Early access is now open for Proton Wallet, marking the launch of the privacy company’s first crypto product.
Proton, a privacy focused service provider known for its email client, opened up early access for a self-custodial Bitcoin wallet.
The wallet leverages Proton’s existing privacy infrastructure and is available to Proton Visionary and Lifetime users.
Proton wallet will only be able to hold and transfer Bitcoin. However, in the announcement post CEO Andy Yen said, “the type of assets that you can hold in Proton Wallet may evolve over time as we add more capabilities”.
Proton Wallet will also offer users a simplified approach to sending and receiving Bitcoin. Proton Mail’s encrypted key management will allow for users to transfer Bitcoin by inputting the destination account’s email address, instead of a traditional wallet address.
The ability to send and receive Bitcoin through an email address is open to anyone that has a Proton account tied to their Proton wallet, and allows for simple asset transfers without having to trust a third party with private key information.
Yen clarified that Proton is not a “crypto company.”
“We do not speculate in crypto, we are not a crypto exchange, and we do not participate in crypto lending,” He said. “Nevertheless, we believe in the principle of giving you control of your financial freedom.”
The Swiss-based company offers services such as email, a password manager, a VPN, and cloud storage which are all backed via end-to-end encryption. Proton was launched in 2014, and surpassed 100 million email accounts in August 2023. Proton’s services are popular among crypto holders due to their focus on user privacy.
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