Samsung adds support for hardware wallets to galaxy devices

In a press note on May 13, 2021, the market leader in consumer electronics and mobile phones, Samsung Electronics announced that Galaxy smartphones will now have inbuilt support for hardware wallets for managing crypto assets.

The Samsung Blockchain Wallet that comes with Galaxy smartphones will now support Ledger Nano S and Ledger Nano X cold hardware storage devices, designed specifically for the safekeeping of cryptocurrency.

Samsung had launched a cryptocurrency wallet in its flagship phone, the Galaxy S10 in March 2019 and since then active users have doubled. The electronics giant is planning to add more support and features to its devices for the growing crypto ecosystem.

“By providing support for hardware wallets we are providing our customers with not just enhanced convenience, but also an entirely new level of security”

Woong Ah Yoon, Samsung’s VP and head of blockchain, said in an interview.

The earlier version of the wallet supports popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, ERC20 based tokens, Tron (TRX), and TRC tokens and also allows users to explore decentralized apps (DApp) that use blockchain technology to authenticate the exchange of digital assets.

A mobile crypto wallet such as Samsung’s is, by definition, connected to a network and so cannot have the same level of security as a Ledger cold-storage device, which remains remote from the internet.  However, Samsungs wallet with its clever key store system uses an independent memory enclave on the device meaning “some of the logic of cold storage applies,

“The Samsung Blockchain Wallet is not 100% cold storage but it’s not a hot wallet either,” Yoon said. “It’s not susceptible to all the external attacks that could accompany an online connection. So it kind of sits in the middle of a cold wallet and a hot wallet; a warm wallet, you could say.”