LIKE IN REAL LIFE, YOUR WALLET MUST BE PROTECTED. HOW TOOTHPIC CAN BE USED TO BUILD SECURE CRYPTO WALLET?

The creation of Bitcoin in 2009 and its subsequent success have changed the game in worldwide currency markets. The innumerable cryptocurrencies that have spawned following the lead of Bitcoin offer a decentralized digital currency that is autonomous from the control of central banking systems and can offer some degree of anonymity.

This decentralization is one of strengths and most appealing features of cryptocurrencies and it has proven valuable in recent times. In 2019, Venezuelans massively adopted cryptocurrencies as a way to bypass the hyperinflation suffered by the local economy.

As the name suggests, cryptocurrencies derive their unique properties from cryptography. From the users’ perspective, having a crypto wallet simply means to possess a pair of cryptographic keys. One key is private and it is used to sign transactions, such as sending money to a recipient. The other key is public and can be used by anyone to verify the legitimacy of the transactions signed with the corresponding private key.

The most important concern for the owner of a crypto wallet is that its private key is securely stored so that it cannot be stolen by anyone. In fact, knowing the private key is equivalent to possessing all the money associated with that wallet. In their simpler forms, crypto wallets can be applications on a computer, or a smartphone but this makes them vulnerable to hackers and cases of theft are far from infrequent.

For this reason, several companies offer hardware wallets which are physical devices storing the keys that are only plugged when needed for transactions and should never expose the private keys. However, the excellent security of these devices is countered by their inconvenience, as one needs to carry this specialized object around, be careful not to lose it, as plug it when they want to buy their coffee with some Bitcoins.

SECURE CRYPTO WALLETS WITH TOOTHPIC

ToothPic has developed and patented a technology to securely store cryptographic keys on a smartphone. The technology is based on the recognition of the invisible pattern of imperfections of the smartphone’s camera sensor. A unique and unclonable feature that makes every smartphone different from any other ever produced.

This technology can be used to build secure crypto wallets that run on smartphones. The private key of the wallet is protected by the unique feature of the smartphone camera and, even if stolen, cannot be used unless the original smartphone is available to unlock it with its camera.

When comparing this solution to hardware wallets, Toothpic allows to remove the cumbersome use of an additional device and, instead, boost the security of wallets on your smartphone, a device that is already always with you.

To facilitate its integration in third-party applications and systems, the technology has been developed for the most widespread mobile operating systems (i.e. Android and iOS) in the form of a Software Development Kit (SDK). The SDK can be easily integrated into third-party mobile apps, immediately increasing their level of security.

Want to learn more? Read our use case