Tag: cryptocurrency

Ledger is exploring a public listing in New York or a private financing round in 2026 as crypto investors rush to secure their holdings amid a surge in digital asset thefts. Crypto Theft Epidemic Fuels Ledger’s IPO AmbitionsThe French company, which manufactures USB-style devices that store cryptocurrencies offline, reported revenues in the triple-digit millions for 2025, its strongest performance since launching in 2014. Chief executive Pascal Gauthier said the firm currently safeguards roughly $100 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) across its customer base. Crypto thefts reached $2. 2 billion in the first six months of 2025, already exceeding the total for all of 2024, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. Individual wallet holders accounted for roughly 23% of these attacks, a category that Chainalysis described as growing.”We’re being hacked more and more every day . hacking of your bank accounts, of your crypto, and it’s not going to get better next year and the year after that,” Gauthier told the Financial Times. If the initial public offering materializes, Ledger would join this year’s wave of crypto firms entering public markets, following similar moves by lender Figure and the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. The digital asset trading platform Bullish also recently began trading on Wall Street. Revenue Jumps Before Holiday Shopping SeasonLedger’s growth accelerated ahead of its typical sales peaks during Black Friday and the holiday period. Gauthier attributed the increase to what he called a realization among users that cybersecurity threats are intensifying. The company’s devices compete with offerings from Trezor, based in the Czech Republic, and Switzerland’s Tangem in the so-called cold storage market. These wallets allow token holders to keep their assets offline rather than storing them on exchanges like Coinbase or Binance. Trezor has introduced its latest Safe 7 device during an October event in Prague. The model features a 2. 5-inch color touchscreen that is 62 percent larger than the previous version, an anodized aluminum body, and full wireless functionality, including Bluetooth 5. 1 and Qi2 magnetic charging. North Korean Hackers Target Exchanges and IndividualsExchange platform Bybit lost approximately $1. 5 billion worth of tokens to North Korean hackers in February, the largest heist on record. The FBI attributed the theft to actors it tracks as “TraderTraitor,” noting that stolen assets were quickly converted to Bitcoin and spread across thousands of blockchain addresses. Crypto-related kidnappings have also increased as prices climb. Ledger’s own co-founder and his wife were abducted in France earlier this year when criminals demanded a ransom paid in cryptocurrency. French authorities later arrested the suspects and froze the funds. Chainalysis warned that higher token valuations will likely trigger additional physical attacks targeting known holders. New York Focus Reflects Capital ConcentrationGauthier said Ledger plans to expand its New York headcount and is spending more time in the city because “money is in New York today for crypto, it’s nowhere else in the world, it’s certainly not in Europe”. The company raised money from investors including 10T Holdings and Singapore-based True Global Ventures in 2023, when it was valued at $1. 5 billion. Whether Ledger pursues an IPO or private fundraising will depend on market conditions and investor appetite for crypto-related listings. Hardware wallet adoption among cryptocurrency holders remains below 15%, suggesting room for market expansion as digital asset ownership becomes more mainstream. However, Ledger faces questions about revenue sustainability beyond one-time device sales, with some recent fee-based features drawing criticism from users concerned about centralization. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www. financemagnates. com.