Cold wallet Ledger raises $108M as self-custody wallets gain popularity

hardware crypto wallet company ledger The company announced it had raised $108 million in a recent funding round, according to TechCrunch.

As TechCrunch, the company has raised a total of €100 million. This equates him to $108 million based on exchange rates at the time of writing. article I got it.

funding round

In 2021, Ledger has raised a further €356 million in a funding round. This equates him to over $385 million at current exchange rates. Despite his additional €100 funding, the company’s valuation remains unchanged at €1.3 billion, which at the exchange rate at the time of writing equates him to $1.41 billion.

Companies such as True Global Ventures, VaynerFund and Digital Finance Group participated in the second round of funding, although they refrained from raising the first. Cathay Innovation, Morgan Creek, 10T, and Korelya Capital are some of the names that contributed significantly to both funding rounds.

hardware wallet

Ledger is one such company that makes USB-like devices that can store crypto assets. These devices are also addressed as cold wallets to indicate that they do not have an active internet connection. These wallets therefore provide an additional layer of protection against hacks that can access and abuse any internet-connected wallet.

Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier shared a note thanking investors for participating in the funding round, highlighting the importance of hardware wallets. state:

“Within the next five to ten years, the rise of the Internet of Value will reshape the way billions of people own and manage their assets, how they interact with the Internet, the role of intermediaries, the global economy, and any industry.

As we enter this new era, the smartphone in your pocket or the laptop on your desk lacks basic security features. “

According to Gauthier, the future is very near where devices explicitly designed to own and trade assets on the decentralized internet are essential.

FTX Collapse Facilitates Hardware Solutions

Since 2014, Ledger has sold over 6 million hardware wallets. The company’s sales only increased after the bear market and his FTX collapse. Between June 2022 and he February 2023, the company has sold about 1 million devices.

according to crypto slate A study from December 2022 found that over 450,000 Bitcoins (BTC) held in exchanges or hot wallets prior to 2022 were moved to cold storage devices throughout the year. At the time of writing, less than 12% of BTC supply is held in exchange-connected wallets.

Some cryptocurrency companies have noticed the hype around cold wallets and rolled up their sleeves to meet community demands. In November 2022, cryptocurrency exchange Binance entered the space with its investment arm, Binance Labs, leading a Series A investment round in hardware wallet maker NGRAVE. In January 2023, decentralized cryptocurrency exchange 1inch (1INCH) announced that it will launch a multi-coin hardware wallet later this year.