Jack Dorsey’s Block launches Bitkey, a self-custody Bitcoin wallet

Jack Dorsey-led payments company, Block Inc. has announced the launch of a self-custody Bitcoin wallet called Bitkey. 

According to the company, the wallet has been launched in over 95 countries across 6 continents and it is positioned to widen access to self-custody and empower people around the world to truly own and manage their Bitcoin seamlessly and securely.

Founded by Twitter (now X) Co-founder Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, Block Inc. (formerly Square Inc.) is a global technology company with a focus on financial services. Made up of Square, Cash App, TIDAL, and TBD, Block Inc builds tools to help more people access commerce and financial services.

Bitkey wants to make Bitcoin ownership easy and secure

Most Bitcoin owners and users usually leave their assets under centralized ownership, otherwise known as custodial accounts. 

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Self-custody ownership which has been an idea many experts have been toying with recently due to some failures of regular exchanges has not gotten the adoption it should due to it being too complex for the average person. This is the problem Bitkey is looking to solve.

Bitkey is a self-custody Bitcoin wallet with three parts. It has a mobile app to make transactions easily on the phone, a hardware device to protect savings securely offline, and a set of recovery tools in case customers lose their phone, hardware, or both. 

Usually,  self-custody solutions where people can truly own the keys to their Bitcoin still often rely on a complex set of devices or long passwords that people need to remember to be able to recover their money in case of loss. 

But as an innovative multi-signature self-custody wallet, Bitkey provides recovery tools that give customers multiple ways to recover assets without the anxiety of guarding a long complex seed phrase. 

Comments from stakeholders 

According to the Business Lead at Bitkey, Lindsey Grossman, Bitcoin holders on exchanges and custodial platforms today are often hesitant to move to self-custody wallets because they are nervous about making mistakes, especially with the complexity attached to seed phrases.

“People have often felt stuck: worried about the lack of control they might experience on a custodial platform or exchange, yet also anxious about the unforgiving product experiences that exist in other self-custody wallets historically available. With Bitkey, we wanted to build a product that helps bring everyone to self-custody, combining robust security and recovery options, with a simple customer experience that puts them in control of their money,” Lindsey said.

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Bitkey was built by the Proto team at Block. Thomas Templeton who leads that team says that Bitcoin’s decentralized payments network has the potential to create a more inclusive financial system for all, especially those who have traditionally been underserved.

“In the future, we believe customers will demand ownership and self-custody because it brings peace of mind, reduces dependence on any one entity, and puts individuals in control of their own Bitcoin. With Bitkey, we are building a safe and easy way for people all around the world with different levels of experiences with Bitcoin to take control of their finances on their terms,” he said.