Samsung invests in keyless crypto wallet “ZenGo”

ZenGo, a project that aims to provide keyless crypto wallet, has raised $4 million from Benson Oak Ventures, Samsung, and Elron, The Block reported.

Currently, in private beta, ZenGo aims to accelerate mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies by addressing a major pain point – the process of writing down private key and storing it safely. It leverages a unique cryptographic protocol to ensure security and ease of use.

“ZenGo uses open source threshold cryptography to replace the private key and all the troubles related to securely managing non-custodial wallets. Our solution eliminates the typical friction points of onboarding and backup and does so without the existence of a single point of failure,” ZenGo said in an online post.

“ZenGo is easy to backup, simple to recover, and guarantees that only the customer has control of their funds.”

Similar to multi-sig, threshold signatures require cooperation from multiple parties to initiate a crypto transaction.

“Instead of using a traditional private key, the message is signed using a public key and multiple secret shares held by the participating parties,” ZenGo explained.

For sending a transaction, ZenGo’s system uses a “two-of-two” signature system which requires two “shares” – one from the user and one from ZenGo. Further, the encrypted copy of a share is stored on ZenGo’s server and the decryption code on the user’s iCloud account.

All this happens in the backend. Users who wish to send transactions just need to scan their face via Apple’s FaceID feature to approve a transaction.

“Sending crypto is like sending a message…Its deeply human and I cared about making that experience more human,” CEO Ouriel Ohayon told The Block. “As I learned about it [crypto] I was shocked by how prehistorical solutions were…even the best ones.”

Responding to the concerns over shut down of ZenGo’s server, Ohayon said that they are planning to hire an independent trustee to trigger a share recovery process and allow ZenGo’s users to continue using its service.