A few weeks ago, Ledger officially announced that the Ledger Nano X has become compatible with the MetaMask mobile app.
Basically, it is possible to connect your Ledger Nano X to your MetaMask Mobile app via Bluetooth, in order to import Ledger accounts to the MetaMask account, and use the physical device to sign transactions on MetaMask.
Summary
The benefits of connecting Ledger to MetaMask
In this way, MetaMask Mobile users browsing Web3 can rely on the security of Ledger.
On the other hand, Ledger users will also be able to use their funds through the MetaMask mobile app.
Actually, the MetaMask extension for the desktop browser was already compatible with Ledger wallets, but it was not usable on smartphones. In this way, it is possible to connect your Ledger Nano X wallet to the MetaMask mobile app, and import Ledger Live.
The hardware wallet will still keep the private keys offline, and transactions will still need to be approved by the physical device.
Connecting the Ledger Nano X to MetaMask
To proceed with connecting the Ledger to the MetaMask app, you need to open the mobile app and go to Account.
At that point you need to tap on Add account or hardware wallet, and then on Add hardware wallet.
An official guide has also been published showing how to proceed.
However, the connection requires Bluetooth to be active, and cannot be done via USB cable, and for now it allows the synchronization of only one Ledger account with the MetaMask mobile app.
Once the connection is completed, the Ledger accounts will also be displayed on the mobile app.
Since this procedure requires a Bluetooth connection, Ledger Nano S Plus is not compatible.
Ledger Live now has over one and a half million active users worldwide, and allows you to buy, sell, trade, lend, and stake digital assets. Additionally, the Ledger Live app also allows access to many dApps, while always keeping the private keys safe on the Ledger device.
Ledger
The French company Ledger was one of the first companies in the world to release a hardware wallet, in 2014.
At the moment it is a world leader in this specific sector, thanks to three devices and the Ledger Live platform.
Being physical devices, designed to keep private keys safe offline, they have always had the limitation of needing to be physically connected to a device connected to the Internet in order to operate.
Now, thanks to the connection to the MetaMask mobile app, it will be possible to use them also via Bluetooth, without physical connection.
The Vice President of Engineering at Ledger, Carl Anderson, stated:
“MetaMask and Ledger are self-custody maximalists, so it was logical for us to collaborate and offer web3 users a great mix of smooth experience and best-in-class security.”
MetaMask
MetaMask is probably the most used Ethereum wallet in the world, mainly thanks to the browser extension.
It was launched in 2016, two years after the Ledger, and was created by Consensys, one of the most important companies in the crypto sector.
Initially it supported only the Ethereum network, but now BNB, Avalanche and the layer-2 Polygon, Arbitrum and Optimism have also been added.
It is widely used especially on dApps, such as DEX, because the browser extension allows for quick and simplified connection of the wallet to websites.
However, this is a so-called hot wallet, meaning a wallet that is always connected to the Internet when used on a connected device.
The connection with the Ledger Nano X allows you to keep the private keys always offline, and to use only the hardware wallet signatures to authorize transactions.
The non-custodial wallet
The self-custody crypto wallets, like Ledger and MetaMask, are non-custodial.
This means that only the user owns the private keys to authorize outgoing transactions, and this means that if the user does not lose the keys and keeps them securely, they practically cannot lose funds due to theft or service closure.
Instead, custodial wallets, like those of centralized exchanges, imply that the producer of the wallet or the platform manager holds the private keys, not the user themselves. Therefore, in case of issues with the wallet or platform, the user risks losing access to their funds, either temporarily or sometimes even permanently.
For this reason, it is recommended to store digital assets on non-custodial wallets for the medium to long term, even though they are not completely risk-free.
Actually, non-custodial wallets, if done correctly, are practically risk-free in themselves, but the problem lies in the storage of the seed or private keys.
The responsibility for storage lies with the user, not with the producer or the wallet manager, so in case the user is not experienced there is a risk that they may make mistakes, putting the protection of their own funds at risk.
