Bitcoin hardware wallet maker Coinkite has announced the launch of a new product, the Coldcard Q1, which features a QWERTY keyboard and QR code scanner. Coinkite says that the battery-powered device uses the same security model as the Coldcard Mk4.
Over the past three months, companies have unveiled new hardware wallets for securely storing cryptocurrency assets. In December 2022, Ledger announced the launch of Stax, designed by iPod creator Tony Fadell. The following month, decentralized exchange (dex) aggregation service 1inch Network revealed its plans to launch a hardware wallet.
The new Coldcard Q1 launched by bitcoin signing device manufacturer Coinkite.
This month, Coinkite announced the launch of the “high-end” Coldcard bitcoin signing device, and the firm is currently accepting pre-order requests. The new Coldcard Q1 is a battery-powered machine that does not require connection to a desktop PC or power source. It has a 320×240 pixel LCD screen, which is about four times larger than the Coldcard Mk4’s screen. The new Coldcard also includes a QWERTY keyboard and built-in QR code scanner with LED lighting.
The device has two MicroSD slots and Near Field Communication (NFC), like the Coldcard Mk4. According to Coinkete’s documentation, USB and NFC data can be “irreversibly blocked.” Coinkite details The QWERTY keyboard makes entering BIP-39 passwords easier, and the triple-A batteries provide air-smooth resilience. Coinkite notes that all the features of the Mk4 are present on the Q1, but many are more easily accessible due to dedicated keys.
“For example, the dedicated ‘QR’ key allows you to view many values as a QR code ready to be imported to your phone. Same for the dedicated ‘NFC’ key that triggers NFC export/import based on context,” notes Coinkite.
The Coldcard Mk4 costs $147.94 per unit, while the Q1 is priced at $199.99 per unit on the Coinkite website. Customers paying with bitcoin (BTC) get a 5% discount with a promo code highlighted on the website. Competition in the bitcoin hardware device manufacturing market is certainly heating up with a new hardware wallet launching every month for the past three months.
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What are your thoughts on the new Coldcard Q1 from Coinkite? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below.
Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman is the news editor at Bitcoin.com News and a financial technology journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open source and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.
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