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Gemalto, Ledger in crypto security partnership

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga
Johannesburg, 06 Oct 2017
] Eric Larchev^eque, CEO of Ledger.
] Eric Larchev^eque, CEO of Ledger.

Digital security company Gemalto has partnered with security and crypto-currency infrastructure firm Ledger to develop a security infrastructure for crypto asset applications for financial organisations.

The companies say the partnership aims to answer a gap in the market for organisations to be able to manage crypto-currencies in a secure manner. They have developed a solution that can be used to allow companies to use blockchain securely to conduct any type of transaction in a variety of use cases, such as launching investable products on crypto-currencies, or stocking crypto-currencies.

Targeted at financial companies such as banks, investment and crypto asset management firms, the software comprises an integration of Ledger's Blockchain Open Ledger Operating System (BOLOS) into Gemalto's SafeNet Hardware Security Module (HSM), which secures sensitive data and critical applications by storing, protecting and managing cryptographic keys.

Used together, the solutions build in the ability to execute blockchain-based smart contracts which are self-executing digitally signed contracts. Compared with traditionally brokered transactions, a secure blockchain application for crypto-currency trading simplifies a financial organisation's portfolio and contract management process by reducing costs and saving time, says Gemalto.

Eric Larchev^eque, CEO of Ledger, explains: "As the market value of blockchain-based solutions rises, so does the need for bank-grade security products when financial institutions are looking for dedicated, certified solutions. We plan to leverage SafeNet HSM to provide our clients in the financial industry with a unique, secure product line customised to their needs."

The US, Europe and Asian markets have seen a significant growth of crypto-currencies over the past few years, and we expect similar needs in SA, which is one of Ledger's countries of interest, adds Larchev^eque,

Crypto-currency, according to Gemalto, now represents a market capitalisation of $137 billion, compared to $7.8 trillion for gold and $83.8 trillion for the global stock market. Multiple large banks and hedge funds have announced plans to develop and implement blockchain use cases, both for internal and external purposes.

Todd Moore, senior VP of encryption products at Gemalto, notes: "With the proper security to protect communication, devices and users, blockchain can offer a trusted platform for parties that don't have an existing relationship to do business efficiently and transparently. Beyond the financial services market, we are also working with Ledger to embed BOLOS into any device's secure element and bring high-assurance security to markets like smart energy applications, home automation or wearables."

Gemalto says the solution can also be used in the emerging Internet of things (IOT) market to add crypto-currency payments to multiple devices in a secure manner or even in the supply chain industry, to track and register products to be delivered.

"Blockchain is an ideal model to address the scalability concerns for widespread adoption of IOT. The massive volume of communication and data produced by IOT devices requires transactions to take place at the edge, a problem blockchain solves," according to Gemalto.