At the recent BTC Prague conference, Trezor CEO Matej Zak emphasized the importance of usability in the development of hardware wallets for crypto self-custody. With an increasing demand for self-custody in the crypto space, Zak believes that enhancing usability is the key to attracting a larger user base. In light of this, Trezor aims to make its hardware wallets as user-friendly as possible, with the goal of doubling or tripling the number of hardware wallet users worldwide in the next three to four years.
While self-custody allows investors to act as their own banks, it also places full responsibility for the safety of their cryptocurrencies on the users themselves. This includes the crucial task of keeping private keys, or seed phrases, secure and private. Usability plays a pivotal role in ensuring that users have an easy time navigating the responsibilities and risks that come with self-custody.
Trezor is not planning to introduce any tools for private key recovery, as according to the CEO, the company has already provided all necessary tools to help users secure their seed phrases. Instead, Trezor will focus on improving usability and increasing education on self-custody to attract more users to its platform.
However, it’s essential to recognize that the added security of complex self-custody wallet setups, like multisignature, or multisig, might come at the cost of usability for newcomers to the industry. Multisig setups involve using more than one public key to authorize a transaction, providing extra security for self-custody. But as Zak points out, “security at the expense of usability comes at the expense of security” – a sentiment echoed by Bounce Security CEO Avi Douglen.
In essence, the push for better usability in hardware wallets may come with some sacrifices in terms of security, but it’s a trade-off that many companies like Trezor find necessary to encourage more users to explore and adopt such technology. By striking a balance between usability and security, hardware wallets have the potential to become more appealing and accessible to a wider audience, fueling the growth of self-custody within the crypto industry.
Source: Cointelegraph
