Crypto Wallet Manufacturer Ledger valued at $1.4 billion

Cryptocurrency wallet maker Ledger has announced its Series C expansion fundraising round.

The firm offers hardware wallets that store crypto users’ private keys in a secure device, isolating the keys from a hacked computer or smartphone, according to the company’s website.

With the new funding, Ledger will bring these devices to more of the hundreds of millions of users of digital assets and blockchain-enabled technology, Ledger Chairman and CEO Pascal Gauthier said in a statement on the company’s website.

“As you know, 2022 was a trying year for the crypto industry, including the collapse of significant crypto exchanges and changing macroeconomic conditions,” Gauthier said in the post. “In this tough environment, Ledger has consistently demonstrated strong resilience and growing adoption for the hardware and services parts of our business.”

Bloomberg reported Thursday that Ledger has raised most of its 100 million euro (about $109 million) funding round during its first close, with a second closing in April and a third expected after that.

The latest fundraising values ​​Ledger at 1.3 billion euros (about $1.4 billion), which is the same as it received in June 2021 during an earlier round, according to the report.

Ledger did not immediately respond to PYMNTS’ request for comment on those numbers.

In the previous round, the firm raised $380 million and said it expected to secure 15% of all digital currency assets worldwide.

Looking ahead, Gauthier said in the post that the “Internet of Value” will reshape how people own and manage assets and how they interact with the internet.

As an example of how Ledger will serve this market, Gauthier pointed to the company’s recently introduced Ledger Stax.

Designed by former Apple CEO Tony Fadell, who helped usher in the iPod and iPhone, the Ledger Stax is a departure from previous wallets that were shaped like USB memory sticks; it’s the size of a credit card and has a curved spine and an electronic ink screen.

“As we enter this new era, the smartphone in the pocket and the laptop on the desk lack basic security features,” Gauthier said in the post. “These devices were built to produce and share content in a centralized Internet of information, not to own and trade assets in a decentralized Internet of value. My point is clear: You need a new generation of hardware to explore this next chapter. »

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