Trezor Executive Responds to ZachXBT’s Questions: Hardware Wallets Remain the Strongest Self-Custody Option for Regular Users

In response to on-chain investigator ZachXBT’s earlier claim that “all hardware wallets are garbage and not recommended for signing transactions or storing funds,” Trezor’s Chief Commercial Officer Danny Sanders pushed back, calling the assessment overly one-sided. Sanders acknowledged that hardware wallet software or firmware updates can indeed disrupt critical operations like high-value transactions, and current products still have gaps in balancing security and usability. However, he noted that the scenario ZachXBT described primarily applies to advanced users managing large sums of assets, and a single hardware wallet is not the optimal solution on its own—so the entire hardware wallet category should not be dismissed based on that. Sanders also pointed out that using an iPhone dedicated solely to signing and storing assets has some value as an advanced security measure, but compared to hardware wallets, mobile devices have a larger attack surface due to features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular connectivity, and iMessage. Additionally, hardware wallets come with an independent display that lets users verify transaction details before signing, making them still the strongest self-custody option available for regular crypto users. Furthermore, Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm partially agreed with ZachXBT’s view, noting that current mobile wallets lack support for BIP39 passphrases and air-gapped signing, and urged wallet developers to add these security features as soon as possible.