Tangem review
Card-format hardware wallet with EAL6+ secure element — no seed phrase by default
Tangem is a credit-card-shaped hardware wallet built around a Samsung-manufactured EAL6+ certified secure element. Distinctive design choice: by default, Tangem cards generate a private key inside the secure element with no seed-phrase export (the cards themselves are the recovery — 2 or 3 in a set act as redundancy). This trades the conventional seed-phrase recovery model for a physical-redundancy model that materially reduces seed-phrase-leak risk but requires careful card storage. Open-source firmware audited by Kudelski Security and others.
- EAL6+ certified secure element (higher than typical EAL5+ on Ledger devices)
- No-seed-phrase mode dramatically reduces seed-leak risk class
- Credit-card form factor is genuinely portable and disposable-feeling (intentional design)
- Open-source firmware with multiple independent security audits
- No-seed-phrase mode means card LOSS (all redundant cards lost together) = funds lost — physical storage discipline matters
- Mobile-app dependency for interface (no desktop signing UI of the same depth as Ledger Live)
- Customer-support response can be slow during high-volume periods
- Some advanced operations (passphrase change, certain DeFi flows) require the seed-phrase mode
Six axes, weighted.
Everything, in one table.
- Category
- Hardware Wallet
- Custodial
- No (self-custody)
- Hardware
- Yes
- Open source
- Yes
- Chains
- 80
- Coins
- 9000
- NFT support
- Yes
- DeFi access
- Yes
- In-wallet swap
- Yes
- Staking
- Yes
- Mobile
- Yes
- Browser ext.
- No
- Desktop app
- No
- Price
- $undefined
- Annual fee
- —
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Tangem safe? +
How many coins does Tangem support? +
Is Tangem free? +
Does Tangem support DeFi? +
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