Ledger faces backlash over ending Nano S hardware wallet support

Frustrated owners of Ledger‘s Nano S hardware wallet aren’t happy the company will no longer provide updates for the nearly decade-old device.

For some, hardware wallets are intended to be a way to safely HODL crypto for many years — sometimes decades. At least thats (in theory) what many users want to do, so the potential for long-term cold storage is one of the main appeals of a hardware wallet.

But Ledger retired its Nano S device in 2022 and is now in the process of phasing out support for it. The Nano S was released in 2016, meaning it was sold for six years.

I spotted dozens of frustrated, confused, and angry comments on CT from crypto traders unsure about what the move means. They called the Nano S sunset “uncool” and “scammy,” while others raised concerns about the devices security going forward if any possible bugs are left unaddressed.

For some customers, it may also raise questions about whether theyll need to keep buying new hardware wallets every five to 10 years if more older models are deprecated in the future. While older Ledger wallets cost around $100 each, newer models like the Ledger Flex are $250 and the Ledger Stax is $400. The Nano X is $150.

In response to the confusion, Ledger repeatedly said that while updates for the device are being phased out, the wallet will “still work.” The company is recommending users buy a newer device, though (and is offering Nano S owners 20% off to upgrade to a wallet thats still being updated).

Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet explained that technical issues played a factor in the decision to sunset updates for the Nano S — as well as the reality that crypto use cases and the sheer number of chains have greatly increased since 2016.

“Memory is its primary constraint,” he said of the Nano S. “Initially robust, the rapid growth of blockchains means the Ledger Nano S cant support new applications, feature submissions, or app updates. The LedgerOS, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Exchange apps alone nearly fill its 320KB memory, leaving very little room for anything else.”

He explained that the Nano S cant support clearer transaction signing messages, swaps on some chains, language packs, or features like Transaction Check and Ledger Sync.

“BTC, ETH, and other major apps will remain functional on the Ledger Nano S for the foreseeable future. It still supports essential actions like sending, receiving, buying, selling, and swapping,” Guillemet said.

The company also confirmed that bitcoin transactions will continue to work on the Nano S “for the foreseeable future,” unless major changes were made to the Bitcoin protocol itself — in which case it would warn customers in advance.