With retail and institutional investors showing more interest in cryptocurrencies, Charles Hamel the vice-president of Ledger believes self-custody digital assets is the future. He said ownership is really unique and esoteric.
Hamel highlighted that exchanges are also looking at the role self-custody and ownership play in the current digital asset landscape. Crypto investors want to keep their assets safe themselves. Many fear misplacing their private keys and losing their funds forever. As such, exchanges are offering self-custody services – often for a premium fee.
Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO, expects users to seriously consider taking assets into their hands. Coinbase offers self-custody wallets and is working towards giving users the option to do so directly through the app.
But Hamel feels that as investors become more comfortable with technology, concerns about possession and security are increasing. Armstrong believes that the products that most crypto-forward people use today will become mainstream. He says companies need to start integrating them today.
Ledger, a crypto hardware wallet manufacturer, allows users to store their digital assets directly on a USB drive and securely control their private keys. The company plans to add a crypto wallet extension, Ledger Connect, on Safari to allow users to connect hardware wallets to Web3 applications such as Solana and Ethereum. Hamel said Ledger wants to reduce the friction for its users to bring their keys to Web3. He pointed out that security is the core when it comes to self-custody. With this at heart, Ledger Connect will add a new security layer. Hamel shared that Web3 Check will flag suspicious Web3 apps, whereby users will be alerted if an app is linked to past scams, hacked websites, or fraudulent smart contracts.
