The cryptocurrency wallet provider Ledger has been in talks to secure over $100 million in finance. Ledger’s “cold storage” service caters to cryptocurrency investors who prefer keeping their funds in offline, hardware wallets.
Blockchain startup Ledger is seeking $100 million in investment.
According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the topic, Ledger’s business operations have increased as crypto lenders and exchanges have faced liquidity issues due to the decrease in bitcoin prices.
Several exchanges in recent weeks have blocked withdrawals due to liquidity issues; these include Celsius, CoinFLEX, BlockFi, Babel Finance, and Voyager Digital. More crypto buyers are opting to store their coins in self-custody wallets rather than on exchanges out of concern about the possible failure of additional businesses as the crypto winter continues.
After successfully raising $380 million in a Sequence C financing round in June, Ledger is now in discussions to raise a further $100 million. Ledger’s value was increased to $1.5 billion as a result of the valuation.
Over the course of the last year, Ledger’s business has grown tremendously. The Crypto Life card, issued by the Visa network, will be part of these initiatives when it launches in December 2021. Using a system of encrypted pockets, the Crypto Life Card automatically transforms cryptocurrency into fiat currency.
Guidelines for the oversight of cryptocurrency wallets.
In the past year, there have been significant shifts in the legislative landscape that affect crypto wallets. Whether or not self-custody wallets like the ones offered by Ledger should comply with Know-Your-Buyer regulations has become a hotly contested topic in recent months.
New legislation prohibiting anonymous bitcoin transactions was proposed earlier this year by European Union lawmakers. The European Union parliament strongly suggested that crypto service providers collect the identity details of consumers who trade over €1,000 using unhosted wallets.
However, the UK has not followed the same regulatory priorities. After conferring with experts, the UK government abandoned plans in June to make KYC requirements mandatory for cold storage wallets.
Critics of the suggestions at the time claimed that their implementation would have more negative than positive outcomes. Specifically, the UK Treasury noted at the time that crypto asset firms would only be forced to collect this information if the transactions were liable to illegal activities, rather than demanding the collection of all KYC particulars.
