pledgeBest fit
Users who want a premium Bitcoin-only hardware signer with QR airgap and open-source posture.
The review starts with the job this wallet is most naturally built to solve.
Wallet review
Passport Core
Foundation · Hardware · Last reviewed 2026-04-29
Users who want a premium Bitcoin-only hardware signer with QR airgap and open-source posture.
Key modelHardware signer
HardwareSupported
Asset surfaceBitcoin-only
EvidenceHigh
Evidence
Why trust this view
Passport Core evidence summary
Slow down if
You want a low-cost mobile-only wallet or exchange-style account recovery.
This is the first tradeoff to read before treating the wallet as a fit.
Main risk
As with any hardware signer, recovery depends on the user maintaining backups and understanding coordinator software.
Operational and recovery risk matter more than feature checklists for self-custody.
Source quality
2 public sources
High evidence quality. Official materials are linked below.
Control model
What you control, and what can still fail.
- Key model
- Hardware signer
- Recovery / backup path
- Seed-based hardware signing with QR-based airgapped workflows
- Hardware support
- The product is the hardware signer; designed for QR communication with coordinator wallets
- Open-source posture
- Open-source software and hardware claims in official materials
Pledge take
Who should shortlist it?
Shortlist if
Users who want a premium Bitcoin-only hardware signer with QR airgap and open-source posture.
Pause if
You want a low-cost mobile-only wallet or exchange-style account recovery.
Primary risk
As with any hardware signer, recovery depends on the user maintaining backups and understanding coordinator software.
Methodology
How this wallet is evaluated.
Recovery safety
Can a user recover under stress without handing unilateral control to a provider?
Key control
Who signs, how many keys exist, and whether multisig or hardware separation is available.
Ease of use
Whether the setup burden matches the likely user and balance size.
Hardware support
Whether long-term savings can use dedicated signing devices and coordinator flows.
Privacy tooling
Whether the wallet supports power-user controls such as PSBTs, descriptors, Tor, or coin control.
Evidence trail
Passport Core source receipt
No live quote. Wallet reviews use public materials for platform support, backup model, hardware support, open-source posture, and recovery risk.
OfficialFoundation blog: 'Passport is now Passport Core'
Passport was rebranded to Passport Core (dedicated Bitcoin self-custody, air-gapped: no USB/Bluetooth/wireless, only microSD + QR; fully open source); Passport Prime is a separate broader multi-asset security platform.
Verified against source · checked 2026-04-29OfficialPassport firmware GitHub (passport2)Firmware is open source (GPLv3 copyleft plus permissive components); supports multi-part animated QR (UR 2.0) for air-gapped signing.
Verified against source · checked 2026-04-29Support docsBitcoiner.guide Passport overviewIndependent confirmation Passport is an open-source, air-gapped, Bitcoin-only hardware wallet using QR / microSD with BIP39 seed backup, paired with external coordinators.
Verified against source · checked 2026-04-29Sources
Open the official materials before trusting any recovery model with meaningful funds.
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