A cold wallet is a type of wallet that keeps its private keys offline, ensuring they are never connected to the internet.

The Tangem Wallet generates its private key using a hardware random number generator when you scan the card or ring with your smartphone. This key stays on the wallet, which is not connected to the internet, so it never leaves the wallet.

The main purpose of the wallet is to securely store the private key, while the app acts as a user-friendly way to interact with the wallet’s chips and the blockchain.

Tangem Wallet is a highly secure and reliable crypto wallet. Its secure element is a microcomputer that generates a private key, which never leaves the device. We have done our best to demonstrate this:

— The chip has the highest level of certification among direct competitors. According to the Common Criteria standard, EAL6+ is the highest level of certification, guaranteeing the absence of backdoors. The same level of chip protection is used in international passports.
— The firmware has passed two audits from the independent Swiss company
Kudelski Security and the international security laboratory Riscure.
— This is the only hardware wallet with the highest possible protection from external conditions — IP69. It is completely shielded from dust, water, and physical hacking attempts.
— The card is durable enough to operate in temperatures ranging from -25℃ (-13℉) to +50℃ (122℉). It can even be put in the snow without affecting performance.
— The chip can sign infinite transactions for over 25 years.
— The chip is protected from EMF (electromagnetic field pulse), ESD (electrostatic discharge), and X-rays per ISO 7816–1.

Tangem and Samsung guarantee that the wallet will last at least 25 years. It uses the Samsung S3D232A chip from the S3D350 family. You can find more technical details about the chip here.

At the core of every Tangem device lies a powerful, certified chip developed in collaboration with Samsung Semiconductor.

It has the most proven and highest chip security standard — EAL6+, ensuring complete protection against hacking attempts, including both invasive attacks (when the chip is opened to record the state of each layer) and non-invasive attacks (when the card remains closed, such as when a highly sensitive oscilloscope reads the vibrations of the processor to calculate patterns).

The chip is equipped with multiple sensors (laser, temperature, light, power) that respond to unauthorized access by potentially destroying the private key.

Since its launch, we have distributed over 3 million devices without a single one being compromised.

The Tangem chip does not contain magnetic elements that can become demagnetized. It is also safeguarded against EMP (electromagnetic field pulse), ESD (electrostatic discharge), and X-rays in accordance with the ISO 7816-1 standard.

Tangem Wallet is designed with an open and decentralized approach.

Tangem servers do not participate in sending and receiving transactions in your wallet. The app’s code is open-sourced and always available for download. If it gets removed from the app store, it will not disappear from your phone. You can always download the Tangem app from GitHub.

The Tangem app solely uses the company’s servers to verify the wallet’s authenticity, synchronize the list of added tokens between the devices in the set, and calculate the cryptocurrency’s value in your wallet. You can still use your Tangem Wallet without these services, although it may be less convenient.

You can read more in our blog: How Your Tangem Wallet Works Without Tangem: Apocalypse Scenario.

Even if the ability to download the Tangem app from the App Store or Google Play suddenly disappears, the previously installed version will continue to work. The app functions independently of Tangem servers, guaranteeing continuous operation even if the company ceases to exist.

Alternatively, you can always download the Tangem app from GitHub. In addition, the Tangem application is completely open source.
This means anyone can create a replacement app that works with the card/ring.

You can read more in our blog: How Your Tangem Wallet Works Without Tangem: Apocalypse Scenario.

No, the ring must be removed from your finger and placed close to your smartphone’s NFC module. You also have to enter the access code or use biometric authentication to use the Tangem app.