Ledger Just Made Buying Crypto Way Easier—Here's What Changed

Ledger’s rolling out a major upgrade to its Ledger Live app: you can now buy crypto directly through Topper, Uphold’s fiat-to-crypto on-ramp. It’s the 14th buying option they’ve added to the platform, and it marks a pretty big shift in how smoothly users can go from dollars to digital assets without leaving the wallet.

The On-Ramp Flood (But Where’s the Off-Ramp?)

Here’s the thing—Ledger’s crushing it on the buying side with 14 different on-ramp partners. But when it comes to selling crypto back to fiat? They’ve only got one option. That’s a massive gap. Why? Because setting up off-ramps is way more technically complex—it requires signing transactions directly on the hardware device. Ledger’s already working to fix this, but it’s slower going than adding buy options.

Who Is Topper?

Since launching in 2023, Topper’s quietly become a serious player: supporting 228 different crypto assets across 36 networks and operating in 150 countries. They just integrated Pix (Brazil’s instant bank transfer system) to capture more Latin American users. The real kicker? Topper’s planning to launch its off-ramp feature in Q4 2024—which could be game-changing for Ledger users who need to cash out.

The KYC Question

Ledger’s wallet itself doesn’t require KYC—that’s the whole point of self-custody. But here’s the tradeoff: when you use Topper to buy crypto, you’ll need to verify your identity. Topper claims their KYC process is “quick” and they have the highest transaction approval rate among on-ramp competitors. It’s the price of entry if you want fiat-to-crypto convenience.

Bottom line: This is how crypto goes mainstream. You’re not doing sketchy peer-to-peer exchanges anymore—you’re buying Bitcoin through your hardware wallet like it’s a normal financial product. Ledger’s just making that flow smoother.