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Blockstream Jade Review 2024: Pros, Cons & More
Swen Keller
- URL: https://blockstream.com/jade/
- Software Compatible: Yes
- Price: $64.99
- Staking Rewards: N/A
- Platform App: Mobile, Desktop
- NFTs Storage: No
- No. of Assets Supported: Bitcoin and liquid assets (Liquid Bitcoin)
- Type of Wallet: Hardware wallet
- 10% off when using Coupon Code: SKRUMBLE
Blockstream Jade Review: Our Opinion
Blockstream Jade is a hardware wallet that offers partial air-gapped security for users’ Bitcoin and L-BTC. However, its adoption of multiple software platforms beyond its native Blockstream Green, makes it versatile but susceptible to the security vulnerabilities of such platforms.
It also offers limited cryptocurrency support and features that most advanced users (its target audience) would be interested in when searching for a solution that offers hardware wallet support.
An Overview of Blockstream
Founded in 2014, Blockstream, the company behind Blockstream Jade is a provider of blockchain technologies and cryptography solutions.
The mission of the company is to build a crypto-financial infrastructure based on Bitcoin, which it considers the most robust and secure blockchain.
Blockstream applies cryptography and security engineering to build technology that boosts the efficiency of financial markets by cutting down the current reliance on trust.
For its leadership, the current CEO and co-founder is Dr. Adam Back, the inventor of Hashcash, the proof-of-work algorithm cited by Satoshi Nakamoto in Bitcoin’s whitepaper as the basis of its future mining function. Dr. Adam Back has held senior positions as a cryptographer and security architect in various technology companies such as Microsoft, VMware, EMC, Zero-Knowledge Systems, and many more.
Erik Svenson is the other co-founder, President, and CFO of Blockstream. Erik Svenson has over 20 years of experience in various leadership roles and holds a BA from Stanford.
Regarding Blockstream’s product lineup, the Blockstream Jade takes the spotlight, presenting a Bitcoin and Liquid Bitcoin cold storage wallet as its standout offering.
Other products beyond the Bloodstream Jade cold storage wallet include Liquid Finance, Blockstream AMP, Blockstream Mining, Blockstream Green, Blockstream Satellite, Bloodstream Explorer, Core Lightening, Elements, and Cryptocurrency Data Feed.
Pros
- Offers a native software
- Budget-friendly
- Native software is open-source
Cons
- It only supports Bitcoin and the liquid network
- Potential security vulnerabilities due to software networking
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Blockstream Jade Wallet: What Is It?
Blockstream Jade is a hardware wallet that stores the recovery phrase and private keys for your Bitcoin and/or your liquid assets.
The hardware wallet amplifies fund security as the private keys needed to spend your Bitcoin are stored on the Blockstream Jade.
That said, Blockstream Jade simply provides a hardware wallet to store your private key, to manage your Bitcoin and liquid tokens, you need to integrate the device with supported platforms or the native Green app, which is recommended by the company.
Blockstream Green is an open-source multiplatform wallet for Bitcoin. And it is available on iOS, Android, and desktop devices.
The Blockstream app features advanced security measures such as multi-sig and single-sig shields.
With the multi-sig shield, the Blockstream app offers users the ability to secure their wallet with two-factor authentication as one key is held on the cold wallet and another on the Blockstream Green servers enabling server-enforced PIN protection.
Blockstream software also features a fee control feature enabling transaction costs to be kept low with SegWit and customizable fees.
Blockstream Jade Price
The Blockstream Jade is one of the less-expensive hardware wallets as it goes for $64.99. This is in comparison to other options like Ledger, Trezor, D’Cent or Ngrave Zero.
However, if you’re getting other related products such as the Blockstream Capsule Seed Phrase, it may cost you over $150 in total.
To put this further into perspective, the afore mentioned competitor hardware wallets are more expensive but offer storage of many more crypto assets.
Why Use A Cold Storage Wallet?
A cold storage wallet offers more security than online, software or hot wallets as the private keys of the assets are stored online and can only be accessed by the holder of the cold wallet device.
This makes cold storage wallets more secure and less susceptible to malicious attacks than hot wallets.
Most cold storage wallets or hardware wallets have security features that protect them from brute force attacks and dust or water damage. Some hardware wallets are designed to automatically wipe themselves if brute force or any unauthorized access to the device is detected.
While hardware wallets or cold storage wallets may not make a lot of sense to day-to-day crypto traders, they are perfect for crypto investors and traders who hold or trade large volumes of cryptocurrencies for an extended period.
This will secure the assets from any form of malicious attacks or collapse of the crypto exchange used by the trader.
Cryptocurrencies Supported
Blockstream Jade only supports Bitcoin and liquid assets.
Does Blockstream Jade Support NFTs?
No, Blockstream Jade does not support NFTs, only Bitcoin and the liquid network.
How to Set Up Blockstream Jade?
Before you can set up your Blockstream Jade, as with most hardware wallets you need to plug the device into a power source using the provided USB cable and charge it for 2 hours.
Also, ensure your mobile device is charged fully as well.
Next, download the Blockstream app by clicking through on this link and hitting the green Download Now button.
Now, to set up your Blockstream Jade on your iOS device first turn on the wallet by holding the green button at the bottom of the device.
Next, select Initialize to start the setup process.
Select New to create a new Bitcoin wallet.
It is recommended to set up a new wallet rather than restore your recovery phrase from Blockstream’s Green app.
Next, copy the recovery phrase offline on a piece of paper or a dedicated backup device for the recovery phrase.
Go through the verification process and confirm that you copied each recovery phrase word right. Next, store the recovery word phrase safely.
Blockstream Jade will ask you how you want to connect the hardware wallet to the Green software. Choose Bluetooth to connect with your iOS device.
Next, open Blockstream software and choose Blockstream Jade under devices.
Pick your Blockstream Jade on the Blockstream app.
On both devices, you’ll see a Bluetooth pairing request.
Verify that the codes shown are the same before confirming the pair on your Blockstream Jade and smartphone.
Choose the security policy and network on which you’ll pick Blockstream Jade then input your PIN when you receive a prompt.
It is important to note that each security policy and network will lead to a new wallet.
Choose your six-digit PIN. You’ll use this PIN to unlock Blockstream Jade whenever you log in to your wallet.
That’s it! You’ve successfully set up your Blockstream Jade. And you should see your wallet open on the Blockstream software.
You will also see a message showing that Blockstream Jade is ready.
You’ll now be able to use your Jade to send and receive Bitcoin transactions like other hardware wallets except via QR codes. Jade, unlike most hardware wallets, uses QR codes to facilitate transactions to boost security.
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Blockstream Jade Review: Security
Blockstream Jade does not have the regular secure element available on most hardware wallets.
A secure element is a close-sourced chip that is integrated into the hardware device to protect the wallet from physical attacks. Instead of a secure element, the Blockstream Jade hardware wallet has a unique security model known as the blind oracle mode that allows the wallet to remain fully open-sourced while also being protected from physical attacks.
This security model acts as a virtual secure element but it offers better security to the Jade wallet.
The blind oracle stores the decryption mechanism of the Jade wallet off-device. This makes the extraction of physical keys from the Jade wallet as difficult as key extraction from a hardware/cold wallet with a secure element.
The Jade wallet never communicates directly with a blind oracle. To decrypt your wallet, you need to enter your PIN correctly into the Jade device, after this, the companion app will give you the decryption key via an encrypted channel. You can also do this air-gapped via QR codes using the QR code scanner.
Just as the name implies, the blind oracle model is blind and does not know anything about the Jade wallet data, private keys, bitcoin addresses, and the user’s actual PIN.
The only information stored by the blind oracle is the hash of your PIN and a nonce. A nonce is a one-time value intended to add randomness to the signature, which produces a transaction signature that can be validated by other users’ Bitcoin full nodes.
Blockstream Jade generates private keys with strong randomness. But if the wallet device is compromised it can begin to leak the user’s private key through the signatures it creates.
To prevent this from happening, Blockstream Jade implemented Anti-Exfil.
Here is how it works: When a hardware crypto wallet is compromised, it can create a nonce that appears random but is not. Without a random nonce, anyone can use your signatures to guess your private keys. This can also lead to the leak of parts of your master private key into individual nonce.
If this happens an attacker will be able to guess every private key using a sufficient number of signatures.
To mitigate this risk, Anti-Exfil is used to re-randomize the nonce and prevent attacks.
Anti-Exfil uses “sign-to-contract” to ask the wallet to use its signature nonce while cryptographically committing to some random data proposed by the host computer.
The hash of the random data proposed by the host computer is combined with the signature nonce to produce the signature.
Different Blockstream Jade Models Comparison
Unlike other hardware wallets such as Trezor and Ledger with several models.
There’s only 1 Blockstream Jade model currently that goes for $64.99.
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Opening an Account
As with most hardware wallets, you don’t need to create an account to use the device. You just need to connect your hardware wallet to your Blockstream Green app, set up your device by generating a recovery word phrase, and get started with it.
Blockstream Green App
Blockstream Green is a secure mobile Bitcoin wallet that allows you to send and receive Bitcoin and other liquid-based assets on the go without granting payment permissions to your hardware wallet device.
Blockstream Green is available on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
Blockstream’s app offers a user-friendly interface which makes it perfect for both Bitcoin beginners and experienced traders. No registration or personal details are required to use the app, all that’s required is your mnemonic phrase. An email address is also required for wallet recovery purposes.
Blockstream Green conducts a smart fee estimation during transactions to ensure that Bitcoin payments arrive on time without incurring excessive fees.
The transaction fees are also customizable. Blockstream Green offers “replace-by-fee” support, which enables users to start low and adjust the fee as the need arises.
This is perfect for users who want to make urgent transactions without overpaying.
A major advantage of Blockstream Green is that it supports different languages. This makes it ideal for non-English users. Supported languages include Hebrew, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch, English, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, French, Russian, Vietnamese, Ukrainian, Simplified Chinese, and Korean.
The list of supported languages is constantly updated to include more languages.
It also offers Testnet support. This allows users to make test transactions on Bitcoin testnet before actual transactions.
Blockstream Green can be integrated with Blockstream Jade and other hardware wallets devices like Ledger and Trezor. This allows you to securely store your crypto assets when you are not trading.
The combination of the multi-signature security of Blockstream Green and the security features of the hardware wallets guarantee high-level security of your assets.
Blockstream Green users can secure their wallet and liquid assets with Blockstream Green’s Multisig Shield. So you can hold one key on the Blockstream Green Server and another on your device.
The holding of your private keys in 2 locations protects your wallet with two-factor authentication. You can also use timelocks or a third backup key to ensure that you have full ownership of your funds at all times.
To further boost the security of your funds, you can set up a two-factor threshold for large payments. Once this is activated you will be required to complete two-factor authentication for large transactions.
The total payments up to the set threshold can be completed without 2FA.
Blockstream Green provides multiple authentication options including Email, SMS, and Google Authenticator.
Customer Satisfaction
Blockstream offers customer support to customers via support tickets.
The majority of reviews from users who have used the Blockstream Jade, attest to the fact that it is a good hardware wallet. There are, however, complaints of difficulty using the recovery tool, especially for new users.
Where Can I Buy a Blockstream Jade Wallet?
You can buy a Blockstream Jade wallet by going to the official website: blockstream.com/jade and clicking the green Get Jade button located at the top of the screen.
Alternatives to Blockstream Jade
Popular alternatives to Blockstream Jade include Trezor, Ledger, and the Ngrave Zero.
In comparison to other hardware wallets, the Blockstream Jade wallet isn’t a top option when you take into account that other options support over 1,000 crypto assets, NFTs, and staking.
Final Thoughts
Blockstream Jade is a good hardware wallet for users interested in truly owning their Bitcoin and liquid asset private keys.
However, users who want to hold altcoins and other cryptocurrencies won’t find the hardware wallet useful.
In terms of security, Blockstream Jade offers basic security features you can expect from a hardware wallet.
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FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
Yes, Blockstream Jade is a Bitcoin-only wallet.
We always try to provide the most accurate information available, and make sure our team follow through.
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