Ledger re-christens hardware wallet as ‘signer’ in pivot to identity and consent

Digital wallets are being asked to fulfill ever more functions, from storing payment credentials to sharing IDs. The term “wallet” is now at risk of losing meaning due to overuse as its definition is stretched in new directions and applied to new concepts.

France-based digital asset security provider Ledger’s “hardware wallet,” for example, is not a device that physically stores crypto, the company points out in a recent post to its website. The company is replacing the term “hardware wallet,” therefore, with “signer,” which more accurately reflects its core function.

Ledger signers deliver cryptographic “Proof of You,” as explained in the post, for “signing transactions, proving intent and identity, and allowing you to provide digital consent.”

The shift is intended more to support adoption by avoiding misconceptions than as a rebrand, the company says.

The previous language suggested wrongly that digital value is stored on the device, that the signer is “just a vault” and that digital ownership is complicated.

Ledger’s newest signer, the Nano Gen5, generates and protects private keys within a certified Secure Element, includes a touchscreen for easy use and supports multi-factor authentication. It works with the Ledger Wallet app, which is used for transactions.

As pointed out in the Identosphere newsletter by IdentityWoman, the change is part of a pivot by Ledger from digital asset storage to digital identity verification and consent confirmation.

FaceTec VP of Global Standards Andrew Hughes notes in a LinkedIn post that digital wallets were once referred to as “Personal Information Management Systems,” or alternatively, as Jamie Smith recalls, “Personal Information Management Services.” Hughes quotes an IAPP article from 2019 that PIMS as “systems that allow people to control their personal data and manage their online identity by enabling individuals to gather, store, update, and share personal data.”

Article Topics

cold wallet  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  identity verification  |  Ledger  |  signer