Ledger is a crypto wallet that provides hardware and cold wallets by developing hardware wallet technology that offers the highest level of security for crypto assets. Ledger products combine the secure element with a proprietary Operating System designed to protect a user’s digital assets while empowering them with ownership and control of their wallets. The cold storage solution provided by Ledger supports numerous digital coins including Bitcoin and Ethereum among many others. To give a compelling argument for users to start utilizing hardware wallets from Ledger, the company is offering $30 rewards in BTC(Bitcoin) to customers who purchase a Ledger Nano from the company. The offer stands until April 18th and its products have been recommended by Bloomberg, TechCrunch and Forbes. The firm even has wearable hardware wallet devices that can worn by users and complement their fashion will providing extra security in plain sight.
Ledger, based in France, has since raised an additional $108 million in a series C funding round while adding to its network of investors. The new investors that joined the funds drive include True Global Ventures, Digital Finance Group and VaynerFund. In 2021, Ledger raised 356 million Euros ($385 million in today’s exchange rates). The Firm’s current market valuation stands at a staggering 1.3 billion Euros($1,41 billion). The firm’s current products are shaped like USB drives with tiny screens to confirm transactions on the device. These devices are highly secure because the private key to the wallet never leaves the device since its stored on the secure chip. The hardware wallet it used with other devices like a computer or a mobile phone to confirm transactions. When a user wants to transact some crypto tokens, you connect the device to a computer or mobile phone and enter the public key on a live ledger app after which you will turn on the hardware device to confirm the transaction with a private key. Once the transaction is completed, the device can be disconnected and stored offline therefore, proving an extra layer of security.
Incase the wallet is lost, the firm allows users to write down a 24-word recovery phrase on the first boot up of the device and store it in a safe place since it allows the user or someone else to recover the wallet. Though having a secure wallet doesn’t prevent scams according to Ledger’s research, It goes a long way to prevent them from getting hacked when stored on the internet. However, a data breach on customer information stored on e-commerce sites has led to phishing campaigns with scammers trying to obtain recovery phrases. Other solution providers have also fallen victim to the same scam and this form the basis why Metamask never allows its users to share their seed phrases. other firms are moving this single point of failure by switching to other solutions like ZenGo and Argent.
Ledger’s flagship device is the Ledger Nano S Plus. The most recent iteration of the device has a small black and white display with two buttons and a USB-C port for connection to a PC and costs $79. The firm also has another device, Ledger Nano X, which is very similar with the Ledge Nano S Plus except for its in-built battery and bluetooth connect function. The firm has released a recent product, Ledger Stax, a high end device designed in collaboration with Tony Fadel and has a large display that can be used to sign transactions. The device costs $279 and can additionally be used to secure and manage NFT collections. Since the firms inception in 2014, it has sold 6 million devices with 1 million devices being sold between June 2022 and February 2023. The platform also offers some DeFi and NFT management features. Ledger estimates that it secures 20% of crypto wallets and 30% of NFT collections worldwide.
