It suddenly entered the news on Tuesday when its co-founder, David Balland, and his partner, were kidnapped against a ransom demand in cryptocurrency. Before being released by the GIGN the next day. Ledger is a French start-up specializing in securing these increasingly popular digital financial assets. In this case, seven people were presented to investigating judges responsible for organized crime in Paris with a view to their possible indictment.
Created in 2014, by eight people including David Balland, Ledger provides devices, software and applications in the cryptoasset sector. David Balland left the company in 2021. It is today managed by Pascal Gauthier.
Wallet, Bitcoin et blockchain
Ledger is best known for its physical “crypto wallets”. As opposed to digital wallets, these are offline private encryption key storage devices, resembling a USB stick or a small tablet, depending on the model, which allow an investor to access and manage your cryptocurrency funds.
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are digital financial assets that exist only on blockchain, a decentralized information storage and transmission technology.
“Secure Element” type chips
“Blockchain allows digital assets to be transferred between people who do not know each other,” explains Yves-Michel Le Porcher, independent blockchain expert. And it is on this blockchain that cryptoassets are stored. To access their assets held on a specific blockchain address, an investor must hold a key, called a “private key”, which signs each transaction and certifies that it is not a fraudulent transaction.
This is how an investor can buy a property in cryptocurrencies or exchange them, the “Wallet” acting as a bridge between the owner and his assets on the blockchain. To prevent physical hacking of their wallets, for example in the event of electromagnetic sabotage, Ledger uses a “Secure Element” type chip, the same kind of chip found in passports and credit cards.
-Flagship products of the French start-up, its wallets are sold between 80 euros and 400 euros. In 2024, Ledger claimed to have sold more than seven million worldwide in its ten years of operation.
Our file on cryptocurrency
“It is a company recognized as very serious and solid throughout the world,” added Mr. Le Porcher. The company claims to secure “20% of the world’s crypto assets.” Based in Paris and Vierzon, it also has offices in London, New York and Singapore and employs 900 people worldwide.
Unlisted, the company has no obligation to publish its financial data. But following a fundraising in 2021, it acquired the status of “unicorn”, its valuation having exceeded one billion euros.
