moisture and dust according to the IP68 standard and is certified by the standard of protection from the physical methods of hacking the Common Criteria Eal6+ (Evaluation Ansurance LEVEL).

Chips with this level of protection are used in passports. In 2018, Tangem Wallet was checked by the audit company Kudelski Security.

You do not need a USB cable to work with a wallet. The user interacts with cards via NFC connection using the TanGem mobile application on Android and iOS. Application code is available on github.

“This is an ideal solution for long -term storage of cryptocurrencies: after a long break in use, you do not need to change the battery or charge the device,” said Andrei Lazutkin.

According to Tangem AG, the service life exceeds 25 years. They can work stably at a temperature of -25 to +50 ° C.

The user does not need to create and store SEED-Fraz. However, with loss or damage to all cards, the owner of the wallet forever loses access to the means. The manufacturer does not provide other ways to restore.

Test TanGem Wallet

We tested a set of three cards. The price on the official website is $ 69.90. Two cards will cost $ 54.90.

To install the application, you need to bring one of the cards to the NFC antenna. In the iPhone, it is located on the upper right side of the smartphone. In Android devices, the location depends on the specific model.

We used the phone on Android: after contact with the NFC, the application automatically opened on Google Play. This approach protects the user from malicious programs.

Installed the application and pressed the button “Scan”. After that they created a wallet.

After generation, they tied the wallet to reserve cards. Each card has a unique number on circulation.

Then they made a backup-they attached a second and third card to the NFC antenn for 15 seconds.

To protect the wallet in case of theft, the access code (password) was set. It can be set individually for each card.

Restore access code allow reserve cards: you need to press the button “Forgot the code?”” at the entrance to the application, attach a reserve card and enter a new password.

Completed the reservation process: scanned the main and backup cards, and then pressed the button “Go to my wallet”.

In TanGem, you can configure the balance and prices of individual assets – in cryptocurrencies or fiat money, as well as add to the main screen of interest to coins.

Sending and receiving cryptocurrencies

На момент написания обзора Tangem Wallet поддерживает более 2500 криптовалют и токенов в 23 сетях, включая биткоин, Ethereum, BNB Chain, XRP, Cardano, Solana, Dodecoin, Polygon, Tron, Avalanche, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Stellar, Bitcoin Cash, Tezos, Fantom and Arbitrum.

We conducted two test operations for the input and conclusion of Dogecoin. To get started, pressed the button “Tokens Management” and added to the main page the main network Dogecoin (Main). Also, cryptocurrency is available in the form of a wrapped token in the BNB Chain network.

After that, we copied our address and translated. The balance was updated almost immediately after the transaction.

Chose the “normal” size of the commission and included it in the total amount. Pressed the button “Send”, entered the access code and confirmed the transaction with a card. Dogecoin network processed a transaction for about a minute.

Work with decentralized applications

You can connect the wallet to Dapps through the WalletConnect protocol. At the time of writing, it is supported by more than 450 decentralized applications.

We conducted a test transaction for BNB exchange for Tether via Dex Pancakeswap: We switched to the platform website and selected the parameter WalletConnect on the menu “Connect the wallet”.

Completed the connection to Dapps: the menu was opened in the wallet application (⋮) And they chose the item WalletConnect. Pressed on the button “+” At the bottom of the screen, scanned the QR code on the Pancakeswap website and pressed the button “To begin”.

On Pancakeswap, they chose the exchange of BNB tokens for 5 USDT, and then pressed the button “Sign and send” In TanGem to sign the transaction.

After that, our balance decreased by $ 5, but the exchanged asset (Tether) was automatically not added.

The balance was updated only after we went to the tokens management menu and manually added Tether (BEP20) to the starting page. The TanGem team believes that this approach allows us to maintain the confidentiality of the user, but this seemed to us not the most convenient solution.

conclusions

Attackers can access the SEEDFREA with the help of social engineering, hacking accounts or a search. TanGem Wallet allows you to completely avoid these risks. The wallet also has a number of other advantages:

• Protection against moisture and dust according to the IP68 standard, the level of security chip EAL 6+. For comparison, Ledger and Safepal have passed Eal 5 certification+. There are no USB ports, buttons and display in TanGem Wallet, which allows minimizing the number of possible attacks;
• Compactness and invisibility. TanGem can be worn in a wallet or cardholder along with bank cards;
• Lack of battery and USB ports. No need to worry about the battery charge and wear a computer cable with a wallet to a computer.

TanGem source code is posted on github. If there are problems with the application in Google Play or App Store, third -party developers will be able to integrate the support of the wallet, and users can launch their own versions of TanGem.

On the other hand, when losing all cards, it is impossible to access the funds. In addition, the following shortcomings can be distinguished:

• work only through a smartphone with NFC. The manufacturer does not provide for other options for connecting to the wallet;
• more than two backups cannot be created. The main card can be tied to only one or two reserve;
• Support 23 blockchains. This is a pretty modest indicator compared to many multi -ore wallets in the market. Nevertheless, developers constantly update the application and add new networks.

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