After discontinuing support for its Nano S hardware wallet, Ledger has left users across social media platforms expressing dismay, citing business necessities as the primary reason for this sudden change.
In a spring update released last month, Ledger announced it would cease supporting the Nano S, ceasing feature updates and compatibility enhancements. The wallet provider had previously hinted at this transition in April.
Launched in 2016, the Nano S is entering its ninth iteration, which Ledger cites as a technical limitation due to its “limited storage capacity.” The company contends that the device cannot support modern blockchain features or security protocols.
Users notice announcement belated adoption
Though the official notice was posted last month, many users only discovered the news recently, sparking frustration. One Ethereum developer expressed alarm: “Very uncool to effectively force anyone to buy and enter the seed into a new device.”
“I understand you’re a business but don’t play with backwards compatibility, many rely on our devices,” added Pcaversaccio, questioning Ledger’s business rationale.
Legacy device growing concerns
The transition marks a significant blow for Nano S users who have relied on the device. “A major bummer,” one user noted before cautioning affected community members to secure their seed phrases.
The company discourages users from maintaining older devices, emphasizing that users must “upgrade to another Ledger device” to retain security and compatibility. The No Longer Supported notice explicitly states features will cease updating indefinitely.
Mixed security opinions
Some questioned whether the devices actually become unusable after support downtime. A Tornado Cash developer asserted: “I stopped updating years ago when Ledger introduced required features. It doesn’t need updates to work.”
However, security experts caution any device no longer receiving updates may become increasingly vulnerable to compromised firmware and compatibility issues with newer blockchains.
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