A lot of cryptocurrency enthusiasts are looking for safe and secure ways to store their coins. That is only normal, as keeping funds on an exchange is never a smart decision by any means. Hardware wallets have been of great interest to a lot of enthusiasts as of late. SatoshiLabs has announced they will release a Trezor 2 in the near future, but what does it do differently compared to the first generation?

A Brief Look At The Upcoming Trezor 2 Wallet

It is always good to see hardware wallet manufacturers launch a new product. When SatoshiLabs introduced the original Trezor wallet, a lot of people immediately embraced it. That is only normal, as it is a powerful solution to secure and store Bitcoin, and comes at a rather affordable price as well. However, the company has been looking at ways to further improve their products, and the prototype of a Trezor 2 was displayed a few months ago.

The Trezor 2 prototype has been under development for quite some time now. It took a lot of time to improve upon an existing secure wallet already. Moreover, the original Trezor wallet has received some significant software updates over the past year and a half as well. It will be quite difficult to top the original device, albeit it seems the company has a few plans in mind to do exactly that. First of all, the Trezor 2 will come with a full-color touchscreen display, which is quite an interesting decision.

Furthermore, the Trezor 2 will include a MicroSD card slot, which can be used for separate data storage or as a way to keep a copy of private keys in an offline manner. Last but not least, the device’s processor will undergo some major changes as well  Having a faster processor is never a bad thing, although one can’t call the original Trezor a slow device by any means. However, the biggest changes will occur under the hood.

First of all, there will be the TREZOR Core, which is a collection of tools allowing for more community developer engagement. Anyone who enjoys working with the Trezor 2 can contribute code to the project moving forward by using the Python language. Additionally, developers can create custom versions of firmware if they prefer to do so. This sounds quite similar to flashing a custom ROM on an Android phone, which is always at your own risk.

This is quite a big development for the Trezor wallet, though. Having community members actively contribute to the code and introducing new features is a surprising turn of events. Satoshilabs will also be open to co-sign vendor headers, assuming the developed software holds up. Third-party firmware with signed vendor headers would grant more legitimacy to these creations. However, the company does not take responsibility for the safety of third-party code, that much is evident.

For the time being, it is unclear when the Trezor 2 will be made available for pre-order or what it will cost. The first generation of this device costs $99, and it is expected the next generation will come with a slightly higher price tag. We hope to receive more information from SatoshiLabs over the coming weeks and months. It is definitely a hardware wallet to look forward to.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.