Multisig Signers | Compare Signing Devices for Multisig
Multisig With Hardware Wallets | Easy to Use, Hard to Lose!
Never Worry About Your Generational Wealth Again!
- The most secure way to store your bitcoins
- The best hardware wallets for multisig straight from the factory
- The easiest way to setup secure cold storage
- No singele point of failure
- Protect against hackers, theft, fire, flood, loss and much more!
End Bitcoin Stress with Multisig
Are you losing sleep over the safety of your bitcoins? Are you worried that your seed (?) get stolen or destroyed in a fire, even if you use a secure hardware wallet? With multisig you can make sure that your bitcoins are safe by eliminating single points of failure.
Multisignature is a Bitcoin-native technology that enables you to control your Bitcoin with multiple private keys (?). Not all keys are needed to move your coins, so if you lose one it won’t be the end. You can simply rotate your coins to a new address with the remaining keys. If the keys are distributed over different safe locations, your setup will be extremely sound!
Multisignature used to be secure but complicated. In the early years it was only for the elites and Bitcoin native businesses. Today it’s available to you: Hardware wallets make the process very simple and fool proof. All you need to know is how to backup your setup, which you can find in our guide.
Can you imagine living without worries about your bitcoins? Enjoying every green candle on the ride up or spending your time with your family or friends. You know that even less likely scenario’s like a robbery, fire or flood won’t make you lose your bitcoins.
You can read below about multisig with hardware wallets and choose the best signers. Start to setup the most secure cold storage today and end your Bitcoins stress for once and for all!
The Multisig Tools You Need
Best Multisig Signers
Choose and buy the best hardware wallets to use as signers for your multisignature setup
- Transactions will be signed within an offline environment to make online hacking impossible
- Security of deep cold storage with the ease of online wallets.
- Backups or signers can be distributed over different locations. This eliminates the central point of failure.
Best Multisig Wallets
Choose and download the best multisignature wallet that is compatible with your signers
- The best open source (?) multisig wallets that are compatible with the signers on this site.
- Easy to use for general public and free to download
- Different options for signers, blockchain information and other parameters for the multisignature setup
Learn Multisig
Educate yourself about the basics of multisignature to secure your bitcoins in an optimal way
- Learn the difference between multisignature and single signature
- Learn the most important items to backup for your multisig
- Learn what the different components of multisignature are and how to use them
- Learn the steps to setup multisignature with hardware wallets
Bitcoin, Hardware Wallets and Multisig | The Trifecta of Wealth Protection
Bitcoin in a multisig setup with multiple hardware wallets is the most secure way to store wealth for the long term. You might think that Bitcoin is risky because you heard all the horror stories about hacks and lost keys, but this is always because the lack of knowledge and used tools.
Bitcoin is as secure as you make it. Tools like hardware wallets and multisig are now very accessible and make it very easy to reach incredible security levels. No bank, no broker and even no security vault can give you this level of security!
Bitcoin | The Safest Asset from First Principles
From first principles, Bitcoin is by far the most de-risked asset humanity has ever seen. There is no counter-party risk, no debasement, no permission needed and it doesn’t care about borders. This means that your money will be safe, as long as you keep it safe. With every other asset in the world you are depending on others.
You might find it ‘scary’ because it is digital, but this is its biggest strength. Bitcoin is property in cyberspace. It is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. You can acces your bitcoins everywhere in the world with an internet connection and your keys. The keys are just information, so it can be physical or digital. It can be encrypted in many forms or even live in your brain and not be anywhere in the digital or physical world!
If you own the keys, you own the bitcoins. This is where all the horror stories came from: People failed to protect their keys. Bitcoin itself never failed, so it’s all about protecting keys. This is where the hardware wallets and multisig come in.
Hardware Wallets, Easy and Secure Cold Storage
Hardware wallets are devices to create keys and sign securely in an offline environment. This is why they are also known as signing devices and why we call them multisig signers.
Keys created on a hardware wallet are never been online and will never be online. This means that these keys are not accessible through the internet, which makes any form of online hacking practically impossible. If you use a hardware wallet you can ignore all the horror stories about hacked wallets and exchanges, which is the vast majority! Do you still have worries left? Multisig will eliminate them for you!
Hardware wallets are not only amazing for security. They also make handling of your keys super easy and fool proof. Hardware wallets listed on this site are also integrated in the multisig wallets. This makes your setup as easy as pushing buttons and following prompts.
Multisignature | Eliminate Single Points Of Failure
Even with the best hardware wallet, your device and the seed remain a single point of failure. The ownership of your bitcoins is depending on one device and one backup seed. With multisignature you can use multiple devices to make an address that holds your bitcoins.
You can set the amount of devices that is needed to control the funds. This means that anything that happens to a single device doesn’t matter, because the other devices will still give you control over your funds. By distributing the devices and / or the backup seeds you can mitigate the risk of one device or location.
Use Multisig For Inheritance, Cooperation and Extra Features
Multisignature doesn’t only help you with security, It’s also useful for other things. Are you worried that your family can’t acces your bitcoins if you die? You can setup inheritance with or without trusted 3rd parties. Are you not comfortable setting up multisig by yourself? You can cooperate with professionals to secure your Bitcoin without losing ownership (collaborative custody).
You can cooperate with multiple people to manage funds and you can set spending limits (?), time locks (?) or decaying keys (?) to optimise your setup. With these features you can create advanced setups where ownership transfer and certain conditions happen programatically without trusted 3rd parties.
This means that multisig is not only the most secure way to manage wealth, but also the smartest! With multisig you can replace imperfect and corruptible financial services with incorruptible and transparent code. You can also make a hybrid setup if you feel comfortable with human supervision or if you need it for legal purposes.
How Does a Multisignature Setup Looks Like?
Are you ready to setup multisig? Let’s see how a multisig setup with hardware wallets looks like in practice. For a more extensive explanation you can go to our guide. This is the short version:
First you have to decide how many signers are involved and how many have to sign to move the bitcoins in the multisig address. This is called the quorum (?). We advice to stick to 2-of-3 and 3-of-5 since they are most practical, but anything is possible.
2-of-3 means that you have 3 hardware wallets to create the multisig, and two have to sign to send a transaction. Two is here the threshold (?), which means that two of the three keys give ownership over the bitcoins. In this setup one key can get lost of stolen without losing control over the coins. This is two keys in case of a 3-of-5.
Next you have to choose a multisig wallet that fits you best, which you can download for free. Then you have to order the hardware wallets according to your quorum and decide where you can store your keys. All keys have to be kept in different locations to ensure the robustness of the multisig. Only then can you be sure that you eliminate all single points of failure.
Now you can setup all the hardware wallets and register them into the multisig wallet after setting your quorum. Once all the devices are registered you have to backup the wallet configuration file (critical!) Now you can send a small transaction to the address and test if you can send it out. Distribute your keys to your safe locations and ready you are!
Main considerations for your multisig:
- Diversifying between hardware wallets is more important than choosing the best ones. It’s impossible to not have any weaknesses. The goal is not having the same weaknesses with multiple devices.
- With storing your keys you have to make a tradeoff between security and accessibility. Storing your keys in your house, at a friends house or at a local bank branch is less secure than in a private vault abroad, but more accessible. Create a mix that is perfect for you!
- The higher the threshold of your setup is the better it protects against theft, but the bigger the chance of loss. This is another trade-off to consider, but 2-of-3 and 3-of-5 are optimal for most people
- Always backup the wallet configuration file! If you don’t, you might lose everything! You can store it separately OR together with your keys. Note that the wallet file doesn’t give acces to the bitcoins, but it is privacy sensitive
Multi Vendor multisig
If you want optimal security for your multisig setup, multi vendor multisig is the way to go. The multisig itself helps you to eliminate single points of failure for different location. Using hardware wallets from multiple vendors helps you to eliminate single points of failure from different devices.
For example: If you use a hardware wallet from a specific vendor for all the three signers of a 2-of-3, all your three keys will be exposed if the vendor uses malware to leak your keys and all your three keys will be lost when there is some critical bug. By using a device from a specific vendor only once you will always have two keys left to recover your bitcoins.
You don’t want to have all your signers from the same vendor, but you don’t want them to be from the same seller too. As a vendor can plant malware into all devices, a reseller can do this too. This is the reason why we advice to always order every device directly from the manufacturer. This ensures that no needles middleman are involved and that every device comes from another seller. All links on this site are directly to the manufacturer.
If you think the risk of a supply chain attack is theoretic, it’s not! Bitcoin is becoming more and more relevant in geo-politics and state level attacks are becoming more and more likely. A vendor or a reseller being pressured to insert a backdoor is not only possible, but even likely. Multi vendor multisig with hardware wallets straight from the factory fixes this!
How to choose the best signing devices for multisig?
What the best hardware wallets are for your multisig setup is depending on your own priorities. Again, getting your signing devices from multiple vendors is more important than picking the best ones. A setup with three different cheap hardware wallets is probably more secure than using the same advanced, air-gapped and ultra secure device three times. The latter is more likely to get the same weakness, bug or backdoor with three keys at the same time.
To choose your multisig signers you should already know which multisig wallet you are going to use. Hardware wallet support is integrated in all the wallets on our site, which makes registration of keys and signing extremely easy and critical mistakes less likely. If you choose compatible hardware wallets, everything will go very smooth!
Lastly you have to consider your own priorities. Are you focussed on privacy? Do you want a cheap multisig setup? Are you a security freak and want fully air-gapped multisig? With these considerations you can search for the best devices in our comparison table.
Which hardware device is best for which setup?
Below you can find a table to see which hardware wallets fit best for your priorities. Are you afraid for theft on one or more locations? Pick a hardware wallet that protects against physical attacks. Are you paranoid for hackers? Setup an air-gapped multisig. It’s not only useful to decide which devices you use, but also which devices you store on which location.
PERFECT | GOOD | POOR | |
---|---|---|---|
AIR-GAPPED MULTISIG | Coldcard Q1, Coldcard MK4, Passport, Keystone Pro 3, Keystone 3, Blockstream Jade, | Tapsigner, | - |
QR AIR-GAPPED MULTISIG | Coldcard Q1, Passport, Keystone Pro 3, Keystone 3, Blockstream Jade | - | - |
PROTECT AGAINST SUPPLY CHAIN ATTACK | Coldcard Q1, Coldcard MK4, Passport, Trezor Model T, Trezor One, Keystone Pro 3, Keystone 3, Blockstream Jade, Tapsigner | - | Ledger Nano X, Ledger Nano S, |
PROTECT AGAINST PHYSICAL ATTACK | Coldcard Q1,Coldcard MK4, Passport, Keystone Pro 3, Keystone 3, | Ledger Nano X, Ledger Nano S, Blockstream Jade | Trezor Model T, Trezor One, |
CHEAP MULTISIG SETUP | Trezor One, Ledger Nano S, Tapsigner, Blockstream Jade, | Keystone Pro 3, Coldcard MK 4, Passport, | Trezor Model T, Ledger Nano X, Keystone 3, |
USE BATTLE TESTED DEVICES | Trezor Model T, Trezor One, Ledger Nano X, Ledger Nano S, | Coldcard MK 4, Blockstream Jade, Passport | Keystone Pro 3, Keystone 3, Tapsigner, |
UNCHAINED MULTISIG VAULT | Coldcard MK4, Trezor Model T, Ledger Nano X, | Trezor One, Ledger Nano S, | - |
Compare Hardware Wallets for Multisig
Have you decided what your quorum is going to be and which multisig wallet you want to use? Now it’s time to choose the signing devices you want to use. Below you can find a table where you can compare the best hardware wallets for multisig and order them directly from the manufacturer.
The comparison table will show you which multisig wallets are compatible and what the strengths and weaknesses are. This way you can setup a perfectly secure multisig with the best signers for your personal priorities. You want your multisig cheap, easy to use or advanced? It’s all possible! Compare and order the best hardware devices now!
Model | Price | Description | Get Now! |
---|---|---|---|
Coldcard Q1 | $219,99 | You can’t choose between a user friendly and an ultra secure hardware wallet? With the Coldcard Q1 you get both! The device is physically uncrackable , uses secure and easy air-gapped signing with QR codes and has a keyboard for extra convenience. | Get Now! |
Coldcard MK4 | $147,94 | You want a real cypherpunk hardware wallet with advanced security features including optimal multisig functionality? A Coldcard MK4 will destroy any Bitcoin fear, even for the paranoid amount us! | Get Now! |
Passport | $199,- | Do you want an easy to use hardware wallet that supports air-gapped signing with QR? Passport will make it easy to protect your multisig at a high security level, Get your passport now with $10,- discount with our code MULTISIGSIGNER! | Get Now! |
Trezor Safe 5 | $169,- | Is user-friendliness your biggest priority? Or do you want to split your seed with Shamir’s Secret Sharing? The Trezor Safe 5 is the perfect choice! It’s also fully open source and protected with a secure chip! | Get Now! |
Trezor Safe 3 | $79,- | Do you want an old trusted Trezor device, but with a secure element so the device can’t be easy physically cracked? The Trezor Safe 3 is the newest Trezor device complete with a secure chip and Shamir’s Secret Sharing support! | Get Now! |
Trezor One | $59,- | You are looking for a cheap, trustworthy and open source signer? The Trezor One is the perfect device for you. It was the first hardware wallet ever, so it has the longest positive track record and is implemented in almost all the multisig wallets. | Get Now! |
Blockstream Jade | $64,99 | Advanced can be cheap! This is true for Blockstream Jade. You get secure QR air-gapped signing and an uncrackable virtual secure element for the price as low as $58,49 if you use our coupon code! It the cheapest hardware wallet on our site, but has advanced 2nd generation features! | Get Now! |
Ledger Nano X | $165,- | Ledger Nano X is closed source. This combined with the ‘Ledger Recovery’ issue makes it a very bad hardware wallet for singlesig. However, it is a great device to diversify in a multisig. Because the code base is so different, the weaknesses are very different too. In multisig it is the key to not have one weakness twice! | Get Now! |
Ledger Nano S | $85,- | The Ledger Nano S is like the Nano X a great way to diversify between your multisig signers, but it’s much cheaper. It’s also not compatible with the ‘Ledger Recovery’ feature, so for singlesig it is even a better option. | Get Now! |
Tapsigner | $39,99 | You want to make your multisig transactions fast and simple, while very secure? The Tapsigner makes you pay with a simple tap on your phone. It will give you a great experience while security won’t be compromised. | Get Now! |
Buy hardware wallets for multisig
Did you not get enough information from our comparison table to choose your multisig signers? Here you can inform yourself about every individual hardware wallet. Like in the table, all devices will be ordered directly from the factory in order to minimise middlemen and thus risk. We divided the available devices in three categories:
Buy Advanced Hardware Wallets
Advanced hardware wallets AKA 2nd generation hardware wallets are hardware devices with the latest security technology implemented. They are fully air gapped and often offer extra features like brick me pin, roll ’n dice and more.
They are often more expensive, but you get quality in return. Advanced hardware wallets make for ultra secure air-gapped multisig setups. The gold standard for multisig. The following devices fall in the advanced category:
Coldcard Wallets
$219,99
Compatible Wallets
Coming Soon!
$147,94
Compatible Wallets
- Specter
- Sparrow
- Caravan
- Electrum
- Bitcoin Keeper
- Nunchuck
- Unchained
- Casa
Blockstream
$64,99
10% Discount if you use the code MULTISIGSIGNER
Compatible Wallets
- Specter
- Sparrow
- Bluewallet
- Electrum
- Nunchuck
- Bitcoin Keeper
Foundation Devices
$199,-
$10 Discount if you use the code MULTISIGSIGNER
Compatible Wallets
- Specter
- Sparrow
- Bluewallet
- Electrum
- Nunchuck
- Bitcoin Keeper
Buy Classic Hardware Wallets
Classic hardware wallets or first generation hardware wallets are the pioneers in Bitcoin security. They aren’t equipped with the most advanced features and using USB instead of an air-gap, but their long positive track record is a massive advantage.
Because they are around for so long they are proven and trustworthy. Trezor for example was the first hardware wallet ever and is still one of the top devices. Combining advanced and classic hardware wallets into your multisig setup will make for a good mix! This are the classic hardware wallets:
Trezor Wallets
$169,-
Compatible Wallets
Coming Soon!
$79,-
Compatible Wallets
Coming Soon!
$59,-
Compatible Wallets
- Specter
- Sparrow
- Caravan
- Bitcoin Keeper
- Electrum
- Unchained
- Casa
Ledger Wallets
$165,-
Compatible Wallets
- Specter
- Sparrow
- Caravan
- Electrum
- Bitcoin Keeper
- Unchained
- Casa
$85,-
Compatible Wallets
- Specter
- Sparrow
- Caravan
- Electrum
- Bitcoin Keeper
- Unchained
- Casa
Buy Special Signing Devices
Lastly, there are the special signing devices. Those are not common hardware wallets, but alternative devices to sign for your multisig. These devices are very useful to add to your multisig in order to make it more user friendly or customisable.
Tapsigner
$39,99
Compatible Wallets
- Nunchuck
- Bitcoin Keeper
Best Practices for Bitcoin, Multisig and Signing Devices
As we said before: Bitcoin in itself is extremely secure, the risks are depending on how you handle it. By following the best practices for Bitcoin, multisig and hardware devices you can eliminate almost all the risk if your multisig setup is sound. Below you can read all the best practices to follow for the best Bitcoin security.
Always Self-Custody
The history of Bitcoin is full of exchange hacks, defaults or insider theft. With the current financialization of Bitcoin the chance of rehypothecation or confiscation is increasing rapidly. Many bitcoins are lost in the past because of thrusted 3rd parties and many will be lost in the future.
If you want to avoid losing your bitcoins in another hack, default or confiscation (it’s going to happen!), the most important thing is to always hold your own keys! Use exchanges only to exchange and withdrawal them immediately.
If you don’t feel comfortable carrying all responsibility for your keys yourself, collaborative custody is a perfect solution! It protects against all these issues, but it feels like an account with a professional custodian.
Store Your Seed Safely
Always backup every hardware wallets in your setup (12 to 24 words) and store the backup in a safe place. Use a different location for every backup and ensure that nobody but yourself can acces it. You have to realise that the backup seed is the key to your bitcoins.
You can write the backup down on paper or use a special metal backup. It’s advised to always keep the backups in a tamper proof envelope, so you know when a key is compromised.
Replace Lost or Stolen Keys
If one of your keys is lost or stolen, or you just suspect it, you can easily rotate this key out into a new multisig. You can create a new multisig address with the signers that are in good order and use a new signer instead of the compromised ones.
Next you sign with the keys that are in good order and your Bitcoins are in a safe new multisig address! This way you just have to buy one new hardware wallet, you don’t have to replace all of them.
Register de multisig on the hardware devices
Some hardware wallets enable you to register the multisig on the device. Do this! It gives you an extra backup of your wallet configuration file and it gives you extra security because you can check on your device where it is signing for.
You don’t need your signing devices stand by when you deposit Bitcoin into your multisig
If you have setup and tested your multisig, you don’t need your signers to deposit your coins. You can distribute them to safe locations first, and the send the bitcoins to the address. This way there are no bitcoins in your wallet when you need to cross borders to distribute your keys, which makes the operation safer.