The Ledger Stax uses a book-style design with an electionic ink touch screen front cover to make the top-selling hardware crypto wallet attractive and user-friendly as well as secure.
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Crypto hardware wallet maker Ledger has unveiled its new flagship Ledger Stax, created in partnership with the creator of the original Apple iPod, Tony Fadell.
The new cold storage device takes the technology of the top-selling digital wallet, the Ledger Nano, and wraps it in what the company promises will be the most user-friendly package in the industry.
The goal, he said, was to build a "'user-delightful' tool to bring digital asset security to the rest of us, not just the geeks."
Eschewing the flash drive form of its predecessors, the Ledger Stax has a book aesthetic with a wraparound electronic ink screen.
A front cover can host an NFT or other image while off, and switch to a larger and easier-to-use touch-control interface when in use. The screen continues onto the "spine" where it can be personalized with a book-style title.
Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins
The timing could hardly be better.
The alleged looting of some one million FTX customer accounts by sister company Alameda Research — coupled with a series of unfortunate hacks and a number of crypto firms freezing withdrawals — has led a new generation of crypto owners to become acquainted with non-custodial wallets and the phrase "not your keys, not your coins."
To that end, Ledger is pitching the Stax as a Web3 answer to the Web2 interface — the smartphone.
Laptops and smartphones "were not created for Web3," he said.
"They don't stand a chance of securing your digital value. With Web2 hardware as the main entry point to the crypto world, the number of users seeing their digital assets stolen has reached a new all-time high in 2022. That's not how Web3 should develop."
Form and Function
While "security will always be at the heart of our products," Ledger Chairman and CEO Pascal Gauthier said "we also needed a fresh look to revolutionize your Web3 experience."
The credit card-sized (but thicker) device is "the result of Ledger's security culture and Tony Fadell's unparalleled expertise in creating the most user-friendly products," he said — adding that it is designed "to make your crypto journey infinitely more intuitive."
Paired with the Ledger Live app, the Ledger Stax supports 500 cryptocurrencies and tokens, as well as Ethereum and Polygon-based NFTs. More than 5,000 are supported when paired with third-party wallets.
It uses Bluetooth connectivity and USB-C, and can be wirelessly charged.
Like other Ledger products, a user-created recovery phrase will allow owners to retrieve their crypto even if the device itself is destroyed or lost.
The name Stax comes from the embedded magnets, designed to let users stack multiple devices like books on a shelf.
As for why you'd need more than one, Gauthier said:
"Many of our users already have different Ledger devices, each serving various crypto or NFT purposes, and it's the same with Ledger Stax. You can have one device for your NFT collections, another for your Ethereum-based assets, and so on."
