Hidden crypto hardware wallet

void said:

I'm very surprised that hw wallet manufacturers still totally ignore stealth carry and plausible deniability, the lack of options is startling - am I the only one who want's to make sure nobody would think the thing found in my hotel room or in the luggage at the airport check is a hw wallet?

what shape and form should such magical tool have?

void said:

I believe it's not just a whim but a business opportunity

Like a hidden camera inside a pen 😅

void said:

endless options and not just a shape but decieving function

cheaply looking sports band or watch

a high end watch would be more appropriate. You need something you can wear 24/7, not a piece of junk that your wife can trash.

void said:

alarm clock

come on, we are no longer in the 80's. If you travel with an alarm clock in your bag, border control will dismantle it, too suspicious.

void said:

electronic travel game for kids

You can easily disassemble a trezor, put the board inside the game and reassemble it at destination. Nobody will notice a few extra circuits inside the game.

void said:

ugly used computer mouse

Too suspicious to travel with

void said:

plastic torch

too many circuits inside, might raise suspects

void said:

simple bluetooth speaker, powerbank, charger

again, you can hide a disassembled trezor inside and nobody will notice

void said:

whatever is normal to carry, can plausibly have electronic internals and doesn't attract attention of a room service or customs

room service can steal a speaker or a charger. You have to be able to wear it, possibly without fear of being robbed.
A fake pacemaker could work. Or a fake penis pump.

void said:

I gave a couple of examples (better or worse in your opinion) that can (partially) serve its primary purpose and have hidden function to access the hw wallet inside - hw wallet manufacturer or third party (des)integrator could/should offer it to the customers... where are surely workarounds but that wasn't my point

why something so complicated when you can hide your disassembled trezor inside about any electronic device?

Sometimes isn't even a good option if you visite a country with crypto that has partially or fully restrictions.

coingecko.com/learn/countries-ban-bitcoin

void said:

b

because it's clumsy and inconvenient?
it doesn't make much sense to me to design a hw wallet as easy to identify device while it's obvious that a killer form would be a no name Chinese brand sports watch that shows time, provides a couple of useless functions, has usb-c (obviously ;)) to recharge the device and a secret way to switch to firmware screen.... just as an example

traveling with well-know devices like ledger or trezor is as an op-sec risk growing every month and while passphrases and decoy wallets make it tolerable there is still plenty of work to be done to address this issue

ok, but why should you travel with a material amount of crypto?

void said:

the amount isn't relevant

opsec is always relative to risk exposure.
If you’re moving trivial sums, a decoy wallet or passphrase already does the job. If you’re moving life changing amounts, you shouldn’t be carrying them through airports like your headphones. In that case, use a paper wallet. It's undetectable and indestructible.
Otherwise, you’re just asking for someone in latex gloves to take a very personal interest in your no-name Chinese sports watch or whatever other smart device that everyone can buy on the internet.

void said:

the amount isn't relevant

Think twice, life gives painful lessons.

void said:

it doesn't matter what seed is recovered in that device - there is infinite number of wallets in it anyways depending on the passphrase
anyone can learn the recovery seed and carry the whole wealth with him anywhere but he needs the device to handle coin control and sigh the transactions - this has nothing to do with the amount, it's about the signals you send to potential adversaries

If you need something really secret it can't be commercially available.
You can find a way to have a new, sealed trezor safely delivered to your location. But I hope you don't have to sign transactions in a tavern in Mogadishu, that would be dangerous.