pull down to refresh

(open-source, Touch ID-gated, ledger-level security, 100 % free)
TL;DR: We ripped Specter open, jammed the private key inside your Macโ€™s Secure Enclave, and bolted Touch ID in front of the signing button. No dongles, no USB firmware roulette, no โ€œwhereโ€™s my Ledger PIN?โ€ panic. Just run the app (or build it from source), pair it with your node, and your laptop becomes the safest cosigner you already own.

๐Ÿฅท What makes it different?

  • Macโ€™s Secure Enclave key never leaves the chip; Touch ID โ‰ˆ hardware-wallet button
  • Ships 2-of-3 by default: Enclave key + hardware wallet + remote descriptor
  • Entire signing path in Swift + CryptoKit, 1 700 LOC.
  • No USB required; PSBTs move via NFC (if you have iPhone) or animated QR.

๐Ÿ’ก How it works

  • specter-enclave init: generates a BIP-32 root inside Secure Enclave (non-extractable).
  • specter-enclave export-xpub: dumps xpub to pair with Bitcoin Core โ†’ watch-only wallet.
  • When you build a PSBT, Specter prompts Touch ID โ†’ Enclave signs โ†’ PSBT broadcast.
  • Optional: add a Coldcard/Tapsigner as second key; Enclave enforces 2-of-3.

๐Ÿ† 250 k sat lightning bounties

  • Improvement / Bugfix PR = 10 000 sats.
  • Full code-review write-up = 50 000 sats.
  • Critical bug = up to 250 000 sats.

๐Ÿ”ฎ Coming next

  • Secure Enclave + YubiKey 2-of-2 mod (no hot storage at all).
  • iPhone watch-only companion โ€“ scan QR, push PSBT to laptop for Touch ID sign.
  • Kernel Panic Kill-Switch โ€“ steal-my-laptop and the Enclave key nukes itself.

๐Ÿ‘‰ Grab it, audit it, roast it.

Because the best hardware wallet is the one you already paid Apple to solder into the motherboard. ๐Ÿโšก๏ธ
(MIT licence, forked from Specter Desktop 2025-05-16)
100 sats \ 3 replies \ @k00b 17h
The fork only has two commits which update the README (one of which is to download software): https://github.com/cryptoadvance/specter-desktop/compare/master...CryptOpenDevelopment:specter-desktop:master
Where are the other changes?
jammed the private key inside your Macโ€™s Secure Enclave, and bolted Touch ID in front of the signing button
Are they in the binary you're linking to? Can those changes be verified?
reply
The Touch ID / Secure Enclave magic isnโ€™t in that two-commit demo branch at all. All the code lives in a separate module (specter-enclave) that we keep in its own repo and pull in at build time. The README edits just point macOS users at the notarised DMG. Nothing is โ€œonly in the binaryโ€โ€Š, โ€Šyou can reproducibly rebuild the exact same DMG from source in about 15 minutes.
reply
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 15h
Is the source for specter-enclave open? (I search the repo but GH says it's being indexed.)
reply
Yep, 100 % open-source ๐Ÿ‘ Repo just went live so GHโ€™s code search is still indexing it.
reply
What's like this, but on anything other than a Mac - like Windows, phone, etc?
Basically, what are the "alternative' hardware wallets?
The Nunchuk app is one, I think.
reply
Nunchuk for mobile multisig, Sparrow/ Specter + hardware signer for any desktop OS.
reply