One of Bitcoin’s main properties is decentralization. While decentralization was not directly mentioned in the Bitcoin whitepaper, Satoshi Nakamoto made sure to mention the fact that there will be no central authority that issues – therefore controls – Bitcoin. Today, we have centralized cryptocurrency exchanges that play the role of central authorities when it comes to holding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. However, the collapse of FTX decreased the credibility of every centralized exchange in the industry. This is because FTX was one of the most credible cryptocurrency exchanges out there. Since the fall of FTX, the overall interest on decentralized, non-custodial wallets has increased tremendously.
To keep this short, non-custodial wallets are wallets that only be accessed by the owner and no one else. When you open such a wallet, be that a cold wallet or a short wallet, you will receive a seed phrase. You can then use this seed phrase to unlock or recover your wallet whenever you need to. However, since only you can access such wallets if you lose access to the wallet and you don’t have your seed phrase, you can never access your crypto holdings again. Most wallet companies suggest you write your seed phrase/recovery phrase down so that it cannot be accessed online. Nevertheless, papers can be scratched and are a sensitive material.
Because of this, companies came up with a solution: hard storage for seed phrases. Some of the leading companies for seed phrase storage are Ledger, CryoSeed, Blockplate, and Cryptotag. One of the most promising ones, however, is CryoSeed.
What is CryoSeed?
As mentioned before, CryoSeed is a company that sells seed phrase storages. Based in Berlin, CryoSeed came into the industry with the goal to provide a better solution to securing seed phrases physically. This company claims that its digital wallet backups are going to become leaders in this market. Unlike most other wallet backups, the flagship product of CryoSeed, Genesis, comes with some perks. CryoSeed – Genesis only holds encoded seed phrases. Through this method, the words from your seed phrase are converted into numbers. Then, a simple encoding scheme converts those numbers into dots.
CryoSeed – Genesis. Source: CryoSeed
You might ask yourself, “why go through all this?” Well, through this encoding scheme, you buy yourself time to transfer your funds in case somebody steals your wallet backup. Until now, companies designed backup wallets for seed phrases to protect them from erosion forces. Nowadays, companies like CryoSeed are working towards making wallet backups inaccessible to anyone other than the real owner. The timeless, indestructible design of CryoSeed – Genesis is what makes it stand out the most other than its encryption scheme.
Is CryoSeed Better Than Ledger Cryptosteel Capsule?
Cryptosteel Capsule Solo Breakdown. Source: Ledger
Ledger is the biggest hardware wallet producer in the world. The company made its debut back in 2014 when it launched its first product. Ever since the launch, Ledger has put new products on the market quite often, and not all of them were wallets. A very important product of Ledger is Cryptosteel Capsule Solo. The Cryptosteel Capsule Solo is one of the first wallet backups in history. Through this, Ledger aims to help its users keep their recovery phrase safe. This product is like a small tub that can fit a rolled piece of paper inside. According to the company, this capsule is designed to resist extreme conditions, meaning that your phrase is safe inside it.
However, CryoSeed might essentially be a better choice than Ledger Cryptosteel Capsule. This is because, unlike Ledger, CryoSeed uses an encoding scheme. In this sense, if someone manages to somehow steal your seed phrase physically, they will need to first decode the encoded seed phrase and then access your wallet. This should give you enough time to move your funds to safety before the attacker potentially decrypts the code.
The main points you should focus on when comparing the two are:
- Ease of Use | Ledger Cryptosteel has many components and small parts
- Design | CryoSeed design is more aesthetic and feature rich than that of Ledger Cryptosteel
- Safety | Ledger Capsule is NOT lockable, NOT encoded, and can have the word order changed accidentally or maliciously.
- Price | CryptoSeed – Genesis costs €89.00 ⇔ Ledger Capsule costs €100.
Is CryoSeed Better Than Blockplate?
Blockplate 24. Source: Blockplate
Blockplate is another competitor of CryoSeed. Similar to CryoSeed and Ledger, this company produces seed phrase storages. Their product, the Blockplate, is a tool where you store your seed phrase physically. This tool is also known as a metal seed storage and is extremely durable. The design of this product makes it possible for people to permanently store wallet seed phrases. Although this product has a very simple design, it is extremely easy to use and robust, if we may say.
If we compare Blockplate to CryoSeed, we notice that CryoSeed might be the better option. This is because of the locking ability and less obvious encoding scheme offered by CryoSeed. While Blockplate maintains its classic, simple design, CryoSeed tries to adapt to actual user’s needs such as security and integrity.
The main points you should focus on when comparing the two are:
- Ease of Use | using Blockplate is slightly easier than using CryoSeed. However, the latter offers significant security improvements.
- Design | the designs of both Blockpate and CryoSeed are appropriate and serve their core purpose well. Both are durable.
- Safety | Blockplate security is lacking since the seed phrase information is exposed, unlike CryoSeed which can be locked with key or combination.
- Price | CryptoSeed – Genesis costs €89.00 ⇔ Blockplate products cost from €59.00 up to €89.00
Is CryoSeed Better Than Cryptotag?
Cryptotag Zeus. Source: Cryptotag
Moving on, we have Cryptotag, a famous seed phrase storage producer. Cryptotag claims that its storages are built from titanium, making them super durable. Cryptotag is partnered with Ledger, Trezor, Trust Wallet, and MetaMask. This company offers several products, with all of them having different features. One of them, for example, is Thor, the titanium wallet backup for multi-wallet holders. Similar to every wallet backup we mentioned, the products of Cryptotag are designed to last hundreds of years.
Comparing CryoSeed to Cryptotag, we can see that both companies deliver slick products. Both the Genesis product from CryoSeed and the Thor/Odin backups of Cryptotag are very safe and durable. Nevertheless, CryoSeed is one step ahead of Cryptotag when it comes to security. Cryptotag does not feature any way to lock their titanium plates, the two halves are held together with simple manual clasps.
The main points you should focus on when comparing the two are:
- Ease of Use | both CryoSeed and Cryptotag offer products that are easy to use.
- Design | Cryototag has 4 pieces and no locking ability. CryoSeed features 2 piece locking design,
- Safety | Since Cryptotag products can NOT be locked, the safety advantage goes to CryoSeed.
- Price | CryptoSeed – Genesis costs €89.00 ⇔ Cryptotag costs from €129 to €350
Takeaways
- Cold wallets are one of the safest ways to store and hold your cryptocurrency.
- These wallets are non-custodial and can only be accessed by the owner through the wallet’s seed phrase.
- The seed phrase should be stored physically and not digitally to limit exposure to potential cyber-attacks.
- Some companies have created seed phrase storages to keep the seed phrase safe in the long term.
- The leading companies for seed phrase storages are CryoSeed, Ledger, Cryptotag, and Blockplate.
- All seed phrase storages have their own unique features and benefits. However, out of these four companies, CryoSeed’s Genesis seed phrase storage seems to stand out most, offering a higher level of security for a reasonable price.