Cryptocurrency firm Ledger raises price of Stax crypto wallet, launches Flex

Ledger has finally launched its long-awaited cryptocurrency wallet, Stax, and has started shipping units to people who pre-ordered the product in May. The device was designed by Tony Fadell, the inventor of the iPod and an investor in Ledger.

In addition to raising the price of Stax, Ledger is also launching a new crypto wallet. The Ledger Flex features an E Ink display, similar to the Ledger Stax.

Ledger’s devices currently secure more than 20% of the world’s cryptocurrencies, said Pascal Gauthier, chairman and CEO of Ledger. ““Our new secure touchscreen category will make self-guarding easier than ever for more consumers and businesses,” he added.

The Ledger Flex, priced at $249, is smaller than the Ledger Stax and comes with a 2.8-inch screen. It’s designed to look like a mini smartphone or credit card reader, somewhat inspired by the iPod. The Ledger Flex will be available for purchase starting Friday and will start shipping immediately.

Ledger’s Stax and Flex devices can be used to deposit or exchange a range of tokens, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, and Solana, as well as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. NFTs are digital assets designed to represent ownership of a digital property, typically a work of art. No two NFTs are alike.

Ledger customers primarily use the devices to store their so-called “private keys,” the alphanumeric codes used to authorize transactions and prove ownership of crypto wallets. Users can also display their non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, on their Ledger Flex and Stax wallets, thanks to the E Ink display.

But Ledger sees its wallets serving a much broader range of use cases.

A new software update the company is releasing soon will allow users to access two-factor authentication on their Ledger Flex or Stax device to log into various apps — from Google or Amazon accounts to logging into Coinbase and Binance.

All users need to do is wave the Ledger Flex over their phone when trying to log in, and the NFC chip inside the physical wallet then approves the login.

Ledger hopes this will help serve a broader audience than the pure crypto crowd, who are often skeptical of using centralized services owned by big tech companies like Google and Amazon.

Ledger also offers its own cryptocurrency trading service, called Ledger Live. Ledger Stax and Flex users can pair their devices with the Ledger Live app to verify device health, receive the latest OS updates, and install apps.

Ledger Stax, the company’s first foray into hardware wallets with displays, has faced a series of delays due to supplier bottlenecks that affected the device’s display.

Ledger’s Gauthier told CNBC in March that the main factor holding up the launch was a problem getting the product’s curved E Ink display to wrap around the device. “We finally got it done,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of a cryptocurrency event in London.

Stax also had some other design features. The product included magnets, which meant that multiple devices could be stacked on top of each other, such as credit cards.

The company is racing against time to get its supply chain ready for the launch of the new Flex device.

Both the Ledger Flex and Stax are manufactured by Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn — a private supplier to Apple — at a production facility in Vietnam.

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