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Big corporations across the globe continue their patronage to the crypto industry by making huge investments. South Korea-based tech giant Samsung recently invested $2.9 million in cryptocurrency hardware ledger manufacturer, Ledger. A spokesperson from Ledger confirmed the investment but didn’t disclose further details.
Also, with the latest investment by Samsung, Ledger’s total valuations now stand at $290 million. Previously, Samsung raised $7 million in 2017 during Series A funding round. Similarly, the company raised $75 million during the Series B fundraise in 2018. Ledger’s executive chairman Éric Larchevêque has tweeted about the same saying:
“We will still need hardware wallets, but to support a crypto revolution based on personal sovereignty accessible to all, the smartphone will indeed play a central role”.
Eric was Ledger’s former CEO and recently promoted to this position. Explaining his new role, Eric said: “in this role I will be able to properly focus on strategy and vision, while also overseeing regulator and government outreach, partnerships, customers, broader business relationships and technology thought leadership.”
Eric also added that “The crypto market is constantly going through extreme change cycles, and being able to forecast the right moves is instrumental to the success of Ledger”.
With Eric vacating his CEO position, Pascal Gauthier is now promoted to take the charge as the Ledger CEO. “While countless retail hodlers trust Ledger to secure their crypto, companies who manage huge amounts of crypto, like institutional investors, family offices and exchanges are also starting to trust us,” Gauthier wrote.
Ledger Expanding Its Product Range
With the crypto markets seeking higher investor participation, Ledger is bringing new products to the forefront. Popular for providing cold storage solutions, Ledger unveiled two new products, until now, in 2019.
Earlier this year, Ledger announced its new cryptocurrency hardware wallet – the Ledger Nano X. Although the Nano X is majorly for retail investors, the company also announced Ledger Vault for institutional investors. For the Ledger Vault, the company partnered with Hong Kong-licensed public trust company Legacy Trust.
The new product presented is a multi-authorization wallet management tool for digital assets. The peculiarity of this tool is its capacity to provide hardware security benefits as well as software ones.
Samsung Developing Its Native Blockchain
Besides investing in crypto startups, Samsung is slowly developing its own ecosystem in the crypto and blockchain space. Earlier this year, the company launched new Galaxy smartphones with built-in crypto support.
Now another latest report suggests that Samsung is planning to develop its own blockchain based on the Ethereum network. A source familiar with the matter said:
“Currently, we are thinking of private blockchain, though it is not yet confirmed. It could also be public blockchain in the future, but I think it will be hybrid – that is, a combination of public and private blockchains.”
It is most likely that Samsung could also plan to release its native crypto token going ahead. The crypto token is likely to find application among the products and services offered by Samsung. Another tech giant Facebook is also planning to launch its native crypto token – Facebook Coin – ahead this year. The company plans to use the Facebook Coin among its suite of messaging applications.
