Ledger aims to refine pitch for untouchable crypto wallets

High-profile hacks and funds stuck on troubled platforms are nightmarish headlines for the crypto industry as it seeks to win new believers, but for some hardware companies like Ledger, they’re paramount. marketing Material.

Why is this important: Most blockchain veterans believe that cold storage – keeping your crypto offline and off the internet – is the safest way to store digital assets. The personal custody, which holds these digital assets, also protects the owners from the fickle policies of [name your exchange].

• But convincing users to take good care of their cryptographic keys, essential if you ever want to access your wallet again, takes finesse — and that means marketing with locals in mind.

State of play: Hardware Wallets — if you know what they are, chances are you’ve seen them and heard about them.

• You might have seen one on Showtime Billionsor for sale at best buy. You’ve probably heard an indirect reference to it in the phrase “not your keys” – a maxim that becomes more insistent as crypto-jackings increase.

Details: The appeal of Ledger’s USB stick-style crypto wallets lies in their utility, enabling cold storage and self-custody of assets.

• The Paris-based company’s marketing script has become more relevant than ever, Paris-based Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier told Axios. “When what we’re warning about happens, it seems like we’re smart.”

By the numbers: Since Ledger launched in 2014, it has sold more than 5 million devices and started the second half of the year with 50% year-over-year revenue growth, according to Gauthier, who claims that the numbers would be even higher if it weren’t for the drop in coin prices.

• He pointed to several events, highlighting the discontinued Celsius Network customer withdrawals and eventual bankruptcy that drove sales.
• To note : Ledger is not the only manufacturer of hardware wallets, other brands include Trezor, KeepKey and cold card. But it’s generally considered the leading provider of crypto wallets, and Best Buy’s choice to stock its hardware first likely reflects that position.

Between the lines: Despite this marketing message, Ledger seeks to meet the needs of customers residing in non-English speaking countries. And each country’s unique relationship with crypto means that local marketing approaches can vary.

• “High inflation and distrust of the government in Argentina means that people there see crypto differently, so marketing should be very different there than in France or Lebanon, for example,” says Gautier.
• For countries like Argentina and others in similar macro environments, crypto is seen as a safe-haven asset, he says.
• In France and most English-speaking countries, on the other hand, crypto is treated as an investment in the same way as stocks or bonds.

“In the future, we are going to build specificities for your country”, he adds, specifying that certain pieces have greater recognition in Korea, for example.

• The company is literally working on translating its website and building native-speaking support teams for potential customers in Asia, an underpenetrated market, according to the CEO. “Ledger will speak every language in the world.”

And after: Ledger has partnered with The Sandbox to release a minecraft-style game called “bouldering schoolwhich teaches players how to become a master of crypto security through various challenges.

• It also recently rolled out its own non-fungible token market touting it as “the most secure platform” for NFT drops.

The context: Ambitious growth plans may be harder to execute in the midst of crypto winter, but even with the threat of tighter capital markets, Ledger would have been in talks to raise $100 million in a funding round that would push its valuation above the $1.5 billion it fetched in a June 2021.

Backtrack: Ledger was not without setbacks, in 2020, the company was the victim of a To hack due to website vulnerability where a third party had access to customer information such as emails.

• The security of customer assets on its hardware has not been compromised.

He is also very aware companies likely to steal market share.

• “Our big problem is [competitive] Security. For us, the threat comes from everywhere, from startups like us but from larger listed companies in the financial world thinking about hardware,” says Gauthier, citing Apple, Samsung and to a lesser extent Square, as competitors.
• Gauthier says he’s never been personally stolen or hacked because he’s “very careful.”

The bottom line: The company’s long-term strategy is mass market, but it’s not quite there yet. “We’ve always said we’re going from enterprise to geek to enterprise to consumer, but crypto has to be mass adopted first,” says Gauthier. “So maybe Ledger will be at the convenience store.”