Supported Hardware Wallets

To create a GuardBlock Vault, you need to have a suitable Hardware Wallet, also known as a Signing Device, which is used to securely store your Private Key.

The device must be initialised, firmware updated, with a key generated and secured with a pin before it is ready to use in the vault creation process. You do not need one to create a GuardBlock account and explore the platform, but it is needed to create a vault and actually use our service.

GuardBlock currently supports the following hardware wallets:

• Ledger Nano S Plus
• BitBox02
• BitBox02 Nova
• Coldcard Mk4*
• Coldcard Q*

*Edge firmware required as of May 2026, which adds Miniscript support to the device

GuardBlock Vault configurations require the device to have Taproot Miniscript support, hence why we currently only support the above devices.

Why hardware wallets are required

GuardBlock vaults are built around hardware wallet keys. Your key stays on your device and is required for the normal spending path. GuardBlock adds a co-signing key to the vault you create, but it cannot spend your Bitcoin alone.

How many devices you need

This depends on the vault type you choose, and your own personal self-custody methodology.

For our basic vault, only a single device (key) is needed.

In the future we will support multi-device vaults that use two or more supported hardware wallets. In that setup, your primary and secondary devices play different roles in normal use and recovery. This also gives options around different exit pathways.

Even if you choose the basic vault with a single key, you are able to optionally have a secondary (or tertiary, etc) device which has been initialised with your first key, which can be used as a backup if you lose access to your first device. This is useful if you want to have private key backups that are secured with a pin rather than a plaintext paper/steel seed - ideal for backup devices kept outside your home, such as at a family members house or safe deposit box.

These backup devices can be used to 'replace' a lost device associated with a GuardBlock Vault, via 'Key Management' under your vault settings.

Before you use a device with GuardBlock

Before creating a vault, make sure your device is:

• Genuine and sourced from a trusted seller
• Updated to the latest official firmware, or Edge firmware if applicable (for ColdCard)
• Initialised; you have created a private key and secured the device with a pin
• Backed up properly via a secure seed phrase or secondary device
• Ready for you to verify policy details on the device screen

Keep In Mind

GuardBlock supports these devices because the vault model depends on hardware wallet verification. You should always review the vault policy on the device itself before depositing Bitcoin. If what your device shows does not match what you expect, do not approve it.