Finance and payments company Square is working on creating a hardware version of a bitcoin wallet — because who wouldn’t want to lose a physical item containing several hundred thousand rands worth of currency?
In all seriousness, it’s a very interesting idea and quite a technical challenge as well. The idea was first floated by company CEO Jack Dorsey (he of Twitter fame) in June this year, but it looks like it’s actually going to happen.
Square off in the ring
We have decided to build a hardware wallet and service to make bitcoin custody more mainstream. We’ll continue to ask and answer questions in the open. This community’s response to our thread about this project has been awesome – encouraging, generous, collaborative, & inspiring. https://t.co/CHf9hAmKnn
— Jesse Dorogusker (@JesseDorogusker) July 8, 2021
Square’s hardware lead Jesse Dorogusker explained that the company wants to use the innovation to “…make bitcoin custody more mainstream“, which would be a grand thing for… well, for proponents of bitcoin.
But HODL on, don’t expect anything exciting from a hardware bitcoin wallet just yet. The idea is still in the very early stages and the company is addressing community feedback and questions. The product, according to Dorogusker, will focus on “… bitcoin first, global distribution, multisig to achieve “assisted-self-custody,” and prioritizing mobile use.”
Its creation will, apparently, be completely open “…in collaboration with the community.” Which is exactly how you want to create something like this. It builds trust.
