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Bitcoin glossary

Hardware wallet

A dedicated device that signs transactions while keys never touch the internet.

A hardware wallet (signing device) is a small dedicated device that stores private keys offline and signs transactions internally — the keys never touch your computer or phone, so malware on them cannot steal your bitcoin. You verify the destination on the device’s own screen before approving.

It is the standard tool for securing meaningful amounts, often combined with multisig for larger holdings. The seed phrase it generates still needs a safe offline backup.

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