Ledger’s new hardware wallet is an Android phone without the phone

Ledger has announced its latest crypto-centric hardware effort, the Android-based Atom, a device that resembles a phone but is instead designed to be used alongside one. It arrives at a tricky time for Ledger, which has been forced to cease sales of some of its hardware across southeast Asia following hardware tampering in its supply chain, which has reportedly seen over $86 million worth of crypto stolen from across some users’ accounts.

While Ledger’s previous hardware wallet signers have been compact devices, running custom software and often with E Ink displays, the Atom is the spitting image of a regular Android smartphone. In fact it essentially is an Android phone, except for the fact that its eSIM capabilities have been limited to data-only, with no support for texting or calls.