Jack Dorsey’s Block is working on a crypto wallet that looks like a rock – Indigo Buzz

The name might turn out to be Rockey. But we prefer Block Rock!

Remember when you remember the habit of putting your key under a rock in the front yard (maybe you still do, but don’t tell us, OK)? Well, soon you might be able to keep your cryptocurrency inside a weirdly shaped man-made rock.

On Wednesday, the hardware chief of Block (the company formerly known as Square) Jesse Dorogusker tweeted a photo(opens in a new tab) of five hexagonal boulder-like gadgets that are obviously no ordinary boulders. They have USB ports and what look like fingerprint readers on the top, but no visible display of any kind.

The tweet was retweeted by Block CEO Jack Dorsey with the caption “rokey”.

The tweet may have been deleted
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As mysterious as these messages are, it’s not that hard to conclude that this “rocky” thing is a cryptocurrency hardware wallet that Block has been working on for a while.(opens in a new tab). The company says it provides users with a mobile app, allowing them to “securely own and manage their bitcoin,” as well as a hardware wallet that “adds extra layers of security when transferring money and acts as a self-service recovery kit”. when a customer loses their mobile wallet. »

However, the gadgets shown in Dorogusker’s photo are not finished products. These devices are “prototypes we’re experimenting with for the hardware component of the wallet, which will also include a mobile app and a set of self-service recovery tools,” Lindsey Grossman, product, marketing and partnerships manager for the Block wallet. told The Verge(opens in a new tab). It’s unclear when these devices might actually hit the market, or how far they are from their final form.

Cryptocurrency hardware wallets are definitely a thing, and they come in many shapes and sizes, with some of the most popular coming from Trezor(opens in a new tab) and ledger(opens in a new tab). These wallets usually support many cryptocurrencies and come with a screen, while Block’s prototypes seem to be much simpler and focused only on Bitcoin.