Hardware wallet company Ledger has decided to postpone the launch of Ledger Recover in response to strong criticism from the crypto community. The decision came after an intense week where the company faced backlash for its communication and perceived security concerns.
Ledger chairman and CEO Pascal Gauthier expressed his humility and acknowledged the miscommunication surrounding the product launch in a Twitter Spaces event with over 13,000 participants on May 23. He stated, “It was not our intention to take people by surprise. So because of that, we understand the community’s direction and apologize for the miscommunication.”
In an effort to address the concerns raised, Ledger plans to expedite its open-sourcing initiatives. Gauthier announced that the company would start by making the core components of its operating system and Ledger Recover open source before releasing the product. This move aims to provide transparency and increase trust within the crypto community.
Charles Guillemet, Ledger’s chief technology officer, revealed that in the coming days, a white paper on the Recover Protocol would be made available as an open-source document. Additionally, technical blog posts will be published to explain the principles and inner workings of the recovery process. Guillemet emphasized the importance of enabling cryptography and security experts to scrutinize the protocol and gain a deeper understanding of its functionality.
Furthermore, Ledger’s decision to open source the Recover Protocol will allow developers to create their own backup providers for seed phrase shards, granting users more options beyond the one offered by Ledger. This commitment to openness and community input is a testament to Ledger’s dedication to its users’ security and privacy.
The company had previously stated its intent to increase the amount of open-source code it provides, aligning with the philosophy of platforms like Raspberry Pi. This recent incident has reinforced Ledger’s commitment to this path.
The controversy arose when Ledger announced plans on May 16 to introduce Ledger Recover, a key recovery tool. The tool aimed to assist users who had lost their private seed phrase by providing an optional feature to retrieve it through a firmware update. However, some members of the crypto community expressed concerns that this feature could create a potential “backdoor” compromising the security of private keys stored on the device.
Ledger’s decision to postpone the launch and prioritize open-sourcing initiatives reflects a commitment to address the concerns of the community. By fostering transparency, Ledger aims to rebuild trust and continue its mission of providing secure and user-friendly hardware wallet solutions for the crypto community.
