KeepKey, an American hardware wallet maker, and ShapeShift announced a partnership allowing customers to trade cryptocurrencies from their device in two clicks. Neither company had collaborated with a
KeepKey, an American hardware wallet maker, and ShapeShift announced a partnership allowing customers to trade cryptocurrencies from their device in two clicks. Neither company had collaborated with a hardware wallet manufacturer before, and both called the integration a breakthrough for trader security.
The partnership solves a fundamental problem that plagued traders: moving coins off the hardware wallet to trade them exposed private keys to the Internet. The new integration keeps the keys on the device while ShapeShift processes the transaction.
"Users can swap whatever they like, whenever they like, without the hassle of setting up multiple wallets or addresses or signing up to various exchanges," Darin Stanchfield, KeepKey's CEO, said. "For traders, it is exciting to dramatically improve the speed and efficiency of the currency exchange process."
Erik Voorhees, ShapeShift's CEO, described the partnership as essential for bringing new users into crypto. "Simple and convenient security is paramount for the growth of this industry," he said.
KeepKey launched in September 2015 as a desktop hardware wallet. The device manages private key generation, storage, and transaction signing while working with bitcoin wallet software running on a user's computer. The company open-sourced both the device firmware and client software.
The wallet supports bitcoin, litecoin, namecoin, dogecoin, and dash, along with testnet. It works with Electrum, Mycelium, and MultiBit, which KeepKey acquired in May. The company is working on Ethereum support as well.
The MultiBit acquisition reflected KeepKey's view of market expansion. Many people new to bitcoin lack the funds to justify buying a hardware wallet and instead download desktop software. Stanchfield explained the reasoning to MiningPool in June: "When you buy a hardware wallet you have to hold enough funds to really justify the purchase. Currently, there's a lot of 'Bitcoiners' who don't own enough yet as they are just getting into it, so instead they download a wallet for their computer. We wanted to help those people as they are the type of user that will eventually transition to needing a hardware wallet. I think in time you'll see our competitors do something very similar."
