Coin Armor Steel Cryptocurrency Wallet
Our review process
We examine products according to our Methodology but products that fit none of our established "platforms" and thus no methodology are filed in our catch-all "platform" "others" until we develop a methodology to test these.
Background
This Kickstarter project was launched on January 4, 2018. The project was supported by 71 backers who pledged $2,177 to help fund the project. The Coin Armor Steel Cryptocurrency Wallet was cross-posted on bitcointalk.org.
Product Description
The front side of the card-sized metal plate includes a QR code of the public key. The backside has a BIP-38 compliant engraved QR code of the private key.
In Coin Armor private key is BIP 38 encrypted. What does it mean?
BIP 38 is a method proposed for encrypting and encoding a passphrase-protected Bitcoin private key record in the form of a 58-character Base58Check-encoded printable string. Encrypted private key records are intended for use on paper wallets and physical Bitcoins. Each record string contains all the information needed to reconstitute the private key except for a passphrase, and the methodology uses salting and scrypt to resist brute-force attacks.
Analysis
The Kickstarter was successfully funded. Some people complained they did not receive their coin armor and some people gave positive reviews. The use of BIP38 removes having to trust the provider as the user retains an encryption key, with the “printed” key being encrypted and useless without that key. The problem is though that to use this wallet you have to produce the private key on an online wallet which might intercept the key and steal the funds.
We were not able to find traces of any commercial activity with the same branding afterwards. But there are numerous similar products with different brands.
Tests performed by Daniel Andrei R. Garcia
Do your own research
In addition to reading our analysis, it is important to do your own checks. Before transferring any bitcoin to your wallet, look up reviews for the wallet you want to use. They should be easy to find. If they aren't, that itself is a reason to be extra careful.