Tangem Wallet & Note Review 2022
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Tangem AG is a high-tech blockchain company headquartered in Switzerland with offices in North America, Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific.
The two types of Tangem Hardware Wallets: Tangem Notes & Tangem Wallet
They make two types of hardware wallets.
On the one hand, the Tangem Wallet, in the form of a black card. It works like a regular hardware wallet and allows you to securely manage your cryptocurrencies. Then there are the tangem notes. This is a digital banknote with a single supported cryptocurrency. This type of card is designed for those who are new to cryptocurrencies and are looking for something that is easy to use. In addition, the cards can be passed around like cash to perform an off-chain transaction.
In this test report, a package with all available Tangem cards is tested and examined in more detail.
First Impression
Buy the Tangem Hardware Wallets online
The Tangem cards can be ordered in the own store for around 50,00 $ (click here to check the current price). Various payment methods are available, including credit card, Paypal or cryptocurrencies. Included is free worldwide shipping on orders over $40.
Hardware Wallets should preferably be ordered directly from the manufacturer or official resellers if possible. Dubious stores or private sellers on platforms like ebay or amazon could manipulate the devices for their own purposes or trick the buyer. This way, the thieves can steal all the coins from your hardware wallet at a later time. Unfortunately, there have already been such cases in the past.
What is included in the package?
Included is a quick start guide and the hardware wallets in the form of a credit card. These are together in a box that can be slid open.
The enclosed instructions show the necessary three steps to activate and use a card.
The Tangem Cards together with the Quick Start Guide
The cards are cards the size of a normal credit card. They look very high quality and contain a unique identification number on the back.
Setting up and handling the Tangem Cards
To set up Tangem Hardware Wallet cards, you need to download the corresponding app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
Never use a hardware wallet that is already set up. You must choose your own PIN code or password and do the backup yourself. This is not given by anyone!
Tangem Wallet
Now you can hold your Tangem Multi-Currency Wallet to your NFC-enabled smartphone and the hardware wallet will be set up and secured with an access code. In the case of the Tangem Wallet, you can set up up to two more Tangem Hardware Wallets as backups. That’s because with Tangem Wallet, there’s no need to write a recovery seed on a piece of paper – in the event of the loss or theft of the card itself, access to the cryptocurrency can be restored with a backup card (or two).
Now everything is already set up to manage cryptocurrencies with over 1000 tokens on 13 blockchains. The following video shows the setup process of Tangem Wallet.
When you play this YouTube video, data is transmitted to Google.
Tangem Note
The Tangem Note does not require an access code. You simply tap the card briefly on your smartphone to activate the card. Now you can buy the corresponding cryptocurrency directly via the app or display the public key of the wallet to send coins to the address yourself.
The card is now comparable to a banknote. Anyone in possession of the card can spend the coins, pass them on or increase the amount further with the help of the Tangem app. Thus, it is also possible to perform transactions without the blockchain, simply by passing the card. This saves transaction fees is leaves no trace on the blockchain.
The following video shows the procedure using the Tangem Note for Bitcoin.
When you play this YouTube video, data is transmitted to Google.
Supported cryptocurrencies and devices
The Tangem app is supported by the following operating systems.
- Android
- iOS
The Tangem wallet currently supports around 1000 tokens on 13 blockchains. Depending on which Tangem Note you choose, only this one cryptocurrency is supported.
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Dogecoin
- Ripple
- Stellar
- Cardano
- Tezos
- BINANCE COIN
Documentation and Support
The Tangem website has a dedicated knowledge section, a FAQs section, and a page that assists with the setup process. The content is created in English. To contact Tangem, an email address is provided on the website.
Tangem Wallet Security
Like any hardware wallet, Tangem Wallet generates a unique private key that never leaves the hardware wallet. With Tangem Hardware Wallets you don’t even get a recovery seed. Instead, you can set up multiple Tangem wallets, with the others serving as backups in case of loss.
Assessment security level EAL6+ certification
Tangem has also had its safety concepts externally certified. According to Tangem, the wallet has the highest certification level among direct competitors, which guarantees that there are no backdoors – EAL6+ from Common Criteria. This was tested by the world’s leading laboratory Kudelski Security. They confirm security in their report, “In particular, we didn’t find any backdoor, malicious or suspicious undocumented feature in the firmware.”
IP68 protection class
Furthermore, the hardware wallet is optimally protected against external environmental influences due to its simple structure. According to Tangem, this makes it the only hardware wallet with the highest possible level of environmental protection – IP68. The IP68 certification defines on the one hand that the device is dust-proof, and on the other hand the protection against permanent submersion up to a maximum water depth of 1.5 meters for a maximum of 30 minutes. Moreover, the card is durable enough to work from -35°C to +85°C. The chip does not break – there is nothing to break, and the service life is at least 25 years.
Product Specifications
Advantages | |
Cryptocurrencies | Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Ripple, Stellar, Cardano, Tezos, BINANCE COIN |
Package Contents |
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Comments | 2 comments |
Platform | Android, iOS |
Brand | Tangem |
Altcoin Support | |
FIDO U2F Authenticator | |
Supported Coins | 1000+ |
Open Source | |
Weight | 3g |
Interfaces | NFC |
Size | 85.6 x 54 x 0.6mm |
Screen 2FA |
User Reviews 2
What happens if the company goes out of business? Say the app goes down then what? I have to have the app to access my crypto. So what if there’s no app all the sudden? No app=no crypto??
It is very good product 👍
FAQ 9
Ask your own questionI lost my hardware wallet. Now what?
That is not a problem. You can restore your accounts to a new hardware wallet using the recovery key you wrote down when you set it up.
Is it possible to restore all cryptocurrencies with a hardware wallet backup?
Most wallets support more than just one cryptocurrency, but only generate one backup. Nevertheless, this one backup is sufficient to restore all cryptocurrencies as all private keys of the different wallets result from the seed that is backed up as a backup during setup.
How does a hardware wallet work?
Hardware Wallets such as the Ledger Nano X, TREZOR Model T, BitBox02 or KeepKey all work according to the same principle. They are a special form of a so-called wallet, which is used to manage cryptocurrencies. A hardware wallet is a physical device that securely and inisolationly generates the private keys to the cryptocurrencies. Due to the extra hardware, they have some advantages over software wallets:
However, it is important to understand that hardware wallets are an attractive target for attackers and depend on several assumptions to maintain security. They are not a miracle weapon, and there are several realistic ways to hack a hardware wallet Especially if someone has physical access to the device.
What happens if there are new cryptocurrencies – do I need a new hardware wallet?
A new cryptocurrency is rarely supported directly by a hardware wallet at the beginning. However, most providers such as Ledger or TREZOR are constantly working to support new cryptocurrencies. Therefore, it is often worth waiting until the desired currency is supported by your hardware wallet.
Hardware wallets: Where are my cryptocurrencies actually stored?
Are my cryptocurrencies stored in the hardware wallet, or where exactly are they? This is a very good question because the answer defines what your wallet actually needs to protect.
Cryptocurrencies are so named because they are secured by cryptography. For this you need a set of digital keys, for example your (very secret) private key. With this key you can encrypt and digitally sign things.
Let’s take Bitcoin as an example (other cryptocurrencies work in a similar way). The entire Bitcoin network is kept up to date by a common data structure called the blockchain. It contains records of all transactions ever made and is publicly accessible online, so anyone can read it. When you receive some bitcoins, say 0.1 BTC, you see them in your bitcoin wallet, listed under a bitcoin address.
At the same time, the bitcoins are not actually stored in the wallet, they are just an entry in the public blockchain. What the wallet stores is your secret private key that belongs to that address. Since you control that private key, you can spend those Bitcoins again: that’s how “Bitcoin ownership” is defined. Anyone can see these bitcoins, but only you can spend it, so they are yours. But that also means that *anyone* with the right private key can spend those bitcoins. Therefore, it is very important to keep this key secret.
What stops the hardware wallet manufacturer from stealing my cryptocurrencies?
What stops the manufacturer of your hardware from using a backdoor and simply stealing your cryptocurrencies? How much do you have to trust hardware wallet manufacturers?
While a completely “trustless” solution is probably not possible, manufacturers are doing everything they can to minimize the need to trust them.
Most of the software code of many hardware wallet manufacturers is open source, i.e. publicly available. Anyone can check how the device works and how secrets are handled. Of course, not everyone has the ability to review code: that’s why independent researchers are often encouraged to analyze, and are often rewarded by bug bounty programs when they find something. This does not limit their ability to publish a full independent report without permission.
The essentials to go: A wallet manages your secret private keys and requires full access to them. You can and should demand full transparency about how a wallet works and ensure that independent public audits are encouraged.
What makes the Tangem Card unique?
It is guaranteed that the private key will never be disclosed. Handing over a card is inherently a payment transaction outside the blockchain. You can sell them as merchandise, send them as gifts, or use them as payment. Basically, it’s a secure, smart banknote for digital assets.
What is Multi-Sig?
Multi-Sig is a security feature enabled by asymmetric cryptography. It allows two keys, stored securely and secretly in the security element of each card, to independently sign a transaction to send money from the same wallet address. With this level of security, users can reduce the risk of a single-key wallet.
How can I give away cryptocurrencies safely and easily as a gift?
Christmas, a birth, a wedding or a birthday is coming up and you want to give something special. In the process, it is becoming increasingly popular to give away cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Because these gain more and more importance and often also value over time. But what is the best way to give away cryptocurrencies?
Of course, you can generate a wallet for the recipient and give him the private key. This can be done in the form of a paper wallet or write the recovery seed in a card. However, this is cumbersome for both sides and requires some basic knowledge on the part of the recipient.
It is easier and more elegant to use a certain type of hardware wallet. These are wallets that act like a traditional banknote and often take the form of a credit card. An example of this is the Tangem Note. You can easily “load” them with cryptocurrencies via smartphone app and then give them away. The recipient can keep the card, give it away or later also spend the cryptocurrencies via smartphone or send it to a trading exchange of his choice, for example.
Give away cryptocurrencies safely and easily with Tangem Note
The major advantages of giving away cryptocurrencies this way are the following:
Of course, this comes at a further cost, but give away a great value of cryptocurrencies, the investment is definitely worth it.
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