Proton might be best known for its Mail and VPN services, but the company now has an entire ecosystem of privacy-preserving apps and services. The latest addition is certainly questionable, though: a bitcoin wallet.
Proton has just announcedProton Wallet, a digital wallet for sending, receiving, and storing Bitcoin cryptocurrency. Bitcoin can be purchased in “150+ countries” through Proton’s “licensed third parties.” Proton Wallet also supports ‘Bitcoin via Email,’ which allows people to send and receive Bitcoin using the email address tied to their Proton account, instead of more complex Bitcoin wallet addresses.
The company said in a press release, “Proton occupies a unique spot among wallet providers. It is not a crypto company, has never issued a cryptocurrency, does not trade or speculate in crypto, nor is it an exchange. It is not profit-driven either, as its primary shareholder is the non-profit Proton Foundation whose mission is to preserve privacy and freedom online. From this perspective, Proton is maybe the last organization one would expect to enter the Bitcoin space, but it hopes through the launch of Proton Wallet, to provide exactly what the space needs to gain mainstream trust and acceptance.”
Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency that is most often used as a speculative investment or as payments to criminals (either forransomwareorillegal purchases), with regular peer-to-peer payments making up a smaller percentage of transactions. It also usessignificantly more electricitythan comparable transactions in the regular (fiat) global banking system, thanks to itsproof-of-work model, and that electricity oftencomes from coal plantsand other non-renewable energy sources. Cryptocurrency as a concept might have some merit, but Bitcoin is arguably theworstimplementation of cryptocurrency, largely because it was the first one out of the gate.
Bitcoin has had roughly 15 years to prove itself as a viable alternative to fiat currency, and it hasfailedat almost every opportunity. Proton pointed out in its announcement that it has accepted payments in Bitcoin sinceits initial funding round in 2014, but that’s not the same as convincing people to enter the ecosystem for the first time, or hoping Bitcoin can finally “gain mainstream trust and acceptance.” Proton Wallet is also a significant departure from Proton’s other apps and services, which mostly serve as alternatives to big tech services like Gmail and Google Calendar. Google and Microsoft have never launched a crypto wallet, andMeta’s ambitions for cryptocurrency paymentsfell apart in 2019.
The lack of proper banking infrastructure and user protections also makes Bitcoin wallets a common target for hackers and scammers, in a practice known aswallet draining. Proton says it has beefed up security with two-factor authentication and “Proton Sentinel, which uses advanced machine learning and AI, along with human analysis, to block malicious login attempts with high accuracy.” That likely won’t mitigate all hacking and social engineering attempts, though.
Proton Walletis rolling out now in early access to users on the Proton Visionary plan, and users with access can invite up to 10 other people to join.
