I found myself in need of purchasing a hardware crypto wallet, and my attention turned to Tangem. At first glance, it is an interesting solution: private keys are securely stored inside physical cards (usually 2 or 3 in a set), and there is no seed phrase that can be stolen. It seems very secure.
However, this is where the contradictions begin. If a seed phrase is created as a backup during setup, then the entire concept of 'hardware protection without a vulnerable phrase' loses its meaning. After all, having a seed phrase automatically makes the wallet more vulnerable, as it can already be intercepted, photographed, stolen, or replaced. Tangem itself advises against creating a seed phrase, relying solely on physical cards.
But what will happen if one day the Tangem app stops working? For example, if it is removed from the App Store or Play Market, blocked by the government, or the company disappears. The private keys, although remaining on the card, will become inaccessible without the app that provides transaction signing. In other words, you simply won't be able to spend your cryptocurrency, even if you have the card in your hands.
In this case, having a seed phrase saves the situation — it can be entered, for example, in MetaMask to access the assets. But then a logical question arises: if a seed phrase still needs to be created for security, then how is Tangem better than Trust Wallet or MetaMask, which are also non-custodial but significantly more flexible?
Thus, a paradox arises: if you don't create a seed phrase, you risk losing access if the app disappears. If you do create one, the wallet becomes just like a regular software wallet. So what is the point of Tangem?
