It’s never too “early” to get a hardware wallet and now is a good time. Here’s why.

I’ve been seeing some posts asking when is the “right” amount to get a hardware wallet. With all the solid options being around $100 USD or above (I’ve got a Ledger Nano X), I get it is an investment and may not seem worth it if for example you only have $50 worth of crypto. However, I’m here to give my two sats on the benefits of biting the bullet and getting pretty soon after you start your crypto journey. I completely understand it’s not easy for everyone. This is for people who again $100 isn’t going to break their bank, they want to grow their portfolio over time, and just think they’re not “ready” for a hardware wallet as they don’t think they’ve reached some arbitrary monetary threshold where it’s “worth” it. Spoiler alert: it is always worth it and the time is always right.

• The market isn’t most likely to take off over the next two months or so: You might say “Hey, that $100 on a crypto wallet is money I can’t put into crypto right now”. Well, with current events, crypto isn’t taking off in the next few weeks. You don’t have to FOMO that your DCA this month is a bit less if you got a hardware wallet. The decent prices will most likely be ready for you to budget in for next month.
• Starting with a low amount in your hardware lowers your risk even if it means you learn you suck at security: Would you rather learn the hard lesson you suck at hardware wallet storage when you’ve got $50 or $5,000 in it?
• You don’t have to move all of your crypto in if you’re still nervous: It’s best practice to move $5, wipe the wallet and restore with your seed phrase to make sure it all works. But also you can just keep a small amount of your small amount for even a couple months and make sure you’re good at it (again, starting early gives time).
• Starting early gives you time to sort out storing your seed phrase securely: The main rabbit hole you go down once you get a hardware wallet is “OMG, how do I store my seed phrase?” Starting early gives you time to figure out your optimal way for securing your seed phrase. Research those metal seed phrase holders (this guy did a torture test https://blog.lopp.net/metal-bitcoin-seed-storage-stress-test/ . I got the Crypto Key Stack and I had time to spend engraving my seed phrase, which was tedious but worth it). Now that I’ve had it for a few months, I even have my seed phrase memorized as an extra layer of backup (Tip: memorize in 3-5 word chunks then string the chunks and take your time!)
• You don’t want to start this process from scratch when you have a huge amount of crypto: The prices dip, or say you’ve just got an extra chunk of fiat coming in from a tax refund or bonus or something. Or your crypto moons and all of a sudden your portfolio doubles in fiat worth. Now what? You’ve gotta move it, but you’ve also got the added burden of figuring out the wallet, going through all of the paranoia of seed phrase storage only the stakes are much higher now. Guess what? Your paranoia/anxiety is only going to be higher.
• Getting your security sorted early, gives you mental bandwidth to just focus on the market and cryptocurrency (i.e. the fun stuff!) I got my hardware wallet early when I only had BTC and ETH and was still learning the basics about crypto. I took time to learn about seed phrase storage and got used to my hardware wallet. It took a lot of my mental bandwidth. However, I now have my security just dealt with. I buy my crypto and move it off to my wallet as soon as I can. My seed phrase is secure. I don’t have to think about it really and it’s sooo nice. I can spend my time learning about more tokens, posting on Reddit etc. I love my Ledger and I can learn about all of its more complex Defi apps.

TL;DR starting early with a hardware wallet gives you time to sort out security so by the time you have a lot, you’re already ready to handle it. Mo money Mo [potential] problems.