The French crypto unicorn wishes to expand its horizons by providing payment to its clients. Owners of a Ledger physical wallet will be able to receive a debit card that can be used at most establishments beginning in the first quarter of 2022.
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| [Ledger debit card] |
Beyond sheer speculation, the world of cryptocurrencies aspires to find a role in the daily lives of people. Following Coinhouse's announcement of its aim to become a cryptobank, it is now the time of the French industry leader, Ledger, to take a move in this direction.
The French unicorn, which raised $380 million in June, announced the debut of a debit card on Thursday, which should allow you to spend anywhere with the cryptos in its possession. To utilize it, your digital assets must be registered in a physical wallet from Ledger, the original product that established the company's name, and you must load your card through the Ledger Live application, which was released this year.
"It's a great technological product," Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier tells Les Echos. This is not a prepaid card; users maintain their crypto holdings until they pay. They pay in euros at the end of the day. In other words, the Ledger card converts the cryptos in its possession into euros in real time.
Cards available in the first trimester
Interested persons can sign up for a waiting list to obtain their card in the first quarter of 2022 for the UK, France, and Germany, and in the second quarter for the US. Payment will be accepted in nine different cryptoassets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
This is the latest example of how industry participants are attempting to democratize the universe of digital assets and make them a daily utility, in addition to investing and trading. "We need to transition this firm from a geek business to a typical consumer business," said Ian Rogers, the former LVMH digital head who joined Ledger in 2021 to lead customer acquisition.
Earlier this year, Bitpanda developed a similar card in collaboration with Visa, further amplifying advancements in the cryptocurrency market. Another French contender, Coinhouse, which was formerly tied to Ledger, is emphasizing its aim to become a crypto bank and wants to issue its own payment card in the coming months.
Extension to NFTs
Along with this debit card, Ledger announced the development of an IT platform on which developers would be able to create Ledger-based apps. Furthermore, the business announced many modifications to its application and physical portfolio geared at responding to the emergence of Non Fungible Tokens (NFT), these digital things deemed impenetrable and whose prices have continued to skyrocket. month.
These measures should help Ledger to put the major data theft issue that slammed the firm in late 2020 behind him. A million user email addresses are reported to have been compromised as a result of the hack. The start-up alleged in mid-January that Shopify workers had stolen information on other firms, including Ledger.
"We were really forthcoming on the matter," Pascal Gauthier adds. In any event, the startup maintains its goal of a $100 billion valuation by 2025 and promises to manage 4 million physical portfolios throughout the world, where 20 percent of the world's digital assets will be maintained.