Demand for secure crypto devices soars as hacks hit record

Crypto investors worried about their tokens getting hacked are boosting demand for secure devices and wallets that keep customers’ tokens safely offline.

As hack attacks on companies and individuals have hit a record, Ledger, which sells hardware devices resembling USB drives that help investors securely store their cryptocurrencies, said it was having its best year yet.

Pascal Gauthier, chief executive of Ledger, founded in Paris in 2014, said revenues have hit triple-digit millions so far in 2025. “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,” he told the Financial Times.

About $2.2bn worth of crypto was stolen in the first half of this year, according to data firm Chainalysis, more than was taken in the whole of 2024. About 23 per cent of hacks targeted individuals’ wallets, in what Chainalysis called an “increasingly significant” form of theft.

Hack attacks on both crypto companies and individuals are becoming increasingly common, especially as the price of bitcoin and other tokens has hit new record highs this year, propelled by Donald Trump championing the industry. North Korean hackers stole $1.5bn worth of crypto tokens from exchange Bybit in February, in the biggest heist ever. 

“As we’ve seen a record-setting year in lawful crypto activity, we’ve also seen a record-setting year in unlawful crypto activity,” said Ari Redbord, global head of policy at blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs.

The jump in demand for Ledger’s devices comes ahead of the boost the company typically gets from Black Friday and Christmas sales, and Gauthier said Ledger will fundraise probably next year.

Smartphones and computers have been designed for communication and entertainment, not security, he said, adding that the company’s growth is coming from “the realisation that hackers are getting more aggressive and so you need to upgrade your security”.

Other companies such as Czech Republic-based Trezor and Switzerland-based Tangem also offer so-called cold storage wallets, allowing crypto holders alternatives to holding their tokens directly on an exchange such as Coinbase or Binance.

Redbord added that digital asset holders are rightfully looking for ways to safely hold their assets, and as the crypto industry grows, “people are going to have more and more need for these devices”.

Ledger secures about $100bn worth of bitcoin for its customers, and was valued at $1.5bn in 2023 after raising money from investors including 10T Holdings and Singapore’s True Global Ventures. 

Gauthier is eyeing future fundraising, either a listing in New York, or a private round, and is boosting headcount in New York. “Me spending more time in New York is with the understanding that money is in New York today for crypto, it’s nowhere else in the world, it’s certainly not in Europe.”

Rising crypto prices has led to rising criminality around holders of the virtual currency. As well as crypto hacks, kidnappings are also prevalent as criminals try to physically seize traders’ funds. Ledger’s own co-founder and his wife were kidnapped in France earlier this year and criminals sought a ransom paid in crypto. The criminals were later arrested, and the funds traced and frozen. Chainalysis said that rising crypto prices will probably trigger “additional opportunistic physical attacks against known crypto holders”.