Ledger Flex is a new, cheaper hardware crypto wallet from French startup Ledger. It has an E-ink display and can be used to secure a range of crypto assets. The device retails for $249.
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Cryptocurrency storage company Ledger is raising the price of its iPod-like Stax hardware wallet by 40% — just three months after it shipped to customers — and launching a cheaper version, in a major product refresh for the French startup.
The company said Friday that Ledger Stax, which features an E Ink display and allows users to secure their crypto, will now be priced at $399. That’s higher than the $279 that Ledger originally offered for the device when it was revealed in December 2022.
Ledger has finally released Stax, its long-awaited hardware crypto wallet, and is shipping units to people who pre-ordered the product in May. The device was designed by Tony Fadell, the inventor of the iPod and an investor in Ledger.
In addition to the price increase for Stax, Ledger is also releasing a new crypto hardware wallet. The Ledger Flex has an E Ink display, similar to the Ledger Stax.
Pascal Gauthier, president and CEO of Ledger, said that the company’s devices currently secure over 20% of the world’s cryptocurrencies. “Our new range of secure touchscreens will make self-care more accessible than ever for more consumers and businesses,” he added.
The Ledger Flex, which costs $249, is smaller than the Ledger Stax and has a 2.8-inch screen. It’s designed to look like a small smartphone or credit card reader, taking some influence from the iPod. The Ledger Flex will be available for purchase starting Friday and shipping will begin immediately.
Ledger’s Stax and Flex devices can be used to deposit or exchange a range of vouchers including bitcoin, ether, gimbal and Solana, as well as non-tradable tokens or NFTs. NFTs are digital assets designed to represent ownership of a digital property, usually a work of art. No single NFT is the same as any other.
Two-factor authentication
Ledger customers primarily use the devices to store their so-called “private keys,” the alphanumeric codes used to authorize transactions and prove ownership of crypto wallets. Users can also view their non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, in their Ledger Flex and Stax wallets, thanks to the E Ink display.
But Ledger sees its wallets serving a much wider range of use cases.
A new software update the company is releasing will soon allow users to access two-factor authentication on a Ledger Flex or Stax device to sign in to various apps — from Google the Amazon accounts to connect to Coinbase and Binance.
Users simply wave the Ledger Flex at their phone when making a connection attempt, and a near-field communication (NFC) chip inside the hardware wallet then authorizes the connection.
The Ledger Flex features an E-ink display and can be used to secure a range of crypto assets. The device retails for $249.
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Ledger hopes this will help serve a wider audience than the pure crypto crowd, which is often wary of using centralized services owned by big tech companies like Google and Amazon.
Ledger also offers its own crypto trading service, called Ledger Live. Ledger Stax and Flex users can pair their devices with the Ledger Live app to verify device authenticity, get the latest OS updates and install apps.
Why was the release of Ledger Stax so delayed?
Ledger Stax, the company’s first foray into hardware wallets with screens, has faced a series of delays due in part to vendor bottlenecks affecting the device’s display.
Ledger’s Gauthier told CNBC in March that the main factor delaying the launch was a problem with the product’s curved E Ink display wrapping around the device. “We finally got it,” he said in an interview at a crypto event in London.
The Stax had a few other design quirks. The product includes magnets, meaning multiple devices can be stacked on top of each other, like credit cards.
The company is scrambling to get its supply chain in good shape in preparation for the launch of its new Flex device.
The Ledger Flex and Stax are both manufactured by the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn — notably an Apple supplier — in a production facility in Vietnam.
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