Disgruntled users have accused hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger of deleting negative social media posts after it released open-sourced access to its Recover feature.
The company released a white paper on Wednesday to allay public fears that its Recovery feature opens backdoor access to users’ seed phrases.
Moderators Do Not Respond to White Paper Dissent
The announcement thread contains complaints about a new feature “no one is asking for,” with several users adamant they will not update firmware that enables that feature. Icy_Mongoose_Ears commented on the announcement thread:
“The entire security of all assets is relying on Identity Verification not being vulnerable.”
The Reddit forum contained several deleted posts, leading to suspicions of Ledger silencing dissent. No human moderator has yet responded to the accusations.
Ledger launched its Recover feature in May, storing crypto seed phrases to help users restore access to crypto funds.
Seed phrases allow wallet vendors to recreate private keys authorizing ownership of crypto balances.
Reddit user Fjythefish said on the Cryptocurrency forum that Ledger was taking down posts, including theirs, that criticized Recovery.
The user also accused the company of fraud for saying that keys never leave the device.
“They are not only not listening to their customers, now they are trying to quiet us.”
The forum’s moderators have since taken the post down.
Ledger May Rue Track Record While Attempting to Restore Confidence
It may be difficult for Ledger to restore customer trust.
In December 2020, a hack saw the company lose the addresses of 270,000 Ledger owners. Customers cried foul despite the CEO’s reassuring them the hack would not compromise their crypto.
A second hack saw the hacker share the stolen information on an internet forum.
In response to the Recover fiasco, community members called for Ledger to open source code that could perhaps contain backdoors.
But open-sourcing the code may not help customers know which code is running on the device, co-founder Nicholas Bacca said.
Regardless, the company bowed to pressure and accelerated its open-source roadmap, releasing the technical details of an improved Recovery feature in a white paper yesterday.
Read our in-depth comparison between Ledger and Trezor here.
Icy_Mongoose_Ears called on Ledger to explain how it would fix its inability to identify seed phrase owners consistently.
Attempts to reach Ledger for comment proved unsuccessful at press time.
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