Biometric NFC Encryption for Offline Crypto Wallet Seed Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for protecting cryptoasset recovery seeds or phrases lack robust security measures, often relying on physical concealment, making them vulnerable to unauthorized access.
Innovation Solution
A device with a secure hardware element and NFC card for encrypting and storing private keys using biometric authentication, generating cryptograms without an Internet connection, ensuring secure encryption and decryption processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If recovery seeds are stored in clear text outside any device, then users can easily recover their cryptoassets, but security protection is insufficient and vulnerable to unauthorized access
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the recovery process into multiple independent components: encryption module, biometric authentication module, and NFC storage module. The private key is encrypted separately from the biometric data, and both are stored on the NFC card. This segmentation ensures that even if one component is compromised, the other remains secure, thus improving reliability while maintaining ease of operation through the structured recovery process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary encryption of the private key using biometric data before storing it on the NFC card. This preliminary action ensures that the data is secured before any potential access scenario, transforming the vulnerable clear-text storage into a pre-secured state. The biometric authentication is also established in advance, so when recovery is needed, the user simply needs to provide biometric verification rather than managing complex security protocols.
2Reliability
If physical concealment methods are used for storing recovery seeds, then no Internet connection is needed, but the protection is limited and any third party with access to the physical medium can directly access the cryptoassets
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary encryption layer between the private key and the storage medium. Instead of storing the private key in clear text on the NFC card, the system uses biometric data as an intermediary to encrypt the key first. This intermediary mechanism transforms the simple physical concealment into a layered security system where the NFC card remains a simple physical medium, but the data on it is protected by cryptographic operations, thus improving reliability without significantly increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the mechanical/physical security approach (relying solely on physical concealment of paper or steel plates) with a cryptographic system. Instead of depending on the physical strength or secrecy of the storage medium, the system uses mathematical encryption based on biometric data. This substitution maintains the offline, no-Internet-connection requirement while dramatically improving security protection, as the cryptographic protection is independent of the physical medium's security.
3Reliability
If encryption hardware wallets generate recovery seeds, then users can recover their cryptoassets, but the protection of these recovery seeds is not properly resolved
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the encryption function and the storage function into a single integrated process. The private key is encrypted directly on the NFC card using the user's biometric data, combining what were previously separate operations (encryption on a computer and storage on a physical medium). This merging ensures that the encrypted data can be stored on a simple NFC card without requiring a computer or Internet connection, thus improving seed protection while maintaining ease of operation through the unified process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service encryption where the user's own biometric data serves as the encryption key. Instead of requiring external services or complex key management systems, the user's fingerprint, iris, or vein pattern directly encrypts their private key. This self-service approach simplifies the recovery process while dramatically improving seed protection, as the security is derived from the user's own unique biometric characteristics rather than external systems.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
Device (1) for encrypting private keys/seeds of cryptoasset wallets and storage on NFC cards, comprising: - a first microcontroller (2), with a first microprocessor (20) with embedded operating system, memory (22) for operation and storage of firmware, and interfaces (23) with the rest of the elements of the device, - a secure hardware element (21), with a second microcontroller (21a) with a second microprocessor (21b) and firmware physically separated from the first microcontroller (2) and first microprocessor (20), for the functions of cryptogram generation and management of any sensitive process data, - an NFC card (4) reader/writer (3), - a screen (5), - a keyboard (6), - readers (7) of biometric variables, and - a power supply (8); - and wherein the hardware secure element (21), comprises a secure memory (21c), separate from the general operating memory (22). The invention also comprises a method for such a device.