Published on: 2013-04-29T16:50:59+00:00
Crypto Stick, an open-source USB key for encryption and secure authentication, has been accepted as a mentor organization for Google Summer of Code (GSOC) 2013. One of their project ideas is to develop a physical Bitcoin wallet based on the Smart Card Wallet concept. This project aims to create a hardware wallet that can securely store private keys for Bitcoin transactions. However, there are certain challenges that need to be addressed. Peter Todd, a member of the Bitcoin-development mailing list, highlighted the need for a display on hardware Bitcoin wallets. This display would allow the wallet to show where the coins being signed are being sent. Additionally, support for the upcoming payment protocol would be necessary to verify that the address is actually the intended recipient's address.The current Crypto Stick hardware does not have a button for user interaction, which further complicates the development of a physical Bitcoin wallet. Todd acknowledged that PGP smart cards and USB keys already face similar problems, but the consequences of signing the wrong document are usually less severe than sending funds to a thief. Despite these challenges, Todd expressed excitement at the possibility of adding ECC key support to the Crypto Stick in the future.The original post in the Bitcoin-development mailing list included a link to the opencryptotoken project, which offers ECC capabilities and is based on an Atmel microcontroller. The suggestion was made that adding a display to the Crypto Stick would be straightforward using this project as a reference.In addition to the discussion on the development of a physical Bitcoin wallet, the email thread also included a promotion for New Relic, a SaaS-based application performance monitoring service. This promotion was unrelated to the main topic of conversation.Overall, the development of a physical Bitcoin wallet using the Crypto Stick as a base presents both technical challenges and exciting possibilities for enhancing the security and usability of hardware wallets. Interested students can apply for this project through Google Melange until May 3rd, and if accepted, will receive mentoring and financial support from Google.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T04:47:23.266132+00:00