Tangem, the Swiss manufacturer of non-custodial crypto wallets, has reported record sales of its cold storage devices. This is attested by data showing the company’s monthly active users to have increased 738% in the past 12 months. The news coincides with a major rebrand for Tangem’s product offering that will include new fiat payment options, implemented with the aid of Visa certification.
Tangem Touts Its Non-Custodial Payment Technology
While Tangem is in the business of crypto cold storage, the company recognizes that customers expect more of their digital assets these days. The ability to spend them when desired significantly enhances crypto’s value proposition, giving reassurance that assets can be liquidated when there are bills to pay. Traditionally, doing so from a cold storage device has necessitated sending the funds to a custodian that can then convert them into fiat currency. Tangem, however, has found a solution that eliminates this step.
The company received Visa certification around a year ago and is now preparing to utilize it in the Tangem app that will launch on October 5. The app forms a companion to the Tangem wallet, supporting real-world purchases made using crypto. Tangem’s applet, known as Tangem Pay, is the first non-custodial payment solution to be integrated with a global payment network.
It works by the private keys to the wallet being securely stored within the applet. When the paired Visa card is used at any of the 95 million stores that accept Visa, a one-time password is generated to sign the blockchain transaction. From the merchant’s perspective, the transaction appears no different from any other Visa sale, but from the customer’s perspective, it’s made using crypto they have retained custody of right up until the point of sale.
Tangem Proposes Major Rebrand
One year on from its launch, Tangem’s hardware wallet and product suite are in line for an overhaul. The rebrand will incorporate a full redesign of the Tangem app, an updated logo, and fresh packaging design. There will also be various improvements made to the app with the goal of improving user experience. Tokens will be displayed more clearly, similar assets will be grouped, and a dark theme introduced. Other new features include the ability to hide balances and a new transaction history feature.
At a technical level, Tangem is also providing an audit of its new firmware. The results of the audit can be used to verify that the firmware of a particular wallet is authentic and has not been replaced or altered in any way. From October 10, Tangem will be shipping its wallets to more than 140 countries thanks to warehouses in Europe, the USA, and Hong Kong.
In rebranding its wallet and pushing its Visa-powered payment services, Tangem is signalling its intent to take on the hardware wallet giants Ledger and Trezor. Crypto cold storage has become a huge market as owners of digital assets have sought solutions to the hacks and human errors that are endemic. Billions of dollars of cryptocurrency is stolen every year through scams ranging from phishing attacks to bridge exploits. Hardware wallets go some way towards helping crypto holders sleep easy.
Image source: Tangem