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615 sats \ 3 replies \ @xanny 14 Apr 2023 \ on: Can we please have inconspicuous hardware wallets? bitcoin
The Coldcard definitely doesn't scream "loads of wealth in Bitcoin here!" Just looks like a funky 90's calculator.
Yes and no. There is still some branding visible. If the person going through your stuff recognizes the branding it's game over. I have been thinking about the fact that it looks like a calculator or maybe an old 2FA bank token (those were popular in the UK like a decade ago, not sure now) but the problem is that it does not behave like one. Imagine my example with some LEOs checking your pockets. What is that? Oh it's a calculator. Can you turn it on? Game over again because if I recall correctly Coldcard devices require external battery and even if they had a battery installed there is still a matter of the software. You turn on such a device and it either states what it is or in the best case scenario, just asks for a pin. Well, that's not how a calculator behaves. It would be nice if the software of this kind of devices had like two modes: if you just turn it on, it goes to dump calculator mode or even just display an error, pretending it's broken, and the other actual hww mode that you can go into only if you turn it on e.g. holding one of other buttons, etc. I know I am a bit paranoid but if we want to pretend that Coldcard is a calculator then lets make sure it can hold to this story longer than 3 seconds.
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generic chinese calculator stealth wallet sounds like a great idea. With front facing calculator function and a key combo or longpress to unlock the wallet.
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Here's some similar ideas for stealth hardware wallets:
- An old TV remote (communicates with a computer via IR, the computer acts as a display for the HWW). If someone found an old TV remote in your bag, they'd be confused and you could just say it was your grandma's remote and it's the only possession of her's that survived the war (don't say which war, just pause and gaze off into the distance).
- A handheld label printer. Ideally, it would still be able to print, and the HWW functionality would be hidden behind a cheatcode that you type or try to print.
- A dumb phone with a graphical display.
- An MP3 player/recorder running Rockbox. If you get one with a mic or audio-in jack, then you could transfer transaction data into it that way.
- One of those portable monitors. Monitors have buttons and a display.
- A desk VoIP phone. They have displays, buttons, audio in, and audio out. Just tell the TSA agent that your idiotic manager is flying you out to install the phone.
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