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Metamask: How do Ledger hardware wallet signatures differ from web3.eth.personal.sign?

Published by Terlumun Aondover on February 13th, 2025.

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Ledger Hardware Wallet Signatures vs Web3.eth.personal.sign: A Deep Dive

When building a decentralized application (Dapp) on the Ethereum blockchain, it is important to ensure user authentication and identity verification. One common approach is to use the web3.eth.personal.sign() method to sign transactions, which is based on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) signature protocol. However, Ledger hardware wallets have introduced their own solution for digital signatures that differs from the traditional web-based approach.

Ledger Hardware Wallet Signatures: A Comparison with Web3.eth.personal.sign

The Ledger hardware wallet, also known as Ledger Live, provides a secure and decentralized way to store, manage, and sign Ethereum transactions. The Ledger hardware wallet’s signature mechanism is based on the web3.eth.personal.sign() method, which uses the EVM signature protocol to authenticate users.

Key Differences Between Ledger Hardware Wallet Signatures and web3.eth.personal.sign

Security: Ledger Hardware Wallet uses a stronger cryptographic algorithm (RSASSA-PSS and SHA-384) compared to web3.eth.personal.sign(), which is based on the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA).

Interoperability: Ledger Hardware Wallet can securely interact with other Ethereum-compatible wallets and nodes, while web3.eth.personal.sign() is primarily designed to be used together on the network.

Storage Requirements: Ledger Hardware Wallets require storage to store private keys, public addresses, and transaction history, while web3.eth.personal.sign() only needs to store a username or a mnemonic seed.

User Experience: Ledger’s hardware wallet provides a more streamlined and user-friendly experience for signing transactions, with features such as automatic password management and secure storage of sensitive data.

Web3.eth.personal.sign(nonce, coinbase): How it works

The “web3.eth.personal.sign()” method is a more traditional approach to creating digital signatures on the Ethereum blockchain. It requires two parameters: “nonce” (a random value generated by the user’s computer) and “coinbase” (the transaction hash or block number). The method uses the EVM signature protocol to sign the transaction, which can be verified using the “web3.eth.getTransaction()”, “web3.eth.getTransactionReceipt()” and “web3.eth.sign()” methods.

Conclusion

While traditional web-based approaches such as “web3.eth.personal.sign()” offer ease of use and integration with existing Ethereum-compatible wallets, Ledger’s hardware wallet solutions offer a more secure and decentralized way to authenticate users. When building DApps on the Ethereum blockchain, it’s important to consider both options and choose the one that best meets your security and user experience needs.

Example Code: Signing a Transaction with the Ledger Hardware Wallet

Here’s an example of how you can use Ledger Live to sign a transaction:

“javascript


const web3 = require('web3');
const Ledger = require('leedgerlive');
// Connect to the Ledger hardware wallet
Ledger.init();
const ledger = new Ledger();
// Get the current nonce
const nonce = await ledger.getNonceAsync();
// Create a new Ethereum account
const tx = {
from: '0x...',
recipient: "0x...",
value: 1,
data: '...'.repeat(20), // transaction data
};
// Sign the transaction using the Ledger hardware wallet signature mechanism
const signature = await ledger.signTransaction(tx, nonce);