"Stax: Ledger's bid to become mainstream

This is what is known as a well-kept secret. After months of work behind closed doors, Ledger has just announced the launch of its new digital wallet dubbed "Stax".

The product was presented on Tuesday in Paris at the now famous annual unicorn conference 🇫🇷 (Op3n) where The Big Whale 🐳 was in attendance. "This is an important step in Ledger's development", said its CEO, Pascal Gauthier.

For this project, the world leader in digital asset preservation pulled out all the stops as it worked with... Tony Fadell. The 53-year-old American is quite simply the creator of the iPod, which made Apple a global success in the 2000s.

"When Ledger came looking for me, at first I thought about it," explains Tony Fadell. And then afterwards I said to myself that I had to go and invent the iPod of crypto." Nothing less!

A real challenge for Ledger

Contrary to Ledger's previous products - the Nano S and X - the Stax does not look like a USB key.

It's a kind of credit card with a double touch screen (it accepts over 5,000 cryptos) that offers a larger surface area and simpler use than the Nano where there is a small screen and two buttons.

"The aim of Stax is to provide the security of the Nano with simpler use for the general public," stresses Charles Guillemet, head of technology at Ledger.

Is this a guarantee of success? Far from it, and Ledger knows that the challenge is huge. While sales have risen sharply in recent weeks thanks to the fall of FTX - Ledger has sold more than 6 million devices since its creation - users need to get hold of the product. And agree to pay €279; the Nano X costs €149.

The Stax will try to make people forget the commercial failure of Ledger Blue, a wallet with a screen released in 2016 that never found its audience. This may be due to a less polished design and few additional features compared with the Nano. And also the price: like the Stax, it was sold for 279 euros.

Several customers reacted to the Stax's by explaining that it was "too expensive". The first Stax are due to arrive at the end of March 2023. Ledger's investors, however, are reassuring. "When it was launched, the iPod was also considered too expensive and that didn't stop it from becoming a huge success."

It did, however, take two-three years before it really took off.

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