I’ve noticed that many crypto newcomers often worry about the security of their assets, but in reality it’s not as complicated as it seems. If you have small amounts, you can get by by increasing your own vigilance when using regular wallets—MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and similar tools are more than enough. But if you take the safety of your funds seriously, a cold wallet is truly a reliable way to do it.

Interesting point: you can create a cold wallet literally using what you have lying around at home. Take an old iPhone that you’re no longer using—it will be the base. First, simply reset it to factory settings to get rid of everything unnecessary.

Next, the logic is simple. Delete unnecessary apps from the phone (you can leave system apps if they don’t bother you), connect to WiFi, and download a wallet like imToken or AirGap Vault—these support offline signing, which is exactly what we need. After that, turn off the internet, delete the saved WiFi passwords, and open the app. When the system asks for permission to connect—just deny it.

Now, for the actual cold wallet setup: import your mnemonic phrase or create a new one. If you create a new one—make sure to write the phrase down on paper and hide it, but under no circumstances save it on your computer or in the cloud. This is critical.

If you just need to store coins, you can stop here. Periodically transfer funds to this wallet’s address, and you can track the balance through another phone using the address observation feature.

But if you also need to transfer funds out of a cold wallet, then the process is a bit more complicated. In imToken, find the required address (for example, on Ethereum), open the account details, tap “connect another wallet”—a QR code will appear. Then, on the other connected phone (in MetaMask or another wallet), add the hardware wallet by scanning this QR code. Choose the desired address—and you’re done. The disconnected phone becomes your cold wallet, and the connected one is used for management and transfers.

When it’s time to send funds, open the watch-only wallet on the connected phone, tap send. A QR code for offline signing appears. Take the disconnected phone, open the offline signing feature, verify all the details (the amount, the address), confirm—and again you see the QR code. Go back to the connected phone, scan this new QR code, and send the transaction. The assets get transferred.

Tip: for a cold wallet, it’s better to use an iPhone instead of Android—it’s a matter of security. I personally use Trust for a mobile cold storage setup, although for hot wallets I prefer several options depending on the situation.

Keep in mind: a cold wallet protects only the mnemonic phrase from the internet, but not from your own mistakes. If you approve a transfer to the address of a scam project, even offline signing won’t save your funds. So every time you sign, carefully check all the details: the amount, the destination address, and everything else. Only this way can you truly protect your assets. A cold wallet is a tool, but the responsibility remains with you.