Product Review: Crypto Key Stack
The Crypto Monk
After reviewing the Cryptotag and the Cryptosteel devices. I was offered by Crypto Key Stack to try their product.
The company was co-founded by Chris Gonyo and NFL veteran Israel Idonije. They wanted to work on an affordable solution to permanently store private keys on physical supports.
Their solution is simple: a few plates of high-quality stainless steel and an electric engraver.
Material
The plates are made of black anodized stainless steel and are supposed to offer fire protection up to 2200°F. It should be enough to resist to most of house fires. As stated previously in the article about Cryptotag, in some rare cases, house fire temperatures can briefly reach 2700°F.
But fortunately, some tests, realized by Jameson Lopp, demonstrated that a a 2500°F butane torch couldn’t destroy the Crypto Key Stack.
First impressions
The kit is delivered in an eco-friendly packaging and once you open it, everything is carefully stored.
The box includes:
- an electric engraver
- 5 black anodized stainless steel plates
- a manual card
- 2 sealing stickers
- a bag for the engraver
- some screws (to lock up the plates)
How it works
The engraving process is very easy and entertaining. It is like using a pen vibrating a little. You need to be careful and write capital letters (or numbers) for a better result.
Assuming that you write the first 4 letters of your recovery seed words, completing both faces of a plate will take around 25 min.
Once you are done, you can use the screws to assemble the plates together and store your device in a safe place.
Conclusions
In my opinion, this solution offers the best value for money. For $45, you can get a “Builders stack” and store a 24 words recovery seed. The kit presented in this review was the “Explorers stack” available for $70. Not only this solution is one of the cheapest on the market but it is also extremely resistant to a wide range of mechanical and chemical stresses (fire, crush, acid…).
If you have not thought about a physical back up system, this one might interest you.
Disclaimer : this article is not a partnership. I wanted to test and review a backup device and the team decided to customize it for me. More reviews of products will come in the future.
