Although precise numbers are impossible to find, it’s estimated that at least half of Bitcoin users rely on hardware wallets to safeguard their coins. That translates to at least 40 million users of hardware wallets in the US alone. It’s a large market that’s still growing.
And that’s what makes the recent announcement by global payment giant Block — formerly known as Square — of a new hardware wallet option so interesting. It represents a move by a big and well-known player into a market that’s ripe for a bit of disruption.
But Block’s announcement wasn’t just that it would be adding a crypto hardware wallet to its product line. It’s that it would be adding one of the most technologically-advanced and secure hardware wallet options yet developed. Here are the details.
More Than a Wallet
According to Block Product Design Engineer Nick Slaney, Block’s upcoming entry into the hardware wallet market represents more than just another crypto storage device. Instead, he says that it will provide “the security of cold storage, the peace of mind of shared custody, and the convenience of a custodial app all into one easy to use solution that puts you in control of your own keys”.
But that’s not all Square seems to have in store for crypto users. As a part of a subsequent release about the forthcoming product, they also indicated that their hardware wallet solution would come along with a plethora of forward-thinking features. In other words, their design would be something of a departure from the hardware wallets that dominate the market today.
A Cutting-Edge Hardware Wallet Solution
According to the information that Square has made public so far about their new crypto hardware wallet, there’s good reason for crypto users to be excited about its release. That’s because it comes with a raft of features certain to catapult it to the top of the market in short order. The announced features include:
- A rechargeable lithium-polymer battery to power the device
- A USB-C port for charging and data operations
- A Fingerprint sensor for biometric transaction security
In other words, Block wants their hardware wallet to be cutting edge, and to help crypto users to buy crypto and store it as securely and seamlessly as possible.
It’s also notable that Block has decided not to include a screen on its hardware wallet, breaking with the design favored by its competition in the space. According to their release, they’ve decided to forego adding a screen to avoid forcing users to learn an all-new interface — pointing toward a kind of ease of use that’s mostly absent in the marketplace.
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, it’s quite likely that Block’s entry into the crypto hardware wallet market will be a successful one. After all, it’s a well-established company with plenty of capital and resources behind it. And given that their hardware wallet design will come with features that put it on par with — or better — than existing solutions, there’s every reason to believe we’ll be hearing an awful lot more about this product in the weeks and months to come.
