Bacca, now CEO of ZKnox, constructed the app with funding from an Ethereum Basis grant to ZKnox. The app is presently in beta.
There’s a catch, and it’s a sensible one. Proper now, customers must sideload the signer manually onto Passport Prime. Sideloading means putting in software program immediately moderately than downloading it from an official retailer.
Herbert mentioned a future app catalog will let trusted teams push updates on to customers. That catalog is predicted to launch in winter 2026.
The mannequin resembles F-Droid on GrapheneOS, the place unbiased builders can ship software program with out ready on a central gatekeeper.
Passport Prime and the KeyOS wager
Passport Prime retails for $349 and reached normal availability in Could 2026. The launch adopted a $6.4 million funding spherical for Basis.
The system packs a 3.5-inch touchscreen and 50 GB of encrypted storage. It combines a Bitcoin {hardware} pockets with FIDO safety keys, two-factor authentication and encrypted file storage.
The engine beneath is KeyOS, an open-source microkernel written in Rust. It runs to roughly 9,000 strains and is designed to isolate apps from each other.
Safety is the product, and the stakes simply went up
In October 2026, Basis handled a phishing marketing campaign that focused greater than 23,000 buyer emails. The corporate confirmed that gadgets and personal keys weren’t compromised, and funds saved on Passport gadgets stayed protected.
Including Ethereum assist expands what customers can do with Passport Prime. It additionally expands the variety of transaction sorts, contracts and approval screens they should perceive earlier than tapping “signal.”
What this implies for {hardware} wallets and Ethereum customers
The Ethereum Basis funding a Ledger co-founder to construct signing software program for a competing {hardware} platform is a notable transfer. It suggests the Ethereum Basis is occupied with making safe signing accessible throughout a number of gadgets moderately than leaving customers depending on a handful of distributors.
Sideloading provides friction, and friction tends to maintain a product within the arms of fans moderately than mainstream customers till the official catalog arrives.
The catalog itself raises a governance query. Herbert described a system the place trusted teams can ship updates immediately, so how Basis decides who counts as trusted will form each the safety and the openness of the platform.
For Ethereum customers, the near-term takeaway is sensible. Anybody already holding a Passport Prime can check the beta signer now if they’re comfy sideloading, whereas everybody else could choose to attend for the app catalog anticipated in winter 2026.
