100 sats \ 2 replies \ @dtonon 16 Dec 2023 \ on: hardware wallet thoughts bitcoin
The main goal of a HW is to keep the seed always offline, while make it available to sign transactions. Of course this cannot be replaced by a USB memory. Eventually a PC without any wireless hardware, that has never been online, can be a solution.
This is where I get confused. A slab of metal with seed words is always offline, however it cannot sign a tx. Great for long term hodling in my view.
A dedicated hardware wallet is offline, but it must connect in some way to sign a tx. In my mind, it is then not always offline. I don't see how that differs from a USB that is pulled out of a device and is laying in a desk drawer.
Maybe a hardware wallet, via encryption, can "send" info only one direction? I don't know, just thinking here.
reply
An HW receives a unsigned transaction from the wallet, signs it and sends it back. So first of all it is a computer, not just a dumb storage. The receive/send parts can be done with a cable connection, wireless (bluetooth) or better in a completely air-gapped fashion, so with qr codes or via a removable media (usually a micro SD).
So an HW is technically always offline. Even if it is compromised (hacked firmware) it cannot send the seed to a malicious endpoint. Unless the wallet on the main PC is also compromised; for this reason you should always use HW and wallet from different sources!
Instead, the first time you put your USB memory with a plain seed in a compromised PC, you are over.
My suggestion about HW is SeedSigner, paired with Sparrow. Search HM for more info.
But don't trust, verify. Online there are a lot of resources from various companies about their products and the general operative logics. Thanks for time to study and learn.
reply