With the holiday season just around the corner, it’s time to start piling presents under the tree. Here’s our pick of the best options for the crypto fan in your life.
Hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger is doing its level best to present itself as the Apple of crypto, enlisting iPod designer Tony Fadell to create its new product line, and now Apple Macintosh icon designer Susan Kare to work on the graphics for its latest offering.
As you might expect, the Nano Gen5 is a slick-looking, consumer-friendly bit of kit, with an E Ink touchscreen interface, Bluetooth and NFC, and secured by a CC EAL6+ Secure Element chip.
Ledger raised some eyebrows after ending support for its original Ledger Nano S earlier this year, but that does mean there’s an opportunity to gift an upgraded model.
After ominously named crypto exchange Tulip collapses in suspicious circumstances, a luckless bagholder enlists his friends to kidnap the founder and retrieve his missing funds.
That’s not entirely accurate, though. “Cold Wallet” is no globetrotting heist movie, instead it’s a character piece that pits the hostage-takers against the mind games of their billionaire nemesis, before a shocking act of violence turns the film into a riff on “The Most Dangerous Game.”
A good stocking-filler—and with its snowbound Massachusetts setting, a suitably chilly bit of Christmas Day viewing.
The inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, recounts the story of its creation—and where it could go next—in this memoir.
While Berners-Lee’s account of the web’s origins and his early life is fascinating, Web3 fans will be most interested in his vision for the future of the internet. Berners-Lee is a keen advocate of the decentralized web, though he remains skeptical of blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Instead, he’s pursuing his own project to decentralize the web, Inrupt, which relies on open-source privacy platform Solid to create an infrastructure built on private data “pods.”
For Bitcoin die-hards, no mere present could ever compare with the gift of sweet, sweet BTC. After all, gifts are transient things, while Bitcoin’s digital scarcity is forever—so any money spent on trinkets and gadgets for under the tree would be better put towards stacking precious sats.
Fold’s BTC gift cards are available in dollar denominations up to $500, which can be redeemed for BTC and sent on to any on-chain Bitcoin wallet address. It’s simple and straightforward, though it is a bit like receiving a book token from your nan for Christmas.
Strategy Quilted Vest
Strategy The North Face quilted vest. Image: Strategy
Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy has a plethora of branded clothing and accessories on its store, from pint glasses to a frankly eye-watering tie. But for would-be finance bros, nothing but a gilet will do.
This isn’t the usual branded tat, either; it’s made by The North Face and comes kitted out with its WindWall fabric and 150g Heatseeker synthetic insulation to keep you toasty on your Christmas Day walk. The orange Strategy logo is nicely understated, too.
Hardware wallet manufacturer Trezor has just launched its latest model, the Safe 7, and it’s laying the groundwork for the future with claims of a “quantum-ready” bootloader and architecture leveraging post-quantum cryptography.
The idea is that “when quantum-safe algorithms become necessary, Trezor devices will be ready to adapt,” without requiring users to switch over to a new device, according to the firm’s chief technology officer Tomáš Susanka.
The device also packs in Trezor’s “fully auditable” TROPIC01 secure element, alongside an NDA-free EAL6+ secure element. With a color Gorilla Glass screen, aluminum body and wireless charging plus Bluetooth connectivity, it’s also geared towards user-friendliness.
Note that as a result of the U.S. government shutdown, shipping in the U.S. is delayed, so bear that in mind when ordering for the holidays.
Bitaxe Gamma Bitcoin Solo Miner
Bitaxe Gamma Bitcoin Solo Miner. Image: SoloSatoshi
While the vast majority of Bitcoin mining is conducted using pools running shipping containers full of ASICs, there are still some diehards mining on home rigs like the Bitaxe Gamma.
This solo miner promises to deliver up to 800 MHz/1.63 TH/s out of the box and features onboard Wi-Fi, a browser-based dashboard, and a removable OLED display so you can check the live hash rate, temperature, and uptime.
Yes, with mining pools dominating the landscape, the Bitaxe is basically a $100 lottery ticket. But, hey: Someone netted $266,000 worth of block rewards with one just a week ago.
Cosmic Headless 6-String Silver Flake Guitar by Synyster Gates
Metal band Avenged Sevenfold has made no secret of their desire to bring their fanbase into the blockchain fold through initiatives like an NFT-powered Season Pass.
Guitarist Synyster Gates has doubled down on the technology, launching a range of limited edition signature kit that’s “authenticated on the blockchain,” to widespread bafflement. The idea is that each signature guitar or amp comes with a “digital certificate of authenticity” that’s transferred to the new owner, proving that it isn’t a fake (a common problem for collectors of vintage guitars).
Excited to release my newest @SynysterGates signature edition, the Cosmic Headless 6-String Silver Flake Guitar. This is a limited batch collectable art piece and only 100 will ever be made in this color. They are authenticated on the blockchain and include a membership to “The… pic.twitter.com/QEVMrEYAbv
This axe, billed as a one-of-100 “limited batch collectable art piece,” is kitted out with a maple neck, a mahogany body and ebony fretboard, with Gates’ signature Schecter pickup in the bridge position, and a Sustainiac pickup in the neck for wild synth-like effects with infinite sustain.
Quite how useful the “digital certificate” is remains to be seen, and only really comes into play when the guitar is sold on—and what happens if the guitar ends up separated from its certificate? Still, you also get membership to Gates’ “The Syndicate” fan club and 45,000 A7X Season Pass points for your money.
Solana made headlines in 2023 with its Saga smartphone—and sparked a mad dash for meme coin airdrops that at one point were worth more than the device itself.
A couple of years on and the frenzy has abated, with the Solana Seeker a more measured effort. Yes, at half the price of the Saga it’s a less premium offering, but as a stab at a mainstream crypto phone it does the job.
Necessarily a niche product, the Seeker is definitely one for those “actively trading in the Solana trenches,” but for the Solana faithful it’s a no-brainer.
