How to Use Temple & Kukai Wallets with a Ledger

By Mohammad Musharraf

If you’re into NFTs, you need to know about Tezos. Here, we explain Tezos blockchain and its native wallets.

Ethereum has come out of 2021 as the undefeatable champion in the DeFi and NFT space. It has been pivotal to the success of the entire decentralized ecosystem that we get to experience today.  But it still faces issues of scalability and high transaction costs due to its reliance on the proof of work consensus mechanism, as well as questions about energy use and sustainability.

While Ethereum 2.0 definitely seeks to solve these problems, a raft of other networks are already tackling these problems head on – and even have a budding ecosystem of native NFT artists.

One such network is Tezos.

What is Tezos Blockchain?

Tezos blockchain is taking aim at some of the limitations mentioned above. Using a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, Tezos brings greater network scalability, higher transaction speed, and lower transaction cost to its NFTs. 

That means, whether you’re creating an NFT on Tezos or trying to snipe one, you’ll not have to worry about paying hundreds of dollars in fees. Further, Tezos being an evolving network for NFTs has collections that do not charge premium prices like collections on the Ethereum network.

Speaking of sustainability, the PoS consensus makes Tezos highly sustainable as it does not rely on enormous amounts of electricity to add new transactions to the network. 

All of these combined are attracting NFT artists and collections in huge numbers and Tezos has been able to build an impressive NFT ecosystem with great artists and collections.

So, if you’re planning to get your hands on NFTs, Tezos could be a good place to start. 

Wondering how you can do that? Let us help you out.

What Are Temple & Kukai Wallets?

To interact with any application or NFT on Tezos, you first need a compatible crypto wallet. And the best ones we know are Temple and Kukai.

They are a non-custodial hot wallet that allows you to interact with dApps and NFTs on the Tezos network. It has an extremely simple user interface that allows you to connect with Tezos-based protocols and NFT marketplaces in just a few clicks. 

The wallet’s non-custodial nature means that you will have full control of your private keys and crypto assets, including NFTs. But, like all other hot wallets, Temple Wallet has some vulnerabilities.

Security with Temple & Kukai Wallet

The primary purpose of hot wallets is to help you connect with dApps that live and breathe on the internet. For that to happen, hot wallets too remain connected to the internet at all times, which means your private keys, although secured by the wallet’s security mechanisms, are constantly exposed to cyber threats.

Hacks and thefts on the internet are commonplace, which is why your wallet, when it remains connected to the internet, exposes your keys and your funds to ill actors that may try to scam you and steal your crypto assets. And NFTs are no exception.

Yet, the accessibility hot wallets offer is unmatched and most people use these wallets to access DeFi and NFT platforms. But scammers are showing increasing interest in attacking hot wallets to try to get their hands on your private keys and funds associated with them. So, if you want to sleep well at night, you need to ramp up your approach to Tezos security, and you can do that by leveraging it with a Ledger Nano.

How to Secure Your Tezos NFTs with Ledger and Temple & Kukai

Alright, so we know that hot wallets is an essential tool for interacting with Tezos blockchain, but it’s also a hot wallet and comes with some vectors that hackers could exploit to your cost. The answer? Simply combine Temple with your Ledger hardware wallet. 

With their Secure Element chip guarding your private keys, Ledger hardware wallets have proven to be the safest option on the market when it comes to protecting your assets. Here’s how using one with your Temple Wallet will maximize both your security and your freedom.

Create. A new. Wallet.

We cannot stress this enough: the first thing you should do of you intend to utilise Ledger with Temple Wallet is to create a Tezos Wallet within your Ledger device – you can do this by heading over to Ledger Live.

Why is this important? The whole point of having a Ledger Nano is that your private keys never leave the device.By private keys, we mean the data contained in your 24 word seed phrase for your existing crypto wallets.

A Word About Private Keys

To simply store the private keys of your hot Wallet within the Nano defeats the purpose of using the hardware wallet – someone could have already located them on a connected device, and can still use those keys to verify transactions without the hardware wallet.

So start off right and install a Tezos Wallet on your device – now we can talk about the benefits.

Your keys stay offline, all the time

Ledger hardware wallets ensure that your private keys remain offline at all times, negating any chances of malware on the internet touching your private keys.

How does that work? Simply install a Tezos account on your Nano using Ledger Live, and use Temple Wallet as a middleware between your Nano and whichever dApp you’re transacting with. By combining an account within Ledger ‘where the private keys will never be exposed) with the functionality of Temple wallet as a Tezos-ready medium, you’ll be able to benefit from the Tezos ecosystem without ever having your private keys on a connected device.

Two-Factor Authentication

Remember those hacks we talked about where hackers could access your private keys and use them to make transactions? Using a Ledger Nano with your Temple Wallet says “cheerio!” to that risk.

Using a Ledger based Tezos wallet means you’ll need to physically press the buttons on your Nano to approve new transactions. That means you will always know what activity is happening using your private keys, and you’ll get a last opportunity to check every transaction before it’s verified. So no more covert transactions, sorry hackers.

Screen Hacking is No More

Further, when you sign a transaction initiated by your Temple wallet, you’ll need to verify the details of that transaction via the trusted display of your device. This helps you cross-check the information displayed on your computer or mobile screen with that displayed on your trusted wallet display. By doing so, you don’t trust a software application that may be manipulated digitally but verify the information from a hardware wallet that’s impossible to tamper with virtually.

Ledger is Built for Web 3

One of people’s primary concerns around using a hardware wallet is reduced compatibility. With private keys stored offline, most will think that they will remain cut off from the exciting world of DeFi, NFTs, and Web3. But that’s not how we roll at Ledger.

We work constantly with our different partners to bring Ledger compatibility to their products and protocols. This is why we’ve made it possible for you to connect your Ledger hardware wallet to your Temple Wallet. With this, you can enjoy the ease of use and security of Ledger with your Temple wallet.

Simple Steps to Maximize Compatibility and Security

The idea behind connecting your Ledger wallet with your Temple wallet is that you store your funds on your Ledger device while using Temple Wallet only as a gateway to use those funds across Web3 platforms. 

And it doesn’t matter if you’re new to Ledger or have been using it for a long time now. Our step-by-step guide will make it easy for you to connect your Ledger device to your Temple Wallet and get your hands on some Tezos-based NFTs.

Step 1: Set up your Ledger device and Ledger Live by following the guide here.

Step 2: Download the Tezos Network application on your Ledger wallet using the Ledger Live application.

1. Open Ledger Live and navigate to the Manager tab.
2. Connect and unlock your Ledger device.
3. If asked, allow the manager on your device.
4. Search for the Tezos Wallet app in the app catalog.
5. Click the Install button to install the app on your Ledger device and wait for it to get installed

Step 3: Open Temple Wallet on your browser.

Step 4: Click on the top-right icon beside “Account 1” and choose “Connect Ledger”

Step 5: On the new full-screen page that opens, choose a name for your account and click “Add Ledger Account.” This will automatically open your Ledger Live application.

Step 6: Connect your Ledger device to the computer and open the Tezos app on it. 

Step 7: This will automatically connect your hot wallet to your Ledger device. You will now be able to interact with all Tezos-based applications and NFTs using your Temple Wallet even though your funds remain within the secure Ledger fortress.

Explore Tezos in Complete Security

In the rapidly growing world of Web 3, the primary goal of Ledger is to keep you secure in every interaction so you’re free to explore this new territory. 

But we also understand that in doing so, we cannot compromise your ability to experience the vast new ocean of options. This is why we’ve kept Ledger an open source ecosystem, allowing any decentralized application to integrate with us, and use our platform to bring absolute security to their community. Web 3 is about letting users define the landscape, so go ahead and explore all the options – we’ll handle the rest.

Knowledge is Power.

If you’re serious about staying secure while you enjoy crypto, there’s no better way that getting inside the mind of a scammer. Check out our School of Block episode.