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How to Access Ledger Nano Monero Wallets Using Cake Wallet on Tails OS

💡 Why Use Ledger with Cake Wallet?

Using a Ledger Nano S, S Plus, or X with Cake Wallet Desktop provides the best of both worlds:

  • 🔒 Hardware-level private key protection (Ledger)
  • 🧅 Full Tor routing and privacy isolation (Tails OS)
  • 💻 Convenient Monero wallet management with Cake Wallet’s GUI

You can access a wallet you originally created in Ledger Live or Monero CLI by linking it through Cake Wallet’s hardware wallet integration.

⚙️ What You’ll Need

  • A Ledger Nano S, S Plus, or Nano X
  • The Monero app installed on your Ledger via Ledger Live (on another machine)
  • Cake Wallet Desktop AppImage on Tails OS
  • Unlocked Persistent Storage on Tails
  • A Tor-accessible Monero node (see below)
  • Ledger USB drivers working on Tails (Udev rules preloaded)

🧠 You don’t need Ledger Live on Tails — Cake Wallet communicates directly with the Ledger over USB.

🔌 Step 1: Connect Your Ledger Nano

  1. Boot into Tails OS with Persistent Storage unlocked
  2. Plug in your Ledger Nano via USB
  3. Unlock it and open the Monero app on the device
  4. You should see “Application is ready” on the Ledger screen

⚠️ If you see no response from Tails, ensure the USB device is passed through correctly. You can check it by running:

lsusb | grep Ledger

Expected output:

Bus 001 Device 004: ID 2c97:0001 Ledger Nano S

💾 Step 2: Launch Cake Wallet Desktop

cd /media/amnesia/Persistent/cakewallet
./cakewallet.AppImage

Go to File → Add Wallet → Import Hardware Wallet.

Select:

  • Device: Ledger Nano
  • Currency: Monero (XMR)

Wait a few seconds — Cake Wallet will connect to your Ledger and display available accounts.

🌐 Step 3: Connect Over Tor (for Privacy)

Since Tails routes all traffic through Tor, you can connect Cake Wallet to a Tor-accessible Monero node. Use one of the following onion addresses:

7w7p6cztkdc4y3v6gzv5bgkaxqd3zfyfgz4dfzfybzmpaivf7pbl3iid.onion:18081

In Cake Wallet:

  1. Go to Settings → Node
  2. Choose Custom
  3. Paste the .onion address above and disable SSL

🧅 Tor nodes can be slower to sync, but you’ll maintain full anonymity while managing your Ledger wallet.

🔐 Step 4: Open Your Ledger Wallet

Once your Monero node connection is active:

  1. Click Open Wallet in Cake Wallet
  2. Select your Ledger account
  3. The app will fetch your wallet’s subaddresses and balance

All signing operations occur inside the Ledger itself — your private keys never leave the device.

💸 Step 5: Sending Monero From Your Ledger Wallet

When you send XMR:

  • Prepare the transaction in Cake Wallet
  • Confirm details on-screen
  • Approve on the Ledger device when prompted

The transaction is signed securely inside the Ledger and then broadcast over Tor through Cake Wallet. ✅

🧩 Troubleshooting

  • “No device found”: Reconnect the Ledger, open the Monero app, and retry.
  • “Wallet not syncing”: Ensure you’re using a working .onion Monero node.
  • “Stuck at connecting”: Restart Tor and verify node address/port.
  • “AppImage won’t detect Ledger”: Reboot with Ledger connected before launching Cake Wallet.

🔗 Related Privacy Posts

🔐 Final Thoughts

Accessing your Ledger Nano’s Monero wallet via Cake Wallet Desktop on Tails OS gives you the most secure setup available today — hardware-isolated keys, Tor privacy, and full control over your Monero node connection.

🧠 For advanced users, consider combining this setup with a personal Tor Monero node to eliminate reliance on public infrastructure altogether.

🦋 Citizen Erased covers hands-on privacy topics — from Tails persistence to decentralized exchanges — to help you stay sovereign and secure.

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