Square, the payments company, is considering developing a non-custodial hardware wallet for bitcoin, the company’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, said Friday.
Bitcoin wallets can be kept offline or online at cryptocurrency exchanges, which act as marketplaces for the purchase and sale of bitcoin in exchange for traditional currencies or other virtual coins.
With a non-custodial wallet, you retain complete control of your private keys, which control your cryptocurrency and serve as proof of ownership. Another party controls your private keys when using a custodial wallet. The majority of custodial wallets are exchange-based Web wallets.
Dorsey made the announcement in a tweet on Friday and then provided additional details at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami. Dorsey is also the founder and CEO of Twitter.
“We don’t want to compete with existing hardware wallets,” Dorsey explained. “We simply want to take it to the next level and reach an additional 100 million people who are eligible for non-custodial solutions.”
Square is considering developing a hardware wallet for bitcoin, according to Jack Dorsey’s Friday tweet.
Twitter.com
As bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies gained popularity, a slew of companies arose to address the growing need to safeguard these assets against online theft.
“If we do it, we will do everything in the open, from software to hardware design, in collaboration with the community,” Dorsey stated.
Square’s stock rose nearly 1.5 percent to $214.51 on Friday afternoon.
Since February, when the company disclosed an additional $170 million in bitcoin investments, the company has increased its bets on the cryptocurrency.
