Hardware BitCoin wallet as part of Google Summer of Code

Crypto Stick is an open source USB key for encryption and secure authentication. We have been accepted as a mentor organization for Google Summer of Code (GSOC) 2013. One of our project ideas is to develop a physical BitCoin wallet according to https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Smart_card_wallet

If you are a student interested in working on that idea - this is for you. You can apply for a project with us and if accepted our mentors will work with you over the summer and Google will sponsor you USD 5000 during that time. Please check out our ideas page at https://www.assembla.com/spaces/cryptostick/wiki/Ideas or suggest your own idea. And, join our mailinglist to discuss it: https://lists.crypto-stick.org/mailman/listinfo/dev Your applications should be submitted through Google Melange (https://google-melange.com) until 3rd May!

You can continue to submit additional information and comments into the system after your initial application submission.

In order to participate in the program, you must be a student in an accredited institution or university.

Links: * Crypto Stick project: http://crypto-stick.org * Ideas Page: https://www.assembla.com/spaces/cryptostick/wiki/Ideas * GSOC Progam F&Q: https://google-melange.appspot.com/gsoc/document/show/gsoc_program/google/gsoc2013/help_page * Crypto Stick Mailing List: https://lists.crypto-stick.org/mailman/listinfo/dev

Regards, Jan

On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 10:30:47PM +0800, Crypto Stick wrote:

> Crypto Stick is an open source USB key for encryption and secure
> authentication.
> We have been accepted as a mentor organization for Google
> Summer of Code (GSOC) 2013. One of our project ideas is to develop a
> physical BitCoin wallet according to
> https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Smart_card_wallet

A word of caution: hardware Bitcoin wallets really do need some type of display so the wallet itself can tell you where the coins it is signing are being sent, and that in turn implies support for the upcoming payment protocol so the wallet can also verify that the address is actually the address of the recipient the user is intending to send funds too. The current Crypto Stick hardware doesn't even have a button for user interaction. (press n times to approve an n-BTC spend)

Having said that PGP smart cards and USB keys already have that problem, but the consequences of signing the wrong document are usually less than the consequences of sending some or even all of the users funds to a thief. You can usually revoke a bad signature after the fact with a follow-up message.

Not to say hardware security for private keys isn't a bad thing, but the protections are a lot more limited than users typically realize.

I will say though I am excited that this implies that the Crypto Stick could have ECC key support in the future.

Are you familiar with this:

http://code.google.com/p/opencryptotoken/

It does ecc and as it is based on an atmel micro controller, adding a display is pretty straight forward

Michael

On 29/04/2013, at 18.28, Peter Todd <pete@petertodd•org> wrote:

> On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 10:30:47PM +0800, Crypto Stick wrote:
>> Crypto Stick is an open source USB key for encryption and secure
>> authentication.
>> We have been accepted as a mentor organization for Google
>> Summer of Code (GSOC) 2013. One of our project ideas is to develop a
>> physical BitCoin wallet according to
>> https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Smart_card_wallet
>
> A word of caution: hardware Bitcoin wallets really do need some type of
> display so the wallet itself can tell you where the coins it is signing
> are being sent, and that in turn implies support for the upcoming
> payment protocol so the wallet can also verify that the address is
> actually the address of the recipient the user is intending to send
> funds too. The current Crypto Stick hardware doesn't even have a button
> for user interaction. (press n times to approve an n-BTC spend)
>
> Having said that PGP smart cards and USB keys already have that problem,
> but the consequences of signing the wrong document are usually less than
> the consequences of sending some or even all of the users funds to a
> thief. You can usually revoke a bad signature after the fact with a
> follow-up message.
>
> Not to say hardware security for private keys isn't a bad thing, but the
> protections are a lot more limited than users typically realize.
>
>
> I will say though I am excited that this implies that the Crypto Stick
> could have ECC key support in the future.
>
> --
> 'peter'[:-1]@petertodd.org
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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