Hardware wallet giant Ledger has announced the rollout of native support for Etherlink, the EVM-compatible smart rollup on the Tezos blockchain, across its Ledger signers and Ledger Wallet ecosystem. This integration significantly expands Ledger's existing Tezos support, which began with delegation features in 2019, by now enabling full custody, management, and interaction with Etherlink-based tez (XTZ) tokens.
The update provides Ledger users with the ability to securely send, receive, and store XTZ on Etherlink directly through Ledger Wallet's desktop and mobile applications. This includes full account visualization with balance tracking and transaction history. A key security feature is the implementation of hardware-enforced Clear Signing for every Tezos and Etherlink transaction, designed to give users confidence when interacting with decentralized applications.
Perhaps the most significant functional addition is direct access to the Etherlink decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem from within the Ledger Wallet interface. Users can now interact with established DeFi protocols like Curve, Morpho, and Uniswap, as well as emerging platforms such as uranium.io, which offers tokenized physical assets. The integration also includes swap functionality within the wallet.
Ledger has been a long-time supporter of Tezos, with over 10 million XTZ (worth tens of millions of dollars) already delegated for governance via its wallet since 2019. The company has confirmed that upcoming native Tezos staking support is in development, which promises to further improve user participation in securing the network and unlock additional yield opportunities.
Charles Guillemet, CTO at Ledger, stated, "Uncompromising security is an essential for users of Tezos and Etherlink, and this made enhanced support in the Ledger ecosystem a top priority. With hardware-enforced clear signing for every Tezos and Etherlink transaction, users can confidently interact with DeFi knowing their assets are protected by Ledger’s uncompromising security."
Anthony Hayot, Head of DeFi Partnerships at Nomadic Labs (a core developer of Tezos), highlighted the importance of the integration for adoption: "With this Ledger integration, we’re ensuring that our ecosystem benefits from industry-leading hardware wallet protection while maintaining the seamless user experience that drives adoption."
The timing aligns with Etherlink's growth, which is being driven by its sub-second confirmation times and transaction costs under $0.01, positioning it as a cost-conscious alternative for DeFi applications. The signer support is noted as being particularly appealing to institutions seeking secure digital asset management solutions.
