Block Inc launches self-custody bitcoin wallet Bitkey in India

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Block Inc, founded by Jack Dorsey, is launching Bitkey, a self-custody bitcoin wallet in India, along with 94 other countries. With this, investors will be able to own, manage and store their bitcoin off exchanges. 

A vast majority of bitcoin owners keep bitcoins in the custodial platforms or exchanges where they were purchased, leaving them under the control of the custodian. Accessing self-custody solutions, where people can truly own the keys to their bitcoin, still relies on a complex set of devices or long passwords that people need to remember to be able to recover their money in case of loss.

Bitkey includes a mobile app, hardware device, and a set of recovery tools in case the customer loses the phone, their hardware or both. It uses three keys to secure bitcoin, and any two keys working together are needed to move bitcoin or approve other security-related actions such as initiating recovery or modifying security settings.

Bitkey puts two keys in customers’ hands — one in the mobile app, and one customer-held key is in the hardware device, securely stored offline. The third key is on Bitkey’s server, and is used  to help customers move bitcoin with just their phone for the transactions they choose to make on the go without their hardware device, and to help customers recover their wallet if they lose their phone or hardware. Bitkey cannot access or move a customer’s bitcoin without them.

Lindsey Grossman, Business Lead for Bitkey told businessline: “We are in talks to partner with Indian cryptocurrency exchanges to facilitate ease of transfer of bitcoin to wallet. However, users can still take their holdings off Indian exchanges and store in the wallet. Bitkey customers can even transfer holdings among each other.” 

In India the product is priced at ₹12,710 exclusive of shipping and taxes, this is a one-time cost. Bitkey is available for pre-orders with shipping starting in early 2024, she added. 

In June 2023, coinciding with the kick-off of the external beta program that launched that month, Bitkey announced its first two partnerships with Coinbase, a global exchange, and Cash App, a financial services app and part of the Block ecosystem, to help people easily and transfer their bitcoin off exchanges and custodial platforms.