France-based cryptocurrency startup Ledger has raised USD 108 million in a Series C funding round led by Molten Ventures.
This round was an extension of an original Series C from 2021, and it allowed the company to retain its valuation of EUR 1.3 billion. The funds will be used to improve the user experience of Ledger’s products with a better onboarding system, and the company also wants to create and provide more services, including buying, swapping, earning yield on crypto, and working with NFTs.
According to altfi.com, Ledger has sold more than six million of its physical crypto infrastructure devices. The company claims to have secured more than 20% of the world’s cryptocurrencies and more than 30% of NFTs. Ledger’s credit card-sized ‘Ledger Stax’ device launched in December 2022 has already sold out, and the new funds will be used to extend the product’s availability.
The Series C funding was led by Molten Ventures, which was joined by fellow existing investors such as 10T, Cité Gestion Private Bank, Morgan Creek, Cap Horn, Cathay Innovation, and Korelya Capital. The round also saw the participation of new investors such as True Global Ventures, Digital Finance Group, and VaynerFund.
Ledger creates hardware wallets that can be used to store more than 5500 crypto assets, including NFTs. The Ledger hardware wallet is complemented by the Ledger Live app, both of which can be used to keep a user’s private key protected at all times in a certified secure chip. Nobody can access the wallet except the user and any transaction must be verified on the device’s trusted display and physically confirmed by the user.
Users can also stake their cryptocurrencies directly from the wallet through Ledger’s own validator node. They can also sell their bitcoin for fiat currency through Ledger Live, as well as manage their coins and tokens directly from a smartphone or desktop.
As far as security goes, Ledger hardware wallets integrate a certified chip that was designed to withstand sophisticated attacks, and they include their own custom OS (BOLOS) to protect against malicious attacks and isolate apps from each other. In order to make sure that the device hasn’t been tampered with or compromised by a third party, wallet owners can leverage a genuine check authentication process. The wallets are certified for their security by ANSSI, which is a French cybersecurity agency.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now