An offline key manager. Rust runs directly on a Linux kernel, with networking and internal storage disabled at the kernel level. It runs on PC and Raspberry Pi.
Faraday 0.1.1 is a pre-release, not yet reviewed.
Keys from dice
Roll every bit yourself and watch the words appear under a binary verification layer that anyone can follow along with. Full word lists included for further manual verification.
Runs from memory, keeps nothing
Faraday loads into memory and runs from there. Its kernel has no network stack and no driver for the computer's own disks, so with the boot stick out it has no network and no drive of any kind.
No stick is read while a vault is unlocked or a key loaded. Vaults and keys load only with no stick attached.
Use it statelessly: nothing is written to the computer, locking wipes every key and starts the app afresh, and powering off loses everything in memory. Only what you write to a stick is kept.
No desktop
There is no X11, no Wayland, no window manager, no GPU driver, no toolkit and no browser engine. The firmware sets up a framebuffer, the kernel hands it over, and Faraday, one Rust program, lays out every screen, rasterises its own fonts and writes every pixel itself. The blinking current isn't really a blinking cursor.
Keys, clicks and touches arrive as raw kernel input events mapped to a location on the screen, not a button or a field. Less software between you and your keys is less to attack.
Vaults
A vault is one optional file on the stick, loaded into RAM at boot and never unlocked until the stick is pulled. Vaults are sealed with Argon2id and XChaCha20-Poly1305. Roll dice to generate strong, verifiable EFF wordlist passwords. Unlock it and Faraday loads its keys and wallets, the whole of it on a laptop's screen.
Backups and inheritance
Faraday's backup plan says what goes where, and checks each seed copied by hand. The map shows an overview of all the pieces. Faraday's Spend tab walks first time spenders from the envelope to a sent transaction. Faraday also signs for miniscript wallets with an inheritance path.
Supply chain
A hardware wallet is made for one job, so it is worth tampering with: in the factory, in the post or in the shop, an attacker knows what it will hold. Buying one also puts your name and address on a maker's customer list, and such lists have leaked.
Faraday runs on an ordinary laptop, one of millions, bought anywhere or already yours. Nothing bought says you hold keys.
Faraday fits naturally into a multi-vendor multisig setup, utilizing a device you likely already own.
Not yet reviewed: help remove this card!
Faraday is the evolution of OpenSigner, itself inspired by SeedSigner. Every key derivation, mnemonic, signature and PSBT is OpenSigner's code, in crates Faraday does not edit: a Bitcoin signing feature is built there first, then merged. An auditor of signing reads libraries with no screens, input or storage in them.
The BIP specs are OpenSigner's own Rust: BIP-39, BIP-85, SLIP-39, codex32, MuSig2, FROST and silent payments, over rust-bitcoin and libsecp256k1, Bitcoin Core's own curve library.
No one outside the project has reviewed Faraday 0.1.1 yet. Point your clankers and your eyes at the code, and report what you find. Thank you for helping improve and build confidence in Faraday!
Tools for advanced users
Beyond seeds and wallets: SLIP-39 shares, Seed XOR, codex32, BIP-85 child seeds and passwords, MuSig2, FROST, Taproot multisig, miniscript, silent payments, GPG and Secure Boot keys, and passwords with TOTP in a vault.
The app itself, running in this page. Every key is a public demo seed, and every address has a broken checksum.
On a phone the demo is the Raspberry Pi's 2.8 inch screen. The stories are best on a laptop, where the papers and the phone have room to be dragged to the webcam.
The demo runs in this page and sends nothing anywhere. It uses only pre-approved dummy seeds and addresses.
Faraday runs on a PC from a USB stick or a Pi from a microSD card. Prices are rough, in US dollars.
The better machine: its screen, keyboard and webcam are inside the case.
Imagefaraday-x86_64-uefi.img
With a 2.8 inch touch panel; the microSD card is its only storage.
Imagefaraday-pi3-waveshare-28dpi.img
The Pi image has not yet been tried on the panel.
From a release on GitHub: the image for your machine, SHA256SUMS and SHA256SUMS.asc.
ReleasesThe release key was made in Faraday and its secret part has never left a Faraday vault. Its fingerprint:
D1AF A712 ABEF 9010 9A1B 587F F153 6BE0 7E23 4CFD
gpg --import release-key.asc
gpg --fingerprint F1536BE07E234CFD
gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.asc SHA256SUMS
sha256sum -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMSWrite the image to the stick or card with a tool that writes whole disk images, such as Raspberry Pi Imager (Use custom) or dd on Linux. This erases the stick: check its name with lsblk first.
sudo dd if=faraday-x86_64-uefi.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M conv=fsync status=progressOn a laptop, turn off secure boot in BIOS and select your stick in the boot menu. On a Pi, put the card in and power it on.
Faraday 0.1.1 is a pre-release: no one outside the project has reviewed it.Questions
Faraday beside a typical hardware wallet, a software wallet and an offline computer. Models differ; this is the usual case.
| Faraday | A hardware wallet | A software wallet | An offline computer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Network | None: its kernel has no network stack | None on the device; some models connect by Bluetooth or USB | Online | Off, once its Wi-Fi and Ethernet are disabled or removed; the drivers stay in the system |
| Attack surface | One Rust program on a minimal kernel: no network stack, no desktop, no browser | Small firmware for one job | A full operating system, its apps and the network | A full operating system, a desktop and often a web browser running an HTML tool, with every library and script it loads |
| Keys at rest | In vaults sealed with Argon2id, or on paper; nothing kept at power off | In the device, often in a secure element | On the phone or computer, encrypted by the app | On its disk, in the wallet app's files |
| Screen | A laptop's whole screen, or a 2.8 inch panel | A small screen on the device | The phone's or the computer's | Its own screen |
| Moves data by | QR codes through a camera, or files on a stick | USB, Bluetooth, QR codes or a microSD card, by model | The network | USB sticks, or QR codes |
| Holds | Bitcoin keys and wallets, passwords with TOTP, GPG and Secure Boot keys | Bitcoin keys, and on many models other coins | Bitcoin keys | Whatever its apps hold |
| Who it is for | Everyone: guided flows, and a Spend tab that walks an heir from the envelope to a sent transaction | Most people, through the maker's app | Most people | Those who can harden a computer themselves |
| Hardware | A laptop or a Raspberry Pi set aside for it | A device bought from its maker | The phone or computer used every day | A computer kept offline |
| Cost | Free on a laptop you already have; a dedicated laptop, $100 to $200 | About $60 to $250 | Free | Free on a computer you have |
| Accessibility | Free and available to all | Identifiable as a hardware wallet; bought from a specialised vendor or its maker | Used on an online device | Free, with the know-how to set it up |
| Supply chain | An ordinary laptop, one of millions, and a download checked against its signed release | A device made for keys: a known target between its maker and you | The app's updates, and the phone or computer it runs on | The operating system, its updates, and every package and page installed |
| Buyer records | None: nothing bought says you hold keys | The maker or shop keeps your name and address, and such customer lists have leaked | App stores and exchanges know their users | None |
| Review | A pre-release, not yet reviewed | Varies by maker | Varies by app | Varies with what is installed |
It is a signer. It holds the keys and signs. A watch-only wallet on another computer shows balances, builds transactions and sends them; the two pass PSBTs by QR code or on a stick.
Nothing: it is stateless. The whole system loads into memory from one file and nothing is mounted afterwards; nothing is written to the computer; locking wipes every key and starts the app afresh. What lasts is only what you write to a stick: sealed vaults, signed transactions, public files and the display settings. Keys come back from a vault and its passphrase, or from a seed backup.
A computer kept off the network, running a full operating system, a desktop and often a web browser with an HTML wallet tool. It can work, but all of it is attack surface: the operating system, the browser engine, and every library and script the tool loads, and its network drivers stay in the system. Faraday is one program on a kernel built without a network stack, a desktop or a browser.
Stateless signers on small boards keep nothing between sessions, as Faraday does, and are made for people who already know the flows. Faraday keeps that model and is made for everyone: Guided mode writes out each step, and the Spend tab walks someone spending an inherited wallet for the first time from the envelope to a sent transaction.
No. Its kernel has no driver for SATA, NVMe or eMMC disks, so the computer's own disk cannot be read, written or mounted. What is installed there stays as it is.
Its kernel is built with no network stack: no Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB network driver, and no sockets. With the Wi-Fi card taken out as well, nothing can turn the radios on.
A laptop's screen shows the whole transaction at once: every input, output, address and amount. Its screen, keyboard and webcam are inside one case.
One file, sealed with Argon2id and XChaCha20-Poly1305, that holds keys, wallets, passwords and notes. Its passphrase can be rolled with dice on the EFF word lists.
Yes: the same app, compiled to WebAssembly. It takes only eleven public seeds, and every address it shows has a broken checksum, so no wallet will send to one.
Faraday 0.1.1 is a pre-release. No one outside the project has reviewed its code, its cryptography or its builds. Check any download with the release key.