Applying this principle, right from the start you should only use wallets that have no secure hardware component and are fully open-source—and the only ones that meet these criteria are:
- Trezor 1 and Trezor T
- Jade
- SeedSigner
Add a passphrase with more than 128 bits of entropy, and as of today, these are the most secure options.
Failing that, you can use them for multi-signature transactions.
Anyone who doesn’t understand why I’m saying this knows nothing about cryptography and is just an uninformed idiot.
And an old, offline PC running Linux encrypted via LUKS is also perfectly valid as a signing device, as long as you use a passphrase and avoid using TPM to encrypt the disk.
Cyph3rp9nk
Kerckhoffs' cryptography principle (also called Kerckhoffs' desideratum, assumption, axiom, doctrine, or law) was stated by Dutch cryptographer Auguste Kerckhoffs in the 19th century. The principle states that a cryptosystem must be secure even if everything about the system, except the key, is public knowledge. This concept is widely adopted by cryptographers, in contrast to security through obscurity, which is not."
Most hardware wallets violate this principle.
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Replies (16)
What about Krux? Or SpecterDIY?
I would like to recommend SeedSigner since I have used it and have personally hanged out with the guy behind it who is a solid individual.
View quoted note →As long as they are completely open source and have no secure elements, they fully meet the requirements.
But I don't know about this specific case.
What about bitbox
It has a secure element
What exactly is the issue with secure elements?
They're a black box that I don't know what it does, and it violates Kerckhoffs' cryptography principle.
I couldn’t agree with you more, and I’d add one more nuance: anything that isn't agnostic is out.
I’ve always thought that telling people a hardware wallet is a device that 'stores' their seed is a fatal mistake. The device shouldn't store your seed; it should be a tool comparable to a keyboard. A hardware wallet is a SIGNING DEVICE. You power it on, enter your seed, sign, disconnect, and everything is wiped.
I’m sticking with my SeedSigner, my Krux, and my librebooted and (physically) air-gapped ThinkPad running Tails, which was my first hardware wallet.
Thank you so much, I nearly lost all my corn yesterday and didn’t live close to my device
All is ok for now
This is Bitcoins 9/11
Everyone said coldcard was secure and “open source” but it turns out that has a different meaning depending on who you ask (great)
Their logo is don’t trust verify
They have the longest running HWD and in fairness, sell other nice kit
And in fairness, literally say on their website to dice roll to back up against this
But man, their whole business has been a lie for years with this bug. Years
The thing is, Bitcoin doesn’t care. You can swallow as much info as you want from “OGs”, even Andreas Anton said this was secure
But Bitcoin doesn’t care and you just need to move the fuck on
Gm
they just need to be open source. the principle of eliminating side channels physically does not mean the design is closed.
But even for seed generation?
Its actually interesting that you mentioned an old linux pc. The old part really matters imo. Who knows what kind of hardware based survailance crap newer PCs/chips/motherboards have. Even airgaped, I still trust an older pc more. It might be silly, but I think there were times when there was not as much survailance incentives by the hardware makers. I might be completely wrong and its just wishful thinking 😅
Not trying to say it's enough, but they also claim to combine 5 different sources of entropy some of which are not based on the HW, so the coldcard flaw shouldn't be possible? What about seed generation with dices through the bitbox? Would that be safe? From what I understand the HW would generate only the last word? Thanks
Yes dice roll always good, ironically it’s still ok to do with a cold card now but I would stay away from their products totally now
If you dice roll, none of the generation stuff really matters.
I’d still get a jade - it’s an arms race and air gapping is a bit of a scam. This is what’s fundamentally really more important
