Tips on how to keep your PDEX safe with Ledger

In DeFi, you determine how secure your funds are. Here are a few tips to keep them as safe as possible.

4 min readAug 6, 2022

In light of recent exploits in the DeFi ecosystem, it’s worth reminding Polkadexers of best practices when it comes to keeping their PDEX — and other cryptocurrencies — safe and protecting their wallets from potential hacks.

With great power comes great responsibility

Yes, it’s “your keys, your crypto” but that also means the security of your funds is your responsibility. You’re in control, so be sure to exercise caution at all times. Here’s a few ways to do so:

Never share your seed phrase(s) with anyone

Rule number 1. Your seed phrase is for your eyes only and should always remain so.

Stake PDEX with controller and stash accounts

When staking PDEX, be sure to make two accounts: a controller account and a stash account. The stash account should have the large majority of your funds and its seed phrase should be stored offline (e.g. on a piece of paper kept somewhere safe and away from others) as a cold wallet. The controller account will allow you to stake/unstake your PDEX but won’t let you transfer PDEX away from your stash. You can keep the controller account online in your browser extension as a hot wallet, however, you should still keep the seed phrase as secure as possible.

Use a hardware wallet

Hardware wallets allow you to generate private keys offline on a physical device, adding an extra layer of protection for your funds. When they are in a hardware wallet, your private keys are never exposed to the internet except for at the time of signing transactions, hence the name ‘cold storage’. Storing your private keys in a hardware wallet is the one of the most secure crypto storage methods.

Polkadex and Ledger

Polkadexers can soon give their PDEX an important added layer of security as the Polkadex app is now available on Ledger devices in developer mode and will soon be rolled out to the public app catalog. Meanwhile, it’s good to consider equipping yourself with a Ledger cold wallet. As the market leader in the hardware wallet industry, Ledger offers multiple hardware wallet devices including the Ledger Nano S Plus, and the more premium Ledger Nano X.

How to store your PDEX in a Ledger device

Get your hands on a Ledger hardware wallet
Set up your device and download Ledger Live on your desktop (make sure you’re running Ledger Live version 2.32 or above)
Once your wallet is connected to Ledger Live, click on ‘Settings’ and navigate to ‘Experimental features’
Enable developer mode to allow experimental apps
With developer mode enabled, navigate to the ‘Manager’ tab and search for Polkadex in the ‘App catalog’
Download the Polkadex app from the catalog
Send your native PDEX to your Ledger device’s Polkadex address. Here’s a short guide on how to receive assets on a Ledger device.

Developer mode vs official launch

While the Polkadex Ledger app has been in the works for a while, it was only recently approved to go live as an ‘experimental app’ in developer mode. What this means is that while the Polkadex and Zondax teams have been working together with the Ledger team, the app still needs to be officially reviewed by the Ledger team before it can roll out to the official Ledger App catalog in a few months. Since the Polkadex Ledger app is still in an experimental phase, when you use the app, you do so at your own risk.

You’re in control
In Web3, you are in control. While Web3 ushers a game-changing new dynamic with financial freedom, it also places the burden of securing funds on individuals: YOU are in control. And it’s up to you to keep your funds as secure as possible.

About Polkadex

Polkadex is a fully decentralized, peer-to-peer, orderbook-based cryptocurrency exchange for the DeFi ecosystem built on Substrate and designed to become the ultimate trading engine for Web3. In order to do so, Polkadex is creating an easy-to-use platform that combines the benefits of centralized and decentralized exchanges into one cutting-edge solution that caters to all crypto traders.