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Hardware wallets

Core Extension supports Ledger hardware wallets. The device holds the keys and confirms operations on its own screen; Core builds transactions and displays context, but cannot sign without the device.

Ledger connects over WebUSB/WebHID and uses the Avalanche Ledger app, which covers the C, X, and P-Chains as well as other EVM networks.

What dapps observe​

A hardware-backed account behaves like any other through the provider API, with one practical difference: latency. Signature requests wait for the user to read and physically confirm on the device — or plug it in first. Two consequences:

  • Don't time out signature requests aggressively; a Ledger user confirming an EIP-712 payload field by field can legitimately take a minute.
  • Batch flows that fire several signature requests in a row are painful on hardware; consolidate where you can.

Method support varies by firmware​

Not every signing method is implemented by every firmware version — for example, typed-data support differs between Ledger app versions. When the device cannot sign a payload, Core surfaces the rejection rather than falling back to software signing: keys never leave the device, so there is no fallback. Handle error 4200 gracefully.