Binance invests in NGRAVE hardware wallets

Binance Labs made a strategic investment in Belgium-based cold wallet maker NGRAVE, following CEO’s Changpeng Zhao repeated calls for users to turn to self-custody. Another confirmation of these words is the integration of Trust Wallet in Binance, announced last week, which we covered in Digest #171. 

According to an official statement, Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of Binance, will lead a Series A round of investments in hardware wallets manufacturer NGRAVE to boost security in the digital assets space. 

Yi He, Co-Founder of Binance and Head of Binance Labs, commented on the matter: “Security remains one of the biggest hurdles for crypto adoption. Self-custodial wallets are one of the most secure methods for storing digital assets, and through our investment in NGRAVE, we are looking to continue backing innovative startups that enhance user security.”

NGRAVE was founded in 2018 in Belgium with a seed staging of $6 million. The investors were DFG Group, Spark Digital Capital, Moonrock Capital, and Mapleblock Capital. The creators of NGRAVE claim that their hardware wallet is the “safest” financial product in the world. The NGRAVE hardware wallet dubbed ZERO is EAL7 certified. In comparison, the cold wallets industry leader Ledger offers its users an EAL5 safety certificate. NGRAVE product also includes Liquid mobile software and GRAPHENE, a backup of the user’s private keys made of stainless steel.

In Digest #168, we wrote about Binance Labs launching a cryptocurrency recovery fund amidst the FTX collapse. Binance is expected to support promising startups and fintech firms. The headlining of NGRAVE’s Round A is a confirmation of that statement. 

Currently, Binance Labs officials didn’t reveal the scope of the deal. NGRAVE also did not share the information.