Despite mounting pressure on many parts of the Chinese Bitcoin space, the country’s hardware industry continues to bring new innovation to the market.
The latest offering from the sector is the Hardbit wallet, a hardware Bitcoin wallet due to receive its international launch today.
The device, around the size of a credit card, includes a password-protected, fully integrated operaing system, two-way authentication and automatic back-ups. Payments are made by scanning a payment address and amount, then entering a password.
The device launches into a market relatively unexplored in terms of Bitcoin innovation. There are several other hardware wallets in production, though most are not available for general purchase and require additional steps in order to use.
Another device currently awaiting release is the second incarnation of the somewhat infamous Butterfly Labs’ BitSafe wallet, which promises to offer similar functionality. The wallet is a similar size to Hardbit’s offering and pre-release photographs suggest the interface is more user-friendly by design.
Both devices offer the same basic advantages of hardware wallets over other varieties, including shielding from viruses and hacking attacks, and not needing to be imported to software in order for transactions to be completed, like with paper offline storage wallets.
In terms of price, Butterfly Labs has not yet indicated the cost of its wallet, although Hardbit calls its offering “compact and affordable,” in that it has “removed a lot of computer hardware features for which Bitcoin has no use.”
More information on the Hardbit wallet can be found here.