Payments startup Uphold is partnering with hardware provider Ledger to beef up its security processes when storing different cryptocurrencies.
Through its Ledger Vault wing, Ledger will provide new tools to Uphold, letting the latter to better protect its customersâ funds from hacks, while also adding new user access controls, the companies announced at CoinDeskâs Consensus 2019.
Uphold will also implement a new âstrong, multi-authorization governance model, ensuring there are no single points of failure in the management of customer funds,â a press release stated.
Uphold will also provide support for new ERC-20 based stablecoins and other âproxy assets.â
Ledger Vault global head Demetrios Skalkotos told CoinDesk that what Ledger Vault is providing is infrastructure, noting that the company is just a technology provider, not a custodian.
âWeâre trying to provide a technology infrastructure, both software security integrated with secure elements and hardware,â he said.
Uphold co-founder J.P. Thieriot told CoinDesk that most of what Ledger is providing will remain âunder the hood,â meaning customers will likely not notice much of a difference in their user experience.
Describing Uphold as a âsecurity- and compliance-first kind of company,â Thieriot told CoinDesk that the company performed an exhaustive search of hardware providers before choosing Ledger.
âWeâve been okay so far but weâve been searching for solutions for custody and after a deep search, we settled on Ledger,â he said. âThey were the right mix for us.â
The company wants to improve its user experience to the point where clients would feel comfortable storing their savings with Uphold (rather than a traditional bank), Thieriot said. Ensuring security is therefore a key focus:
âItâs always been our view that securityâs been the most important issue with respect to mass adoption with cryptocurrencies and blockchain in general ⦠The only reason people would take a risk of moving their money away from the boring old bank on the corner is if they can derive benefits [from] taking the plunge.â
Skalkotos said Ledger would continue improving its cold storage tools, which also grant customers the ability to monitor or access their funds at any time.
âWhen things are moving amongst the ecosystems thatâs when theyâre at their most vulnerable and weâre working hard to secure those movements,â Skalkotos said. âPeople should have instant access to their funds, they should control their funds and not compromise security doing so.â
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