Coinbase Wallet extends support to Ledger hardware wallet

Coinbase Wallet, an in-house wallet service offered by prominent crypto exchange Coinbase, has rolled out browser extension support for Ledger hardware wallets.

The Coinbase Wallet extension, available in the Chrome Web Store, is a noncustodial wallet that allows users to store and transact cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens (NFT). By adding support for Ledger, Coinbase users can opt to use a physical Ledger device to store the private keys to their wallets offline.

Coinbase senior product manager Adam Zadikoff highlighted the development as being a means to providing an additional layer of security and greater peace of mind for users. He said:

“We want to empower everyone to use DApps and access Web3, and that requires building the easiest-to-use and most accessible self-custody wallet in the ecosystem. Today’s release solves [..] the ability to use a hardware wallet for enhanced security.”

As a part of the launch, Coinbase has partnered with Ledger to release a limited-edition Coinbase-branded Nano X hardware wallet on Ledger’s official website.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, Coinbase reportedly stores about 12% of all crypto across more than 150 asset types, with the company’s chief financial officer, Alesia Haas, stating at the time:

“Nearly 50% of our transacting customers are doing something other than buying and selling crypto, which indicates to us that crypto is moving beyond its initial investment phase into the long-expected utility phase.”

Related: Hodlers beware! New malware targets MetaMask and 40 other crypto wallets

Cointelegraph recently highlighted the rising vulnerabilities for crypto wallets built as browser extensions — such as MetaMask, Binance Chain Wallet and Coinbase Wallet — owing to the launch of a new malware called Mars Stealer.

The malware targets over 40 browser-based crypto wallets by exploiting two-factor authenticators via a grabber function that steals users’ private keys. According to security researcher 3xp0rt, the new malware is a powerful upgrade to the information-stealing Oski trojan.

The researcher also noted that the malware can target all Chromium-based browsers, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Brave.