Ledger Partners With iPod Creator to Build Latest Hardware Wallet

Crypto wallet maker Ledger has partnered with Tony Fadell, the well-known creator of Apple’s iPod and the co-founder and former CEO of thermostat company Nest, to create its Ledger Stax hardware wallet.

With the Stax, Ledger was hoping to develop a more stylish and functional device than the previous Nano S – which looks more like a USB thumb drive – and one that can win mass adoption by crypto users, according to Pascal Gauthier, Ledger's CEO and chairman.

“We wanted to do something that is more fun and fits with where culture is going,” said Ian Rogers, Ledger’s chief experience officer, in an interview with CoinDesk.

The wallet is a credit card-sized device with embedded magnets so that multiple devices can easily be stacked. The outside is a wraparound e-ink display that can show transaction details and even NFTs.

The Ledger Stax will retail for $279, compared to $79 for the Nano S Plus and $149 for the Nano X wallet.

It's perhaps a propitious time Ledger has chosen to launch a new hardware wallet as interest in self-custody appears to be picking up following the collapse and asset freeze at centralized crypto exchange FTX and other crypto firms.

“We were ready for this moment,” Rogers noted.

Indeed, Ledger said Nov. 14 – three days after FTX filed for bankruptcy – was the best sales day ever for its devices, while the previous day was its second-best sales day ever. And November was its best sales month ever.

Ledger said it has sold over five million hardware wallets in 200 countries since the company was founded in Paris in 2014.

The Ledger Stax will be available in the first quarter of 2023 with pre-ordering available on Ledger.com. It uses secure USB-C to connect to the Ledger Live app on a laptop, and Bluetooth to connect to the mobile app on a smartphone. It will also utilize the upcoming wallet extension Ledger Connect to connect to Web3 apps.