The CEO of financial services and digital payments company Square, Jack Dorsey, took to his social media platform Twitter to announce that Square’s Bitcoin cold wallet currently in the works.
Demand for Secure Private Keys Pushed Square to Build Bitcoin Hardware Wallet
A Bitcoin cold wallet is a Bitcoin hardware wallet that enables users to store their private keys offline for improved security. They emulate the function of a flash drive but only for cryptocurrencies.
Storing one’s Bitcoin wallet online is via cryptocurrency exchange platforms that offer custodial services. Users who do so allocate a third party control of their private keys. Offline storage, also a non-custodial wallet, provides the user with absolute control of their private keys, which control their digital coins.
Jesse Dorogusker, Square’s hardware lead, first broke the news of the project on Thursday. Jesse Dorogusker stated the motivation behind the Bitcoin hardware wallet is so that the cryptocurrency is more mainstream. He went further to appreciate the response he got from Twitter when the subject of Square’s Bitcoin cold wallet arose.
Jack Dorsey’s Square will be competing with the likes of Ledger and Trezor, who are already offering hardware wallets for Bitcoin. The demand for non-custodial wallets has increased recently for users and financial markets. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren emphasized this risk recently. Square is, consequently, stepping in to cater to this growing need for non-custodial wallets.
Jack Dorsey’s Enthusiasm with Bitcoin Could Mean More Bitcoin Projects for Square
Square majorly deals with payments processing software for startups. Introducing this Bitcoin cold wallets initiative puts Square a step closer to its competitor Cash App that is already facilitating Bitcoin purchases and sales.
Jack Dorsey’s enthusiasm with Bitcoin indicates that Square’s Bitcoin cold wallet is only the first of many to come involving the leading cryptocurrency. Jack Dorsey’s bio on Twitter only states #Bitcoin. He has also mentioned that in his lifetime, Bitcoin is the most important thing to work on. If he wasn’t working on Twitter or Square, he would have been fully behind Bitcoin.
