Keystone

What Keystone Is and the Problem It Solves

Keystone is a hardware cryptocurrency wallet built around a single security principle: private keys should never touch an internet-connected device. Most software wallets—and even many hardware wallets that rely on USB or Bluetooth connections—create attack surfaces every time a transaction is signed. Keystone's air-gap design eliminates that surface entirely. The device has no USB data port, no Bluetooth, no WiFi, and no NFC. Every piece of data enters and leaves the device through QR codes scanned by a camera, ensuring that signing operations are permanently isolated from the internet.

This approach addresses a threat that is both persistent and growing. The project was founded in 2018 and initially shipped under the Cobo Vault brand before spinning out as an independent entity under the Keystone name in June 2021. Founder Lixin Liu and the core team left Cobo to build the product as a standalone, community-focused company.

How It Works

The flagship product, the Keystone 3 Pro, is a standalone device with a 4-inch full-color touchscreen and fingerprint biometric authentication. It runs its own operating system and firmware, and all signing operations happen on-device.

When a user wants to sign a transaction, the workflow is:

1. A connected software wallet (on phone or desktop) generates an unsigned transaction and displays it as an animated QR code.
2. The Keystone device reads the QR code with its camera, decodes the transaction, and renders human-readable signing data on the touchscreen—showing sender address, recipient address, and amount.
3. After the user verifies and confirms via fingerprint or PIN, the device signs the transaction and displays the signed result as a QR code.
4. The software wallet scans that output QR code and broadcasts the signed transaction to the network.

At no point does the Keystone device connect to the internet or exchange raw data with any online system. The device also supports microSD card data transfer for firmware updates, keeping the update process air-gapped as well.

The Keystone 3 Pro houses three separate secure element chips providing PCI-grade tamper resistance. The device triggers a self-destruct mechanism if physical tampering is detected. It also supports three independent seed phrases on a single device, allowing users to manage separate wallets without carrying multiple hardware devices.

Key Features

• Air-gap architecture: No USB data transfer, Bluetooth, WiFi, or NFC—QR codes only
• Triple secure element chips: PCI-grade physical tamper resistance
• Biometric authentication: Fingerprint sensor with anti-peeping protection
• Human-readable signing: Decodes raw transaction data into plain-language display before approval, eliminating blind signing
• Multi-seed support: Up to three separate seed phrases managed on one device
• Open-source: Firmware, hardware design, and parts of the operating system are publicly available; Keystone was the first hardware wallet to open-source its Secure Element firmware
• 5,500+ supported assets: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, XRP, Dogecoin, Polkadot, Aptos, TON, and many more
• 45+ software wallet integrations: MetaMask, OKX Web3 Wallet, Solflare, Backpack, Rabby, Keplr, BlueWallet, UniSat, and others
• Military-grade durability: MIL-STD-810G standard for physical robustness

Solana Ecosystem Integration

Keystone has made Solana a priority integration target. The device supports the full range of Solana signing scenarios—token transfers, native SOL staking, swaps, DApp connections, and message signing—with each operation decoded into human-readable format on the touchscreen before approval.

Software wallet integrations on Solana include Solflare (including both extension and mobile), Backpack, and NuFi for staking. Keystone is notable as the only hardware wallet with clear-signing support for Squads multi-signature vaults on Solana, allowing teams using multi-sig setups to review transaction details rather than signing blindly.

In 2024, Keystone partnered with the Solana Foundation to work toward native hardware wallet support in the Solana CLI, a significant step for developers and validators who manage keys through command-line tooling. Firmware version 3.0.8, released in September 2026, added Solana v1 transaction support. Keystone also attended Solana Breakpoint in Singapore alongside Solflare, distributing 400 branded devices at the event.

Security and Audit Status

Keystone's open-source commitment extends to its security audit program. For the Keystone 3 Pro:

• SlowMist conducted firmware audits
• Keylabs conducted hardware audits
• OffSide Labs and BlockSet have also audited components of the platform

Audit reports are made publicly available alongside the source code. The company claims a 99.9% asset security track record across its user base. Keystone was the first hardware wallet manufacturer to publish Secure Element firmware source code and corresponding audit reports, a practice that had not previously been standard in the industry.

Team and Background

Keystone was founded in 2018 under the Cobo Vault name as part of Cobo, a crypto custody and infrastructure company. The founding team, led by Lixin Liu, spun the project out as an independent entity in June 2021 under the Keystone brand to focus exclusively on consumer hardware wallet development with an open-source, community-first philosophy.

The company maintains an international team and has established dedicated community ambassador programs across the Solana, Cardano, and Sui ecosystems. In 2024, Keystone added support for 12 new blockchains and 18 new software wallet integrations, expanded to six languages, and launched co-branded product editions with partners including Solflare, OKX, and Safe.

Solana Ecosystem Fit

For Solana users, Keystone addresses the persistent gap between the chain's fast, DApp-rich ecosystem and the need for cold storage that can actually verify what it's signing. Most Solana transactions contain program instructions that opaque hardware wallets cannot parse, leading to blind signing. Keystone's partnership with Solflare and integration with Squads multi-sig provides clear-signing coverage for the most common Solana use cases—transfers, staking, swaps, and multi-sig governance—without requiring an internet-connected device.