On Wednesday, December 19, 2024, the foundation announced the release of its latest device passport prime,
Introducing Passport Prime – your personal security platform!
We’re thrilled to introduce Passport Prime, the world’s first personal security platform designed to secure your Bitcoin and your entire digital life.
Think: a Swiss Army knife for your online security. pic.twitter.com/3HH2eG7vhU
– Foundation (@FOUNDATIONdvcs) 18 December 2024
The device offers a wide range of features that help users secure not only their Bitcoin keys but also other digital information.
features
For starters, Passport Prime offers Bitcoin wallet capabilities similar to the company’s second generation passport deviceIncluding multisig functionality and temporary seed phrase.
Apart from Bitcoin-related security, Passport Prime also helps you store other sensitive digital data.
Its 2FA Codes app lets users store 2FA codes offline, while its Security Keys app serves as a replacement for Yubikeys and allows users to create multiple security keys for use with NFC or USB.
Additionally, the device offers an encrypted flash drive. Users can store up to 50 GB of data on the device. And as a means of keeping your data private, the Airlock feature in the File Browser app lets users access selected files only when the device is plugged into a phone or computer.
The device also has its own custom operating system – KeyOS – which enables apps to run in their own sandbox while the OS manages permissions.
Advancing the Hardware Wallet Industry
Earlier this year, the foundation’s co-founder and CEO told Bitcoin Magazine that he was looking to create an iPhone of Bitcoin hardware. Passport Prime is the closest the foundation has come so far to this ideal.
“The hardware wallet industry has languished for years, failing to deliver any meaningful innovation and keeping pace with the rapidly evolving utility and use cases of digital assets,” Zach Herbert, co-founder and CEO of the Foundation, said in a press release. But is unable to respond.”
“Wallets have become crypto’s weakest link: they are difficult to incorporate, complex to use, and increasingly vulnerable to a range of modern blockchain transactions,” he said.
“Passport Prime is the first tool of its kind, a personal security platform fit for the decentralized economy of the future, making it easy to keep all your private keys secure in one offline device, and complete peace of mind on every type of transaction or contract.” Signs with. ,
Third-party apps welcome
By around mid-2025, developers will be able to create third-party apps that will run on KeyOS. In other words, developers will be able to list their own apps in the Foundation’s app catalog.
The first of these third-party apps will be produced by Cake Wallet and will enable users to transact more privately using Bitcoin, Monero, and other cryptocurrencies.
Dynamic, yet simple and secure
The foundation claims that despite the various functionalities, Passport Prime will be easy to install and use.
Users can set up the device using Envoy, the Foundation’s native app that provides guidance for the set up process and which connects to the device via QuantumLink Bluetooth.
QuantumLink Bluetooth is enabled by a dedicated Bluetooth chip embedded in the Passport Prime that can only send and receive messages that are pre-encrypted using quantum-resistance technology.
Users can also backup their seeds via a 2-in-3 Shamir Secret Sharing configuration, which splits the seed into three pieces – two stored on the physical card and one stored in the Envoy mobile app.
Description
The device will retail for $299 and ship by Q2 2025.
The device comes in two different colors – Arctic Copper and Midnight Bronze – and it is both completely open-source and manufactured in the United States.
Learn more about the product Here,
