Cypherock X1: How the Shamir-Based Hardware Wallet Works, Prices and Recovery

Cypherock is a hardware wallet startup co-founded in 2019 by Rohan Agarwal and Vipul Saini ⁶. In December 2022, it raised $1 million in a round co-led by Consensys Mesh, Infinite Capital, Gnosis and Gnosis co-founder Stefan George. Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal and OrangeDAO also took part ⁶. Its terms of service are with HODL Tech Private Limited and are governed by Singapore law ¹. Cypherock says the X1 is manufactured in India ³.

A typical hardware wallet keeps one secret, the seed phrase, which you back up on paper or metal. Anyone who finds that backup can take your funds. The X1 is built to remove that single point of failure ²⁶.

Creating a wallet. The X1 generates the wallet's private key. It then splits the key into five shares with Shamir's Secret Sharing, a method that rebuilds a secret only when enough shares are combined. One share stays on the X1 Vault and one goes on each of the four X1 Cards ². Two shares rebuild the key, and a single share reveals nothing about it ³.

Signing. You prepare a transaction in the cySync desktop app, check it on the Vault's screen, and tap one X1 Card on the Vault to approve it ²³.

Hardware. According to the product page, the Vault uses a Microchip ATECC608A secure element and the cards use NXP JCOP3 chips ⁴. Cypherock describes its software as open source and says WalletScrutiny has reproduced its builds ³. It also cites a security audit by the firm Keylabs ². Those are company statements; check the audit report itself before relying on it.

Storing the shares. Store the cards in separate places, such as home, a safe deposit box or a trusted relative. That way a single burglary or fire can't expose or destroy two shares at once. For general guidance, see how to store crypto safely.

Recovery depends on which pieces you still have ³:

There's also a way out that doesn't depend on Cypherock. With the Vault and any one card, the X1 can show a wallet's standard seed phrase on screen, even without cySync. You can then import that phrase into another BIP-39 wallet ³. The terms describe this 24-word phrase as the fallback if Cypherock's services ever stop working ¹. The trade-off: once you display the phrase, it becomes another secret you have to protect.

Cypherock is non-custodial. It doesn't store or access your keys, and it can't recover a lost PIN, password or phrase ¹.

Cypherock has also sold limited-edition designs. Prices change often, so check the official store before buying, and buy only from cypherock.com or an authorized seller.

• Desktop only. cySync is a desktop app, and Cypherock says there's no iOS or Android app yet ²³.
• More pieces to manage. Five items in different places is more work than a single steel backup. And if you lose four of the five, the wallet is gone.
• Single-vendor format. Day-to-day signing needs the Cypherock hardware. The seed-phrase export is the exit route ¹³.
• Security record. No security incident involving the X1 turned up in the sources reviewed.

For comparison, Tangem also uses NFC cards, while Ledger relies on a seed phrase plus an optional paid recovery service. Background: what a hardware wallet is and public and private keys.