On June 26, Zach Herbert, co -founder and CEO of Passport devices to store cryptocurrencies, made his personal balance on Ledger’s decision to discontinuate firmware and applications updates for the Nano S from 2025, an arrangement that affects a hardware launched in 2016 and sold until the first quarter of 2022. This measure of Ledger has generated debate In the cryptocurrency community, specifically on the low retrocompatibility and isolation that users of the Nano S. will experience
As Cryptoics reported, the removal of technical support responds to the antiquity of the device and its technical limitations. The Nano S, with almost a decade in the market, It has a memory of just 320 kb, which prevents the installation of different cryptocurrency networks. At the same time, its hardware does not support recent improvements from the company such as Transaction Check and Ledger Sync ™. The new models offer greater capacity and advanced functions, such as compatibility with Appchains and chains like Thorchain, Uniswap, Ton, Ada, Near, Avax and Dot. These were the arguments wielded by LEDger to justify the discontinuation of the support for the device.
This lack of support does not prevent users from using the Nano S, even if it limits the interactivity range of the Wallet and supposes certain risks to the safety of the device. So Charles Guillemet assured himLedger Cto.
The Passport CEO, which is a direct competitor of Ledger and has interest in calling attention to its product, recognizes the points exhibited by Guillemet, but stresses that many users recently acquired the device – just three years – and they expected a longer useful life, similar to that of other technological products such as iPhones, which receive support for six years or more. Herbert points out that, in the case of hardware purses, security standards They should be more demanding and overcome those of a smartphone.
If you take your nano s from a drawer at the end of 2026, it may not work with the applications you use or have unbridled vulnerability. This means that, in effect, anyone who has a Nano S must update it or risk losing their money.
Zach Herbert, co -founder and CEO of Passport
At that point, the comparison with the iPhones may not be accurate. He iOS versions historythe iPhone operating system reveals that the first version of the phone created in 2007 stopped receiving updates only two years later, in 2009, as well as the iPod created by the company. However, it is demonstrable that Apple was increasing the life support time offered to its devices over the yearsuntil reaching 6 years that Herbert mentions.
In addition, Apple Continue publishing security updates for about 10 yearslong after IOS update, comments the Passport CEO, who finds no technical reason why a 10 -year -old Nano S Ledger cannot receive security updates. ” Ledger has not given indications that it will include these protective updates for the Nano S. Model
Herbert proposes that open applications, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, They could be maintained by the community or through a bifurcation (fork) managed by Ledgerbut that Ledger Live, who has to approve applications on its platform, prevents it (not necessarily for evil, because the Ledger filter helps discard fraudulent applications).
The Executive also emphasizes that this dependency of a closed system – with firmware and applications controlled exclusively by LEDger – subtracts autonomy to users and developers, who cannot audit the code or customize solutions.
Ledger applications are open source and could be maintained by the community. Bitcoin, Ethereum applications, etc., are all open source. There is no technical reason for Ledger to simply swing these applications and maintain an independent version for the Nano S with less frequent and more modest updates. Or, if Ledger does not want to keep them, you can allow the community to do it. Unfortunately, Ledger’s application platform is a protected space, and only Ledger can approve the applications that appear in Ledger Live.
Zach Herbert, co -founder and CEO of Passport
On the other hand, Herbert’s analysis goes further and puts suggests a possible motivation after Ledger’s strategy, suggesting that the withdrawal of the support could be an incentive to generate income through the sale of new devices, such as Nano S Plus or Ledger Flex.
Ledger’s decision does not imply that the Nano s ceases to function. It will still allow “essential actions such as sending, receiving, selling and accessing your assets” according to Ledger, which Leave without answering to concerns about the lack of protection against new vulnerabilities or that have gone unnoticed.
«The Nano S has no fundamental failure. It simply has much less memory and its capacity is less than that of the newest Ledger devices. Millions of cryptocurrency users have devices Nano S. It makes no sense to stop accepting «new applications, improvements of functions or apps updates» by developers. Ledger has not clearly explained why he will stop offering support; He has only made vague references to memory limitations, ”said the executive.
Zach Herbert, co -founder and Passport CEO.
In response to the juncture, Zach Herbert makes a mention, which could economically benefit his company, about the Passport Primean open source device in the test phase. Assembled in the US and compatible with Keyos, this application platform is more permissive with developers.
According to its website, Passport Prime allows Bitcoin to store, use two factors’ authentication codes (2FA), store security keys, additional seeds and encrypted files. Also install third -party applications, which favors the development community can extend the life of users with models without official active support.
Closing, the Passport CEO announced that your company is working in “a simple way” so that Ledger Nano S users can migrate to Passport Prime.
