A reported chip found beneath a Ledger screen raises a sharper question than whether your seed phrase stays offline: can you trust what the device is showing you?

If the screen or hardware has been altered, the address you verify may not be the transaction the device signs. That does not mean every Ledger is compromised. It means supply-chain integrity is part of the wallet’s security model.

Buy from the manufacturer or an authorized reseller. Initialize the device yourself, reject any wallet that arrives with a prewritten recovery phrase, verify firmware through the official app, and test with a small transaction first.

Until hardware and firmware checks become easier to verify, an unusual seller, damaged packaging, or a device that arrives preconfigured should be treated as a reason to walk away.