What’s the point of them being focused? If they have the resources to expand, then it’s a logical thing to do. It’s not like their team will stay the same size when they expand, the team is also growing, so “focusing” would have little value.
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I don’t want to see a Proton browser and search engine and a Proton messaging service, for example, as this will compete with players who are already well established and fulfilling their roles.
I’m mentioning this because in their latest survey these were options proposed and some people in the community are asking for this kind of thing.
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Whats the point of focusing developer energy on the core product base they have?
The point is their software suite is okay, on some OSes good even. On some platforms its utterly unusable.
Protons mission is to make privacy accessible for everyone, I can get behind that. But bitcoin isnt private and its a niche. How does this advance privacy in any meaningful way?
I’ve had my disagreements with their management before, but i could understand the mission fit and scope. This? I have no idea what this is. I’m beginning to grow uncomfortable with this company. Yubikey only access has been a requested feature for 2 years and you roll a wallet out before covering the bare minimums? Come on.
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well… if they had the resources to write a browser from scratch and not do the usual gecko-fork or chromium-fork and if they made an independent search engine it wouldn’t suck for me 
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Proton Mail on Linux is still in beta, the Drive is still pending, it would be nice to be able to use a different password between Proton Pass and the other Proton services.
SimpleLogin is still not fully integrated with Proton Pass and we’re still waiting to be able to connect to Standard Notes with a Proton account… in short, there are priorities before thinking about a crypto wallet for an extreme niche of users.
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@Proton_Team Please explain to the people above how businesses work and that Proton Wallet’s development doesn’t affect other services development speed.
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That’s correct, we have separate product teams that we’re building out rather than pulling from existing teams.
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I think that what Proton is trying to do with Proton Wallet is great, but I don’t like the choice of the cryptocurrency, Monero is way better.
Centralized payment systems are the biggest menace to our privacy, freedom, and ownership. While cash still exists, it’s not nearly as convenient and flexible as online payments. That’s why we need cryptocurrencies.
This video talks about how cashless society would be the biggest nightmare:
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I think a blog post about this should be published. It’d clear the thoughts of some people.
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This was so unexpected really.
Seem at odds with strategy outlined with CEO of first focusing on making existing product, then having a MS Office alternative.
But, a wallet?
After some thoughts, this really make sense. This can attract a whole new group of people to Proton, and they might choose to use the rest of the Suite.
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The main goal is to introduce people to cryptocurrencies in a user friendly, private, and secure way. Cryptocurrencies are important for financial freedom.
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I’d argue that while bitcoin sucks, its also the biggest cryptocurrency thats known to the public. My parents have heard of bitcoin, they haven’t heard of Etherium, Monero, or Z cash. With that in mind releasing with just bitcoin support and expanding to other currency’s over time makes sense when trying to grab the mainstream market and maybe even transition them to more private options such as Monero. Its also nice to see that they aren’t trying to introduce their own crypto like everyone else is. I think that overall this is a good step and something I will most likely use once I have access to it.
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I just know there is a Linux user in the Proton subreddit complaining about Proton releasing another service without fixing what is wrong with their current services.
Edit: took me about 2 minutes to find a complainer.
Personally, I do think the complainers have a point.
First, thanks for the new feature. Always impressed with the work Proton is doing!
There are a few questions about payments in this thread. Has anyone at Proton considered adding a mullvad like top up mechanism? (Mullvad uses a unique number, allowing you to top up without logging in)
Example scenario: Someone is in a coma, wakes up to find their entire digital life at Proton deleted because it reverted to free tier. Would there be a way others could top up an account number without having to login?
Thanks
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That’s… Very niche. I would be more interested to receive a way to pass on a bitcoin wallet in case of death/coma than this. I think its now kind of handled woth oassword manager, “emergency access” in bitwarden I yhink its called.
@Proton_Team I’ve been reading the bitcoin guide for new user and the send and receive bitcoin documentation and its very well done. Pass along my good vibes to the documentation team.
As for the product idea, not sure. Right now paying things with cryoto is a hassle and I don’t feel that i gives me more than non crypto, especially since its not even private with KYC. But well see in the future if this change, and Ill continue to keep a look at this.
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I can see arguments to add/use certain cryptocurrencies either based on popularity (like Bitcoin) or anonymity (Monero). Besides Monero, I’ve never really been interested in Crypto, so I wonder whether there are more arguments for other currencies, for example based on features. If someone more in the know could enlighten me, I’d be grateful!
That’s certainly concerning. Proton has been killing it lately but the writing has been on the wall for years and years now that Bitcoin is solely the realm of investors and scammers which provides no value to the world at the cost of absurd resource usage.
I’m not a huge fan of Monero either but at least in that case they would be promoting something with a purpose that fits with their stated mission: privacy. Bitcoin is worse on that front than just using a credit card.
Actively promoting something so irresponsible has me already seriously doubting the new foundation model will do anything but give a friendly cover for choices like this. Sigh, what a mess.
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I’m inclined to agree, unfortunately. This is a dangerously misunderstood fact about Bitcoin. I’m not sure why popularity trumps privacy in this case, there are plenty of compromises Proton could make in the name of popular features, and they didn’t do so up until now.
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Looks interesting, at least for the less tech savvy users. Can definitely see using it as a launchpad to direct my family members to understand crypto. Although I hope Proton does not become just a feature factory.
I also don’t think Monero would come easily, irrespective of how much demand Proton sees. Proton caters to Privacy and Security in the Privacy-Security-Anonymity triangle (kinda like signal), and Monero is firmly in anonymity zone.
Proton is trying to become a mainstream, sustainable initiative with strong community and enterprise clients, catering to fringe/smaller groups does not seem a priority (especially looking at the state of niche features, Linux platform support, etc.). I don’t necessarily hate it, since they are clear about the threat model and the customer they serve, but the community might hear crypto and grab their pitchforks.
I am not a fan of cryptocurrencies in the current form, because they make it very hard to tax wealth, especially illegally obtained wealth.
Income can be sorted, but existing wealth basically remains untouched. Cool for those having it, bad for the rest.
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