The hardware wallet Trezor has been integrated as a password-less login option to Bitex, Coinpayments, CoinSimple, Osclass, and Strip4Bit. The Trezor login replaces the traditional email/username/password approach, and developers hope that more sites will add Trezor as a login option. BitStamp, Drupal, Slush Pool, and even Wordpress are on the “planning to integrate” list.
In addition, Trezor now supports Dash. This addition follows previously supported cryptocurrencies Litecoin, Viacoin, Mazacoin, and colored bitcoins. These coin types are supported via Trezor's integration with the wallets Coinprism, Electrum, Encompass, Multibit HD, and Mycelium (which Trezor staff now calls “Trezor apps”).
Marek “Slush” Palatinus, architect at Satoshi Labs (maker of Trezor), says:
”The idea of password-less logins is much older than Bitcoin. However, before Bitcoin there was no such infrastructure as hardware wallets available for common users. So as Bitcoin got more widespread, people began to think more about other possible benefits of private keys, which are kept in secret anyway.”
The purpose in eliminating the email/password approach is to increase security and privacy for Web users. When hacking and surveillance are very real threats, many rightfully feel exposed and vulnerable entering and storing passwords. Marek continues:
“Using passwords is major hassle of today's practical security; most of people simply reuse a few basic passwords across many websites, or they even use the same passwords everywhere. [...] Even people who use password managers may be victims of simple keyloggers run on their computers.”
Marek finished, “I believe [password-less] is the way to go. Our virtual identities are becoming more and more valuable in digital era and it's just a matter of time until people realize that.”
A complete list of Trezor login integrations can be found here.
