How to Migrate Your Crypto to Ledger

Since you started this course, you’ve learned the basics of Web3, of blockchain, and of crypto security. There’s just one thing left to do before you begin actively exploring the space: learn exactly how to secure and migrate crypto assets using a hardware device. Let’s tackle that process.

The First Step in Crypto: Secure Your Private Keys

Whether it’s Bitcoin, Ether, NFTs, or a brand new token from a project you just started backing, all of your crypto assets have one thing in common – they ALL have a private key.

If you are you’re looking to secure and migrate crypto on a Ledger signer, you might think this simply means recovering your private keys on your device. But doing this would be a huge mistake.

In this article, Ledger Academy explains how to properly migrate crypto assets into a secure hardware wallet.

Software Wallets Should Always Be Secured by a Hardware Device

A hot wallet, or software wallet, may well conceal your private keys, in the sense that they’re stored within the interface and you won’t need to write them down. But managing your keys within an interface on a connected device leaves a gap for sophisticated digital hackers to target your data.

Once Online, Always Online

Once your keys or recovery phrase have been online, even for a second, they are no longer safe. Anyone might have accessed them remotely. There is simply no way of knowing. 

From here, one thing should be clear: if your private key started its life online, simply moving it into a hardware wallet will not make it safe.

What you need is a new key that has never been on internet-connected devices.

Migrate Crypto From Your Software Wallet to a Ledger

The entire premise of a Ledger signer is that it keeps your private keys completely offline. This is the central proposition of a hardware wallet. But, what the device cannon do is protect keys that have already been online.

Never use your seed phrase to recover a hot wallet on a hardware device. Doing this may well recover your existing blockchain assets, but it won’t secure them.

1) Create a New Address for Each Asset

If you’re looking to migrate crypto assets from a hot wallet to a Ledger signer, you should create a new address altogether. This should be the case for every one of your different crypto assets, and you can find out how to do it right here.

2) Verify and Send Each Crypto Asset to its New Ledger Address

The next step is sending each one (that means some gas fees) from your existing wallet, such as your Bitcoin wallet, into its new account within your Ledger signer. You’ll be able to see your public key (receiving address) by copying it from the Ledger Wallet. You’ll need to verify on the Trusted Display of your Ledger signer to be sure.

3) Enjoy Completely Secure Private Keys

With your new private keys generated within the device, and your assets sent to their new address, your crypto is now secured in a totally offline environment.

With this done, you can switch off and be absolutely certain that your assets are untouchable via a hack.

Can I Still Interact With dApps From My Ledger?

The answer is yes! Ledger’s ecosystem of integrations is constantly expanding. It enables you to interact with dApps safely from your hardware wallet.

Even if you’re interacting with a platform that’s not yet integrated into Ledger’s ecosystem, don’t worry -you are still covered. Ledger signers are fully compatible with key Web3 middleware. We’ll talk you through the process of connecting your Ledger to a Web3 browser extension right here.

You Are Now Web3-Ready

Congratulations! With your course completion, your blockchain knowledge up to the mark, and your private keys tucked away in a hardware wallet, you are now ready to safely explore Web3.

If you take just one thing from this course, it should be this: keeping your crypto safe is not only about protecting your private key and recovery phrase. While also understanding the space, in order to avoid the pitfalls.

Things move quickly in the Web3 space, which is exciting! But scams also evolve quickly. And the freedom of self-custody means that it’s completely your responsibility to protect your keys and funds. 

That’s why Ledger’s mission is not just to provide the safest storage solution for your private key, but also the best ongoing educational resource where you can constantly stay up to date on the latest risks to your crypto.

In Web3, ‘you’ are in charge. So get secure, stay educated and enjoy the ride! Ledger will be here to support you.

The Shift: From Hardware Wallet to signer 

Crypto may have begun as a bold experiment, but adoption has grown as the technology and user experience have rapidly evolved; the language used to describe it, has however, stayed stuck in its infancy.

We called our devices “hardware wallets,” mislabelling the role of secure hardware, and obfuscating the role of software (Ledger Live). Along the way, users were left behind.

People believed:

• That value was stored on the device (it isn’t).
• That if you lose the device, you lose your assets (you don’t).
• That the device itself was the endgame (it’s not).
• That those 24 words were a burden only tech-savvy users could manage (not true anymore).

These are more than misconceptions. They are adoption blockers. So at Ledger, we believe that clarity is essential for the next stage of adoption

We’re changing how we speak about our products. And by doing so, we’re changing how people understand digital ownership itself.

Hardware wallets  → signers

Ledger devices don’t store value. They sign transactions. They prove intent. They verify identity. They’re not vaults, they’re the secure bridge between who you are and what you do online. They don’t just hold keys. They empower you to trust yourself.

We call them signers now, because that’s what they truly are.

In a world where AI grows more powerful every day, proof of humanity matters more than ever. A signer is more than a security device, it’s your cryptographic proof of you. It gives you a secure foundation to own, authorize, and protect your digital life without relying on anyone else. From sending a transaction to signing a contract or verifying your credentials, your signer  ensures you, and only, can provide digital consent – proof of you.Together, signer and Ledger Wallet redefine what digital ownership looks like, clear, secure, and free from compromise.