This is the first of many. From today, we're building PHYLAX in the open — posting our prototype progress, our decisions, and our mistakes here before anywhere else. If you want to watch a Bitcoin hardware wallet get built from first principles, you're in the right place.
What we're building
PHYLAX is an open-source hardware wallet with one job: keeping your Bitcoin keys off the internet and under your control. No custodian, no cloud, no account — just you, the device, and the twenty-four words you write down once.
Three decisions that define it
Bitcoin-only. No altcoins, no token modules. Every extra chain is more code and one more way for a bug to reach your keys. Supporting one asset keeps the firmware small enough to actually audit.
No secure element. A secure element is a sealed, proprietary chip you have to trust blindly — a black box sitting at the heart of a device whose whole job is to be trustworthy. We refuse that. PHYLAX runs on a general-purpose chip whose every behaviour is defined by open firmware you can read.
Wired only. No Bluetooth, no Wi-Fi, no radios of any kind — one USB-C cable, and you approve every transaction on the device's own screen. Nothing to sniff or attack over the air.
Where the prototype stands
We're early, and we'll be honest about that the whole way. The team is three people. The design principles above are locked; the hardware is taking shape on the bench.
Our target is a working prototype by Q4 2026. We'll show it here as it comes together — boards, bring-up logs, and the parts that don't work the first time.
What's next
- Regular progress updates, right here in the Journal
- The first proper look at the hardware
- Opening up the firmware repositories
The best way to follow along is the newsletter — production updates, no spam, and you'll be first to know when there's a device to hold.