The prospect of keeping their cryptocurrency in a hardware wallet is appealing to many individuals. “Why not keep it on my computer, after all?” you might ask yourself. Although this is the case, there are several reasons why it isn’t safe. Numerous individuals have been robbed of their virtual currencies after hackers broke into their computers and stole them. A hardware wallet is a place to store your cryptocurrencies. You can’t access them from the internet, but you can from any device with an internet connection. That way, no one can break in unless they steal the physical device. Is it worthwhile to purchase the Keystone Pro? Let’s have a look!
Hardware Review
The device comes with two boxes: a rechargeable lithium battery and an AAA battery case. There’s also a USB-C cable (for charging the lithium battery), three recovery seed phrase papers, and the Keystone Pro tablet itself – about the size of a tiny smartphone. To run the device with batteries, you’ll need four AAA batteries.
The front of the fiberglass tablet has a 4-inch touchscreen, while the back includes a camera and fingerprint reader. The device’s dimensions are 112mm x 65mm x 18mm, and it weighs 115g without batteries – that’s 1/4 pound in imperial terms.
Opinion
The tablet is compact and comes with a couple of power sources. Unboxing all the components felt strange as if I’d have to put them together. However, connecting the lithium battery was all it took to finish the “assembly.” This hardware wallet isn’t difficult at all to use.
If you intend on using the lithium battery, charge it. My battery died, but I had a fresh pair of AAA batteries handy to finish activation and setup.
Activation and Setup Review
I switch on the device, go to the language selection screen, and confirm my choice of language. The first step in my procedure is to scan a QR code on a Keystone website page using the hardware wallet. After scanning the QR, an authentication code appears on the device, and I must type it on the website. Then I’m instructed to generate a password on the Keystone Pro. Using the on-screen keypad, I enter characters from a chosen combination (uppercase and lowercase) for my password. You have the option of importing an existing wallet or starting fresh once you’ve finished generating your password. I choose this option rather than the first one.
Two wallet-creation alternatives display on the screen: one with a single backup and one with Shamir backup. A red-colored warning appears on the device screen to notify me that I should check my surroundings after selecting a single backup. It then displays my seed phrase and invites me to input it for verification. I have to input my seed phrase; the following screen lets me pick which application I’d like to use with the “Watch-only Wallet” (I think). I choose Keystone and then add a cryptocurrency type (out of eight possibilities, including BTC, ETH, BCH, DASH, DOT, LTC, TRON, XRP).
Then I’m instructed to connect the Keystone App. I click on “Bind” in the Keystone Hardware Wallet app and press “Display QR Code” on my tablet. I scan the QR code with my phone. Then, you’ll be sent a link that gives you access to your new cryptocurrency wallet.
There are other apps to install on your tablet. Tap the top-left corner, then tap Watch-Only Wallet. Choose one of the apps in the selection, and follow the instructions to finish the installation.
Opinion
There are several stages to complete before the tablet is fully operational. There’s a lot of back-and-forth between your browser, the mobile app, and the tablet. It’ll probably take you 10-15 minutes to finish the setup.
I enjoy how the seed phrase’s auto-complete functionality works. Most terms are auto-filled, but a tiny menu would display with a list of related words if you don’t want to type out all the letters.
Transaction Review
To receive funds, click on “Receive” in the app. If you use BTC, you can add more public addresses to your account. I added a new one and selected it. A QR code shows on the screen to scan, plus a button that copies the address to my clipboard.
To send funds:
- Click on “Send” in the app.
- Input how much cryptocurrency you want to send. If you want to send BTC, copy and paste the address or type it manually.
A QR code will show up on the next screen inside the mobile app when you initiate the transaction. Scan it with your tablet by going into your wallet list and finding the square-like icon near the three dots in the top-right corner. That will activate the Keystone’s camera, which you can then use to scan the QR. You will see a prompt with the transaction details and then put in your password again. After scanning it, you will need to photograph the tablet’s QR code with your phone camera. The mobile app will warn you that the transfer is irreversible and ask if you want to go ahead. Hit OK, and then the transfer will start happening! If you go into your cryptocurrency wallet on the Keystone Pro tablet and then proceed to “Signatures,” you’ll see a list of all of the transactions you’ve signed for that currency.
The Keystone Pro mobile device can connect with the following wallet applications: BlueWallet, Specter, Sparrow, BTCPay Server, Electrum, and Wassabi Wallet. The manufacturer’s website has additional information about linking to each of these wallets using the crypto hardware.
Opinion
The transaction process is complex. There are no step-by-step instructions in the Quick Guide about how to send money. I got lucky when I started tapping random menu items on the tablet. Plus, it seems like back-and-forths between the phone and the device to confirm transfers take too long.
The Keystone Pro does not link to many other dapp services. This aspect is most likely how it keeps your wallet and cryptocurrencies safe, but it’s a bummer if you want to utilize your hardware wallet in the broader ecosystem.
Security Review
The Keystone Pro tablet has a variety of security measures. A password that includes a mix of letters, numbers and a special character is required to access the device. You may also restrict logins to the tablet with fingerprint scans. Passphrase wallets, pattern locks, and recovery phrase checks are all possible options. The security handbook that explains all of this is readable on the tablet. There’s a self-destruct mechanism that will erase the tablet’s storage if you input the incorrect password too many times (I tried it for myself, and it worked). You need a small microSD card to download the data. You can insert it into the microSD slot of your tablet. Then you can update the software on the device.
Keystone’s website offers a list of security measures incorporated into the tablet. EAL 5+ is among them, as are dice entropy and a multi-signature system, as well as Trezor’s Shamir backup mechanism. If you don’t know about the Shamir algorithm, here’s the definition according to Trezor: “Shamir Backup is a method of splitting the seed into multiple unique shares. If you want to recover the wallet, a specified number of shares have to be collected and used. The feature got its name from Adi Shamir, the author of Shamir’s Secret Sharing algorithm.”
Opinion
I believe that some of Keystone Pro’s security measures are overly complicated. Still, I’ll accept that this hardware wallet has probably earned my trust more than any other and is one of the most robust hardware wallets on the market. The device includes:
- A tamper check when activated.
- Multiple funds transfer validation checks.
- Several security settings.
The self-destruct mechanism also introduces an extra layer of cryptocurrency protection.
Supported Coins
The Keystone Pro only supports eight coins, with additional support for ETH, TRX, and some DOT tokens (according to their list of supported coins and tokens).
Overall Opinion
The Keystone Pro tablet is small and light, with a slew of security measures to safeguard your funds. Because the Quick Start guide isn’t exhaustive, you’ll need to figure out some features on your own. The downside of this device is that it can only connect to a few different services. This hardware wallet does not support many coins, but it is perfect for you to handle just these coins (BTC, ETH, XRP) and some others. It’s unclear whether the manufacturer will add support for additional cryptocurrencies. If you feel that defi, NFTs, and other exciting “gems” in cryptocurrency are your calling, avoid this hardware wallet.