Adam Back makes case for simpler security as Blockstream launches Bitcoin custody system

Blockstream’s new custody system, developed with Thales, uses dedicated hardware for transaction signing as Adam Back advocates for offline security to reduce cyber risks.

Adam Back’s Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream has launched a new institutional digital asset custody solution developed with French technology group Thales, as the cryptographer pushes for simpler, offline security systems to protect Bitcoin against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.

The solution, announced Friday, combines Thales’ hardware security modules (HSMs) with Blockstream’s Secure Multi-Party Computation (Secure-MPC) technology, allowing institutions to authorize transactions while keeping sensitive cryptographic operations within dedicated security hardware, according to the company.

Unlike conventional MPC implementations that may perform portions of the signing process outside dedicated security hardware, Blockstream said its architecture executes the entire signing protocol within the protected environment of Thales’ HSMs.

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