Airbitz Major Wallet Overhaul Leads to New Brand, New Company: Edge

Airbitz, a popular bitcoin wallet, announced under an embargoed press release undone as of this writing, it is rebranding itself ‘Edge’. “Airbitz is now Edge,” the release begins before explaining why the San Diego-based company is moving forward in such a manner.

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Airbitz is Now Edge

San Diego-based Airbitz announced that it is overhauling its popular wallet, and while doing so is rebranding anew as well. Airbitz is now Edge. Bitcoiners are no doubt familiar with its “focusing on client side security that is not only incredibly private, but also familiar and accessible,” the company notes. At its foundation is the concept of decentralization, one crucial to Satoshi’s vision of Bitcoin as a network as well as a currency.

“This is what we call security at the ‘edges’ of the network,” Edge began. “We have all seen the consequences of the over-centralization of data security with hack after hack after hack.”

Edge Wallet

“Written from the ground up, Edge Wallet employs a modular architecture that allows it to secure and transact with any blockchain or token,” the press release continued.

“Developers of other blockchains are welcome to contribute support for their blockchain through a simple plugin which enables Edge to transact their digital currency.”

With Segwit transaction support for bitcoin and litecoin, the new wallet “will ship with support for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Augur REP, Wings, and Matryx tokens,” Edge claims. Another purported feature is allowing users to “seamlessly convert funds between the various digital currencies and tokens” with “tightly integrated support for Shapeshift.”

Edge also plans to exploit decentralized applications (dapps). Users will be able “to authenticate and see the funds used in dapps that utilize our Edge Security SDK.”

This will help in the new company’s efforts to eliminate users “having to copy and paste addresses to send and receive funds between a blockchain app and a wallet.” Edge Wallet, the company insists, will allow users “to login to partner apps such as Augur and Wings with just the scan of a bar code. After authenticating with the dapp, users will be able to see and transact the same Ether, REP, and Wings funds.”

In its previous incarnation as Airbitz, the company’s claims to fame included one-touch two factor authentication, first ever bitcoin Cuba transaction, and the invention of Bluetooth low energy bitcoin transactions.

Its new website concludes how historically data security has been “left to large organizations which act as trusted custodians of valuable information. This model of security has created large ‘honey pots’ of data that make these organizations very attractive targets for hackers and attackers.”

Edge wants to be an answer to that problem, as “data security must happen at the edges of our networks.”

“Once widely deployed, our Edge Security platform will make large scale data breaches a relic of the past,” the new company proclaims.

What are your thoughts on mainstreaming bitcoin among such exchanges? Tell us in the comments below!

Images courtesy of: Pixabay, Airbitz, Edge. news.Bitcoin.com Lead Writer Jamie Redman contributed sourcing for this article.

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