Tony Fadell unveils new wallet for crypto

LONDON - Tony Fadell, a well-known Silicon Valley executive known as the father of the iPod, unveiled his latest project - a hardware wallet used to store cryptocurrencies offline.

Fadell, 53, spent almost a decade at Apple under Steve Jobs, where he oversaw the design of the portable music player, and later helped create the company's best-known device, the iPhone.

After quitting Apple in 2008, he founded Nest Labs, a smart home-devices company. Nest was later acquired by tech giant Google for $3.2 billion.

Fadell has teamed up with Ledger, the French technology firm, to design a new offline wallet.

The use of complex cryptographic keys is required to authorise transactions, which requires the use of complex cryptographic keys. These keys can be more susceptible to hacking or theft, because they can be stored online, for example, with an online exchange.

The collapse of the FTX, which has seen more than US $1 billion of customer funds vanish, has caused an unprecedented surge in demand for offline or self-custody services such as Ledger.

Previous models released by Ledger, such as the Nano S and Nano S, have been shaped like USB memory sticks. Fadell's new design, the Ledger Stax, is a credit-card sized device with curved spine and electronic-ink display.

All of the secure hardware at that point was like all the MP 3 players before the iPod, and it was time for an iPod, Ian Rogers, chief experience officer at Ledger, told Reuters.

Fadell had previously expressed scepticism about some elements of Web 3.0, a catch-all term that encompasses a host of next-generation technologies, including cryptocurrencies and the metaverse.

From early 2023, the Ledger Stax will sell for US $279 online.