Jack Dorsey’s payments company, Block, is working to launch its first Bitcoin hardware wallet soon. The first images of BitKey, which is now in its beta tester phase, have been leaked on X.
Jack Dorsey: Block will soon launch its first Bitcoin hardware wallet BitKey
Block, Jack Dorsey‘s payments company, appears to be very close to launching its first Bitcoin hardware wallet, BitKey.
On X, the first images of the new wallet, which should be in its beta tester phase at the moment, have been shared.
this implementation has a stone exterior
— McShane (@mcshane_writes) October 3, 2023
As you can see, the images show a small hexagon-shaped device complete with a fingerprint sensor, which adds an extra layer of biometric security to the device.
BitKey is an open-source wallet that wants to promote decentralisation, security and self-custody of its BTC.
Jack Dorsey and the Bitcoin hardware wallet as a realisation of the Web5 idea
BitKey had already been heralded by Block founder Dorsey, along with his Web5 idea, revealed to the public in June 2022.
And indeed, at that time, Dorsey had announced his intention to build a new decentralised Web, centred on Bitcoin. In this sense, BTC should be the architrave on which the web will move in the future.
To do so, Dorsey called the project of Block’s subsidiary TBD, exactly Web5, a summation of the concept of Web3 and Web2. Indeed, while Web3 relies on blockchain and tokenization technology to decentralise the network, Web5 relies entirely on a single network, that of Bitcoin.
Dorsey had criticised Web3, describing it as owned by venture capital companies, and therefore not a decentralised network. The idea of Web5, on the other hand, is that the new web should be completely decentralised, secure and without any intermediary who can control user data.
BitKey could be the key to this new web, being Bitcoin’s open-source and thus decentralised hardware wallet.
The invitation to Apple to embrace BTC
Recently, Dorsey also issued a ‘bold challenge’ to the tech giant Apple, proposing the integration of Bitcoin into its services and products.
Something to which Apple has not yet responded, but from which many debates have arisen. Primarily, some believe that Apple’s adoption of Bitcoin would bring mainstream adoption of the queen of crypto.
On the other hand, others were more sceptical and concerned about the legal and regulatory security of cryptocurrencies.
Nevertheless, Dorsey argues that Bitcoin’s interest and importance continues to grow in the current financial and technological landscape.
Not only that, for Dorsey, even if Apple were not to accept his ‘bold challenge’ and integrate BTC into its services and products, it would not change the fate of the queen of crypto.