KeepKey is a USB hardware wallet. It stores your private keys offline on a small device with a large OLED screen, and you confirm each transaction on that screen 1. You run it through the free KeepKey Desktop app, which handles setup, balances, sending, swaps and firmware updates 6. KeepKey sells the device for $59.95 7. ShapeShift bought the company in 2017, but KeepKey now says it operates independently. The footer names KeepKey LLC 13. Its firmware is open source 1.
KeepKey says it has secured private keys since 2014. It names Darin Stanchfield and Ken Hodler as founders, who started the company after the Mt. Gox collapse 2. In August 2017, the exchange ShapeShift, then led by Erik Voorhees, bought KeepKey. The price was not disclosed 4. Under ShapeShift, KeepKey added in-wallet swaps and later THORChain's RUNE (December 2020) 5.
KeepKey now states that ShapeShift is neither its owner nor its maker and that it has been independent "for several years" 3. Its docs connect that change to ShapeShift becoming a DAO in 2021 5. The website footer reads KeepKey LLC, and the listed team includes a lead engineer, a firmware lead and a COO, all named by handle 12.
KeepKey generates and keeps your keys on the device. Your computer builds a transaction, the device displays it, and you approve it with the button on the KeepKey before it signs 16. Background: what is a hardware wallet.
The software around it 6:
KeepKey says it supports 11 native chains plus all EVM chains, with more than 6,980 additional assets 1. Check the supported-coins list in the docs before sending a specific token.
During setup the device shows a 12- or 24-word recovery phrase. That phrase is your only backup if the device is lost, broken or stolen 6. Two recovery cards come in the box for writing it down 7.
Your PIN is entered on the computer using a grid whose layout shuffles every time. That way, software watching your screen or clicks cannot learn the digits 6. KeepKey also documents a "scrambled recovery entry" mode for restoring a phrase 6. Step-by-step help: how to set up a hardware wallet.
KeepKey staff will never need your phrase. Anyone asking for it is running a scam; see crypto phishing.
The KeepKey costs $59.95 with free US shipping. It comes in five finishes: Classic black, red, green, gold and silver 7. The box holds the device, a USB cable, two recovery cards and a quick-start guide 7. KeepKey says it ships anywhere, but international shipping costs are on a separate policy page 7. No subscription is mentioned. Firmware updates are free 1.
KeepKey publishes its firmware as open source and signs releases. It asks researchers to report flaws privately to [email protected] 168. Its security page does not name the chip, mention a secure element or describe a bug bounty 8.
The most significant public research on the device came from Kraken Security Labs in December 2019. Researchers showed that someone with about 15 minutes of physical access could extract the encrypted seed using voltage glitching, then brute-force the PIN 9. Kraken said the issue sits in the microcontroller and could not be fixed by firmware alone 9. KeepKey replied that its focus is protecting against remote attacks 9.
The documented mitigation is a BIP39 passphrase. The passphrase is never stored on the device, so a glitching attack cannot recover it 9.
What KeepKey protects against, and what it does not:
These are design differences, not a ranking:
| KeepKey | Trezor | Ledger | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key storage / firmware | Open-source firmware 1 | Open-source firmware; EAL6+ secure element on current Safe models | Secure-element devices |
| Main app | KeepKey Desktop 6 | Trezor Suite | Ledger Live |
| Mobile use | iOS app paired to desktop 6 | See Trezor profile | See Ledger profile |
| Physical-extraction research | Kraken 2019 glitching (passphrase mitigates) 9 | Kraken Jan 2020 glitching on older Model One/Model T | See Ledger profile |
Trezor and Ledger cells summarize CoinPulse's existing profiles of those companies, which carry their own sources. For a scored view, see the hardware wallet ratings.
Hacks in DefiLlama’s public database are also scored as the security record on the KeepKey rating page.
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