Version: 0.6
Date: 18 August 2017
Name: RFC-HWALLET-2
Author: Michael Schloh von Bennewitz
Contact: [email protected]
IRC-contacts: msvb-lab, msvb-mob
Title: Monero Firmware for Ledger Wallet
Related to: RFC-HWALLET-1, RFC-HWALLET-3
Location: https://forum.getmonero.org/7/open-tasks/88160/monero-firmware-for-ledger-wallet/
Crosslink: https://www.reddit.com/r/Monero/comments/

This document is unstable until reaching version 1.0.

Hardware Wallets

"There are currently no hardware wallets available at this time. Please check back for updates."
- https://getmonero.org/downloads/#hardware, August 2017

It's time for the Monero community to come together and realize the goal of a hardware wallet!

Nonfunctional Requirements

• FW installation: Simple and intuitive
• FW verification: Resembling original FW

Functional Requirements

• Power supply: 5V USB connection
• Security: Private key in secure element

Other Requirements

• Most requirements resembling the default Ledger
• Selective merging of Trezor and Opendime logic

Deliverables

The Monero hardware wallet is a rebranded Ledger Wallet customized to suit Monero's needs. The project produces firmware allowing the Ledger Wallet to be used with Monero. If possible, all existing features are maintained by providing code merges to the upstream FW base.

Please see related RFC-HWALLET-X proposals for OEM product design, and other non firmware adaptation work.

Author

Michael is a computer scientist undergraduate with 15 years of industry (software, telecom, embedded system) experience. He trains groups at Black Hat [1] and produces (not for sale) hardware in his PCB lab. He worked with the inventor of mod_ssl at Cable & Wireless, and will soon collaborate with WolfSSL to bring Atmel/Microchip security elements and MQTT messaging on to low powered ESP8266 platforms.

He is a cryptocurrency novice of Ethereum, Bitcoin, and now Monero. He has earned the trust of students using custom derivatives of Bus Pirate, FRDM, and NodeMCU shield devices, and larger companies (references on request) assigning the first generation of SBC hardware shield extensions.

[1] https://www.blackhat.com/us-17/training/analyzing-an-iot-empire.html

Privacy

If you look carefully, you will find the privacy sensitive software development Michael has done for high profile groups.

Motivation

Michael is motivated to complete this project in order to have a Monero hardware wallet of his own, improve PCB design skills using a secure element, contribute to Monero enthusiasm, and become more active in the Monero community (by owning coins and IRC communicating frequently.)

Rejection

If all related FFS proposals are rejected, then Michael will probably be a Monero currency owning user but cannot afford to contribute software, firmware, or hardware logic.

Note

Some RFC-HWALLET-X proposals are complementary and others mutually exclusive.

Budget

XMR	Item	Examples
20	Early research equipment	Trezor, Ledger, Chipwhisperer, MCU programmers
100	Facilities	Lab rent, data center, other telco services
1500	Six months part time reimbursement	...of lost contracts

Time Estimate

Six hours per week six months long scheduled at the author's discretion.

Project Plan (Preliminary)

Date	Milestone
September	Initialisation work (platform and forums)
October	Equipment configs and project documentation
November	Trezor and Ledger firmware workflow (CI and CM)
Early December	Midterm report on FW and use case progress
Late December	Mock or prototype demonstration at 34C3 [2]
Early January	Midterm remix integrating Monero features (RingCT)
Late January	Side channel power analysis, glitch attack trials
Early February	Addressing code review findings, and optimization
Mid February	Presentation clean up, communication, documentation
End of February	Release 1.0, request upstream merge

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_Communication_Congress

License

License, format, style, and supporting infrastructure resembles that of other Monero projects.

Brainstorm

This project proposal was first discussed by Michael, endogenic, and anonimal at the Monero themed party during DefCon 2017.

Inclusion

Teamwork and collaboration from any competent person is encouraged. Outreach to the Ledger developers serves both communities.

Promotion

The hackerspace mailing lists and IRC channels for C-Base, MuCCC, and the Noisebridge will serve to promote, while dedicated lists and channels will serve to support.

Midterm deliverables will be taken to CCC congress at Leipzig in December and prototypes or finished devices will be distributed at DefCon 2018 (see project plan.) It may be Michael that makes these visits or another person familiar with the project.