Our verdict
Ledger hardware wallet
Widely available in New Zealand by direct order
Ledger is the default hardware wallet recommendation in New Zealand and mostly deserves it: broad asset support, a mature application ecosystem, and a secure element that keeps keys off your computer. The criticisms are real — closed-source firmware components and a 2020 customer data breach that led to years of targeted phishing — but neither compromised anyone's keys. For most Kiwis moving holdings off an exchange, this is a sound choice.
What works
- Keys generated and stored in a secure element, never exposed to the computer
- Widest asset support of the mainstream devices
- Mature desktop and mobile applications
- Straightforward setup that guides a first-time user properly
- Replaceable — the phrase, not the device, is what matters
What does not
- Firmware is not fully open source, unlike some competitors
- 2020 customer data breach led to years of targeted phishing and threat letters
- Nano X premium buys convenience, not additional security
- Requires ordering from overseas with shipping time
What the device actually does
A Ledger stores your private keys inside a secure element chip and signs transactions internally. The key never leaves the device, even when it is plugged into a computer that is compromised. You confirm each transaction physically on the device's own screen and buttons, which is what defeats malware that would otherwise alter a destination address.
That is the whole proposition, and it is sufficient. Everything else — the app, the asset count, the Bluetooth — is convenience layered on top of one security property.
Which model
For the large majority of New Zealanders, the entry-level Nano S Plus at roughly NZ$130 delivered is the right purchase. It has the same secure element and the same security properties as the more expensive model. The Nano X at around NZ$260 adds Bluetooth and a battery for phone use.
Paying double for Bluetooth is a convenience decision, not a security upgrade. If you will use the wallet from a laptop a few times a year, buy the cheaper one and put the difference into a metal seed backup plate, which is a genuinely better use of NZ$130.
Buying safely from New Zealand
Direct from the manufacturer, always
Order from Ledger's own website with delivery here, or from a reseller Ledger names on its site. Never from an auction site, a marketplace, or an individual. Pre-tampered devices shipped with a recovery phrase already generated are a documented attack — the buyer funds a wallet the seller already controls, and the money leaves weeks later.
On arrival, the device must generate a fresh recovery phrase in front of you during setup. If a phrase is already written on a card in the box, or instructions tell you to enter a supplied phrase, the device is compromised. Do not use it.
The 2020 breach, in proportion
In 2020, Ledger suffered a data breach that exposed customer contact information — names, email addresses, and in some cases physical addresses and phone numbers. No private keys were exposed and no device was compromised. Funds were not directly at risk from the breach itself.
The consequences were still significant and long-running. That customer list circulated, and the people on it received years of targeted phishing emails, fake firmware update prompts, counterfeit replacement devices in the post, and in some documented cases physical threat letters. It is a legitimate criticism of the company's data practices and a genuine ongoing risk for owners.
The practical response is simple: treat every communication claiming to be from Ledger as suspect. The company will never ask for your recovery phrase, will never send an unsolicited replacement device, and will never email you a firmware file. Update only from within the official application. Our scams page covers the wider pattern.
Setup, in the order that matters
- Set up alone and unhurried, with no screen sharing and nobody watching.
- Let the device generate the phrase. Never accept one from any other source.
- Write it down, then make it durable. Paper first, metal plate second.
- Test the restore before funding. Wipe and recover from your written phrase. This is the only safe moment to discover a transcription error.
- Send a small test amount, confirm receipt, send a small amount back out.
- Move the balance in one or two larger transfers rather than many small ones, so network fees stay proportionate.
Ledger against Trezor
The honest comparison is narrow. Ledger supports more assets and has a better mobile experience. Trezor's firmware is fully open source, which matters a great deal to some people and not at all to others; Ledger's secure element firmware is not.
Both are established manufacturers with long track records and neither has had a device-level key compromise in normal use. The difference between them is far smaller than the difference between either and leaving assets on an exchange — which, given that New Zealand has lost five platforms in seven years, is the comparison that actually matters. Our failures page makes that case in detail.
Verdict
Buy the entry-level model direct from the manufacturer, back the phrase up on metal in two locations, test the restore before funding, and never respond to any communication about your wallet that you did not initiate. Do those four things and a NZ$130 device removes the single largest risk New Zealand crypto holders have actually faced.