Foundation Passport review
Security warning
Foundation Passport is a bitcoin-only hardware wallet from Foundation Devices, and the model you can buy today is the Passport Prime at $349. Foundation has widened what the device is for: it sells Prime as one piece of hardware doing four jobs, holding your bitcoin keys, your two factor codes, a hardware security key for logins over NFC or USB, and 50GB of encrypted storage.
The architecture is the interesting part. Prime runs KeyOS, a microkernel operating system written in Rust, where apps run sandboxed and isolated from each other and from the master keys, and those apps are open source. Bluetooth, which plenty of bitcoiners refuse on principle, runs through a dedicated chip Foundation calls QuantumLink rather than through the processor holding your secrets. Foundation publishes an audit quote from Dmitry Nedospasov, founder of the hardware security firm Keylabs, calling it a hardware architecture that exceeds industry standards for protecting users' digital assets. Foundation engaged that auditor, so weigh it accordingly, but a named auditor with a public quote is more than most vendors offer. Setup and firmware updates run through Envoy, Foundation's companion app, which is published on the App Store, Google Play and F-Droid.
If you are shopping second hand or reading older reviews, be clear about one thing: Passport Core, the earlier and cheaper bitcoin-only device, has been discontinued. Foundation's terms of service, effective May 21, 2026, say so directly, and add that existing Core devices keep their product-specific terms and warranty rights.
Foundation does not publish a country list anywhere it can be reached. Its terms of service name a Shipping Policy among Foundation's own documents without linking one, and the address that policy would sit at on the Shopify store the terms describe returns a 404. What the terms do say is that Foundation may reject or cancel an order over export restrictions or sanctions concerns, a clause almost every hardware vendor carries, so the checkout is the only reliable test.
- Made by
- Foundation Devices
- Type
- Hardware device
- Price
- $349
- Runs on
- iOS, Android
- Who holds the keys
- self-custodial, keys held on dedicated hardware and isolated from sandboxed apps by the KeyOS microkernel
- Bitcoin only
- Yes
- Connectivity
- QuantumLink encrypted Bluetooth through a dedicated chip, plus NFC and USB for security key use; setup and updates run through the Envoy app
- Coin support
- Bitcoin only. Prime also stores two factor codes, hardware security keys and 50GB of encrypted files
More wallets like this:iOSAndroidHardwareBitcoin-only
Pros and cons
What works
- Bitcoin only, with open source apps and a published independent audit quote
- KeyOS sandboxes apps so a compromised app cannot reach the master keys
- Bluetooth runs through a dedicated chip rather than the processor holding your secrets
- Envoy is distributed on F-Droid as well as the App Store and Google Play
- Assembled in the USA, which matters if supply chain provenance is part of your threat model
What to watch
- $349 is well above most bitcoin-only signers
- Passport Core, the cheaper earlier model, has been discontinued
- No reachable country list: the terms name a Shipping Policy that is not published anywhere, and Foundation may refuse an order over export or sanctions concerns
- A smaller company with a shorter public track record than Ledger, Trezor or Coinkite
Worth comparing
- Blockstream JadeBitcoin-only line from $79 to $149 that ships no secure element on purpose: a locked Jade holds nothing worth extracting.
- ColdcardBitcoin-only air-gapped signer whose seed generation was weakened by a build error from March 2021 until fixed firmware landed on July 31, 2026.
- BitBox02Swiss made, fully open source, sold in Multi and Bitcoin-only editions, with a Nova model that works from an iPhone.
Foundation Passport compared
Fact by fact against each wallet of the same type we review, with a verdict where our rating decides it.
- BitBox02 vs Foundation Passport
- Blockstream Jade vs Foundation Passport
- Coldcard vs Foundation Passport
- Foundation Passport vs KeepKey
- Foundation Passport vs Keystone 3 Pro
- Foundation Passport vs Ledger Flex
- Foundation Passport vs Ledger Nano S Plus
- Foundation Passport vs Ledger Stax
- Foundation Passport vs Ledger Nano X
- Foundation Passport vs OneKey
- Foundation Passport vs SafePal S1
- Foundation Passport vs Tangem Wallet
- Foundation Passport vs Trezor Safe 3
- Foundation Passport vs Trezor Safe 5
Frequently asked questions
Is Passport Core still sold?
No. Foundation's terms of service, effective May 21, 2026, state that Passport Core has been discontinued and is no longer sold, while existing Core devices keep their product-specific terms and warranty rights. Passport Prime is the current device.
What can Passport Prime do besides hold bitcoin?
Foundation lists four jobs: bitcoin keys, offline two factor codes, a hardware security key for logins over NFC or USB, and 50GB of encrypted storage. Apps run sandboxed on KeyOS, its Rust microkernel operating system.
Do I need the Envoy app to use a Passport?
Yes, for setup and firmware updates. Envoy is published on the App Store, Google Play and F-Droid, so you can install it without a Google account if you prefer.
Has Foundation Passport been independently audited?
Foundation publishes an audit quote from Dmitry Nedospasov, founder of Keylabs, describing the hardware architecture as exceeding industry standards for protecting digital assets. Foundation engaged the auditor, so read it as a vendor-commissioned review rather than an independent test.