Swiss tech firm launches Bitcoin wallet

 

Proton, the Swiss technology company that creates online privacy-preserving tools, has launched yet another one. According to its official announcement, the company has launched a wallet specifically for Bitcoin (BTC) transactions.

The new product is called Proton Wallet and will join the suite of tools that includes ProtonVPN and the popular ProtonMail. The wallet has a self-custody mode, meaning users will be able to store their own private keys.

This new product will be integrated with ProtonMail and will allow users to send Bitcoins as easily as sending an email. Users will be able to access the wallet by subscribing to one of the plans created by the company.

Bitcoin Wallet Details

Proton will leverage its existing infrastructure to make its Bitcoin wallet more user-friendly. In this way, users will be able to use Proton Wallet to make a BTC transaction via email addresses. This method eliminates the need for wallet addresses and transforms the customer’s address into the Bitcoin address.

To use a Bitcoin wallet with email as a wallet, both the sender and the recipient must have the wallet. The sender only needs to have the recipient’s email address, whether it’s a ProtonMail address or not, to send Bitcoin. Of course, they can also send BTC to any standard wallet.

When sending Bitcoin via email addresses, Proton will rotate addresses each time a user sends or receives BTC behind the scenes. This feature increases privacy by preventing addresses from being linked to a user’s identity.

To access your Bitcoin wallet, simply have a Proton account, log in to the wallet website and click on “Get Proton Wallet“. Initially, the wallet was only available to subscribers of the Proton Visionary plan, one of the company’s older subscription plans. They have reopened the subscriptions costing €39.90 per month, or about R$240.

Those who do not wish to pay the subscription fee to have early access to Proton Wallet will be placed on a waiting list and the company will gradually release access. According to the website, the service will be gradually released to other customers.

‘If it weren’t for Bitcoin, Proton wouldn’t exist’

According to Andy Yen, founder and CEO of Proton, Bitcoin has tremendous value as a currency. However, the way it is sent through transactions has eroded some of that value, and Proton wants to help make the process of sending and receiving BTC easier.

“Proton Wallet’s ability to support Bitcoin via email now makes Bitcoin transactions as easy to use as PayPal. At the same time, we will preserve the decentralized and non-custodial nature of Bitcoin,” Yen said.

The launch of the Bitcoin wallet also coincides with the 10th anniversary of ProtonMail, which launched in July 2014. Yen recalled that during the crowdfunding campaign to launch the email, Proton turned to PayPal to raise funds. However, the company froze the funds raised early in the campaign.

Proton eventually managed to complete the fundraising, but left a link to accept donations in Bitcoin. Yen explains that this was the first time he had seen the power of cryptocurrency up close. “Without Bitcoin, Proton would not exist,” he says.

Dingchao Lu, Director of Proton Wallet and the company’s first employee, is also grateful for the role Bitcoin has played in Proton’s history. The executive stated that the company wants to enable BTC to be a tool of freedom for all users.

“We want to reduce the world’s dependence on centralized financial institutions,” Lu said in a press release. “By giving users control over their own encryption keys and digital assets, we are bringing financial freedom, greater privacy and security to millions of people around the world.”