On Thursday, Block, a prominent payment company founded by Jack Dorsey, announced plans to launch a beta program for its self-custodial Bitcoin wallet Bitkey. The Block team confirmed to work closely with its financial service partners CashApp and Coinbase to conduct beta trials for Bitkey Wallet.
In a blog post dated June 14, the Block stated that the expected beta test for Bitkey will be launched soon. In the primary beta phase, the public can explore the Bitkey wallet at zero cost.
Procedure for Bitkey Beta Trials
The beta process will involve conducting product trials using Bitcoin. The customers will be required to provide insights to a survey concerning the products. Others will be invited by the Block team for an interview to further elaborate on the new product’s features and function.
The information gathered from the surveys will be utilized in restructuring the Bitkey wallet to ensure it meets the customer’s needs. However, the Block anticipates officially rolling out Bitkey later this year.
At the initial development of Bitkey wallet, the Block had partnered with Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US by trading volume and Cash app. The partnership aimed to support the Block in developing an oriented payment platform. This implies that the Bitkey user can withdraw their Bitcoin assets seamlessly without the approval of friction of standards such as copy and paste features.
According to the partnership agreement, customers can more effectively trade their Bitcoin assets through the Cashapp and Coinbase platforms. The developers confirmed to have launched a Bitkey mobile application to improve the payment process.
Notably, the Bitkey wallet has integrated the recovery tools through multi-signature hardware. Based on the Block report, the beta trials for the hardware wallet will require the user to send and receive Bitcoin. Also, to access other basic functions, the user must complete the authentication process necessary for unlocking the wallet.
Block Partners with Coinbase and CashAPP
The Block announcement revealed that the initial beta test was available for the employees. Currently, the Bitkey wallet is listed under the ticker symbol SQ. After completing the Beta phases, the Block team plans to introduce the wallet to promising markets in the US, Canada, Australia, and some parts of Europe.
In March, the Block shared the roadmap of Bitkey Wallet, which aimed at supporting over 100 million individuals to have complete control of their assets through Bitcoin. The fintech company urged the community to collaborate with the Bitkey project team in attaining their common goal.
In the blog post, the Block team expressed optimism that the strategic partnership with other tech companies will support the customers to realize their financial independence through an advanced Bitcoin self-custodial wallet.
A report from Coinbase argued that the partnership aims at providing the user with various products such as Coinbase One and Bitkey. The crypto exchange intends to support the Bitkey wallet to improve the conversion of Bitcoin to fiat currencies.
The report stated that Bitkey’s main objective in creating self-custody mirrors Coinbase’s latest development in improving the accessibility of the digital wallet and educating investors on ways to have full ownership of their Bitcoins.
On the other hand, CashApp has been allowing users to purchase their Bitcoin for years. The CashApp application has integrated Bitcoin payment options and other features to receive BTC via the lightning network.
Reportedly the 46 years old programmer has invested heavily in the development of the Bitcoin space. In light of this development, Jack Dorsey-led projects have prioritized establishing Bitcoin mining infrastructure and suites of on-ramp tools. A few days ago, Dorsey funding group Start Small pledged to donate $5 million to Brink to support Bitcoin core developers.
