Keystone’s Journey: Embracing Open-Source and Self-Custody in the Web3 World — A Letter from our CEO

To all Keystone enthusiasts, from those who’ve been with us since day one to those who’ve just discovered us,

I hope this message finds you in good health and high spirits. As the CEO of Keystone, it’s my privilege and pleasure to connect with you all in this way. I write this letter not just as the head of this company, but as a fellow member of the Web3 community, who, like you, dreams of a decentralized, secure, and accessible future.

First and foremost, my heart is full of gratitude for the trust you’ve shown in Keystone. We’ve recently experienced a significant surge in demand for our hardware wallet, and it fills me with pride and humility to see that in this rapidly evolving world of digital assets, you’ve chosen to rely on Keystone. Our mission has always been to ensure that you can confidently, securely, and easily engage with the world of Web3, and your trust reinforces our resolve to deliver on this mission every single day.

Our hardware wallets have been flying off the shelves faster than we expected. For those of you who have been patiently waiting, I extend a heartfelt apology for the delay. Rest assured, we’re working tirelessly to resolve this. We expect a new batch of Keystone wallets to arrive at our warehouse within the next week or so, and we’ll begin shipping the devices to users immediately after. Furthermore, we are in the process of manufacturing an additional batch that will be available at the end of July. You can start participating in the pre-sale on our website to secure a device from this batch.

Over the years, our journey has been marked by the pursuit of two fundamental principles: open source and self-custody.

Since our inception in 2018, our commitment to open source has been unshakeable. It’s been our firm belief that transparency and openness are the cornerstones of a successful hardware wallet product. In 2023, our open source ethos led us to fruitful collaborations with major software wallets like Keplr, ArConnect, BlockWallet, BitKeep, and Core.

Open source, to us, is more than a buzzword. It’s a commitment. A commitment to a transparent, reliable process of code review, compiling, and firmware publishing that raises the quality of our code while warding off potential threats. We’re proud to have built our hardware wallet on open-source software, laying bare our work for inspection by security researchers, developers and anyone in the Web3 community who’s interested. Transparency is our motto, and to our knowledge, we were the first in the industry to publicly share our Secure Element firmware and **auditing reports **for everyone to see.

Our second core principle, self-custody, is something we deeply value. We respect your autonomy and security in handling your funds. It’s the basic security assumption of a hardware wallet that your recovery phrase or private keys will never touch an online environment, and we stand by that. We will not deviate from this path, and I assure you that we will not be implementing any form of KYC seed recovery service.

Reflecting on our journey, I am filled with pride recalling how Keystone has continually led the charge in pioneering advancements in the hardware wallet industry. We set the bar high by being the first in our field to create a premium hardware wallet that upholds the robustness standards of the American military (MIL-STD-810G). We introduced the Web3 community to the secure practice of QR code data transmission. Additionally, we also catered to the needs of the Bitcoin community with our BTC-only firmware, and have actively addressed the Blind Signing issues that plagued hardware wallet users. Our collaboration with MetaMask speaks volumes of our commitment to integrations, and remains a cherished milestone in our journey.

But our past achievements only drive us to aim higher. Our journey, like that of the broader Web3 community, is an ongoing one. We are eagerly looking forward to introducing even more cutting-edge solutions and enhancements, starting with our plans to implement Account Abstraction features.

Your trust and belief in us are what fuels our passion and commitment. I am incredibly grateful to you all for choosing Keystone, and I promise you that we will continue working tirelessly to exceed your expectations. Together, we’ll continue to make self custody solutions even more secure and accessible to everyone.

Thank you for being a part of this incredible journey with us. We are honored to serve you and to be a part of this vibrant, innovative community.

With heartfelt thanks,

Lixin Liu,

CEO, Keystone.