Trezor executive concedes hardware wallets are "clunky" but rejects ZachXBT's "complete garbage" verdict

A public disagreement over how ordinary crypto users should store their coins broke into the open this week after on-chain investigator ZachXBT told his Telegram followers that "all hardware wallets are complete garbage, and I do not advise using them for important tasks like signing transactions or storing funds." His suggested alternative: a dedicated iPhone used only to hold funds and sign transactions.

Trezor Chief Commercial Officer Danny Sanders pushed back in a Friday interview with The Block's Gareth Jenkinson on The Starting Block, though he gave ground on the core complaint. "I actually get it, and I agree that we have clunky solutions out there," Sanders said, acknowledging that firmware or software updates can disrupt urgent, high-value transactions. "It's really hard to build on the edge of security and usability."

His objection was to the generalization. ZachXBT, Sanders argued, was extrapolating from the narrow case of sophisticated users moving large sums — people who, he agreed, "need different setups, and just a single hardware wallet is not the best solution." For the average holder, Sanders called a hardware wallet the "strongest form of self-custody" currently available, citing its dedicated screen for verifying transaction details and the fact that keys never touch a networked device. A stripped-down iPhone, by contrast, still carries Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, iMessage and cellular — "more attack factors," in his words — and even generating keys on it is "more risky."

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm weighed in closer to ZachXBT's side, locating the real problem in software rather than hardware. "ZachXBT's got the right idea," Storm wrote. "There's just nothing on mobile to actually do it with." He called on mobile wallet developers to add BIP39 passphrase support — an extra word appended to a seed phrase that protects funds even if the written backup is found — and air-gapped signing, which lets a user approve a transaction without connecting to a network.

Key facts

• ZachXBT, on Telegram this week, called all hardware wallets "complete garbage" and advised a dedicated iPhone for storing funds and signing (The Block).
• Trezor's Danny Sanders, on The Block's The Starting Block (Friday), agreed the tools are "clunky" but called them the "strongest form of self-custody" for average users (The Block).
• Roman Storm backed ZachXBT's premise and urged mobile wallets to add BIP39 passphrase support and air-gapped signing (The Block).

The real-world read

Note the interests. Sanders is Trezor's commercial chief — defending hardware wallets is literally his job, so his "strongest form of self-custody" framing is a vendor's, not a neutral audit. That said, he conceded the substance of the criticism rather than denying it. ZachXBT's "iPhone-only" fix has a hole Sanders fairly flags — a phone's radios and OS are a wider attack surface than a single-purpose device — and Storm's response reframes the fight usefully: the gap isn't hardware versus phone, it's the missing software features (passphrases, air-gapped signing) that would make either setup safer. This is a debate among practitioners, not a resolved finding; none of the three offered data, only judgment.

Opinion, and whose

• ZachXBT: hardware wallets are unfit for high-stakes signing and storage; use a dedicated iPhone instead.
• Sanders (Trezor): fine for most users; the strongest self-custody available; a phone adds attack surface.
• Storm (Tornado Cash): ZachXBT is directionally right, but mobile lacks BIP39 passphrases and air-gapped signing to execute the idea.

Sources

• The Block (Kyle Baird), 2026-07-17 — reporting on the ZachXBT–Sanders exchange, Sanders' Starting Block interview, and Storm's comments. Reputable secondary outlet; discloses Foresight Ventures as majority investor. Not marketing.

This is news reporting, not financial or security advice; evaluate any custody setup against your own needs.