After playing around with defi (decentralised finance) for awhile, I've decided to invest in a hardware wallet for added security. Metamask, the wildly popular "hot" wallet, has your seed phrase accessible on the web. The risk is if your device (computer/laptop/phone) gets compromised, the hackers will gain access to this wallet and your funds will be drained. Here comes hardware wallet to the picture - they store the seed phrase within itself (AKA not on the web), and you have to verify your transaction using the device. Inconvenient? Yes, but it makes it so for hackers too. The hardware wallet I'm using is called Ledger.

Possible ways as below:

• Create a ledger wallet on the ledger, unstake everything I was doing on Metamask, transfer all funds to ledger wallet, restake everything using ledger wallet (this is secured as it is using Ledger's seed phrase which has never appeared on the Internet before)
• Port existing Metamask wallet to Ledger (this may be less secured as it is using Metamask's seed phrase. This works if your seed phrase isn't compromised in the first place)

The Ledger I ordered was sitting around for a couple of weeks as I was very, very reluctant to go via the first method above. I'm a little too diversified (thanks to Polygon for its cheap fees) and I find it too much of a hassle. Not forgetting the gas fees that I'm be encountering (well some chains has minimal fees, but they still add up given the volume of transactions required). 

Is second method even possible? I was hunting around reddit and Google, and finally, I found the solution. Credits to Axion and also the nice soul who left a comment to explain the gaps - here's the video link from Youtube to follow along = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5RBk3thpY4

Follow along the below steps along with the video:

• Have your Metamask seed phrase on hand, and Ledger plugged in too
• If your Ledger has been set up before, go ahead and re-set the device in the setting, and you'll end up at the next step
• If your Ledger is new, go ahead and recover from seed phrase, i.e. importing Metamask seed phrase
• Your ledger should have no application right now. Download Ledger Live on your laptop (or desktop) and connect your Ledger. Once connected, download Ethereum application. Even if you're using other chains, just download Ethereum will do
• In your Ledger, open up Ethereum application, head into setting, and enable blind signing (this wasn't covered in the video above, but is critical as I got stuck trying to connect Metamask to Ledger)
• Heading back to Metamask, connect to hardware wallet. If all goes well, you'll see the same thing as the video
• Once connected, it's time to delete the Metamask extension
• Once deleted, it's time to download the extension again
• Go ahead and create a new wallet (this is a dummy one, which means we won't be using it at all) when prompted by Metamask. Do not restore your existing wallet
• Once created, go ahead and rename the wallet (really helps to explicitly name it along the lines of "Not in use", "Ignore")
• Now, go to the option to Connect Hardware Wallet. If your Ledger has timed out, open up the Ethereum application again.
• Go ahead and connect your account(s)
• And we're done! You should see your original Metamask address available now, and it has a "Hardware" logo on its right

What just happened?

You have moved your seed phrase from Metamask (online) into Ledger. Your assets are now accessible from Ledger on your existing Metamask wallet, without the hassle of transferring them onto a Ledger wallet! Going forward, all your transactions will require verification via your Ledger device.

Don't be shocked if you realised all your other chains and tokens disappeared - it should only show dear Ethereum. Just import them back in, a small price to pay for added security. A tip for those on multiple chains, go ahead and connect to the protocol page, the pop-up window should prompt you to add the chain (say, Polygon). Another tip for those holding multiple tokens - go ahead and import via ApeBoard (https://apeboard.finance/). This is a website that tracks your assets, and they do cover quite a lot of protocols. Under the Wallet section, click into the asset, and click on "Add to Metamask". These tips save you the trouble of manually hunting all the network RPC, and also token contracts. You're welcome.

I'm not on Ethereum, how to verify my transactions on Polygon?

Now... For those who are on various chains - I had the same thought, do I need to download all the other chains' application in Ledger? Answer is no. All the verifications work when your Ledger is connected to the Ethereum application.

Hope the above is useful. Have fun exploring crypto, albeit in a safer manner!

Image credit: Google Images