Ledger Bitcoin Wallet Partners With Tech Giant Intel

3 min readOct 25, 2017

The Paris-based cryptocurrency hardware wallet manufacturing company, Ledger, has announced a recent partnership with the giant multinational technology firm Intel. The joint initiative aims to tether Ledger’s unique operating system, ‘BOLOS’ and Intel’s ‘Software Extension Guard’ (SGX).

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Ledger’s BOLOS and Intel’s SGX Solution Will Combine Forces

The hardware wallet startup Ledger is continuing to expand its company goals, as the startup just revealed its partnership with California-based tech corporation Intel. The Intel SGX solution plans to create a secure area called the “SGX enclave” for private keys tied to digital assets. Essentially this means the data will be stored within the enclave as opposed to applications, and the goal aims to curb a variety of software attacks.

“We have seen an increasing demand from the market for security solutions to manage crypto assets over the past couple of years,” explains the CEO at Ledger, Eric Larchevêque.

Following the launch of a line of hardware wallets based on our operating system integrated into a secure chip, working with a leading player like Intel is a unique opportunity to keep providing our growing client base with innovative solutions for cryptocurrency and blockchain applications.

A Secure Private Key Enclave

According to the announcement, Intel-based computer users will be asked if they want to download the Intel enclave software. Intel explains that “private keys will be automatically generated and all cryptocurrency transactions will be signed within the Intel SGX secure enclave.” The Intel SGX extension is pre-built into Intel processors already, in order to maximize code security and lessen counterparty risk.

“By deploying Intel SGX, Ledger’s security for blockchain solutions gains instant scalability across Intel 8th Generation core platforms,” reveals the General Manager of Platforms Security Division at Intel, Rick Echevarria.

Ledger Wallet’s Goals Continues to Expand

Intel also reveals the solution is being deployed by the cryptocurrency wallet providers Myetherwallet, and Electrum as well. Ledger believes collaborating with Intel is the next step for its expansion, as the firm has also just partnered with the well-known security firm Gemalto. Ledger’s BOLOS will be applied to Gemalto’s infrastructure which also deals with cryptographic key storage.

Additionally, Ledger recently raised $7M in a Series A funding round led by MAIF Avenir, the Digital Currency Group, The Whittemore Collection, and more. According to the Paris-based hardware wallet manufacturer, the team intends to build a new factory in China with the newly acquired funds.