Crypto hardware wallet maker Ledger is focusing on individuality and fun with its latest product expansion, introducing the new Ledger Nano Gen5, which features a series of badges developed by artist Susan Care, an influential designer of early Apple Macintosh icons.
Kare badges can be used to personalize the company’s latest Nano devices. It is designed to expand crypto users’ understanding of the brand beyond just a hardware wallet provider. Ledger said Kare was brought in by iPod co-inventor Tony Fadell, who joined Ledger’s board last year after previously creating the Stax wallet.
“If we were going to complete the touch screen line, we knew that meant moving forward with the classic Nano, so for the first time it made sense to consider a digital art component within it,” said Ledger EVP of Marketing and Communications. Ariel Wengloff said Decrypt.
Ledger Nano Gen5 with badge designed by Susan Kare. Image: Ledger
“Everyone is making all this art made by AI. What does going back to basics actually mean? And who are the great artists who are evoking these pivotal moments for consumer adoption?” she said of her work with Carre.
Carre’s impact on consumer adoption dates back to the 1980s, when he developed the “Happy Mac” icon that welcomed users when they started up their Mac devices. Last year, she further refined her cryptocurrencies. Released NFT collection “Esc Keys” It featured her familiar style.
Alongside more personalized devices, Ledger has changed the description surrounding its products to more accurately characterize the device’s role in cryptocurrency and blockchain activities, no longer calling the products “hardware wallets” but instead “signers.”
“There is a misconception that a hardware wallet means I have a device and my cryptocurrencies are inside the device,” Wengloff said. “We’ve seen it time and time again where everyone thinks they understand and then something happens and it’s obvious they don’t.”
The term “hardware wallet” has become synonymous with securing crypto assets, leading to the misconception that physical hardware devices actually hold crypto assets in the same way a physical wallet holds dollar bills.
However, instead, it simply allows users to manage a set of private and public keys, or crypto wallets, through a physical device that is disconnected from the internet and adds a layer of security.
According to Wengloff, part of the difficulty in understanding the true role of the ledger may stem from the classic nano’s industrial design, which makes it look like a USB drive, a portable memory device containing files and data.
Wengloff said the company is now debunking that idea.
“We’re going to bust this myth right now,” she said. “In fact, what we do with the ledger is securely authorize signatures. We’re experiencing a revolution in value right now. At first it was just Bitcoin. Now there’s a lot of other cryptocurrencies that we can use with the cryptocurrencies we’re authorizing.”
The ledger has historically been used to authorize the signatures required to perform actions on the blockchain, such as moving crypto assets or selling meme coins. However, additional features such as Bluetooth and NFC technology allow signers to passkey protect other logins.
Similar to Signer’s rebranding, Ledger is renaming its portfolio tracking and wealth management application, Ledger Live, to Ledger Wallet. This more accurately describes its role in Ledger products.
“When I first joined, the brand was still known as Utility, but it was probably more of a utilitarian thing. “Hodler” ” said Wengloff, who has been working for Ledger since 2021.
However, as opportunities to participate in cryptocurrencies have expanded and taken different forms, the success of brands and their products has changed.
“We continue to see success as having more customers doing more with their leisure time on a regular basis,” she said.
The company’s latest device, the Ledger Nano Gen5, is available for $179 directly through its website or through retail partners worldwide.
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