KeepKey and Thorchain

A brief history of swaps on KeepKey

KeepKey was acquired by ShapeShift in 2017. ShapeShift was one of the first and most successful no-custody swapping services. You would send cryptocurrency to ShapeShift, and they would convert it at market rates, giving you new cryptocurrency. This non-KYC, no-signup, and extremely fast service quickly found a niche, and KeepKey was quick to see the value in this.

KeepKey developed this built-in swapping feature into their firmware by embedding signature validation and a custom integration made on the ShapeShift side, making it possible to validate that addresses were ShapeShift deposit addresses. This was the first in the hardware wallet space to provide this increased security.

Engineers at ShapeShift followed the Thorchain project closely, being the first hardware wallet to integrate RUNE into its firmware.

• In 2017, legal environments forced ShapeShift to implement KYC.
• In 2018, the development of Thorchain began.
• On December 3, 2020, RUNE was integrated into KeepKey, enabling secure storage and transactions directly from the hardware.
• In April 2021, the ChaosNet launch brought live swapping capabilities.
• In April 2022, the Thorchain mainnet went live, expanding functionality and reaching new heights in decentralized trading.

Following in these footsteps, KeepKey has embedded Thorchain vault validation into its firmware, identifying to users when they are swapping with Thorchain into its vaults. This custom display and validation provide a superior way for users to swap their assets securely. This is novel and is still not a feature in any other hardware wallet.

KeepKey’s asset roadmap has followed Thorchain, and its firmware has been developed for UX to follow ShapeShift's own UX ambitions. ShapeShift built Thorchain directly into their application, allowing them to remove KYC from the platform. To further decentralize its team and product, ShapeShift dissolved into a DAO.

Former ShapeShift engineers have since spun KeepKey into its own company, independent of ShapeShift. Focusing on developer experience and utility, it has worked hard to become the go-to hardware wallet for all major Thorchain interfaces. With superior asset support, transaction validation, and insight, and best in class user experience over any other wallet, it is the obvious choice for users in the space.

KeepKey will continue to support Thorchain and all projects that continue to follow its mission of decentralized non-custodial swapping, ending the hegemony of centralized exchanges.