How To Set Up And Secure Your Bitcoin With The Foundation Passport Wallet

This guide explains how to get started with a Passport cold storage wallet. The passport is a Bitcoin hardware wallet that is assembled in the U.S., fully open source and designed to only be used in a secure, air-gapped fashion.

Taking self custody of your bitcoin means that you are ultimately responsible for your own wealth, there is no bank vault to protect you or a 1-800 help line to reverse a transaction. Being able to transact without permission is powerful, and with great power comes great responsibility. So, let’s get your journey into self custody started on the right foot.

Keep an eye out for announcements from @FOUNDATIONdvcs, they are anticipating releasing a new version of the Passport around March 2022.

This guide covers:

Unboxing

Generally speaking, it is good practice to use a P.O. Box when ordering Bitcoin-related products or materials. This helps prevent your exposure to risks associated with data breaches. If you have any suspicion that your device was tampered with in transit, contact hello@foundationdevices.com.

The Passport is shipped in a white cardboard box with a blue, tamper-evident security seal. There is nothing on the outside of the box which indicates it has anything to do with Bitcoin. The number printed on the security seal is not recorded by Foundation Devices, but the initial batch of Passports all shipped with label numbers that start with B722, B732 or B733. If the tamper-evident tape is disturbed, it will reveal the word “VOID.”

Inside the cardboard box you will find a bubble-wrapped box containing the Passport. This inner box also has a tamper-evident seal on it. You will also find some stickers and a note card with some basic explanations on it about your new Passport. The founders edition includes a miniature copy of the Bitcoin white paper printed in the form of a passport.

After removing the bubble wrap and cutting the tamper-evident seal, inside the inner box you will find your new Passport. Underneath the Passport you will find two AAA batteries and two, eight-GB microSD cards.

All together, everything necessary to get started is included. The Passport measures 108 mm in length by 38 mm in width.

To get started, simply remove the magnetic cover from the back of the device and insert the included AAA batteries. The back of the included informational card has a QR code that you can scan with your phone to visit the Foundation Devices setup page.

Next, you’ll see how to power on the Passport and verify the supply chain check to ensure the device is genuine.

Supply Chain Validation

This section demonstrates how to power on the Passport and execute the supply chain validation. There is a private key stored on the secure element used for this validation. By scanning a static public key QR code with the Passport, it will generate four words which are used as a checksum that only a valid Passport private key can produce.

Hold down the button in the lower left-hand corner of the Passport for about half of a second until the device lights up. After the initial boot, you will be greeted with a welcome message. You can scroll to the bottom of that message by holding the “down arrow,” then press the “continue” button.

by pressing the “continue” button.

Finally, confirm having read the terms by pressing the “continue” button.

supply chain validation

QR code open on your computer or phone. Read and scroll down to the end of the validation message, then press the “continue” button. This will launch the camera and you can then scan the validation QR code on your device’s screen.

Then press the “VALID” button and you are ready to set up your PIN. At this point, it is a good idea to get a notepad and pen or pencil ready to write down some information that you will need to secure.

This section demonstrates how to set up the PIN for accessing your Passport. Have a notebook and pen or pencil ready. To start, there are a few considerations to understand and then the steps to complete this process are outlined.

The PIN number is used to secure access to your Passport. Without the PIN number, your Passport will be inaccessible. There is no way to recover a lost or forgotten PIN, so be sure to secure your PIN in such a way that you will not lose access to it. Best practice is to physically write this information down in a notebook that you keep private and secure. Throughout this guide, there are going to be a few pieces of information that will be sensitive in regards to accessing the Passport and the signing keys it will contain. By writing this information down on paper, you can mitigate the risks introduced using digital media.

For example, in a digital file, this information can be remotely accessed on a network connected computer if the computer is compromised. Additionally, other forms of digital media such as images or video can not only be accessed remotely on a compromised device but they could also be copied and transferred quickly and easily by anyone who has physical access to the computer or other device. Although it is true that anyone with physical access to the handwritten information could easily snap a picture of it, at least the notebook could be easily hidden in an inconspicuous place or secured in a safe whereas putting a computer in a safe may not be convenient or practical.

Using a PIN that is easy to guess could result in loss of bitcoin if an adversary gets a hold of your Passport. There is benefit to using a PIN that is difficult to guess. The PIN must be at least six digits in length. You will enter the first four digits and then you will be presented with two anti-phishing words. Write down these anti-phishing words, these are unique words that are generated by using some entropy from the Passport in combination with your PIN’s first four digits.

After establishing your new PIN, upon re-entry to the Passport, you will be presented with these same two anti-phishing words. If you are ever presented with different ant-phishing words then you either entered the first four digits of your PIN incorrectly or your device has been tampered with. If that happens to you, do not proceed with accessing your device until you figure out which situation you are in at that point.

As a security feature, the Passport will brick itself if there are 21 failed PIN attempts. Once a valid PIN is entered, the counter resets to zero.

After the supply chain validation from the last section, you should see a message on your Passport that explains some details about the PIN. Scroll down to the bottom of that message with the “down arrow.” After reading the entire message, press the “continue” button.

Again, press “enter” when finished and the Passport will save this information. From now on the PIN will be required to access your Passport. A lost or forgotten PIN cannot be retrieved from the Passport. No one can assist you with recovering a lost or forgotten PIN. The Passport will brick itself after 21 failed PIN entries. Be sure to write down and secure your entire PIN and the two anti-phishing words. Once the Passport is finished saving the PIN details, you will be at the main menu.

Firmware Update

For this section, you will need a USB adaptor for your included microSD card, unless your computer has a microSD card port. Keeping the firmware on the Passport up to date is important as this is how new features are introduced, quality of life improvements are made, security issues are resolved and bugs are fixed. Foundation regularly releases firmware updates, so be sure to stay up to date with these as they occur. Navigate to the official Foundation firmware page to see more details.

In this section, updating the firmware will be demonstrated in two ways. The first way involves fewer steps but forgoes independent verification, the second way demonstrates using the developer’s PGP public keys and signatures to cryptographically verify the integrity of the firmware file.

Before getting started with either approach outlined below, first check your Passport to compare the currently installed firmware version with the currently available firmware version.

Log into your Passport by powering it on, typing in the first four digits of your PIN, confirming your two anti-phishing words, and entering the remainder of your PIN. From the main menu, navigate to “Settings,” “Firmware,” “Current Version.”

There you will see the currently installed firmware version, the date of its release and a boot counter. The boot counter tells you how many times the Passport has been powered on. Compare the currently-installed firmware version to the displayed currently-available version on the Foundation firmware download page. If the installed version is lower than the available version, then you will want to update that. If you have the latest firmware installed, then you can skip to the next section. Press the “back”: button to return to the previous sub menu.

The microSD card inserts to the port on the top of the Passport. The microSD card does not fully insert to the device, it will be sticking out about half way. Ensure the pins on the microSD card are facing up, the same direction as the face of the device.

Confirm you want to proceed by pressing “YES.”

On the next screen you will see a message warning you not to power off the Passport during the firmware update. Having fresh batteries installed is recommended. Press “OK” to continue. Then the Passport will first prepare the update and then execute the update. After a moment, the Passport will display the new currently-installed firmware version.

After the firmware update is finished you can remove the microSD card and continue to set up your seed phrase. Or, if you want to see how to cryptographically verify the integrity of the firmware file before you install it on your Passport, then continue with the advanced update details below.

Advanced Firmware Update

The basic idea behind software verification is that you can use cryptographic signatures and hash values to prove that the software you downloaded is in fact exactly what the developers intended on you receiving. This is different than a security audit, in which experts parse through the code line by line to verify that it is not doing anything malicious. The verification part only assures that the downloaded software is what it purports to be, whether or not the developers who created that software are up to nefarious schemes is another issue but one that is mitigated through open-source software that anyone can look into and put many eyes on.

Key manager: Gpg4win for Windows, GPGTools for Mac or GnuPG which already comes pre-installed on Linux

The Foundation public key

The latest Passport firmware file, signature file and hash value which can all be found on the Foundation GitHub repository here

The steps outlined below will be demonstrated with the Windows Gpg4win key manager tool. If you are using Linux, the instructions can be found on the official Foundation page here.

You will need to have your own PGP key pair setup in Kleopatra (the key manager tool in Gpg4win) in order to certify the Foundation public key. You can learn more about setting up Kleopatra in a variety of video tutorials such as this one. The following steps assume you have already configured your own PGP key pair.

Also, for Windows users, there is a handy freeware hex editor called HxD that makes calculating hash values easy.

Once you have Gpg4win installed, your own PGP key configured, and HxD installed, navigate to the Foundation GitHub repository and download the latest firmware file, signature file and make note of the firmware file hash value. Save the two files in a convenient folder and keep a tab open to easily refer back to the hash value in a few steps.

Next, navigate to the Foundation firmware update support page and download the developer’s public key. You can save this in the same folder as the other files if you would like.

Next, you want to import the Foundation public key to your Kleopatra keychain manager. Click on the “Import…” icon in the top menu.

Then navigate to the folder where you saved the Foundation public key, select this file and click on “Open.”

Then click on “Yes” to certify.

Now, when you try to validate a signature file signed by the Foundation key it will give you the green dialog box, instead of the white-colored dialog box which means that the signature is valid but not certified. It is important to be able to distinguish between a certified and valid signature (green), a valid but not certified signature (white), and an invalid signature (red).

Navigate to the folder where you saved the firmware “.bin” file and the developer’s “.sig” signature file. Right click on the “.bin” file then select “More GpgEX options,” and “Verify.” Then you should get the green certified and verified dialog box.

This means that so far you have confirmed that the “.bin” firmware file you downloaded is verified with the Foundation developer signature.

Next, open the “.bin” firmware file with HxD and then navigate to “Analysis” and “Checksums” and choose “SHA256.” HxD will then compute the SHA-256 hash value and you can compare that to the one displayed on the

Foundation GitHub site

.

From the same sub-menu where you checked the firmware version, select “Update Firmware” this time. Then follow the prompt and press “continue.” On the next screen scroll to the bottom of the message by pressing the “down arrow.” Confirm you want to proceed by pressing “yes.”

On the next screen you will see a message warning you not to power off the Passport during the firmware update. Having fresh batteries installed is recommended. Press “OK” to continue. Then the passport will first prepare the update and then execute the update. After a moment the Passport will display the new currently installed firmware version.

Next, the Passport will display a message explaining the six-word password you are about to be given. Scroll to the bottom of that message and then select “continue.”

The Passport will now display your six-word password. Keep these words in order, one through six. Ensure that you save this in a way that it is accessible to you in the future and secure in the meantime. If you ever need to restore your Passport from backup, both the encrypted file from the microSD card and the six-word password will be required.

Because of this environmental risk, many people choose to save their backup information in a steel media such as washers or plates. For an example, check out this guide on the subject.

If you are interested in saving your seed phrase in some alternate form, it can be retrieved from the Passport. Navigate to the main menu and you will notice that the menu options have changed since the seed phrase has been created. Scroll down to “Settings,” then “Advanced,” then “View Seed Words.”

Here you can see your 24 words. Make sure you keep them in order when notating them. Double check you work. Do not share these words with anyone. Keep them secure however you choose to back them up. Anyone who gains access to these words can gain access to your bitcoin.

Creating A Passphrase

With the added security comes added complication. Keep in mind that it may not be you attempting to recover your bitcoin, it may be your loved ones who may not understand how Bitcoin wallets work.

The Passport (or any BIP39 wallet) has no way of knowing whether or not you entered the correct passphrase. Any passphrase entered will cause the wallet to display a fully-functioning and valid bitcoin wallet. But only when you enter your passphrase correctly will the right wallet be opened. A “fingerprint” is used to uniquely identify the wallet so you know it is the right one.

If you want to add a passphrase to your Passport, this section will show you how to do it. Make sure you write this information down in a notebook and secure it. The passphrase is not stored in your Passport encrypted backup file.

After you add a passphrase, in order to have a complete backup, you will need:

1. The microSD card with the encrypted backup file (or the 24 words in writing)

2. The six-word password to decrypt the backup file

3. The passphrase and fingerprint

This brings you to the screen where you can enter your passphrase. Passphrases are not limited to words like the seed phrase. Passphrases can contain any combination of special characters, lower case letters, upper case letters or numbers.

You can make your passphrase an easy-to-remember phrase or even a random, high-entropy string of characters.

Next, you want to ensure that you write down the fingerprint as well along with your passphrase. The fingerprint is a unique string of characters that helps you identify that you have entered your passphrase correctly and that you are operating in the correct wallet when using the Passport in the future.

You can find your wallet’s fingerprint by navigating back to the “Settings” menu and then “About.” Note the “Master Fingerprint.”

This section will cover how to test your backups and ensure that you have all of the information necessary to recover your wallet in the event that you no longer have access to your Passport. Verifying the viability of your backup is an important step to take prior to depositing any bitcoin to your wallet. This may seem counterintuitive after taking all that time to set up your new Passport, but in this section you will see how to delete your private keys from your Passport. Then you will use your backup information to recreate your wallet.

This section demonstrates restoring from both the microSD card and the written 24-word seed phrase, starting with the microSD card method.

First, ensure you have your encrypted file password written down. This is the six-word password that your Passport generated for you when you set up the device. Log in to the Passport and enter your passphrase, if you enabled the setting to prompt you for it at login. Then navigate to “Settings,” then “Backup,” then “View Password.” This will display your six words and you can confirm you have this information notated correctly.

Second, navigate back to “Settings,” then go to “Advanced” and “Erase Passport.” Then select “YES” to confirm that you wish to erase your Passport.

Then, read the message that explains that by confirming, you understand all funds will be lost without a proper backup. Scroll to the bottom of that message and then press “confirm” to acknowledge you understand the risks. This will initiate the Passport to erase your seed phrase.

Next, you will be asked for your encrypted file password. Using the alphanumeric keypad, press the keys that spell the word you want. For example, to enter the word “ruin,” press “7,” “8,” “4” for “r,” “u,” “i,” respectively, and then select “ruin” from the short list of possible words.

Next, you want to apply your passphrase and ensure that you get the same fingerprint returned that you have notated. Navigate to “Advanced,” then “Passphrase,” then “Set Passphrase,” then enter and apply your passphrase.

With the passphrase applied, you can then navigate to “Settings,” then “About” and view the master fingerprint there. This should match your records, if it does not match your records then you either entered the passphrase incorrectly or you have the wrong passphrase written down.

This part demonstrates how to ensure the written seed phrase and passphrase can be used to restore your wallet. If you are only using the encrypted backup file on the microSD card then this step is not necessary for you. This is meant for people who want to write down their seed phrase or stamp it into metal.

Then view your wallet’s fingerprint by navigating back to the “Settings” menu and then “About.” Note the “Master Fingerprint.”

Connecting Passport With Sparrow Wallet

This section demonstrates how to connect Passport with Sparrow Wallet using your own Bitcoin Core node. If you don’t have your own Bitcoin node, you can use reputable public Electrum servers. However, there are privacy tradeoffs that come with using the convenience of a public Electrum server. Luckily, there are a number of resources available to help you spin up your own Bitcoin node, to learn more check out:

Ministry Of Nodes

Sparrow Wallet documentation

Once you have your Bitcoin Core node ready, there are a couple steps needed to configure it to work with Sparrow Wallet.

If you have Bitcoin Core running on the same computer as Sparrow Wallet, then all you need to do is open the “bitcoin.conf” configuration file and add “server=1” near the top and save it. Then relaunch Bitcoin Core. You may have a blank configuration file if this was a new Bitcoin Core install and that is fine.

If you are not sure where your “bitcoin.conf” file is located, you can always open it from within the Bitcoin Core application by navigating to “Settings,” then “Options” and then clicking on the “Open Configuration File” button in the pop-up window. Just be sure to close the application and restart it for those changes to take effect.

rpcpassword=Nakamoto21

rpcbind=127.0.0.1

rpcbind=192.168.0.11 #(your node)

rpcallowip=192.168.0.12 #(desktop)

Save those changes and then you should be able to connect to your Bitcoin Core node from your computer on the same local network. Make sure you restart Bitcoin Core after saving those changes.

Now you are ready to configure Sparrow Wallet to talk to your Bitcoin Core node. Once you have Sparrow Wallet installed and launched, you will be presented with an empty user interface. Navigate to “File,” then “Preferences”:

Either way, set the data folder directory to the same folder that the “bitcoin.conf” file is being written in (you should have been prompted to specify this folder when you launched Bitcoin Core for the first time prior to initial block download). This should be the same directory that Bitcoin Core writes the “.cookie” file that Sparrow Wallet needs to read.

Test the network connection from Sparrow Wallet. If it’s good, you should see the green check mark next to “Test Connection” and some information populated in the dialog box below that. If the connection is not good, try shutting down Sparrow Wallet, then ensure that Bitcoin Core is up and running and connected to some peers, then restart Sparrow Wallet and try again. Then you can close that window.

Unfortunately, Bitcoin Core stores your public keys and balances unencrypted on the computer it is running on. Although your bitcoin are not directly at risk of theft, if this computer is regularly connected to the internet, it is at risk to hackers — which has the potential to make you a target if your balance and geographic location are discovered. To learn more about Sparrow Wallet best practices, check out

this Sparrow Wallet resource

.

Now that Sparrow Wallet is connected with Bitcoin Core, the Passport can be connected via QR code if you have a webcam on your computer or via microSD card if you do not have a webcam.

Since the Passport is strictly an air-gapped hardware wallet, a Partially Signed Bitcoin Transaction (PSBT) is utilized to spend bitcoin from the Passport. The information necessary to generate such transactions is imported to Sparrow with the QR codes from the Passport. Basically, the public information from the Passport called an XPUB will be used to import the necessary information into Sparrow Wallet on your desktop. By doing this, Sparrow Wallet will be able to generate receive addresses and QR codes, monitor the Passport’s balance and initiate PSBTs. All without exposing the signing key on the Passport.

You can also use the microSD card to transfer information between the desktop and the Passport but the QR codes enable a faster user experience. This section will cover both, starting with the QR code method.

Importing Via QR Code

In Sparrow Wallet on your desktop, navigate to “File,” then “Import Wallet.”

From the menu of wallets that pop up, scroll down to “Passport” and select “Scan…”

This should launch your webcam. Now you can pick your Passport back up and press “CONTINUE” to initiate the series of QR codes. If you want to resize the QR codes on the passport screen, you can press the “Resize” button to change the QR code resolution to three possible sizes.

To import a single signature wallet via file, first log in to your Passport and enter your passphrase if you are using one. Then, from the main menu, navigate to “Pair Wallet,” then “Sparrow,” then “Single-sig,” then “microSD.”

Make sure you insert the microSD card. The Passport explains that it is about to save a “.json” file to your microSD card with the XPUB information. This information will not put your funds at risk, however, they may put your privacy at risk as this XPUB information can be used to recreate your balance and transaction history. The Passport will let you know what the filename is going to be.

Next, the Passport will ask you to verify that import was successful by scanning an address generated from Sparrow Wallet and then scanning that address with the Passport camera to ensure it is an address that the Passport created. Set the Passport aside for now and go through the next section to get Sparrow Wallet ready to do this.

Remove the microSD card from the Passport and insert it into a microSD-to-USB adaptor and insert that to your desktop computer running Sparrow Wallet. Or, if your computer has a microSD card port, then you can just use that without the USB adaptor.

mempool.space

is a privacy-focused browser.

Once the transaction is signed by the Passport, a QR code will be displayed on the Passport screen. Back on your desktop, in Sparrow Wallet, select the “Scan QR” button with the camera icon.

This will launch your desktop webcam and you can hold the Passport in front of your webcam so that Sparrow Wallet can read the details of the signed transaction.

At the time of broadcast you should see the transaction in Bitcoin Core as well as receive a notification in Sparrow Wallet. Again, you can copy the transaction ID and paste in your preferred block explorer to watch for confirmations.

To create a PSBT, navigate to the “Send” tab on the left-hand side in Sparrow Wallet. There, you can paste the address you are sending to, add a label, enter an amount to send, and choose a miners fee rate, etc. Once you have everything set, click on “Create Transaction.” On the next screen, double check the details then click on “Finalize Transaction for signing.” Then you will be asked what you want to do with the finalized PSBT. In this case, click on “Save Transaction” and Sparrow Wallet will launch your file explorer. Navigate to your microSD card and save the finalized transaction there.

Take the microSD card and insert it into the Passport. Power on the Passport and log in to it and apply the passphrase if necessary. Navigate to “Sign with microSD” then the Passport will display the amount to be spent and the destination address. Press “CONTINUE.”

The passport will display the change amount, if any, press “CONTINUE.” Next, the network fee will be displayed, if everything looks correct, press “SIGN.” Then the Passport will save the signed “.psbt” to the microSD card. You can remove the microSD card and press “CONTINUE” then shut down your Passport.

At the time of broadcast you should see the transaction in Bitcoin Core as well as receive a notification in Sparrow Wallet. Again, you can copy the transaction ID and paste in your preferred block explorer to watch for confirmations.

You should now be able to connect your Passport with Sparrow Wallet and sign transactions via QR code or microSD card in a single signature manner. In the next section, multisig configurations will be explained.

MultiSig

In this demonstration, a two-of-three multisig configuration will be presented using one software wallet in Sparrow Wallet, one

Coldcard

hardware wallet and one Passport hardware wallet. This means that one-of-three signatures will be from a hot wallet. If you want to ensure your multisig setup has all air-gapped keys, then use a third hardware wallet instead. This guide will at least give you the basic understanding you need to customize your configuration to fit your needs. To learn more about getting started with Coldcard, check out

this guide

.

Sparrow Wallet

Starting with Sparrow Wallet, navigate to “File,” then “New Wallet.”

Then Sparrow Wallet will ask you to name your new wallet, and this can be anything you want. In this example “MultiSig Demo” was used.

Choose how many cosigners are required, in this example two of three will be used which means that any two signatures from the Passport, the Coldcard or Sparrow Wallet combined will suffice for spending the bitcoin locked up in this quorum.

Then under the Keystores section, you will see three tabs (more if your quorum is larger). For the first keystore, “Keystore 1,” select “New or Imported Software Wallet.” This will create a brand new wallet in Sparrow Wallet to be set up as the first cosigning wallet.

On the next screen, click on “Generate New” to have Sparrow Wallet randomly generate 24 seed words.

Also, you have the option here of adding a passphrase if you want. As explained earlier in this guide, a passphrase can be thought of as a “25th word” that only you know.

Once you have written down your words and optional passphrase and double checked your work, click on the “Confirm Backup…” button to verify you have written this information down correctly. Sparrow Wallet will ask you if you have written the words down, click on the “Re-enter Words…” button to continue the test.

Coldcard

In the next window that pops up, press the “Import File…” button in the “Coldcard Multisig” row. This will open the file explorer where you can navigate to the file written by your Coldcard.

If you have not done so already, you need to export the “.json” file with the XPUB information from the Coldcard. These next steps will only show a very high-level explainer on how to export this information but for a full detailed guide

.

After setting up your Coldcard for the first time and securing your PIN and anti-phishing words, as well as upgrading the firmware; one of the first things you will do is generate a new wallet by navigating to “New Wallet” from the main menu, if you have not set up a wallet on this Coldcard already.

Then the Coldcard will randomly generate and display 24 seed words, again do not share these words with anyone, they will have access to one-of-three signing keys. Do not take a screenshot of these words, do not store them in a digital format, do not take a picture of them with your phone, you will compromise the security of your multisig setup. Write these words down on paper at the very least and consider stamping them into metal for a backup that can withstand extreme environmental hazards.

At this point, if you want to enter a passphrase on the Coldcard, you can do so at this time. Refer to

Once you have decided whether you want a passphrase or not, then navigate to “Settings” from the main menu and then “Multisig Wallets” then “Export XPUB.” At this point, you can insert a microSD card into the Coldcard.

The Coldcard will then display a message explaining the contents of the “.json” file. After pressing “OK” on the Coldcard at the end of that message, the Coldcard will ask you for an account number, you can just leave it blank for the default “0.” Then the Coldard will let you know when the file is finished being written to the microSD card and what the name of the file is.

Remove the microSD card from the Coldcard and insert the microSD card into your computer or use an USB adaptor and then insert that into your desktop computer running Sparrow Wallet. Back in Sparrow Wallet, navigate to the microSD card and select the “coldcard-export.json” file.

Sparrow Wallet will use the “.json” file to populate the necessary information in “Keystore 2.” Now you can navigate to the “Keystore 3” tab.

From the “Keystore 3” tab, select “Airgapped Hardware Wallet.”

From the pop up window, press the “Scan…” button on the “Passport Multisig” row.

Then Sparrow will launch the webcam and wait for you to hold up the Passport with the animated QR codes. Log in to the Passport and apply the passphrase if necessary. Then from the main menu scroll down to “Pair Wallet,” then “Sparrow,” then “Multisig,” then “QR Code.”

Sparrow will use the QR code information to automatically populate the necessary information for “Keystore 3.” Then you can click on “Apply.” Then Sparrow will ask you if you would like to add a password, this is an optional password that encrypts the wallet data file on your computer to prevent anyone from gaining access to this information by gaining access to your computer.

Now you can navigate through your new multisig wallet, for example, from the “Receive” tab you can display a deposit address that you can scan with your mobile Bitcoin wallet or copy/paste the address as necessary to deposit some bitcoin to your new multisig wallet.

Once you are ready to spend from your multisig wallet, set up the transaction the same way you do for a single signature transaction by navigating to the “Send” tab on the left-hand side of the Sparrow Wallet interface. There, you can input the Bitcoin address to spend to, add a label, enter the amount, set the miners fee and then click on “Create Transaction.”

Then, on the next screen click on “Finalize Transaction for Signing.”

Take that microSD card and insert into the Coldcard, then power it on and log in and apply a passphrase, if necessary. From the main menu, select “Ready To Sign” then the Coldcard will read the multisig transaction from the microSD card and ask if you want to create a new multisig wallet, press “OK.” The Coldcard will then display the amount to be spent, the address being sent to, and the network fee. If everything looks good then press “OK.” Last, the Coldcard will let you know when the transaction has been signed and what the name of the new file is.

At this point, power on the Passport, log in and apply the passphrase if necessary. From the main menu, select “Sign with QR Code.” Then, the Passport will ask you if you want to create a new multisig wallet, scroll to the bottom of that message and select to continue. The amount to be spent and the destination address will be displayed, if there will be any change then that will also be displayed, and the network fee will be displayed. If all the details look correct, press “SIGN.”

This section covers a few additional features at a high level. This is meant more to be reference material than step-by-step instructions. This is not an exhaustive list, just some useful highlights.

Change The Screen Brightness

Process: Navigate to “Settings,” then “Auto Shutdown,” then choose “1 minute,” “2 minutes,” “5 minutes,” “15 minutes,” “30 minutes,” “60 minutes” or “Never.”

Process: Navigate to “Settings,” then “Advanced,” then “Change PIN,” then enter your current PIN, then add and confirm your new PIN. This action will generate two new anti-phishing words, so be sure to note that in your backup information.

Purpose: Change the way bitcoin amounts are displayed on the device.

Sign A Text File

Process: Navigate to “Settings,” then “Advanced,” then “Sign Text File,” then load your message in a “.txt” file and save it to the microSD card. Insert the microSD card, select the file and sign. The Passport will automatically select the address used to sign and save a new file appended with “-signed.txt.”

You can see the implications of being able to sign a message with an address in full force

here

Import Public Key

Purpose: This allows advanced users to import their own public key to the Passport so that when they compile their own firmware, the Passport will use their own key to verify it along with the Foundation developer keys.

Process: Navigate to “Settings,” then “Advanced,” then “Developer PubKey,” then “Install PubKey,” then insert a microSD card with your public key and import.

Bitcoin Magazine

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