200 Year Old Security Firm Develops Crypto Wallet

[jdarren]

Just this last quarter Ciphertrace reported 1.2 billion USD worth in digital currencies were stolen. YOUNIQX Identity AG part of the Austrian State Printing House, the 200-year-old security company behind the European Union’s travel documents, has developed its own cryptocurrency wallet.

The advantages are also pretty cool, one in particular is that nobody can view the key pair not even the staff at YOUNIQX which is huge.


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/austrian-state-printing-house-cold-070000647.html

[dothebeats]

Based on the article, it's a hardware wallet of some sort, though in the form of a card. I don't think it's a good idea to embed everything on a card even if it's water-resistant. The contents of the card itself is already an eye candy and would definitely be a target by a lot of thieves and pickpockets if they know what the contents of that card is. Keygen is entirely offline and there's no way to recover it once someone forgets the password so a separate backup is still needed for only the private key itself. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful piece of card but wouldn't that put the user to more danger by having those fancy engravings and marks on the card itself? Idk but I don't feel entirely safe using that card for keeping my coins.

[wattcrypto]

curious as to what the card looks like. Is it supposed to resemble a credit card? Would it be for day use as a credit card normally would? Not sure the point of it  being waterproof but I would really like to know what it looks like.

[romero121]

Really a new wallet for the cryptocurrency users. It has mentioned various advantages about the card wallet. From one point of view it is truly advantageous, and how this gonna get used in reality-based tech seems quite complex. If I'm not wrong, right now this is into existence for a limited region. This requires the personal data to be revealed to get the cards.

[timerland]

Looks like they've actually done their research before coming into the industry. They didn't build some mobile or desktop APP, but instead focused purely on security and anonymity, which is very impressive. The only 2 competitors are trezor and ledger, but this seems very different compared to their design of them.

curious as to what the card looks like. Is it supposed to resemble a credit card? Would it be for day use as a credit card normally would? Not sure the point of it  being waterproof but I would really like to know what it looks like.

This is from the article

credit-card-sized Chainlock card

So it looks like this will resemble a credit card a lot, but since it is fully offline and they are very security-based, I doubt they'd give it the same functions like a regular credit card, which opens the user up to a lot of problems with theft. Their waterproofness is just an extra feature, who wouldn't like that.

I have a lot of questions and will follow this closely. The biggest one is probably going to be supported cryptos and the price for the wallet,

[Lucius]

I visit Chainlock site and there is presentation of this wallet from November 2018, so I guess they work on this project with YOUNIQX Identity AG for some time and now they finished.

But from point of security this is far away to be secure, and if you ask why read this :

The security seal can be removed in advance to check the existing private key. It can then be covered again with the provided protective sticker.
The private key should only be read by the Chainlock card’s user and in a safe surrounding. The private key provides access to all cryptocurrency amounts linked to the card.
A broken security seal (“seal broken”) is a sign that a manipulation has occurred.

Anyone comes into possession of this card can very easy remove security seal and see private key, so this is much less secure then any hardware or desktop wallet. This is actually a cold wallet, and it is safe only if users is store it as they say "Secure storage at any secure place (private safe or safe deposit box in a bank)"

https://chainlock.com/?lang=en

[gentlemand]

"Key generation in high-security zone: the generation procedure, for which a patent application has been filed, ensures that nobody can view the key pair – not even YOUNIQX staff."

So we have to take their word for it.

Also you need an app to interact with it. What happens when they lose interest in maintaining it? I think I'm going to pass on this one.

[timerland]

The security seal can be removed in advance to check the existing private key. It can then be covered again with the provided protective sticker.
The private key should only be read by the Chainlock card’s user and in a safe surrounding. The private key provides access to all cryptocurrency amounts linked to the card.
A broken security seal (“seal broken”) is a sign that a manipulation has occurred.

Anyone comes into possession of this card can very easy remove security seal and see private key, so this is much less secure then any hardware or desktop wallet. This is actually a cold wallet, and it is safe only if users is store it as they say "Secure storage at any secure place (private safe or safe deposit box in a bank)"

https://chainlock.com/?lang=en

So, from my understanding, the crypto card/wallet has a seal on the wallet where when peeled off reveals the private keys? If this is the case, there's no point of using it really. Too susceptible to theft, and if that's the case, I doubt the company would be naive enough to give the card a credit card use. You'll basically be bringing a crypto credit around that if got lost, you'd lose all your money.

Also looks like the way to deposit/withdraw your crypto would be exposing the private key? That's not very safe - I've also attached a photo of what it looks like according to the site.

"Key generation in high-security zone: the generation procedure, for which a patent application has been filed, ensures that nobody can view the key pair – not even YOUNIQX staff."

Even worse. What's the point in buying hardware wallet if you're giving the company all your details?

Discharging the Chainlock card
Expose the private key beneath the security seal / protective sticker.
Scan the private key as a QR code (or, alternatively, enter it manually) using your preferred digital wallet.
Load the cryptocurrency from the Chainlock card into your digital wallet.

This is a pretty big letdown. More risky to use then a ledger/trezor, and no extra features (multi-currencies, etc).

[antisocial77]

Nothing is %100 safe if there is a connection to internet, even wthout internet connection.security is our responsibility, side programs or systems just assists.