The five-year-old digital asset company will allow users to buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies while maintaining full control of their private keys.
ShapeShift announced today, July 8, 2019, the launch of its latest platform to provide users with an end-to-end solution for securely controlling all aspects of their digital assets.
With the announcement of this new noncustodial platform, the five-year-old digital asset company will allow users to buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies while maintaining full control of their private keys.
According to ShapeShift Founder and CEO Erik Voorhees, the web-based platform is built entirely without custody and across multiple blockchains. The vision for this new platform will allow users to maintain control of their financial assets while participating in the crypto economy.
“The new ShapeShift is arguably the world’s first non-centralized multi-chain digital asset platform,” Voorhees said, per press material shared with Bitcoin Magazine. “It becomes the basis of self-sovereign finance and we’re immensely proud to bring this to market.”
In a press release, the company says that the platform is mainly aimed at international crypto users who have been searching for an easier interface without counterparty risk, as opposed to targeting institutions with custodial solutions.
Voorhees said that the new platform is a more holistic approach to “hodling, buying, selling, trading, tracking and managing digital assets across multiple blockchains.”
In September 2018, ShapeShift launched a controversial new loyalty program that required users to provide “basic personal details” as a result of stricter regulatory demands to comply with KYC and AML laws. The firm stated that users would still have full control and ownership over their funds and that the company would maintain its “noncustodial model” despite the new membership program.
The new platform will support over 50 digital assets, including bitcoin, ether and litecoin.
New methods for key storage will be provided by the company as the platform develops, but as of right now, users can integrate KeepKey or Trezor hardware wallets that they currently own.