Ledger, the popular cryptocurrency hardware wallet manufacturer, has received funding to the tune of €2.6 million euro ($2.9 million) from Samsung, South Korean electronics behemoth.
After funding, the startup commands a value of about $290 million. Paris, France-based Ledger is developing safety and infrastructure framework suitable for cryptocurrency related applications.
Ledger was established in 2014. Presently, the company has more than 130 employees spread over three locations, namely Paris, Vierzon and San Francisco. The investment was disclosed by the Executive Chairman of Ledger, Eric Larcheveque. However, no additional details beyond the original investment amount were provided.
Nevertheless, he issued a tweet in French, which roughly translates to
“We will always need hardware wallets, but to accompany a revolution crypto based on a personal sovereignty accessible to all, the Smartphone will actually play a central role.”
The investment has been made at a time when the startup firm has appointed ex-President Pascal Gauthier as its new CEO. Furthermore, ex-CEO Eric Larchevêque has been roped in as Executive Chairman of the Ledger’s Board.
Gauthier said “in this role I will be able to properly focus on strategy and vision, while also overseeing regulator and government outreach, partnerships, customers, broader business relationships and technology thought leadership.”
Ledger’s most popular brand is Nano S Hardware Wallet. For more than 23 cryptocurrencies, Ledger Nano S offers a private, secure wallet. It imitates a flash drive, costing less than $100. The firm also provides security solutions such as crypto vaults for financial institutions, including banks. Since 2018, Samsung has consciously taken close attention to the company’s blockchain and cryptocurrency implementation.
Samsung, which unveiled its flagship smartphone with a safe cryptocurrency wallet built-in, and Dapp assistance is one among the big mobile manufacturing companies to introduce crypto-wallets.
Specifically, media reports that Samsung is creating a public-private blockchain with native cryptocurrency token. The venture, one of the initiatives of the company’s committed blockchain division, would see an Ethereum-based blockchain mainnet show up along with a new asset named Samsung Coin.
The news source, who is supposedly aware of the plans, has revealed that “we expect Samsung Coin to come out in the market, but the direction has not yet been decided.”
Samsung postponed the release of its $2,000 folding phone named Galaxy Fold after a saga of crack issues. Several smartphone reviewers blamed flashing, freezing, and eventually going dead in the first few days. The report also states “substances found within the device affected the display performance.”
Researchers alleged they could hack the Trezor One, Ledger Nano S and Ledger Blue cryptocurrency wallets last December, but Ledger asserted that exposed weaknesses in the hardware wallets were not crucial.
