Status KeyCard Tap-to-Pay Crypto Asset Hardware Wallet Relaunches

Status, the Ethereum powered messaging app recently announced that it was re-launching its Keycard wallet. The keycard hardware wallet is the same shape and size as an ordinary credit card. It signs each transaction in a contactless manner.

According to an official of the company, the wallet is contactless, and it will work with the mobile-based crypto wallet. All that is needed is for a user to tap their Keycard to the mobile device and transactions are confirmed. While it is a hardware wallet, it works with mobile devices.

Announcing @Keycard_ the secure, contactless hardwallet & open source API. Keycard & the Keycard API are entirely open source and enable any developer to integrate wallets, hardware, & build their own smartcards. Learn more and apply to receive a free card https://t.co/u0EwfpwMFU

— Status (@ethstatus) February 13, 2019

The Release

The announcement was made on the Status twitter handle. They launched the hardware wallet and an open source API on the same day. It will be open source and will let developers integrate hardware, wallets, and create smartcards. They also included a link on how people could get access to a free card. The wallet will hold LTC, BTC, BCH, ETH, XRP, and all ERC20 tokens, which will include the wallet’s SNT token.

At first, the wallet will be given to developers for free starting from March. Later on, it will be sold on the Status site at $29 apiece. Other crypto wallets currently cost about double that. For instance, Ledger Nanos S sells for around $66.50.

At this Stage, It is Still a Tool

An official from Status insisted that the wallet would first focus on developers and not customers. He made it clear that the Keycard was not a full end customer wallet. In his own words, the company was releasing a tool. Thus, he wanted to be sure that everyone saw it that way. He said that it would act as a tool for blockchain projects, which need to secure applications using an affordable hardware wallet.

In fact, the wallet has been designed with a low barrier of entry for developers. The API for this wallet has been created on Java Card. This is a smart card hardware tech that was created in 1996. According to an official of the company, if a third party project wishes to create a Keycard, it only has to run in on the Java Card. Java Card is quite common and can be bought form hundreds of manufacturers.

An official for the company believes that building Keycard on an open source platform on common hardware is great for security. This is because anyone will be able to assess security. Besides that, the community checking it out will be larger. This is because new technology, with only a few developers, can make it harder to find loopholes. However, with existing programming language and hardware from many manufacturers, issues are found out and resolved fast.

It is partly why blockchains like BTC and ETH have not been hacked. There is just a bigger community looking into any issue that might arise. However, smaller blockchains have recently become vulnerable to hacks since very few developers are keeping vigil. In some cases, there is no one updating the software even when an issue is found.