Bitcoin hardware wallet developer Case raises $1.5 million

Posted On 18 Jun 2015

Tag: Bitcoin hardware wallet, Blockchain technology, Case, Melanie Shapiro

Case, a blockchain technology company, announced Thursday it has raised $1.5 million in a seed round led by Future/Perfect Ventures, with participants including RRE Ventures, High Line Venture Partners, and the Rochester Institute of Technology Fund.

Case’s funding round follows the launch of the company’s credit card-sized hardware wallet at TechCrunch Disrupt NY. The device uses multi-signature, multi-factor security with visual validation and l GMS (global system for mobile communications) connectivity.

“The recent announcement that the NASDAQ is piloting blockchain technologies for different use cases underscores the promise of the technology and Case is poised to provide trusted, decentralized and biometrically secure signing of those and similar transactions,” said Case CEO Melanie Shapiro in a press release. “We’re looking forward to providing uncompromised security and ease-of-use for bitcoin buyers, sellers and users, to unlock the potential of bitcoin and blockchain technologies. Making highly secure signing and authentication available across a variety of applications is just the beginning.”

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the device features a fingerprint scanner and a camera. A user scans a QR code with the camera and the QR code contains data, such as the amount and destination, about a Bitcoin transaction. The user then swipes with a finger. The wallet send the fingerprint information and additional key to Case’s servers. The server verifies those keys and creates a new key to finalize the transaction.

Unlike online digital wallets, Case’s product has the added security of using biometric information. Shapiro told the Wall Street Journal that ability to identify a specific individual is the key that had spurred interest from financial institutions that are very sensitive about who gets access to the data.

Case started preselling its wallet for $200 apiece in May. The company had capacity for 1,000 wallets and Shapiro said it is “almost sold-out.” Case plans to deliver the wallets to customers this summer.

Image via press release

About the Author

Katherine Fletcher is a writer and editor based in London, Ontario, Canada. With a graduate degree in journalism, Katherine spent more than five years curating news on Canadian higher education for a marketing consultancy. Her interest in reporting on Bitcoin stems from her belief that digital currency is, and will continue to be, a disruptor in how we conceive modern currency.