After a strong community backlash, Ledger announced that they have already open-sourced part of the Ledger code.
Crypto hardware wallet provider Ledger recently announced that it be delaying the launch of its key-recovery service. This measure comes following strong criticism from the crypto community.
Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier wrote to all Ledger users that the firm has no plans of introducing the new feature before releasing the code for it. On Tuesday, May 23 at 12:30 p.m. ES, the company also scheduled a Twitter spaces session to discuss the issue.
It was just last week that Ledger announced the service dubbed Ledger Recover allowing users to store the encrypted backups of their seed phrases via a set of three custodians. In the case that the ledger owners forget or lose their seed phrases, they can still restore their private keys using this service. Also, the opt-in feature would require a know-your-customer (KYC) verification.
Ledger Faced Strong Criticism from the Crypto Community
Soon after introducing Ledger Recover, the members of the crypto community lashed out at the company. They criticized Ledger for the idea of sharing the seed phrases with anyone other than wallet owners. The crypto community members are strongly opposed to this while seeing it as a breach of trust and privacy.
They lashed out at Ledger with angry posts on Twitter, Reddit, and other social platforms. Previously, Ledger had promised that the private keys would never leave the wallet. But after introducing Ledger Recover, community members said that they felt betrayed.
Some critics also highlighted some potential threats such as data leaks from KYC providers, hacks of the custodians, as well as the Law enforcement taking control of Ledger’s user data. Other critics said that the code for Ledger’s Recover feature is not open-source. Thus, there’s no way to audit the safety of the proposed custody mechanism.
Unlike other competitors in the market, Ledger doesn’t publish all its code. Instead, it has a team of selected security researchers to test its products. In his recent letter, Gauthier wrote that the company learned a hard lesson. He added that the company has open-sourced parts of the Ledger code and more shall follow soon.
“We have made the decision to accelerate the open-sourcing roadmap! We will include as much of the Ledger operating system as possible, starting with core components of the OS, and Ledger Recover, which won’t be released until this work is complete,” he added.
Furthermore, the Ledger CEO said that the idea of offering key recovery services is crucial to onboard the new group of crypto users for whom self-custody could be too difficult.
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Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
