Ledger delays release of private key recovery service

Ledger’s chief technology officer, Charles Guillemet, stated on Twitter that the company has decided to accelerate its open-sourcing roadmap to bring more transparency and verifiability to its operations.

A whitepaper detailing the recover protocol is set to be released in the coming days, according to a graphic shared by Guillemet.

The Ledger recover service was introduced by the company last week as an optional subscription for users who wanted a backup of their secret recovery phrase. Ledger emphasized that this feature would not be automatically enabled through firmware updates on their devices.

The intention behind this service was to provide a means for owners of Ledger wallets to recover their private keys in case of loss. However, the company faced immediate criticism from users.

Crypto wallets rely on a public-private key pair for transaction authorization.

The public key is visible in blockchain data, but the private key is required to access the funds associated with it. It is crucial to keep the private key secure to prevent unauthorized transactions.

Users of Ledger hardware wallets previously believed that their private keys could not leave their devices. One of the main concerns raised by users was that enabling this new feature on any Ledger wallet could potentially become an attack vector.

The crypto community has expressed significant concerns regarding the security implications of Ledger’s new service, even if it remains disabled. Ledger has made efforts to reassure its users that their private keys and crypto funds remain safe.