Oddbean new post about login | logout Supply chain attacks are more than a theoretical thing and they happen at scale. If adversaries can hide enough explosives in pagers to kill or hurt thousands, how can you be sure your hardware wallet is what it says on the box? Some hardware wallets come in transparent casings and while that might help to detect explosives, it's more of a gimmick when it comes to hidden antennas or chips. But what can we do to still be safe? Commodity hardware like @SeedSigner? Multi signature? Who has an answer? @stick @Foundation @NVK @BitBox @Blockstream @Keystone
Exactly the right question. Of course we all wish we could buy some $100 device and have it protect our wealth. I’m less and less inclined to think this is the way forward. The fiat system with AI bots stealing identities, KYC, surveillance, and hackers also isn’t the way.
Maybe same solution as gun bans: "3D printed" hardware wallets with easy to get open source hardware and software.
That's the @SeedSigner approach. But self-assembly is not for everybody.
Those "not everybody" will probably use custodial accounts anyway...
Probably building it yourself. If you didn’t build it yourself, it should at least be easy to take apart and inspect.
I sort of agree here. Trezor is proud of the tamper-evident welding but a sophisticated attacker that would attack at scale could easily fake it. Better make it such that you can easily open it.