Ledger Wallet: Buy, Stake, and Manage Crypto with Self-Custody

Most people who get into crypto end up facing a familiar challenge: their digital assets are scattered. Your crypto ends up scattered across exchanges, software wallets, and staking platforms, each with its own login, its own interface, and its own way of handling your keys.

The security question compounds alongside it. Exchanges hold your keys on your behalf, and software wallets keep them on an internet-connected device. The more platforms you use, the more places your keys and assets are exposed to potential hacks, freezes, or platform failures.

Ledger Wallet was built to close both gaps at once.

It gives you the intuitive experience of a software wallet and the full range of services you would expect from an exchange: buying, swapping, staking, earning yield, connecting to DeFi, managing your portfolio, and spending. The difference is that your private keys never leave your Ledger signer. Every transaction you initiate in the app gets confirmed on your signer before it executes.

That is what it means to have exchange-level access with self-custody security. Not a trade-off between the two. This guide covers what Ledger Wallet does, how the security model works, and how it compares to other crypto wallet options.

What Is Ledger Wallet?

Ledger Wallet is a self-custody crypto app available on desktop and mobile. It is the interface through which users buy, swap, stake, track portfolios, and connect to DeFi protocols, all while keeping private keys offline. The app was previously known as Ledger Live. The name changed to reflect how far the product had evolved beyond its origins as a portfolio tracker.

Ledger Wallet works as part of a two-layer system. The app is the connectivity layer: it displays your portfolio, surfaces opportunities, and prepares transactions. The Ledger signer is the verification layer: it stores your private keys offline on a Secure Element chip (CC EAL5+ or EAL6+ depending on the model) and physically confirms every transaction before it executes. The app provides access. The signer provides security. 

You can download the Ledger Wallet app and explore it in Watch Mode before connecting a signer. 

Watch Mode lets you get familiar with the app, create a portfolio, track live market data including trending assets, and simulate trades to see rates across providers, before you commit to anything. It is a useful way to understand what Ledger Wallet offers and explore the buying and swapping experience at your own pace. When you are ready to take custody, you connect your Ledger signer and your transactions are secured by hardware.

What Can You Do With Ledger Wallet?

Ledger Wallet offers the full range of activities that most users would otherwise split across an exchange, a software wallet, and several DeFi apps. 

Deposit Your Local Currency: Cash-to-Stablecoin

Powered by Noah, a global infrastructure provider that uses stablecoin-powered virtual accounts and modern payment rails, this feature lets you deposit local currencies, currently USD and EUR, directly into Ledger Wallet and receive USDC on Ethereum or the Base network instantly. 

Your private keys stay secured by your Ledger signer throughout. There is no exchange in the middle, no custodian holding your assets during the transfer, and no extra account to manage. You can even set up recurring deposits from your paycheck, converting salary directly to stablecoins and putting them to work inside the app from the moment they arrive.

Buy Crypto

Ledger Wallet offers a secure place to compare a wide range of service providers and choose what works best for you. You have full freedom to choose if, when, and what you want to buy, with which provider, and which payment method.

Because crypto lives on the blockchain and your keys stay offline with your Ledger signer, there is no custodial intermediary between you and your assets. Ledger Wallet supports 15,000+ crypto assets, from Bitcoin and Ethereum to Solana, XRP, stablecoins, and more.

Swap Crypto

Ledger Wallet connects to more than 15 independent swap providers, including Uniswap, 1inch, OKX DEX, Jupiter, Velora, and others. Multiple providers competing for your swap means better rates for you. It also means resilience: if one provider has a liquidity crunch or a market event, others are available. No single point of failure blocks your trade.

Cross-chain swaps between different blockchains work natively inside the app without needing an external bridge. Gas sponsoring means you do not need to hold a separate native token to cover network costs: the fee comes out of the token you are already swapping. Every completed swap is confirmed through Clear Signing on your Ledger signer’s Secure Screen, so you see exactly what you are approving before it executes.

Send and Receive Crypto

Sending and receiving works across more than 50 blockchains and 15,000+ coins and tokens, from Bitcoin and Ethereum to Solana, Cardano, Polkadot, and a wide range of EVM-compatible assets and SPL tokens. Every outbound transaction is signed by your Ledger signer before it broadcasts, so nothing leaves your wallet without your explicit confirmation on the device.

If you want stablecoin exposure without going through an exchange first, the Top Up feature converts fiat from your bank account directly to stablecoins inside the app. Your funds move from cash to crypto without passing through a custodial platform.

Stake and Earn Rewards

Open the Earn tab, and Ledger Wallet shows you exactly which assets in your portfolio are eligible for staking or yielding, and what those rates look like right now. Over 30 networks are supported, including ETH, SOL, ADA, DOT, BNB, AVAX, TRX, and POL. Stablecoin holders can put USDC, USDT, DAI, and USDS to work through integrated DeFi lending protocols without ever leaving the app. 

Every position is activated with a few taps, confirmed on your Ledger signer, and earns directly into your self-custody wallet*.

Connect to DeFi and Web3

DeFi apps including Uniswap and 1inch open natively inside Ledger Wallet rather than in your browser. That removes the browser extension from the transaction path entirely. Every transaction you prepare through a connected dApp goes directly to your Ledger signer for confirmation before it executes. Your private keys are never exposed to the dApp interface, a browser extension, or the internet at any point in the process.

Most wallets ask you to approve DeFi transactions as unreadable strings of hexadecimal code. You are confirming something, but you cannot tell what. With Ledger Wallet and a Ledger signer, the details of every transaction are displayed in plain language on the signer’s Secure Screen before you approve. You see the recipient, the amount, the token, and the action, on the signer’s Secure Screen, which is driven by the Secure Element and displays independently of your connected device.

Transaction Check adds a layer to each signing request in real time. It simulates the transaction outcome and runs it against known threat patterns, flagging malicious contracts, known scam addresses, and transactions where what the interface shows you does not match what you are actually approving. Clear Signing tells you what you are signing. Transaction Check tells you whether it is safe to sign.

Manage Your Portfolio

The Ledger Wallet dashboard gives you a real-time view of your entire portfolio alongside live market data. A live ticker streams price movements the moment you open the app. The Market Mood Index gives you a macro read on market sentiment at a glance. Refresh indicators show exactly when your balance data was last updated, so you are never making decisions on stale numbers. 

Trending assets and key movers surface directly on the home screen, alongside quick-access Buy, Swap, and Send buttons. You can act on what the market is doing without switching between apps.

Pay With Crypto

The Ledger CL Card, powered by Baanx, is a Visa card that lets you spend crypto in everyday transactions across more than 90 million merchants worldwide, online and in-store. Your funds stay in self-custody until you decide to top up the card, so you retain ownership right up to the moment of spending. 

The card also offers 1% Bitcoin cashback on purchases, which means every transaction gradually adds to your Bitcoin holdings. You can also set up direct paycheck deposits into your CL Card account and automatically convert your salary to crypto, removing the need to move funds manually between accounts. The CL Card is currently available in the US (excluding New York and Vermont) and is expanding to additional regions.

Perpetual Trading

Until recently, trading perps meant choosing between two poor options. On a centralized exchange, your collateral sits on their balance sheet, exposed to hacks, freezes, or insolvency. On-chain through a software wallet, your private keys stay on an internet-connected device, exposed to the risks that come with that.

Ledger Wallet removes that trade-off. Perpetual trading is built natively into the app, powered by Yield.xyz and settled through Hyperliquid, an L1 blockchain built specifically for on-chain trading. 

Your collateral never moves to a centralized balance sheet. Every signature goes through your Ledger signer, and Clear Signing means you can verify exactly what you are approving before it executes. You get the full perps trading experience, including long and short positions, candlestick charts, limit orders, take profit, and stop loss, with hardware-backed self-custody at every step.**

Sync Across Devices With Ledger Sync

Ledger Wallet is available on both desktop and mobile. Keeping both instances current used to require scanning a QR code every time. Ledger Sync removes that friction. It keeps your Ledger Wallet data synchronized across all your devices automatically, updating every 10 seconds, without storing any account data on a server Ledger can access.

Ledger Sync uses the Ledger Key Ring Protocol to generate encryption keys directly from your signer. Your account data is encrypted before it leaves your device. It travels over public channels in encrypted form and can only be decrypted by another device set up with the same Secret Recovery Phrase. Not even Ledger can read it. Your balances, accounts, and transaction history stay current everywhere, with no QR scanning or manual re-adding of accounts required.

What’s New in Ledger Wallet

The following features are coming to Ledger Wallet in July 2026.^*** 

Transaction History and Profile Updates

Ledger Wallet is introducing a redesigned transaction history accessible directly from the top navigation menu. New transactions are flagged for easier visibility, and the interface lets you track and verify past activity from any main screen without navigating away from your current view. 

A centralized Profile section will bring together settings, notifications, device management, support, Ledger Recover™ options, and referral programs in one place, so administrative tasks stay accessible without cluttering the main interface.

Profit & Loss, Asset Aggregation, and Global Asset Search

Three portfolio intelligence features are new in this latest update:

• Profit & Loss (P&L) tracking adds performance metrics directly to the dashboard, showing whether you are up or down on your holdings without needing an external tool. 
• Asset Aggregation unifies fragmented holdings across chains into a single line item: if you hold USDC on Ethereum, Polygon, and Base, you see one total USDC figure with a drill-down to view the per-network breakdown. 
• Global Asset Search adds intent-based search and filtering to the home screen, with filters for top gainers, trending assets, and starred tokens, so you can find opportunities inside the app rather than opening a separate market tracker.

Crowd Favorites and Top Stablecoins

The Earn tab is gaining two curated discovery sections. 

• Crowd Favorites surfaces the most popular assets among Ledger Wallet users. 
• Top Stablecoins puts Ledger’s stablecoin catalog front and center for users looking to put idle assets to work. 

Both sections reduce the research overhead involved in finding assets worth staking or earning on.

Earn Simulator

The Earn Simulator lets you model what any asset, at any amount, would have earned over 10 years. It makes the staking and yield decision more concrete by showing you the outcome of a position before you commit to it.

How Does Ledger Wallet Compare to Other Crypto Wallets?

The table below compares Ledger Wallet against three widely used alternatives on the criteria most relevant to security and self-custody.

All four are self-custody products, meaning none of them hold your private keys on your behalf. But the distinction is in where those keys are stored and how transactions are verified. With a software wallet, your keys live on an internet-connected device, which leaves them exposed to malware and remote attacks regardless of how careful you are. 

Ledger Wallet is the only option here that keeps your keys on a dedicated offline device and requires signer confirmation before any transaction executes. That offline key storage is what closes the exposure gap that comes with keeping keys on a connected device.

To understand the difference between wallets, see this comparison article on Ledger vs MetaMask.

How We Evaluated Ledger Wallet

The comparison table above was built against the following criteria:

• Custody model: Who holds the private keys, the user or a third party.
• Key storage: Whether keys are stored on an internet-connected device or an offline hardware device.
• Transaction signing: Whether the wallet uses blind signing by default or requires human-readable approval before execution.
• Chain support: Number of blockchains supported natively.
• Native staking: Whether staking is available inside the app without transferring assets to an external platform.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Difference Between Ledger Wallet and Ledger Live?

Ledger Live is the previous name for what is now called Ledger Wallet. The app was rebranded to reflect its expansion beyond a portfolio tracker into a full-service crypto management platform. The underlying product is the same. Users searching for Ledger Live are looking for the same app now called Ledger Wallet.

Do I Need a Ledger Hardware Device to Use Ledger Wallet?

Yes. Ledger Wallet requires a Ledger signer to authorize transactions. Without a connected signer, you can explore the app, track markets, and view your portfolio in Watch Mode, but no transaction can be signed or broadcast. This is a deliberate design decision: the hardware is what keeps your private keys offline and makes self-custody meaningful.

Is Ledger Wallet Safe?

Yes. Ledger Wallet’s security rests on two foundations. First, your private keys are stored offline in the Secure Element chip of your Ledger signer and never exposed to your internet-connected devices. Second, Clear Signing means every transaction is displayed in human-readable language on the signer’s Secure Screen before you confirm it. 

Can I Use Ledger Wallet Without Connecting to the Internet?

The app requires an internet connection to fetch portfolio data and broadcast signed transactions to the blockchain. The private key signing step happens offline on the Ledger signer. This means your keys are never exposed to the internet even though the app itself is connected. The two steps are architecturally separate by design.

Which Cryptocurrencies Does Ledger Wallet Support?

Ledger Wallet supports more than 15,000 coins and tokens across more than 50 blockchains. This includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Polkadot, and a wide range of EVM-compatible assets and SPL tokens. 

What Happens to My Crypto If I Lose My Ledger Device?

Your crypto is not stored on the device. Assets live on-chain. What the device stores is your private keys. If you lose your Ledger signer, you can restore access to your accounts by entering your Secret Recovery Phrase on a new device. This makes keeping your Secret Recovery Phrase secure offline the single most important step in protecting your assets. Ledger Recover is an optional service that provides an identity-verified backup path for your Secret Recovery Phrase if you choose to use it.

Disclaimers:

*Crypto transaction services are provided by third-party providers. Ledger is a technology provider and provides no advice or recommendations on the use of these third-party services, which may not be available in all jurisdictions. The value of cryptoassets can go up and down. Rewards are not guaranteed.

**Perpetuals trading is speculative and carries substantial risk. Read full disclosure: https://docs.yield.xyz/docs/perpetuals-trading-disclaimer. Ledger does not provide any financial advice or recommendation. Crypto transaction services are provided by third-party service providers. Ledger provides no advice or recommendation to use any of these third-party services. This service is not intended for users in restricted jurisdictions, including the UK, US, Ontario (Canada), France and Belgium.

***The features will be rolled out in progression and hence may not yet be available to all users.