Like many, we believe the time has come for the hardware wallet sector to be significantly disrupted, as Trezor and Ledger suddenly feel like antiquated technologies. In the era of emerging crypto technologies and new wallets, let’s introduce NGRAVE ZERO – the coldest hardware wallet to store your crypto assets.
Although there are already many hardware wallets available, they don’t feel as user-friendly as NGRAVE ZERO. So, let’s get a full NGRAVE ZERO review in this article today!
After the 2018 crypto market collapse, there was a lot of uncertainty about the viability of the cryptocurrency concept. Three Belgians set out to address security, which they saw as the biggest barrier to the widespread use of cryptocurrencies.
NGRAVE made an achievement in 2021: the distribution of its premium product ZERO, the world’s coldest hardware wallet, across 85 nations. A new generation of technology may have arrived with the NGRAVE ZERO. It has been a years-long process of research and development and represents the most successful preorder campaign for a cryptocurrency wallet, raising USD 450K.
So, what’s so special about NGRAVE ZERO? Let’s find out!
Why do we need a cold wallet?
A cold wallet is where you keep bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies safe. When employing cold storage, the digital wallet is housed on a system that is not connected to the internet. This makes sure it is protecting vital data from intruders, hackers, and other hazards that an online system is highly prone to.
KuCoin started to draw the attention of hackers in September 2020. Around USD 275 million was stolen in this hack, making it the third-largest exchange breach of all time after Mt.Gox and Coincheck.
A breach cost the UK-based exchange EXMO $10 million in December 2020. It is thought that hackers were able to access hot wallets, which are frequently used by exchanges to house the operational cash required to promptly process withdrawal requests from users.
After that, Ledger faced a data breach in December 2020 when hackers exposed their client database online. Reports claim that phishing attacks were directed at compromised users even though they did not result in the theft of money from them.
Centralization is a major issue in a sector that lays the groundwork for decentralization. Hardware wallet market-leaders Ledger and Trezor have both experienced significant security problems in the past. So, users of cryptocurrencies thus have two options:
- Look for a trustworthy custodian for their money. However, it is not easy to assess how to secure crypto custodians, even if their methods of protection are secretive.
- Employ a wallet. The issue is that cold wallets are insecure since they depend on an Internet connection, and hot wallets are well-known targets for hackers.
In this circumstance, Xavier Hendrickx, NGRAVE’s CTO and co-founder expressed, “Having experienced a USD 10 million hack with my previous blockchain project, I asked my NGRAVE co-founders a simple question: ‘Where can one store their crypto and be able to sleep at night?’ We had no answer. So we decided to build it ourselves.” And this is how the NGRAVE ZERO cold wallet was born.
Many crypto investors utilize both hot and cold wallets to get around the conundrum of selecting a storage option. The practice of keeping a smaller percentage of your cryptocurrency holdings in a hot wallet to enable quick transactions and a larger portion of your holdings in a more safe cold wallet is widespread.
How is Cold Wallet different from Hot Wallet?
One of the most widely used techniques as an alternative to cold wallets is the hot wallet. A hot wallet is connected to the Internet all the time, such as app-based wallets or wallets provided by cryptocurrency exchanges.
Hot wallets come with the following features:
- User experience: Hot wallets are typically the most practical for users because they are already linked to the internet. To facilitate a token transfer, there is no added step of linking the wallet online.
- Cost: Cost is where hot wallets typically come out on top. Hot wallets are typically free. Cold storage solutions range from free to up to $100 to $200 for different kinds of hardware wallets.
- Security: Security is where cold wallets significantly outperform hot wallets. Hot wallets are very safe because of multiple cryptographic safeguards. They fall short of the total security of cold wallets, though.
Benefits of a Cold Wallet
Private keys kept in an online wallet are susceptible to network-based theft. With a hot wallet, all the internet actions necessary to finish a transaction are performed by a single device. The wallet creates and maintains private keys and uses them to digitally sign transactions before broadcasting them to the network.
The issue is that if signed transactions are published online and the private key used to sign them is made public, an attacker who is scouring the networks might learn it. A cold wallet that signs these transactions offline with private keys can solve this issue.
Hardware wallets give an additional degree of security against illegal transactions by not only storing your private keys in the safest possible way but also signing transactions on your behalf when they are confirmed by the holder.
When you are accessing your keys, a cold storage technique shouldn’t be able to connect with any other electrical device unless it is physically hooked into that device. Any online transaction is first temporarily moved to an offline wallet stored on a USB stick, external disc, hard drive, or offline computer. The transaction is digitally signed before being transferred back to the internet network.
About NGRAVE ZERO
The extremely secure and user-friendly products are produced by NGRAVE, a Belgian blockchain and digital asset security firm. NGRAVE provides a whole product suite for cryptocurrency users. The product line for NGRAVE was developed in close cooperation with the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC), the global leader in nanotechnology, the Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography (COSIC) research group, and several other top-tier partners.
Users may safely store and use their cryptocurrency using ZERO, the offline, touch-screen hardware wallet. Using GRAPHENE, a stainless steel encrypted backup solution, users will never lose their keys. In addition to being built to survive harsh environments, it is also intended to be recoverable in the case of loss.
The NGRAVE ZERO cryptocurrency hardware wallet has a camera and only supports transactions through QR codes and related mobile phone software. The product was developed and designed primarily with security as its core purpose in Belgium.
NGRAVE ZERO Features Overview
| Features | Description |
| Physical appearance | Ngrave is compatible to carry anywhere with a touch screen, inbuilt camera, and fingerprint sensor. It has a good quality screen with tempered glass. |
| Security | Ngrave is safe and secure. It has GRAPHENE, which is a high-end material. |
| Crypto-based | It supports many popular cryptocurrencies. |
| Hardware | Ngrave has a high-end material body. It has multi-layered tempered glass. |
| Cost | NGRAVE is a bit costly but totally worth it. |
| Connectivity | It is an offline wallet, hence secure from any cyber crimes. It cannot be connected from USB, wifi, or any other means. It only works with QR codes. |
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NGRAVE ZERO Review: Physical Appearance
- The wallet measures 125 x 72 x 14 millimetres.
- A 4-inch colour screen with excellent pixel density is available.
- NGRAVE ZERO’s display has a 480 x 800-pixel resolution.
- It sports a brilliant LCD capacitive touch screen with a 600 Cd/m2 brightness rating.
- It has a 640 x 480 camera built inside it.
- A 12 x 12 mm fingerprint sensor is present in the NGRAVE ZERO.
- It features an integrated light sensor.
- It features an “on” button on the side of the gadget.
- NGRAVE ZERO is resistant to both water and dust.
- It has an outer case, an inside case, and a PCB to prevent tampering.
NGRAVE ZERO Review: Connectivity
As we can see, NGRAVE is a stand-alone apparatus. It does not require any kind of connectivity, including Bluetooth, USB, WiFi, or NFC. As a result, it is safe from any cybercrime attack. It’s completely “air-gapped.”
The USB-C connector on the Ngrave is exclusively used for external charging. Firmware updates may be sent safely through USB as well. Before upgrading, the gadget has to be restarted.
In a separate partition, every change is checked. Sandboxing isolates it from the rest of the OS. By doing this, they were guaranteeing complete isolation from the USB-connected partition.
Additionally, the majority of upgrades take place in that section of the operating system, which is in charge of introducing features for currency support rather than security.
NGRAVE ZERO Review: Security
NGRAVE ZERO is perfectly designed, and high-quality materials have been used, making it a high-class device. Similarly, in terms of security, it is highly protected and secure to use. Surprisingly, this wallet has an EAL7 certification, which is one of the best security certifications in this universe to date.
A genuinely fascinating feature of the NGRAVE ZERO wallet is that it also includes a built-in light sensor that creates the “NGRAVE Perfect Key,” one of the most secure private keys ever created for cryptographic use. The ZERO wallet features a finger device and related software, and it also has a biometric fingerprint scanner for optionally adding protection.
The ARM® TrustZone® module of NGRAVE ZERO also has an integrity verification, which means that when the wallet starts up, it periodically examines the programme to see whether any undesired or unverified processes are already in use. The module verifies the device’s integrity and authenticity to ensure that no nefarious parties attempt to access it without authorization.
A known attack that might be used to access other hardware wallets is not possible since the wallet does not have to debug access, which also eliminates the chance of employing chip flashing methods to get unauthorised access to the device.
Through a USB-C connector, the NGRAVE wallet receives power and communicates firmware updates. All firmware upgrades are tested on a separate partition that is completely cut off from the operating system, preventing any potential assaults via the USB-C interface. The operating system upgrades take place somewhere unrelated to and isolated from the device’s security components.
Additionally, the firmware of the ZERO cannot be altered. If it notices someone attempting to access the hardware, it will erase itself and the keys.
The ZERO is also ROHS and CE certified, which are the certifications possessed by Trezor, in addition to being EAL7 certified, as opposed to Ledger’s EAL5 certification. The NGRAVE ZERO has received the most prominent protection and certification in the world by possessing all of these certificates. As a result of these features, NGRAVE ZERO is considered the safest cold wallet for your crypto.
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NGRAVE ZERO Review: Key Creation and Recovery
The NGRAVE Perfect Key is perhaps the feature that most distinguishes the ZERO from other hardware wallets. For those unaware, practically every hardware or software wallet will include a 12 to 48-word recovery seed phrase that helps in receiving the wallet’s private keys.
People frequently believe that a crypto wallet is where they store their cryptocurrency. This is untrue; a wallet has the keys required to access a user’s cryptocurrency. Your wallet only gives you the interface and keys required to interact with your cryptocurrency, which is safely held on the network.
Bitcoin can never leave the Bitcoin network and enter your wallet; instead, it stays on the blockchain network (as do other cryptocurrencies). This seed word must be kept secret, safe, and therefore only known by the user; it must never be shared or posted online where hackers might access it. So, let’s see how to make the perfect key!
How Would You Create NGRAVE Perfect Key?
The following these simple steps will help you create a private key:
- You have to select a PIN code of four digits.
- NGRAVE uses biometric information to safeguard your private key. Touching your finger on the sensor three times will register your fingerprints.
- The camera will use its inbuilt light sensors to collect light. One of the great features that came into play is that photons (light) monitor the surrounding ambient light to increase the efficiency of key power. A chip inside it processes all of this data to create a key. The value of this key will then begin to fluctuate in real-time. It is possible to engage with the key and personalise it, making it difficult for anyone—not even NGRAVE—to determine which key you made. Additionally, the procedure closes any backdoors to the keys that may have been created by the hardware wallet maker or even spy agencies.
- The real-time key change can be started and stopped by selecting “freeze” or “unfreeze.” This may be done as many times as you like. Additionally, you may indicate particular key combinations that you want to mix. This enhances the safety of the key and makes user engagement quick and straightforward.
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NGRAVE ZERO Review: Graphene Plate
Introducing a new and unique technique to safeguard your security key. Earlier, any key that you needed to secure, we wrote it on paper, but here you are offered something special, and that is a GRAPHENE plate!
Graphene plate is a product of premium stainless steel. It is a rather robust cryptographic conundrum. This plate will survive harsh conditions like house fires (1660 °C/3020 °F), is water resistant, corrosion resistant, and more. It is a remarkably unique plate. It has two parts. In order to break the code, one needs to have both plates.
There are 64 columns on the graphene sheet, and every column has hexadecimal numbers (0-9, A-F). Also, 256 bits of security are provided. The second plate is plain (blank) and is called the rear plate. While using graphene to set their pin, the user has to punch the rear plate without damaging the top plate using a metal punch.
In the event that a user loses one of the plates, NGRAVE suggests to its users that they buy more than one lower plate because it is cheaper than the upper plate. You can also recover your upper plate by the following methods:
- Any shipment has an order number attached to it. In this way, a user can find its personalised upper plate configuration by putting the order number on the Ngrave server or link.
- Secondly, the user can also get a new upper plate by verifying himself by providing KYC data to the NGRAVE team.
NGRAVE ZERO Review: Hardware
NGRAVE ZERO cold wallet has a multi-layered anti-tempered device. It employs high-end materials. The metal enclosure lowers the range of private keys during a hacking attempt and protects radio frequencies that an attacker might intercept with. NGRAVE ZERO employs proprietary firmware that has been examined by security professionals and intends to be made available for public comment.
NGRAVE ZERO uses 1200 mAH of power (Ultra-Efficient Low Power). It features a low-power efficient power management system and a USB-compatible battery charger.
NGRAVE supported coins: What cryptocurrencies does it support?
NGRAVE ZERO wallet supports so many famous stable coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance coin, Solana, Litecoin, and much more. Along with these, it supports as many as 1500+ ERC-20 tokens too.
NGRAVE ZERO Review: Compatibility with other apps
Cryptographic wallets require a method of internet connectivity in order to conduct transactions. A USB cord is the most common way to connect hardware wallets, but other options include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, and more. The use of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and particularly NFC just seems awful, eroding the need for a hardware wallet with its added security features.
That’s why NGRAVE ZERO cold wallet supports its own platform app called NGRAVE LIQUID. The only means by which both the LIQUID app and NGRAVE ZERO will work together is by means of QR codes. The ZERO wallet articulates with the LIQUID app, which in turn intercommunicates with the blockchain.
On your LIQUID, you can easily view your art collections. Never before has managing your NFTs been safer. Start a transaction and sign it with ZERO, or scan and sync every account you have with the programme.
Without using the ZERO, the LIQUID app delivers a real-time portfolio display. The ability to check on your portfolio in real-time, whenever you choose, without having to turn on the ZERO, gives you great speed. This seems perfect for responding quickly to a tumultuous market.
The programme may be used to start outgoing transactions, find the addresses required to receive transactions, view NFTs, and quickly create new wallets so you can have numerous Ethereum addresses, for instance.
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How does NGRAVE cold hardware wallet work?
- You must generate an NGRAVE LIQUID transaction request in your app.
- You must compare the hardware wallet ZERO’s QR code with the one produced by the LIQUID.
- The specifics of the transaction must now be verified. The transaction must then be signed in your ZERO wallets.
- Using the LIQUID app, scan the wallet for your signature.
- On the blockchain network, your transaction has now been broadcast and recorded.
NGRAVE ZERO: The Revolutionary Wallet in the Crypto Future
NGRAVE developed this format with the assistance of eminent cryptography researchers because it permits the following revolutionary features:
- A key generation procedure that allows for user involvement.
- By entirely dividing the key into two pieces on the graphene, it adds a second security layer to the backup.
- An inventive key recovery mechanism (the GRAPHENE upper plate can be recovered without 3rd party risk).
- True randomness—it is impossible for anyone to know the device’s recovery phrase before the user configures it.
They dubbed it the “Perfect Key” for this reason!
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Know why NGRAVE ZERO is better than other cold wallets
● ZERO vs Ledger
The ZERO is preferable if user-friendliness, overall convenience, and usability are the parameters. It is built with superior materials, is more resilient, and complies with higher security standards than the Ledger model. If the ZERO is indeed more secure than other options, only time will tell.
The Ledger is the superior option right now for consumers wishing to utilise their hardware wallet to interact with DeFi protocols and cryptocurrency apps because it offers DApp access and works with WalletConnect. The ZERO will soon have comparable functionality added by the NGRAVE team.
● ZERO vs Trezor
In terms of general utility, convenience, and user-friendliness, as well as material quality and build, the ZERO is superior. Furthermore, it adheres to significantly greater security requirements than the Trezor. In the long run, let’s see if ZERO indeed stands the test of time in terms of security.
Trezor supports WalletConnect, which can communicate with online wallets, DApps, and platforms. Similar functionalities are being added to the ZERO by the NGRAVE team.
Comparison Chart
Here’s a full NGRAVE ZERO review comparison with other cold wallets:
| Features | NGRAVE ZERO | Ledger Nano X | Trezor Model T |
| Body Material | High-end material | Plastic and stainless steel | Plastic body |
| Screen size | 4 inch | 2 inch | 1 inch |
| Biometric sensor | Inbuilt fingerprint sensor present | NA | NA |
| online /offline | offline(QR scan) | USB C | USB C connected |
| Firmware security | CC ELA7 | CC ELA5+ | NA |
| Backup form | NGRAVE graphene (2 plates encrypted backup) | Piece of paper | Piece of paper |
| Battery capacity | 1200 mAH | 100 mAH | NA |
| Mobile app | Liquid app | available | NA |
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Wrapping Up
Considering all the features and security aspects in the NGRAVE ZERO review above, it turns out to be one of the safest crypto wallets so far.
It is clear that the Ngrave ZERO cold wallet is the one for you if you want a high-quality product. I hope you have got an idea from this NGRAVE ZERO review of whether it is safe enough for your crypto assets.
With this revolutionary product, you can invest in and store your crypto assets and have a peaceful sleep every night. So, go ahead and invest in NGRAVE ZERO as a significant asset to hold your digital assets!