According to the IMARC Group report titled “Hardware Wallet Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2023-2028”, published on March 18, 2023, the global hardware wallet market was valued at $320.5 million in 2022. Looking ahead, the market is projected to reach $1.3 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.1% from 2023 to 2028.
This growing interest comes as no surprise. Hardware wallets offer the highest level of security for interacting with blockchain networks, allowing users to manage their digital assets with confidence. Their intuitive design and ease of use make them accessible to users of all technical backgrounds.
ChangeNOW’s CSO Pauline Shangett, recognizing industry trends and prioritizing user security, asked the internal tech team a simple question: which hardware wallets do you personally use — and why? The conversation that followed was surprisingly insightful, filled with real-world experience and technical depth.
Software developers shared their go-to choices, each supported by real-world experience and technical reasoning. We gathered their insights, highlighting the key features that make these wallets stand out in practical, day-to-day engineering tasks.
Below are five hardware wallets they found particularly compelling from a technical standpoint.
Trezor stands out as one of the only mature hardware wallets that offer complete transparency and modifiability. Everything is open, from the client and firmware to the bootloader, protocol specs, and SDK. This makes it uniquely suitable for deep integrations aligned with modern enterprise DevOps practices.
Tangem takes a different approach: keys are generated and stored entirely within the chip, never leaving the card. The architecture is fully closed, there’s no firmware, and no ability to reprogram the device. This eliminates a broad class of attack vectors but also limits flexibility.
Ledger is a closed-source but mature platform. It runs on BOLOS, a custom operating system built around isolation and containerization principles. The device supports a wide range of networks and tokens, is actively maintained, and comes with well-documented SDKs, making it a solid choice for front-end-heavy Web3 applications.
“The Ledger Nano X has been the go-to hardware wallet for beginners — it was my first cold wallet too, and I used it for 6 years. But let’s be real: it’s 2025, and its limitations are hard to ignore. Maybe the ‘classic choice’ isn’t always the right choice anymore. I can still recommend it, at the very least, it’s a reliable option.” — Karim Diallo, Mobile Developer
SafePal is built around a strict air-gap principle, physically eliminating all network interfaces. Data transfer happens exclusively through visual channels like QR codes, making it well-suited for cold custody setups where isolation and offline access control are critical.
“The SafePal S1 is a solid pick for users who want full air-gapped security without breaking the bank. From a developer’s standpoint, I appreciate the balance it strikes between usability and offline protection. That said, its closed-source firmware and limited transparency can be a drawback for those who care deeply about verifiability.” — Paul Petrov, Embedded Systems Engineer
OneKey is currently the only production-grade hardware wallet besides Trezor that offers a fully open architecture along with protocols geared toward DevOps workflows. It stands out for its broad connectivity options and transparent firmware logic.
“The hardware and UX on the OneKey Pro are really solid — clean interface, easy to use. That said, it’s still not fully open-source, and it doesn’t show things like call data or hash previews before signing, which would really help with verification. With those additions and a full open-source stack, it could be a top-tier wallet.” — Leo Zhang, Blockchain Engineer
Final Word
Choosing the right hardware wallet goes beyond personal preference; it’s about aligning with your technical and operational priorities. The table below outlines leading options to help you match wallet features with your specific use case, from cold storage and CI/CD automation to mass user distribution and custom dApp integration.
For software engineers, a hardware wallet isn’t just a user interface, it’s an infrastructure module. Security architecture, open-source availability, pipeline integration, and multi-asset support are what really matter in the decision-making process.
The right choice depends on your use case, whether it’s cold custody, CI/CD workflows, mass distribution, or dApp integration.
