Crypto wallet company Ledger raises another $108 million

Image credit: Ledger

French startup Ledger has added more money to its Series C funding round. The company designs and manufactures so-called hardware wallets to secure crypto-assets. In 2021, the company raised €356 million ($385 million at today’s exchange rate). And the company is adding another €100 million ($108 million) in new funding.

This is an expansion round as the valuation of the company does not change – €1.3 billion ($1.41 billion at current exchange rates). In today’s funding environment, raising to the same value is already quite impressive.

Once again, the company has managed to line up a large number of investors. New investors in the company include True Global Ventures, Digital Finance Group and VaynerFund. Some existing investors are also reinvesting in Ledger, such as 10T, Cité Gestion Private Bank, Cap Horn, Morgan Creek, Cathay Innovation, Korelya Capital and Molten Ventures.

Ledger’s main products are hardware crypto wallets that offer a high level of security. The company’s current devices are shaped like USB keys and have a small screen to confirm transactions on the device.

Hardware wallets are secure by design because the private key of the crypto wallet never leaves the device – it is stored in a certified secure chip. When you want to send some crypto tokens, you need to use another device like a computer or a smartphone. When you enter the recipient’s public address in the Ledger Live app, you must validate the transaction with the private key. That’s why you need to turn on the Ledger wallet and confirm the transaction.

When you first boot up your Ledger device, the company asks you to write down a 24-word recovery phrase on a piece of paper. You should then store this recovery phrase in a safe place as it will allow you (or someone else) to recover your wallet in case you lose your Ledger wallet.

And it’s true that having a secure wallet doesn’t prevent fraud. In July 2020, Ledger discovered a data breach of personal information stored in an e-commerce and marketing database. That led to phishing campaigns with fraudsters trying to obtain recovery phrases.

To be fair, other wallets have been targeted by similar phishing campaigns. For example, MetaMask users should never share their wallet seed for the same reason. Some companies are moving away from this single point of failure by switching to other recovery methods, such as Argent and ZenGo.

Ledger’s flagship product is the Ledger Nano S Plus. It’s the latest iteration of the Ledger Nano S. It has a small black-and-white screen, two buttons, and a USB-C port to connect the device to your computer and turn it on. It costs $79.

Ledger also sells the Ledger Nano X. It looks a lot like the Ledger Nano S Plus, but it has a built-in battery and a Bluetooth chip. In this way, users can connect a Ledger Nano X to a smartphone using Bluetooth.

Image credit: Ledger (opens in new window)

More recently, the company unveiled Ledger Stax. Designed in collaboration with Tony Fadell, this exclusive wallet costs $279 and features a large E Ink screen similar to a Kindle screen. Just like other Ledger wallets, you can use it to sign transactions. But users will also be able to manage NFT collections.

The screen wraps around the device, meaning the name of the wallet remains visible even if you stack Ledger wallets – crypto millionaires often have multiple Ledger devices to separate assets across multiple wallets.

Since it is an E Ink display, the name on the wallet remains visible even when the device is turned off or the battery is empty. The company expects to ship the first Ledger Stax devices to its customers sometime in the next two months.

Ledger has sold 6 million units since its inception in 2014. And that trend is not slowing down as the FTX debacle once again showed that your crypto assets can disappear overnight if you leave them on a crypto exchange. The company sold one million units between June 2022 and February 2023.

In addition to this hardware business which is performing very well, the company also offers enterprise solutions to secure crypto assets with governance and financial management functions. The Enterprise platform also offers some DeFi and NFT management features.

Ledger also generates revenue from Ledger Live. The company offers betting options and integration with third-party products. But the company’s main products remain its hardware wallets, as Ledger estimates that they secure 20% of cryptocurrencies and 30% of NFTs worldwide.

Image credit: Ledger (opens in new window)