Ledger Live Joins Wyre to Roll Out Crypto Buying in US

Hardware wallet maker Ledger is offering U.S. customers the ability to buy crypto in its Ledger Live app in partnership with blockchain-based payments firm Wyre.

• The feature, which allows users to buy crypto with fiat currency, will initially be available in 43 U.S. states, with others added as regulatory licenses allow, according to an emailed announcement Tuesday.
• The seven states not currently supported are Connecticut, Hawaii, New York, New Hampshire, Texas, Vermont and Virginia.
• "Ledger is taking the next step in providing a secure gateway to the digital-asset ecosystem," Iqbal Gandham, VP of transactions at Ledger, told CoinDesk. "This announcement marks Ledger Live’s expansion into the largest crypto market in the world."
• Twenty-one different items are available on the platform, including bitcoin, ether and a large number of decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens such as UNI, AAVE and YFI.
• "It's clear that more users are being limited by depending on exchanges," Ledger chief experience officer Ian Rogers said, citing customers who could not access their crypto during May's sell-off and instead turned to "walled gardens" like Robinhood and PayPal.
• Integration with Wyre enables U.S. customers "to buy crypto through Ledger Live, bringing instant and secure deposits directly on their hardware wallet," Rogers said.
• Paris-based Ledger announced the integration of its first DeFi app, Paraswap, into Ledger Live on Monday. The decentralized exchange allows Ledger users to swap tokens on Ethereum without leaving their wallets.
• Ledger recently raised $380 million in Series C funding, valuing the company at over $1.5 billion. The round included backing from Digital Currency Group, the parent company of CoinDesk.