Crypto firm Ledger hikes prices of iPod-inspired wallet by 40% and launches new mid-tier option

Cryptocurrency storage company Ledger is raising the price of its iPod-like Stax hardware wallet by 40% — just three months after shipping it to customers — and launching a cheaper version, in a major product revamp for the French startup.

The company said Friday the price of Ledger Stax, which sports an E Ink display and allows users to secure their crypto, will now be $399. That’s up from the $279 Ledger had originally offered for the device when it was unveiled back in December 2022. 

Ledger finally released Stax, its long-anticipated hardware crypto wallet, and is shipping units out to people who preordered the product in May. The device was designed by Tony Fadell, the inventor of the iPod and an investor in Ledger.

In addition to raising the price for Stax, Ledger is also releasing a new crypto hardware wallet. The Ledger Flex features an E Ink screen, similar to the Ledger Stax.

Pascal Gauthier, chairman and CEO of Ledger, said the company’s devices currently secure over 20% of the world’s crypto. “Our new secure touchscreen category will make self-custody more accessible than ever before for more consumers and enterprises,” he added.

The Ledger Flex, which costs $249, is smaller than the Ledger Stax and comes with a 2.8-inch display. It’s designed to look like a small smartphone or credit card reader, taking some influence from the iPod. Ledger Flex will be available to purchase from Friday and will begin shipping immediately.

Ledger’s Stax and Flex devices can be used to deposit or exchange a range of tokens, including bitcoin, ether, cardano and solana, as well as nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. NFTs are digital assets designed to represent ownership of a digital property, typically artwork. No single NFT is the same as another. 

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 nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, on their Ledger Flex and Stax wallets, due to the E Ink display. 

But Ledger sees its wallets serving a much broader range of use cases.

A new software update the company is issuing will soon allow users to access two-factor authentication on a Ledger Flex or Stax device to log into various apps — from Google or Amazon accounts to sign-ins for Coinbase and Binance. 

Users just need to wave the Ledger Flex over their phone when they make a login attempt, and a near field communication (NFC) chip inside the hardware wallet then approves the sign in.

Ledger is hoping this will help serve a wider audience than the pure crypto crowd, who are often skeptical of using centralized services owned by large 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 check device authenticity, receive the latest operating system updates, and install apps. 

Ledger Stax, the company’s first foray into hardware wallets with displays, faced a series of delays due in part because of supplier bottlenecks affecting the device’s screen. 

Ledger’s Gauthier told CNBC in March that the primary factor holding up the launch was an issue with getting the product’s curved E Ink display to wrap around the device. “We finally nailed it,” he said in a fireside interview at a crypto event in London. 

The Stax had a few other design quirks, too. The product includes magnets, meaning that multiple devices can be stacked on top of each other, like credit cards.  

The company has been racing 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 made by Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn — notably a supplier to Apple — in a production facility in Vietnam. 

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