G-Knot Hardware Wallet

[dkbit98]

I just saw a new hardware wallet G-Knot being released, and from my understanding it is not using any passwords and seed phrases.

Biometrics is taking over and it is slowly spreading to more hardware wallets, and this one is scanning your blood vessels and it requires live blood flow to unlock 
It's interesting they are using the same patented finger vein scanner used for security at Geneva headquarters UN agency.
G-Knot is not only using biometrics, it also uses some kind patent-pending P2N2 AI engine...

It looks like Bitcoin and other coins will be supported, and they are releasing their own token GKNT 
I am 100% sure this device is going to have closed source code, and presale price is around $299.

I am still investigating and reading about G-Knot, but I would suggest everyone to stay away from this device.


https://www.g-knot.io/our-hardware-wallet
https://www.g-knot.io/our-technology

[Charles-Tim]

I still prefer the seed phrase (+passphrase if included) to access my coins instead. There is nothing better than that for me, they do not need to complicate what is simple.


Even as I have experimented shamir secret sharing since some years ago, I still did not use it. I only prefer just the seed phrase wallet and I use the passphrase to extend it.

[Mia Chloe]

~snip

Well well well, I can see hardware wallets are probably trending gradually to some sort of futuristic security. Yeah it's good but arguably it's not necessary. This particular kind of gadget depends solely on personal choice and interests and not really a fight for security because to me  password protected hardware wallet is near impossible to brute force.

Personally I'm of the opinion that some things should remain the old way like in the case of this wallet just like this forum has remained the old way for years now.

[Meuserna]

I still prefer the seed phrase (+passphrase if included) to access my coins instead. There is nothing better than that for me, they do not need to complicate what is simple.

This. Always this.

Seed words (and passphrase characters) represent numbers, which are converted to binary and used as entropy to generate the wallet. It's math. And it's perfect.

By having a backup of the seed phrase (and passphrase) I've got a backup of everything. If the hardware wallet dies? Who cares. I get a new one and enter my seed phrase (and passphrase). Easy peasy. My wallet is restored and my coins are found. No worries.

And, even better, by doing it this way, you can leave everything to somebody in your will.

I wouldn't use a seedless wallet even if they paid me to.

[Polkat]

It's a very strange idea to create a seed phrase based on the uniqueness of a fingerprint. It turns out that if you touch something in a public place and leave your fingerprints on it, you risk someone gaining access to your coins.

[SFR10]

I just saw a new hardware wallet G-Knot being released, and from my understanding it is not using any passwords and seed phrases.

Biometrics is taking over and it is slowly spreading to more hardware wallets, and this one is scanning your blood vessels and it requires live blood flow to unlock 

It's always nice to see new HW manufacturers trying to come up with the next best thing in security ^{[regardless of it being a failure or not]}, but they should at least offer what we consider as the gold standard ^{[e.g., seed phrase + etc...]} in this field, as another option in their products.
^{- FWIW, I'd never use a product that requires me only to use their HW & companion app.}

[satscraper]

~

I read some news about this wallet a few days ago, but after learning that it is centered around  GKNT token ^{and seems to have no Bitcoin support} I immediately got it off my plate.

As for biometrics, yeah, it uses finger vein scanning for seed creation and further authentication, but I don’t like relying on any biometrics in HW because they can fail. ^{I’ve had that experience with my laptop}.

[Pmalek]

Generating a wallet by scanning your finger vein means you are limited to only use such devices in the future. If they don't allow users to export private keys or a seed, you are stuck with their hardware wallet. If they disappear tomorrow, you will have to get one that works and generates secrets from your finger vein in an identical way. That's just a bad idea.   

I read some news about this wallet a few days ago, but after learning that it is centered around  GKNT token ^{and seems to have no Bitcoin support} I immediately got it off my plate.

The G-Knot website claims that the hardware device will support popular blockchains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Binance Chain, and others. I doubt they would create a hardware wallet that doesn't work with Bitcoin.

[satscraper]

Generating a wallet by scanning your finger vein means you are limited to only use such devices in the future. If they don't allow users to export private keys or a seed, you are stuck with their hardware wallet. If they disappear tomorrow, you will have to get one that works and generates secrets from your finger vein in an identical way. That's just a bad idea.   

Agreed. If they intend to not provide an alternative backup for recovery, the idea isn't just bad, it's crazy in fact.

P.S. I don't know why, but something inside me tells me that it may turn out to be a scam project. No real prototype shown, no documentation at all, presale...

website claims that the hardware device will support popular blockchains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Binance Chain, and others. I doubt they would create a hardware wallet that doesn't work with Bitcoin.

I don't like the general concept of this fancy-schmancy gizmo, so I don't care whether it's supposed to support BTC or not.

[Pmalek]

P.S. I don't know why, but something inside me tells me that it may turn out to be a scam project. No real prototype shown, no documentation at all, presale...

The hardware wallet reminds me of a tape measure. Maybe that's where they got the design from.
The company claims to be selling or plans to sell other biometric devices, but I couldn't find more information about those from their website. The About Us page shows a few interesting gadgets, but the "learn more" button is unclickable. They show images of log-on scanners for PCs, smart ID cards, vein-lock doors, etc. No idea if they have anything tangible at this point or not.