Post
Topic
Board Beginners & Help
Re: Is that safe to buy a used hardware wallet ?
by
Kyraishi
on 01/07/2017, 06:41:30 UTC
Hello my friends.

Is that safe to buy a used hardware wallet like Ledger Nano S or Trezor .

Is there any danger to use a second hand hardware wallet ?



Yes, no matter how safe a factory reset or a complete wipe of the system is, technically there is still achance that someone that has evil intentions will scam you, not only with an unsafe Trezor, but anything that you deposit into it as well.

The chances of it happening is low, but when it happens, who's to blame? The seller? Sorry, you've got no proof, it could have been a virus on your laptop.

The whole idea of bitcoin and hardware wallets is to have trustless, secure storage of your coins. Obviously, nothing can be perfectly trustless, but personally by buying a used trezor i can't sleep well at night knowing that someone might have access to my coins. Just spend the extra $50 and buy a new one. Even if you buy from a reseller, it can technically still not be safe.

Quote from: stackexchange
If you update the firmware you are probably safe, but why take the chance? The Trezor itself (or even the included USB cable https://www.wired.com/2014/07/usb-security/) could have been corrupted/replaced by a sophisticated actor.

If someone gave me a used Trezor for free, I would throw it in the garbage. No discount would be sufficient enough for me to justify buying a used Trezor:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2dbjd9/trezor_tamper_proof_seal_doesnt_help_much_against/