By Susie Violet Ward · Forbes · 5 October 2023
In October 2023, Block, the company co-founded by Jack Dorsey, was preparing to release its first bitcoin hardware wallet, Bitkey, after a beta tester shared images of the compact, hexagonal device. Dorsey had said that users’ control over their own bitcoin was paramount, and the wallet was designed to let people manage their holdings securely without an intermediary. It was expected to be reasonably priced, although the launch date and exact price had not been announced.
The article links the wallet to a growing focus on self-custody, pointing to the trial of former FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried, whose exchange lost billions in customer assets. It also notes that Dorsey had urged Apple to integrate bitcoin into its products, and places these moves alongside David Marcus’s plans for a bitcoin payment network and Coinbase’s addition of Lightning support.