Reasonable Price For A Hardware Wallet

[PR06AM3R]

Considering dev of a hardware wallet for Bitcoin as well as possibly Litecoin integration along with whatever else the user wishes. Essentially it will be done on a cheap tablet that has been flashed with a minimal Linux distro, ports blocked, a few security tweaks, base programs such as BitcoinQT and Armory installed and then having it all configured for easy and secure use as a secure wallet for your Bitcoins. Initially was going to do it via other means however already manufactured tablets seem to be the cheapest means to get this done since I don't have $100,000 to throw into manufacturing a device. What would be a reasonable amount people are willing to pay for a dedicated hardwallet? Currently I cannot find a tablet that will be able to run Linux for under $100 with the shipping to me since I'm in Aus. Would a markup of $20 seem fair aswell? Don't want to put a large markup on it as I want this to be to help Bitcoin grow and provide people with an easy and secure method of storing their bitcoins.

Thoughts?

[Massimo80]

Thoughts?

That would be a waste of a perfectly good tablet.

A tablet would be vastly overpowered and overcomplicated for only running a wallet software.
Besides, why buying a software-locked tablet which can only run a Bitcoin wallet instead of just buying the same model at its retail price and installing a wallet software on it?

[PR06AM3R]

To ensure extra security as well as being able to run Armory via Linux for easy backups.

[Massimo80]

To ensure extra security as well as being able to run Armory via Linux for easy backups.

You would have to buy the tablet at price X, apply your customizations and lockdowns and sell it at price X+Y in order to earn something from it.

An end user could just buy the very same tablet at price X and be able to run everything he wants on it, not only a wallet software (which he could anyway install on his own).

You'd be basically selling a car which can only travel on a single road, while anybody can buy the same car at a lower price and travel anywhere he wants.

This just doesn't make sense.


The whole hardware wallet idea makes instead a lot of sense. But it has to be cheap and stripped down to its bare needs, not a repurposed and locked-down general device.

[Massimo80]

The whole hardware wallet idea makes instead a lot of sense. But it has to be cheap and stripped down to its bare needs, not a repurposed and locked-down general device.

On a second thought, the hardware wallet idea doesn't make much sense, either.

Everybody who could possibly be even remotely interested in using Bitcoins owns at least a smartphone and probably a tablet too, and can install any readily available wallet software on it. Why bring another device along?

[PR06AM3R]

The real point of it is as an alternative to cold storage methods for large amounts of bitcoins where it is a pain to spend them when you wish. While yes a hotwallet on a regular device is fine for small amounts people with a few $1000 in bitcoin would want to store them safely and be able to use them without the pain of offline transaction signing or sweeping paper wallets every time they want to access their funs. All current OS even Android have some security flaws through regular use thus the point of having a dedicated hardwallet. The price is a little high at $100 though BFL's Bitsafe is $150 at the least and even that only uses Bitcoin while this will atleast be able to support multiple Cryptos due to being on Linux. If I could do it for $50 I would and have looked at ways to do this with Wifi, cameras, touchscreens and havn't found any.

[leopard2]

it needs to be simple, small, black and white, credit card sized-much like a calculator but thinner. calculators don't get hacked and traced, mobile phones all the time.

no software that can be changed from the outside, except flashing bios-style

dedicated cryptocurrency wallet nothing else

$100 maybe, if it can fit in a purse and can do btc/ltc?

like this

http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/14/coin-the-electronic-credit-card-reaches-its-pre-order-goal-in-40-minutes/

http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/02/coin-video-demo/

(these things can do 8 ccards, so why not a wallet that can do 8 cryptos)

[Massimo80]

it needs to be simple, small, black and white, credit card sized-much like a calculator but thinner. calculators don't get hacked and traced, mobile phones all the time.

And how do you plan to actually connect it to the Internet without a mobile phone connection? Using only wireless? What happens if you want to make a payment and there isn't an available access point around?

[ChuckBuck]

What's wrong with just using our smartphones?  It serves the function fine, what would a hardware wallet do differently?

I personally don't see a need or market for it.

[leopard2]

What's wrong with just using our smartphones?  It serves the function fine, what would a hardware wallet do differently?

I personally don't see a need or market for it.

The fact that they trace you 24x7?

The fact that these things get hacked all the time?

I would not carry a hardware wallet with me if it has the ability to connect to the cellular network and there is absolutely fucking no way I will store more than chumpchange on a mobile phone. These fucking things don't even do a proper full system encryption!!!

Is it even necessary to have internet connection for the PAYOR? Paper wallets don't. Couldn't it work such that a merchant has a device that does all the work? AFAIK hardware wallets don't store the blockchain so why do they need internet access?

And for p2p payments, a simple infrared transmission, like air gap wallets work? Pardon me if I write nonsense  

[ChuckBuck]

What's wrong with just using our smartphones?  It serves the function fine, what would a hardware wallet do differently?

I personally don't see a need or market for it.

The fact that they trace you 24x7?

The fact that these things get hacked all the time?

I would not carry a hardware wallet with me if it has the ability to connect to the cellular network and there is absolutely fucking no way I will store more than chumpchange on a mobile phone. These fucking things don't even do a proper full system encryption!!!

Is it even necessary to have internet connection for the PAYOR? Paper wallets don't. Couldn't it work such that a merchant has a device that does all the work? AFAIK hardware wallets don't store the blockchain so why do they need internet access?

And for p2p payments, a simple infrared transmission, like air gap wallets work? Pardon me if I write nonsense  

Don't most smartphone's nowadays have QR scanners and NFC on it?  You could just shutoff mobile network and wifi if you're that paranoid.

[MoonShadow]

What's wrong with just using our smartphones?  It serves the function fine, what would a hardware wallet do differently?

I personally don't see a need or market for it.

The fact that they trace you 24x7?

The fact that these things get hacked all the time?

I would not carry a hardware wallet with me if it has the ability to connect to the cellular network and there is absolutely fucking no way I will store more than chumpchange on a mobile phone. These fucking things don't even do a proper full system encryption!!!

Is it even necessary to have internet connection for the PAYOR? Paper wallets don't. Couldn't it work such that a merchant has a device that does all the work? AFAIK hardware wallets don't store the blockchain so why do they need internet access?

And for p2p payments, a simple infrared transmission, like air gap wallets work? Pardon me if I write nonsense  

Don't most smartphone's nowadays have QR scanners and NFC on it?  You could just shutoff mobile network and wifi if you're that paranoid.

I've literally done this.  Useful android pohones without services are cheap on ebay, if all you need is to occasionally start up the wifi radio to upgrade or connect.  Getting the wallet app installed without the service (whihcis required for Google Play) is no small feat though.

[irrational]

I voted for "< $50".

I like the basic idea, though I wonder if the details of a tablet with linux sidestepped your concept. I think if you had a device like Coin that worked with my phone and somehow the two together ensure a greater security for my wallet, then "heck yeah".

But, like Coin, it'd had to be small enough to fit into my regular wallet.

[MoonShadow]

Perhaps we can improve the security of an android based client by requiring the presence of an external device.  For example, a simple hardware wallet that keeps only the private keys, and communicates with the phone wallet via bluetooth; so that a thief would have to have both devices and the passcode to the hardware wallet device in order to steal the bitcoins on the phone (assuming the thief is capable of hacking past an android client passcode).  For a little less cost, and a little less security, a simple bluetooth dongle that the android client must ping before signing any transaction would be an improvement.  Particularly if the bluetooth dongle were some small, & unobtrusive device commonly found elsewhere on a user; like a ring or necklace, that a snatch-grab cell phone thief is unlikely to aquire in conjunction with the cell phone.  This still wouldn't protect the user from all threats, such as tire-iron negotiations.

There are some high tech forms of firearms that utilize the latter trick to electronicly identify the owner of the firearm, and prevent firing of the weapon if the identity ring is not within a few feet of the weapon.