- Ledger announces new hardware cryptocurrency wallet, ledger Stax
- Ex-Apple engineer Tony Fadell designs wallet product for Ledger using E ink technology on a small, rectangular wrap-around screen, similar in appearance to a smartphone.
- Ledger Stax will allow users to store Bitcoin and various other cryptocurrencies in cold storage, offline.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency hardware wallet manufacturer, Ledger, has released a new wallet designed by former Apple engineer Tony Fadell. The wallet, which has been named Ledger Stax, comes in the form of a minor, rectangular wrap-around screen just like a smartphone and uses E Ink technology.
In an official Twitter post, Ledger said the new device is built for confidence, offering uncompromised Security, and puts all your digital assets in one place.
“Enter Ledger Stax. Our most advanced and customizable Ledger yet, Ledger Stax is a touchscreen device to protect your most valuable digital assets.”
From the announcement, Ledger Stax will operate like any other ledger, allowing users to store bitcoin and many other crypto tokens offline in cold storage. In its design, the front of Ledger Stax will have a customizable display that can feature photos or non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Speaking in an interview with CNBC, Fadell said,
“Many Ledger owners have multiple devices. Some store their NFTs, some different store crypto, some have multiple because they have different clients they store for.”
Ledger Stax was launched during the company’s annual Ledger Op3n event on Tuesday, November 6. Citing an official post on Twitter:
“We just wrapped up #Ledger Op3n 2022 in Paris, where we announced our upcoming next-gen hardware device, the Ledger Stax.”
The creation is part of the French startup’s entrepreneurial move to start selling hardware crypto wallets. The announcement shows it is already available on a pre-order basis, with an estimated delivery date of March 2023.
Among the outlets shelving Ledger’s Stax product include Best Buy stores, a privilege attributed to the electronics giant’s long-standing relationship with Ledger, as it is currently stocking the Ledger Nano S Plus and Nano X devices.
Ledger’s Hardware Cryptocurrency Wallet: Ledger Stax
Ledger’s new hardware crypto wallet device sports a black-and-white E-ink display and resembles a smartphone.
Per the device product page, the Ledger Stax device measures 85 millimeters long and 54 millimeters wide, is roughly the same size as a credit card, and, at about 45 grams, weighs less than an iPhone. The hardware crypto wallet will retail for $279
Based on the E-ink specs, it is typically similar to that of Amazon’s Kindle e-readers. The display also features a spine curving around the edge, on which Fadell says, “You can see what is on each one, just like an old CD or cassette tape or book.”
The Ledger Stax device also features magnets that make it possible for holders to stack them together as you would cash or books, hence the name Stax, according to an official Twitter video illustration. Accordingly, consumers can connect the hardware crypto wallet to their laptops via a USB cable or link to their phones via Bluetooth.
Ledger Stax will Enhance Security
With the Stax design, Ledger introduces a more premium product to the crypto and technology spaces, far beyond the simple Ledger Nano S, which is small and has features similar to a USB drive. As hardware wallets are offline, they are less susceptible to hacks or failures, with Ledger assuring that “To date, none of its devices have been hacked.”
The Ledger Stax device also comes at a reasonable time for the company in a business sense and the crypto market in terms of Security. Notably, Ledger had sold more than 5 million devices as of December 6, 2022, an achievement that makes sense now that many crypto users are considering moving their digital assets from exchanges and using self-custody means of storage.
Beyond that, product designer Fadell explained his reasoning for the Ledger Stax design, saying, “We need a user-friendly — no, a ‘user-delightful’ — tool to bring digital asset security to the rest of us, not just the geeks.”
There are ongoing discussions within the greater Bitcoin Maximalism community on using and promoting wallets that offer compatibility for altcoins. The debate focuses on having more users practicing self-custody instead of relying on custodians. According to a source close to the matter, this could be considered a net educational benefit for the entire crypto ecosystem.
Ledger has said that it believes the popularity of its hardware crypto wallet devices will increase as the adoption of digital assets continues to grow.
