It was recently reported that Samsung decided to invest $2.9 million into Ledger, a well-known crypto hardware startup. This investment practically makes the value of Ledger stand out at around $290 million.
A Ledger spokesperson did confirm the news that Samsung is backing up the startup. However, further details were not officially confirmed. Also, there was no Samsung representative that responded to requests coming from the press for further comments.
This new news appeared at the same time as ledger promotes a new CEO, Pascal Gauthier. Then, we also noticed funding rounds that were run by the company in the past. In 2017, Ledger managed to raise $7 million. In 2018 it raised $75 million. Samsung did invest but we do not know if this happened as a Series B investment or as a separate one.
Eric Larcheveque, the former CEO of Ledger, did confirm this investment happened but did not want to make further comments. Now, Larcheveque is the executive chairman of Ledger.
What is interesting is that there is a clear move towards the smartphone users from hardware manufacturers. Ledger now works with various banks in order to offer custody options for clients. For instance, in 2020 it is expected that a partnership with Nomura, Japanese bank, will become reality. The goal is to offer custody services for tokens that are Ethereum based.
Samsung did recently make waves in blockchain and the crypto market. It just recently announced the fact that the upcoming Galaxy S10 series smartphones are going to include functionality as crypto wallets. Also, rumors are that Samsung works on a unique blockchain technology that is based on the Ethereum network. It is actually possible that Samsung is seriously considering launching a unique token on the market in the coming years, although this is not yet confirmed.
