As a former quant analyst at Goldman Sachs Digital Assets, I’ve tracked crypto hardware wallets since 2016. Ledger’s sudden end-of-life notice for Nano S isn’t just a product phase-out—it’s a systemic betrayal of decentralization. With 4M+ users reliant on its open firmware, cutting support while monetizing upgrades reveals more than financial strategy: it’s behavioral manipulation disguised as technical limitation. Here’s why the data doesn’t lie—and why you should care.