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Using a hardware wallet

Beginner
Tutorial

Overview​

A hardware wallet is a physical ledger device that is used to store assets. Hardware wallets are protected by a seed phase, similar to software wallets, but they can be disconnected from the internet whenever they are ejected from your computer.

The DFINITY hardware-wallet-cli tool is designed to integrate with Ledger Nano USB devices.

Prerequisites​

  • Have a Ledger Nano device.

  • Download and install Node.js.

Ledger Nano device setup​

  • Step 1: Connect your Ledger Nano device to your computer via USB.​

  • Step 2: On the Nano device, select "Set up with Recovery phrase".​

Choose a PIN. To connect your Ledger device to an Internet Identity, select "Recovery phrase with 24 words", then enter your Internet Identity's 24-word recovery phrase.

  • Step 3: On your computer, install Ledger Live from ledger.com and start it.​

Upgrade to a newer version if prompted.

  • Step 4: Connect the Nano device to USB and, if necessary, unlock it with the PIN.​

In Ledger Live, select "Manager" in the "Menu" column on the left. Confirm the access on the Nano device.

If prompted, upgrade the Nano device firmware.

  • Step 5: From within the Ledger Live "Manager" install the app called "Internet computer (ICP)" version >=2.0.6 onto your Nano device.​

You can search for the app in the search bar by typing "ICP".

Installation​

Open a terminal and run the command:

npm install -g @dfinity/hardware-wallet-cli

Usage​

The hardware wallet CLI tool supports the following commands and options:

Commands:​

  • info [options]: Show the wallet's principal, address, and balance.

  • icp: Manage ICP tokens.

  • neuron: Manage neurons.

  • sns: Manage an SNS.

  • icrc: Manage ICRC tokens.

  • node-provider: Manage node providers.

Options:​

  • --network <network>: Specifies the IC network (local, mainnet). Default value is "https://ic0.app", env: IC_NETWORK.

  • --principal <principal>: Specifies the derivation path to use for the principal.

Staking ICP with a hardware wallet​

NNS Hardware account

  • Step 4: Provide a name for your hardware wallet.​

  • Step 5: A pop-up window will appear asking you to select which hardware wallet connected to the computer you'd like to use. Select the Ledger device.​

  • Step 6: The principal and account identifier for the device will be shown. Copy the account identifier for the hardware wallet.​

  • Step 7: Send ICP tokens to the hardware wallet account identifier from a centralized exchange, decentralized exchange, or another wallet.​

  • Step 8: From the NNS dapp, go to the 'Neuron Staking' tab and select 'Stake ICP'.​

  • Step 9: When prompted for the 'Source' account to use, select the hardware wallet account.​

  • Step 10: Confirm the neuron staking transaction on the Ledger device.​

For additional information about using hardware wallets for staking neurons, check out the NNS explained video.

Connecting the NNS to a neuron created with quill​

  • Step 1: Connect the Ledger device to your computer. Recover the identity you used with quill on the device, or configure quill to use the identity already on the device.​

  • Step 2: Create a neuron with quill using the identity stored on the Ledger device.​

  • Step 3: Open the NNS dapp and login with Internet Identity.​

  • Step 4: Create a new ICP account in the NNS dapp and select 'New Account (Hardware Wallet)'.​

NNS Hardware account

  • Step 5: Select 'Show neurons' from the address's details.​

  • Step 6: Confirm the transaction on the Ledger device.​

  • Step 7: Select 'Add to NNS dapp'.​

  • Step 8: Confirm the addition of a hotkey, then confirm the transaction on the Ledger device.​

Learn more in the NNS explained video.

Resources​