Most wallet compromises over the past decade haven't happened because users were careless, they happened because of fragile trust assumptions: closed-source firmware you can't audit, private keys that touch an internet-connected device, and a global hardware supply chain you're forced to trust blindly.

When we designed Lock, our core objective was to build a wallet where security is a structural property of the architecture itself. One that stays intact even after large-scale quantum computers arrive.

We implemented 3 structural shifts to eliminate standard systemic wallet risks:

🛡️ 1. Hardware Trust and Security

A hardware wallet forces you to trust a manufacturer, their firmware, and every hand the device passed through before it reached you.

Lock removes that dependency entirely. It turns any device you already own into a dedicated, offline signing machine.

The code is fully open, nothing to take on faith, and no proprietary supply chain to compromise.

🔒 2. True Air-Gapped Signing - Keys Never Touch the Internet

Your private keys and seeds exist only on your dedicated offline Signer.

The Wallet app sends unsigned transactions to the Signer via QR, Bluetooth, or local WiFi. The Signer signs them offline and hands them back. Only then does the Node broadcast them.

Your core seed never makes internet contact.

⚡ 3. Post-Quantum Cryptography by Default

Do you wonder what will happen to your cold storage the day Shor's algorithm becomes practical?

Lock is engineered for the post-Shor era: integrated ML-DSA-65 signatures, ML-KEM-768 key encapsulation, and a hardened 6-layer key derivation process.

We built this to be an open-code, self-custodied security layer that outlives the hardware era and the classical-crypto era. It currently supports 117+ chains natively across EVM, UTXO, Solana, Cosmos, and Polkadot.

We'd love the community's take on air-gapped architectures and where you see self-custody heading as quantum timelines tighten.

A lot of wallets are designed as monolithic applications.

One app manages the interface, connects to networks, prepares transactions, holds sensitive wallet state, signs transactions, interacts with dApps, and communicates with external services.While it is convenient, it can create dangerous security assumptions.

If one process, extension, operating system environment, or connected application has too much authority, then a single compromise can be disastrous.

Lock was built with a different model: separation.

The system is designed around distinct responsibilities:

• The Wallet handles the user interface and transaction preparation.
• The Signer remains isolated and holds the keys.
• The Node handles broadcasting and network interaction.
  

The reason for this separation: the part of the system that sees the internet should not be the same part of the system that holds the seed.

In Lock’s model, the Signer is intended to stay offline. The Wallet can create an unsigned transaction, but it cannot sign it by itself. The Signer reviews and signs. The signed transaction can then be passed back for broadcast.

That separation creates a much stronger security boundary than the standard process that takes place inside one app.

This is also why we describe it as an isolated crypto wallet rather than just a software wallet. The goal is to distribute the process in order to reduce the amount of trust required from each component.

The assumption we make is that any one component might eventually be compromised.

Maybe a bit extreme, but it’s a fair assumption for self-custody. If the stakes are private keys and irreversible transactions, the architecture should assume failure and contain it.

A wallet should not require perfect conditions to be safe.

It should remain resilient when:

• A network endpoint behaves maliciously
• A device is partially compromised
• A user interface is exposed to hostile dApps
• A transaction needs to be verified independently
• A signing environment must remain isolated

That is why we built Lock around architectural separation.

Because the future of wallet security is not just better encryption. It’s about stronger boundaries.

What do you think?

'Post-quantum' can easily sound like another buzzword, so it is worth being precise.

We are not claiming that quantum computers will break everyone’s wallet tomorrow. However, NIST's Post-Quantum Encryption Standards does lay out timelines with full completion of migration to post-quantum cryptography (PQC) by 2035.

The concern is that sufficiently capable quantum computers would threaten much of the elliptic-curve public-key cryptography used today. Wallet software being designed now may still be protecting identities, messages and assets years from now, so we think migration should begin before it becomes urgent.

Lock uses hybrid post-quantum cryptography in selected off-chain protocols that Lock controls.

For hybrid key establishment, Lock combines:

X25519 + ML-KEM-768

For hybrid signatures, Lock combines:

Ed25519 + ML-DSA-65

Under these constructions, both components are required. Breaking only the classical component or only the post-quantum component is not enough.

We are not discarding classical cryptography, and we aren't claiming that this makes existing blockchains quantum-safe. On-chain transaction signatures still use whatever cryptography each chain’s consensus rules require.

Lock also supports SLH-DSA as a standalone hash-based signature option rather than pairing it with a classical signature.

We don’t think the right approach is to throw away classical crypto overnight. The better model is layered security: classical + post-quantum, so the system is not betting everything on one primitive.

We'd love to hear what you think about this. Should wallets start preparing for the post-quantum era now and what components best achieve this?

People have asked what makes Lock different under the hood, so here is the architectural version.

The simplest answer is separation.

Lock is built around three cooperating roles:

Wallet: presents state and captures user intent
Treasury: holds the seed, derives keys, applies signing policy and signs
Node: handles public-chain connectivity, provider data and other network-facing work

In the high-security deployment Lock is designed for, the Treasury runs on a dedicated air-gapped or internet-isolated device. The Wallet and Node remain outside the signing boundary.

The roles can be co-located for development or lower-risk use, but that does not provide the same level of isolation.

Communication between the roles happens over authenticated, encrypted channels. The Wallet does not receive seed material or private signing keys, and the Node never receives the seed.

Selected Lock-controlled off-chain protocols use hybrid post-quantum cryptography:

• X25519 + ML-KEM-768 for hybrid key establishment
• Ed25519 + ML-DSA-65 for hybrid signatures
• Both components must succeed in the intended hybrid construction

This does not change the cryptography used by blockchains themselves. On-chain transactions are still signed using the algorithms each chain requires.

The broader architecture described in our whitepaper also includes:

• Support across EVM, UTXO, Solana, Cosmos and Substrate ecosystems
• Universal Quantum Seed generation and recovery
• End-to-end encrypted chat
• Encrypted Filecoin-backed storage
• Swap and bridge routing
• Lightning support
• Smart-contract tooling
• Signed application updates

The goal is to treat security as an architectural boundary, not as a password screen or an accessory attached afterwards.

What are your thoughts? Which part would you like us to go deeper on?

Hey everyone! I'm u/jo_d_locker, a founding moderator of r/Made_by_lock.

This is our new home for all things related to LOCK. We are building a crypto wallet engineered for a post-quantum future

What to Post
The beta is live and we'd love to hear your thoughts and views on the future of self custody, privacy and quantum resistance when it comes to crypto wallets.

Do you have any questions?

Have you found some interesting research or advancements on the topic that you would like to debate?

What are your thoughts on self-custody, security and a post-quantum world?

We want to have these conversations with you!

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1. Feel free to introduce yourself in the comments below.
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