The CRYPTOTAG is a sleek and sturdy storage solution for keeping your private keys secure forever. Bitcoinist got its hands on the hefty product, and we’re a big fan. Here is our full CRYPTOTAG review.
Design
One CRYPTOTAG is essentially two sheets of space-grade titanium that clip together with titanium clips. It is compatible with Ledger, TREZOR, KeepKey, Jaxx, Exodus, and others wallets. The product is also fireproof up to 1665°C, corrosion and erosion resistant, and professes to be able to stop a bullet.
The outside of the CRYPTOTAG proudly displays the products’ logo and name — which looks cool but makes the sensitive ‘document’ less discrete. Should it ever catch the eyes of a potential thief, he or she would have little doubt as to what kind of information the sheet holds. (Even if someone has no idea what a recovery seed is, most people know that “crypto” means money.)
Of course, a wise user would never leave a CRYPTOTAG in sight — just as one would never leave their gold coins or valuables lying about. Still, a little more discretion would’ve been an added bonus.
Aside from that, there is very little to fault with the CRYPTOTAG, which we find to be the best storage solution for your private keys available today.
Set Up
Everything you need to use the CRYPTOTAG is included in the box. The full package comes with a hefty hammer, 26 letter bits, an anvil, a bit holder, earplugs, and even a box of matches to burn your paper recovery seed when finished.
What sets the CRYPTOTAG apart from its biggest competitor — the CryptoSteel — is the fact that its set up is downright fun!
To forever store your recovery phrase in a CRYPTOTAG, the owner must physically hammer each letter into the titanium sheet individually. While playing blacksmith might sound tedious to some, we at Bitcoinist found the process quite enjoyable. Heck, the act of physically hammering in the recovery seed to your son’s potential crypto legacy could be construed as downright therapeutic!
The process is also not particularly difficult but requires concentration. (Should you hammer in the wrong letter, there’s no erasing it.)
Hammering in each letter took about 7-10 concerted strikes with the hammer to make a clean impression, and the included tools ensure a clean and organized impression. (We recommend using the included earplugs. Though it at first seemed silly, the high-pitched sound of engraving titanium isn’t pleasant.)
Conclusion
The CRYPTOTAG is, in our honest opinion, the best storage solution on the market for your cryptographic private keys and recovery seeds. The build quality is exceptional and the act of engraving each letter individually hammers in the importance of being your own bank.
We like the CRYPTOTAG so much that we will be giving away one full package to a Bitcoinist reader. Stay tuned for giveaway details. In the meantime, let us know what you think of the product in the comments below!
Full Disclosure: The review unit was provided by CRYPTOTAG for the purpose of review.