Ledger Faces Backlash for Controversial Backup Tool as Crypto Community Expresses Discontent

Hardware wallet shaper Ledger is facing important backlash for its caller instauration of a instrumentality enabling users to backmost up their effect phrases done the transmission of encrypted cardinal fragments to third-party firms. The crypto assemblage has not embraced this caller feature, with galore integer currency users venting their vexation connected societal media platforms.

Ledger’s Backup Tool Sparks Outrage successful Crypto Circles

In a caller move, hardware wallet shaper Ledger unveiled their latest tool, Ledger Recover. Unfortunately, the reception wrong the crypto assemblage has been acold from positive.

“Ledger Recover is an optional subscription for users who privation a backup of their Secret Recovery Phrase,” the institution stated connected May 16. “You don’t person to usage it, and tin proceed managing your betterment operation yourself if that’s wherefore you bought a Ledger.”

By utilizing Ledger Recover, users person the enactment to disagreement their effect into 3 encrypted shards, each containing a information of the backstage key. These encrypted fragments are subsequently entrusted to third-party companies for unafraid storage. The hardware wallet institution explains:

Ledger Recover encrypts a mentation of your backstage cardinal and splits it into 3 fragments (using Shamir Secret Sharing) – each of this happens connected the Secure Element chip, truthful your Secret Recovery Phrase is not astatine risk. These encrypted fragments are stored by 3 antithetic parties connected cryptographically-secure Hardware Security Modules.

The announcement sparked a important question of discontent among cryptocurrency users. “Epic Fail,” 1 idiosyncratic responded to Ledger’s announcement connected Tuesday. Bitcoin proponent Alistair Milne told his 126,000 Twitter followers: “Sure, you *could* usage Ledger’s caller ‘Recover’ work and springiness them your backstage keys controlling your assets arsenic good arsenic a transcript of your ID and different idiosyncratic accusation … but wherefore fuss with a hardware wallet successful the archetypal place?”

By 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time connected Tuesday, the sanction “Ledger” had surged successful popularity, garnering 224,000 tweets successful the Business and Finance class connected Twitter. Notably, Mudit Gupta, an enforcement astatine Polygon Labs, vehemently criticized the betterment instrumentality service.

“Ledger conscionable released a caller update for Nano X that allows societal betterment of your effect phrase,” Gupta said. “It encrypts your effect successful 3 shards and sends it to antithetic entities that tin past reconstruct the effect for you station ID verification. It’s a horrendous idea, DON’T alteration this feature.”

The Twitter idiosyncratic Foobar told his 131,000 Twitter followers to boycott Ledger products. “Stop utilizing Ledger hardware wallets,” Foobar tweeted. “Migrate distant from them immediately. They’ve shown thing but gross incompetence and chaotic misunderstanding of their ain purpose. And present they’ve publically admitted to intentionally backdooring their ain proprietary hardware. Stop utilizing Ledger.”

Ledger was besides accused of deleting a tweet that it added to the announcement thread. “I person personally utilized Ledger hardware wallets for astir 7 years. Today is the archetypal time I’ve decided to look elsewhere,” the Youtuber Colin Talks Crypto told his Twitter followers connected Tuesday.

What are your thoughts connected Ledger’s arguable backup tool? Do you judge determination are amended alternatives available, oregon bash you spot imaginable successful this approach? Share your insights and opinions successful the comments conception below.