The payments company confirmed in a tweet on Thursday
shortly before US Senator Elizabeth Warren flagged growing risks posed to
consumers and financial markets by the cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin wallets can be stored offline or online at
cryptocurrency exchanges, venues where Bitcoin can be bought and sold for
traditional currencies or other virtual coins.
With a non-custodial wallet, you have sole control of your
private keys, which in turn control your cryptocurrency, and prove the funds
are yours. With a custodial wallet, another party controls your private keys.
Most custodial wallets are Web-based exchange wallets.
"We have decided to build a hardware wallet and service
to make Bitcoin custody more mainstream...", Jesse Dorogusker, head of
hardware at Square said in a twitter thread.
Many companies have emerged to serve a growing need to
protect their assets from online theft.
Last month, Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey hinted in a
tweet that the company was considering creating a non-custodial hardware wallet
for Bitcoin. Dorsey is also the chief executive of Twitter.
Cryptocurrencies reached a record capitalisation of $2
trillion in April, but US oversight of the market remains patchy.
Warren, a former US presidential candidate, on Thursday
raised concerns in a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary
Gensler, in an effort that could help lay the groundwork for legislation to
regulate the fast-growing cryptocurrency market.