Wallet Logo

QuickX Touch

🔍 Last analysed 23rd March 2022 . Bad Interface

Jump to verdict 

Help spread awareness for build reproducibility

Please help us spread the word discussing build reproducibility with QuickX Touch  via their Twitter!

Do your own research!

Try out searching for "lost bitcoins", "stole my money" or "scammers" together with the wallet's name, even if you think the wallet is generally trustworthy. For all the bigger wallets you will find accusations. Make sure you understand why they were made and if you are comfortable with the provider's reaction.

If you find something we should include, you can create an issue or edit this analysis yourself and create a merge request for your changes.

The Analysis 

Product Description

QuickX Touch is an NFC Card-typed cold wallet. It is a hardware wallet that can safely store various cryptocurrency. QuickX Touch keeps your assets secure. QuickX Touch is a rugged, durable credit card. QuickX Touch fully complies with ISO7816 and ISO14443 specifications. In addition, QuickX TOuch does not require a battery and therefore can be used semi-permanently. QuickX Touch can support multiple cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Omisego, various ERC-20 tokens and many other coins.

More features:

  • Compatibility for Smartphone
  • Compatibility for PC through KeyWallet Reader
  • No Battery Required
  • Backup/Recovery Sheet
  • Multi Currency
  • A FIDO certified U2F Authenticator

Wallet Creation and Private keys

The card is primarily an NFC device which can connect with an Android phone with NFC capabilities. It has a companion app: QuickX Touch Few Users Defunct! and its successor QuickX Touch (New) Few Users Defunct! , both of which are no longer available as of February 20, 2022.

A third-party video tutorial on YouTube details how to create a wallet with QuickXTouch:

  • The NFC card is connected with the NFC-enabled Android phone with an installed version of QuickX Touch (New) .
  • The user then uses the phone to create a wallet and generate the backup mnemonics.
  • A wallet can be restored for as long as the user has control of the mnemonics.

Analysis

There are 2 other projects that are related to the QuickX Touch: The QuickX Protocol and CNexchange.io. Although the Android app is no longer available, the hardware wallet can still be ordered through its online portal.

Like most NFC cards that are reliant on a companion app on another device, the QuickX touch risks exposure of the private key through the connected device. There was also no mention whether the private keys are stored on a secure chip element. With no input and output interfaces, this makes the card highly dependent on the app. This risk is also made more prominent when the app is suddenly not available for download anymore.

(dg)

Verdict Explained

The design of the device does not allow to verify what is being signed!

As part of our Methodology, we ask:

Bad Interface!

Can the user verify and approve transactions on the device?

If the answer is "no", we mark it as "Bad Interface".

These are devices that might generate secure private key material, outside the reach of the provider but that do not have the means to let the user verify transactions on the device itself. This verdict includes screen-less smart cards or USB-dongles.

The wallet lacks either an output device such as a screen, an input device such as touch or physical buttons or both. In consequence, crucial elements of approving transactions is being delegated to other hardware such as a general purpose PC or phone which defeats the purpose of a hardware wallet.

Another consquence of a missing screen is that the user is faced with the dilemma of either not making a backup or having to pass the backup through an insecure device for display or storage.

The software of the device might be perfect but this device cannot be recommended due to this fundamental flaw.

The product cannot be independently verified. If the provider puts your funds at risk on purpose or by accident, you will probably not know about the issue before people start losing money. If the provider is more criminally inclined he might have collected all the backups of all the wallets, ready to be emptied at the press of a button. The product might have a formidable track record but out of distress or change in management turns out to be evil from some point on, with nobody outside ever knowing before it is too late.