The unveiling of its new crypto debit card was a highlight, with Ledger VP of payments Iqbal Gandham stating, “We need to start focusing on spending.” According to the presentation, it’s a Visa card issued by Baanx, a Contis Financial Services affiliate.
The Crypto Life card, which supports a variety of cryptocurrencies and can be tracked using Ledger Live, the software companion to Ledger’s hardware wallets, is called the Crypto Life card. A waitlist has been established for Ledger ahead of its launch.
The card will convert to crypto at the point of sale, or cardholders can request a 30-day interest-free credit line based on the bitcoin they own, according to Gandham. Early next year, a cardholder will be able to have their salary paid to their account and automatically converted into cryptocurrency, according to him.
Sending NFTs in a secure manner
Ledger aims to make sending NFTs between wallets safer.
When consumers complete an NFT transaction, Charles Hamel, VP of product at Ledger, explained onstage that they would either blind sign it (meaning they won’t know what data they agree to disclose) or view a massive “blob of data” that is worthless to most people. This differs from a regular crypto transaction, in which customers can usually see where their funds are going when they confirm the transaction.
The alternative, according to Ledger, is to break out the transaction and show what’s going on via its mobile app at the time of signing. In a demo, Hamel demonstrated how the app gave transaction details, such as the destination address and the token sent.
Furthermore, Ledger has incorporated Rarible into Ledger Live, allowing Ledger owners to buy and sell NFTs while still using the hardware wallet to complete transactions.
Coinbase Wallet will support Ledger
Coinbase’s non-custodial wallet, Coinbase Wallet, will feature Ledger as its first hardware wallet, separate from the main exchange’s wallet service.
Users will communicate with blockchain applications through their web browser while maintaining access to their hardware wallet.
In a pre-recorded video, Max Branzburg, VP of product at Coinbase, said that the exchange is working on adding support for hardware wallets directly into its non-custodial wallet. He stated that this would begin with the wallet’s internet version rather than the mobile app.
Ledger Live integration with FTX
Ledger Live’s in-house trading options have also been enhanced with the addition of FTX to the lineup.
This is a simple non-custodial swap function in the initial version. This is where Ledger owners can agree to swap their crypto, and the funds are withdrawn directly from their wallet and replaced with new coins.
Although this will be a custodial service, the second iteration will feature full exchange capabilities, including derivatives. Ledger owners would have to submit their crypto to the exchange to make deals.
There is a small snag. Because Ledger charges a small fee for trades done through this service, trades will be more expensive.
On the platform, this isn’t the only way to exchange cryptocurrency. In June, the app added its first decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, ParaSwap, allowing users to swap tokens across numerous decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap, Curve, Balancer, and Sushiswap, among others.
Introducing the Nano S Plus
The S Plus, Ledger’s sixth announcement, is an improvement to the popular Ledger Nano S model. One significant distinction is that it is developer-friendly, allowing developers to test directly on the device rather than via an emulator. Another distinction is that it has a greater memory capacity.
“Memory is crucial because you need more capacity as we add all these new use-cases to Ledger Live,” said Ian Rogers, Ledger’s chief experience officer.
He also stated that the company is working on another hardware project, which he believes will be released in 2022 or 2023.