Cybersecurity startup GK8 scores $4M to conduct cryptocurrency transactions without connecting to the Internet

Israeli cybersecurity startup GK8 has secured $4 million seed round to develop the first-ever offline system for transaction cryptocurrencies.

According to the company, it uses proprietary cryptographic techniques to provide a cold wallet solution for clients while offering hot wallet functionalities. The solution will allow instant blockchain transactions of the digital wallet without the need to connect to the Internet, which GK8 eliminates the risks of cyberattacks.

“The product is unique in communication with blockchain to manage large amounts of money. The current cold wallet solutions try to decentralize the problem but don’t solve it,” CEO Lior Lamesh told Fortune.

Speaking to CoinDesk, Lamesh further explained that GK8 can record transactions while offline by using a “unidirectional connection,” which links its wallet directly to the blockchain, where it transfers assets like conventional wallets. The firm’s one-way signaling does not run on the Internet, and data can be uploaded without exposing the crypto owner on the Internet.

Describing its technology as “ledger agnostic,” Lamesh said that the solution can be used for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The funding round was led by Israel Discount Bank’s venture arm Discount Capital and Check Point co-founder Marius Nacht. Blockchain venture capital firm EdenBlock, iAngels, IDEAL-HLS, StratX, and Israel Innovation Authority also participated.

GK8’s technology is already integrated to secure and manage more than $1 billion in cryptocurrencies for clients such as eToro. Founded in July 2018, GK8 is run by two members, namely Lamesh and its CTO Shahar Shamai, who previously worked in a special defense unit that safeguards the digital assets of Israel.

Meanwhile, YOUNIQX Identity AG, a subsidiary of the Austrian State Printing House (OeSD), has developed a cold wallet solution dubbed as Chainlock, which “enables secure offline storage of digital currencies such as bitcoins. The cryptographic key is only known to the user where necessary.”

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