ARCHOS Announces the Safe-T mini Hardware Wallet for Storing Cryptocurrencies

[Chino]

ARCHOS is providing cryptocurrency enthusiasts with the perfect hardware wallet to secure their bitcoins and other currencies, to ensure cold storage of private keys and to prevent hacking attempts. Unveiled at the MWC 2018 (Hall 6 - Stand B60), the ARCHOS Safe-T mini will be available starting June 2018, at 49.99 €.

ARCHOS is an active member of the SYSTEMATIC PARIS-REGION cluster who has created a specific branch Digital Trust & Security aiming to promote and develop worldwide champions in cybersecurity. ARCHOS Safe-T mini is in line with the dynamics of this thematic group, which, on the cryptocurrency, has partners like Secure-IC, OCamlPro or Gemalto. Digital Trust & Security has also supported and facilitated the emergence and deployment of major collaborative projects such as iTrac or MoneyTrack.


The ARCHOS Safe-T mini is the first development of the ARCHOS R&D team in this field. The team provided its expertise in securing cold storage data, and in designing and developing the ARCHOS Safe-T mini. To ensure the process traceability, the device will be manufactured in France.

ARCHOS Safe-T Mini main security specifications:

• It generates and stores a private key on the wallet offline and prevents hackers from gaining access to the private key while online.
• It executes all crypto operations on the device, offline.
• It embeds a screen to display transaction information to let the holder check the transaction details before signing, for security. There is no way for hackers to modify transactions unnoticed.
• It restrictively requires manufacturer software on the device while requesting the set-up of a PIN code to ensure that only the owner can access and use it.

ARCHOS Safe-T mini connects easily to a computer or a mobile device using a micro USB cable. Once having set the required 4 to 9 digit PIN password, it generates and safely stores a private key. Every transaction is displayed on the screen and must be physically approved using the buttons of the wallet. It allows managing the sending and receiving of coins from other wallets in a very simple way. In case the hardware wallet is broken, lost or stolen, the holder benefits from a back-up thanks to the recovery seed key.

The ARCHOS Safe-T mini is compatible with the following softwares: Electrum, MyCrypto, GreenAddress/Greenbits and Mycelium. It supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Litecoin, Zcash, and Ethereum and more to come.

ARCHOS Safe-T mini's main specifications are:

• CPU: 120 MHz ARM processor Cortex-M3
• LCD: OLED 128x64p
• Size: 58mm x 7,8mm
• Connectivity: Micro USB HID 2.0
• OS compatibility: Google Android, Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows

In 2018, ARCHOS will start addressing vertical markets to meet the needs of cryptocurrency holders, with new features allowing users to:

• Increase the security of their transactions
• Gain on straightforwardness to trade cryptocurrencies
• Be able to exchange easily their currencies

ARCHOS has elected DomRaider Group as its first partner. The two French companies will promote the ARCHOS Safe-T mini towards the DomRaider community.

DomRaider Group has recently completed its highly successful ICO campaign exceeding the target by selling 560 million tokens to contributors around the world. DomRaider Group introduced Auctionity, its blockchain to decentralize and to secure auctions on a worldwide scale, using its DomRaider Token (DRT) as a payment guarantee.

ARCHOS and DomRaider Group will launch a co-branded version of the ARCHOS Safe-T mini.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[bug]

How is this better than a USB stick?

What is a user supposed to do with a message like "Confirm sending X btc to <uninteligible_string>?

 

[lexluthermiester]

Admittedly, my knowledge of cryptocurrencies is limited. Conceptually though, this seems like it has promise and might be a good idea.

 

[bug]

Admittedly, my knowledge of cryptocurrencies is limited. Conceptually though, this seems like it has promise and might be a good idea.

Well, yes, having your wallet not online all the time is smart. But a USB stick will do that for you, I was just wondering what's the extras that this little device brings to the table.

 

[MercJ]

Well, yes, having your wallet not online all the time is smart. But a USB stick will do that for you, I was just wondering what's the extras that this little device brings to the table.

If it works anything like the Ledger or Trezor devices, these are better than USB sticks because your private key (the thing/file that confirms that you indeed own the crypto in the wallet) is generated completely "offline" - and thus can't be intercepted or "stolen" in that process. They generally contain a specialized, hardened processor that performs the encryption.

A USB stick would just contain your private key - if lost, anyone could use it (sure, you could encrypt it etc. etc.). Plus, how do you get the private key on the USB stick?

 

[bug]

If it works anything like the Ledger or Trezor devices, these are better than USB sticks because your private key (the thing/file that confirms that you indeed own the crypto in the wallet) is generated completely "offline" - and thus can't be intercepted or "stolen" in that process. They generally contain a specialized, hardened processor that performs the encryption.

A USB stick would just contain your private key - if lost, anyone could use it (sure, you could encrypt it etc. etc.). Plus, how do you get the private key on the USB stick?

Pull the cable from your PC, run 'openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem -days 365' (or something) and then move your private key to the stick.

 

[R-T-B]

Pull the cable from your PC, run 'openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem -days 365' (or something) and then move your private key to the stick.

There are alternatives to hardware wallets such as these as simple as pen and paper that are just as secure.

This devices main benefit is convienience and cool factor.

 

[MercJ]

Pull the cable from your PC, run 'openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem -days 365' (or something) and then move your private key to the stick.

From what I understand, hardware wallets do something like this, but without exposing that file to the rest of the system since it all happens on the device. Supposedly that's the benefit (no need to transfer the private key from a possibly compromised system). Overkill for most users probably. But then again, so is crypto (I mean, I never needed to generate any keys for the plastic cards in my wallet, etc. etc...)

 

[bug]

From what I understand, hardware wallets do something like this, but without exposing that file to the rest of the system since it all happens on the device. Supposedly that's the benefit (no need to transfer the private key from a possibly compromised system). Overkill for most users probably. But then again, so is crypto (I mean, I never needed to generate any keys for the plastic cards in my wallet, etc. etc...)

Not only overkill, but if you don't expose the file at all, you can't make a backup/spare copy either.
As for plastic cards, your bank protects you in case of fraud. There's no such protection when it comes to cryptocurrency.