Payments company Block today dropped its self-custodial Bitcoin wallet, Bitkey.
The rock-like, hexagon-shaped crypto wallet is now being shipped to customers who preordered the product last year.
Bitkey allows users to store Bitcoin and have control of their private keys, unlike online crypto wallets controlled by a third party.
The wallet is also integrated with American crypto exchange Coinbase and payments app Cash App—meaning users can directly buy the biggest digital asset via the two platforms using the wallet and its software.
Jack Dorsey's Block Bitcoin Wallet Opens Beta, Announces Coinbase Support
Jack Dorsey’s payments company Block announced an open beta program on Thursday for its self-custodial Bitcoin wallet, Bitkey. The beta already includes special integrations with Coinbase and CashApp, letting users safely withdraw Bitcoin to the wallet from either platform “without the friction of standard 'copy and paste.” buy bitcoin from an exchange and move it to a hardware key you control https://t.co/JdWU10UJKb — jack (@jack) June 15, 2023 The previous beta was only available to employe...
Bitkey integrates with a user's phone, but the company says that even if someone loses their device and the Bitkey wallet, tools exist to recover the funds.
The device's website claims: "It's important our customers have full control of their Bitcoin. This means having the peace of mind that they'll never lose access to their funds."
Bitcoin wallets can be complicated—especially cold storage wallets that keep an investor's cryptocurrency offline. To store digital coins in this way, users must preserve and protect their private keys—a 12 or 24 word password. If the private keys are lost, the funds can be lost, too.
Twitter was co-founded by Jack Dorsey. He left the social media giant to focus on Bitcoin products and said last year that investors should keep their Bitcoin off exchanges and store it themselves.
Now billionaire, Dorsey claims his new Bitcoin wallet is a good way to do this.
Priced at $150, Bitkey can only be bought using fiat currency, like US dollars, via a traditional credit or debit card.
Block—formerly known as Square—is the payment company behind the popular mobile app, Cash App, which can be used for buying and selling Bitcoin.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
