Is the Crypto Exchange Releasing a Hardware Wallet?

Since the FTX crash, the crypto market has been trying to break out of its shock. The collapse of the crypto exchange made many investors painfully aware of the advantages of self-custody. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao referred to the self-custody Twitter even as a human right. That’s probably why involved the crypto giant is now involved in a financing round for NGRAVE, a Belgian provider of hardware wallets.

“In volatile and turbulent times, it is important to keep your assets diversified,” explains Germany boss Michael Wild to BTC-ECHO.

We have therefore made a strategic investment in NGrave and want to launch a corresponding product together with NGrave.

This is not the first investment in an external wallet solution for Binance. As early as 2018, the crypto exchange bought the non-custodial provider Trust Wallet, through which users can send, store and receive cryptocurrencies. Now Binance is also putting out feelers in the direction of cold storage. According to Wild, they want to launch a joint product together with NGRAVE. The head of Germany did not comment on whether this is a separate hardware wallet. However, it would be conceivable.

Exchanges record outflows

Because trust in crypto exchanges has cracked since the demise of FTX. When the company announced a payout freeze on November 8, flowed almost 140,000 Bitcoin from exchanges the following day – the second highest value of the year.

Investors only withdrew more BTC during the Celsius drama in June. There is uncertainty, even among Binance customers. Like Coindesk reportedover 81,700 Bitcoin flowed from Binance during the period of the FTX debacle, almost 15 percent of the exchange’s total BTC holdings.

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Non-custodial providers benefit

The beneficiaries of the crisis are clearly non-custodial providers like Relai. Using the app, users can buy and manage Bitcoin directly in real time or create savings plans. As a second mainstay, Relai sells the hardware wallet Bitbox from the Swiss manufacturer Shift Crypto. Relai CEO Julian Liniger sees strong growth in both user numbers and Bitbox orders. November will be a record month, he tells BTC-ECHO. Shift Crypto is also experiencing a rush to their in-house hardware wallet. The maxim “Your Keys, Your Coins” seems to be gaining ground among investors after the setbacks in the crypto year 2022.