Safepal strengthens its hardware wallet lineup with the Safepal X1.

Safepal X1 is another hardware wallet that I will review to show its features and functions. I had the opportunity to use Safepal S1 2-3 years ago. At that time, Safepal's hardware wallet came with Air-Gap Technology, which I learned about when I tried out the Safepal S1. In 2023, Safepal reinforced its hardware wallet lineup with the Safepal X1, which comes with Bluetooth technology and Open Source, following the community's pressure for developers to use Open Source, which is more popular than Close Source.

The popularity of Hardware Wallets during COVID-19

During the last Bitcoin bull run, the early hardware wallets in the market were Trezor and Ledger, which captured the largest market share. One reason was the growth of DeFi during the last bull run, which attracted many people into the crypto world. Many of them got involved in DeFi, which requires a wallet that can connect to DApps. At that time, a popular wallet was Metamask. This initially made Trezor and Ledger popular because they could connect to the Metamask wallet.

Mobile First in China and Hong Kong

However, in countries with a large number of mobile phone users, such as China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, they sought ways to connect hardware wallets to mobile phones, as most people in these regions only have mobile phones and not computers like in America or Europe.

Safepal is another hardware wallet company that tried to fill this gap by using Air-Gap technology and launched the Safepal S1 into the market. However, because it needed to connect to DApps and Metamask did not allow Safepal to connect, Safepal developed a mobile application that could connect to DApps without needing to connect through Metamask. If Safepal S1 users wanted to connect to a computer, they could do so via Wallet Connect, as it was truly designed for mobile use and therefore had to use Wallet Connect instead.

Safepal fills the Hardware Wallet market gap

During that period, Safepal gained a significant market share. Personally, I believe Air-Gap Technology is quite good. It can connect devices using a camera and QR code scanning back and forth, making Man-in-the-Middle attacks difficult. But what's interesting is why Safepal launched a new hardware wallet that doesn't use Air-Gap Technology but instead uses Bluetooth technology to connect to mobile phones.

What's in Safepal X1

When I first saw the Safepal X1, it reminded me of another hardware wallet brand called COLDCARD, which is popular among Geek Bitcoiners. Honestly, it looks very much like a calculator. The screen is monochrome and smaller than the Safepal S1, and it's not a color screen like the Safepal S1. The Secure Element Chip is still the CC EAL5+ standard, while in Trezor Safe 3 or OneKey Classic, it's CC EAL6+. It connects to mobile phones via Bluetooth 5. The case is made of ABS plastic. From what I've seen, there's nothing particularly new except for the change in connection method to mobile phones from Air-Gap to Bluetooth.

Open Source is a trend in Hardware Wallets

The Open Source trend is highly connected with Hardware Wallets. If a Hardware Wallet is Open Source, it gains more trust from the community. Open Source means that the source code is openly available for inspection by anyone, and anyone can further develop the source code.

I think there are several reasons why Safepal adopted Bluetooth.

Firstly, I believe they likely adapted code from others and developed it further. This necessitated them becoming Open Source. Secondly, it's an advantage that makes Safepal the first hardware wallet to be Open Source. Previously, the Safepal S1 and Safepal S1 Pro models were not Open Source. Closed Source is a concern for many who understand Bitcoin storage and digital assets if the Hardware Wallet isn't Open Source. Open Source here means the software used to interact with the Hardware Wallet must be Open Source, and at a minimum, the firmware should also be Open Source.

As an example, with Ledger, only Ledger Live is Open Source, but the firmware is not, which makes the community distrustful.

Comparing Safepal X1 with other models

If we compare it with other hardware wallets on the market that seem to be direct competitors, head-to-head, there's the OneKey Classic, which evolved from Trezor with added Secure Element Chip and Bluetooth, and the Ledger Nano X, which also has a Secure Element Chip and uses Bluetooth to connect to mobile phones. Overall, I think Safepal's wallet software is quite well-suited for farming and DeFi users. If you like this type of activity, you might find it cool. The Ledger Nano X relies on Metamask features, but it might not be fully supported on mobile as the Ledger Nano X cannot connect to the Metamask mobile application. Ledger Live on mobile also isn't as good at DeFi as Safepal X1. As for OneKey Classic, I think OneKey's approach isn't much different from Safepal in terms of developing mobile software that is easy to use and can easily connect to DeFi. Now it depends on personal preference whether you like the look of Safepal X1 or OneKey. Personally, I think the Safepal X1 has a geeky calculator-like appearance.

Safepal X1 Summary

In summary, the Safepal X1 remains interesting for farming and DeFi users because of Safepal's mobile software, not necessarily the Safepal X1 itself. Its continuous development to be used with DApps might not be ideal for Bitcoin Hodlers. However, what I find more interesting is the pressure for Open Source, which prompted Safepal to change from being Closed Source to Open Source.

I believe this is one direction we can see: if you want to grow in the crypto universe, transparency is extremely important. It might seem like a small detail, but small things that accumulate become significant. Distrust is similar; small distrust, accumulating over time, can lead to a complete lack of trust. For those who have used Safepal X1, please comment on what you like about it. For those who haven't tried it but like its appearance from the pictures, feel free to comment.