I liked the coldcard, but not getting the new device with keyboard for this very reason. If I cant charge for supporting it, or building something custom, I dont see the point in digging into it.
Relatedly I was opposed to start 9 until they finally open sourced their os last week.
Open source is how we all win, source available is just about wielding the state to build regulatory moats. Pretty to sad to see from a company that’s been in the space this long.
Thankfully lots of good projects that actually care about open source freedom tech in the space 🙂
Is there a decent resource of information for coldcards / signing devices / solutions that are truly open? A matrix / rating would be quite useful. I’ve recently started exploring procuring such solutions and have found it difficult to make a good decision on such items.
Comes down to your specific wants and needs.
while walletscrutiny.com is a good starting resource for software reproducibility, to my knowledge there isnt one for hardware vs licenses and the features available.
i will continue to use coldcard as its affordable and no other devices offer its full feature set. yet.
if you dont need remote access as a HSM like coldcard offers when paired with ckbunker (99.9% of users dont), then consider the following:
- blockstream jade (simple device but unless setting up your own server for login to use it requires the blockstream server. sealed, MIT)
- trezor (open, but no secure element and private key retained on device. must use passphrase, sealed, MIT)
- seedsigner (open source software on top of general purpose hardware you acquire and assemble where chipset is neither open nor source available, must physically secure, unsealed, MIT)
- foundation devices passport (initially modeled after coldcard, catalyst for nvk license change, it offers the essentials for most use cases and improved privacy support with whirlpool, sealed, Apache/BSD/GPL/MIT)
sealed = physically sealed, tamper evident
Ty Vic. That’s a super helpful and a thoughtful, well written reply to assist in my learning space currently.
I’m playing around with Trezor and Jade currently. I was plan on building out a seedsigner based device, but it is useful to state the chipset item in that use-case.
I was considering coldcard.
I just started playing around with Nunchuk and Jade this morning, with the intent of exploring multiple /layered hardware based keys.
What are your thoughts on the NFC cards from coinkite? Tap signer?
I just procured an sats card from coinkite. I think the technology on paper behind the sats is quite interesting and unique.
Overall I assume coinkite has contributed majorly in this space, despite the grumbling on the licensing approach, yes?
Cheers! Have a good day.
