Arculus review

The card is a single upfront purchase at $59.76. For comparison, the median hardware wallet across the site sits at €69.28, and Trezor costs $79. The card is the wallet, so the purchase is the whole outlay.

self custody puts the keys with you from the start. Arculus is a hardware wallet, so the card is where the seed lives and no spendable balance sits on a company's books. The maker is Arculus Holdings, L.L.C., based in the US.

Backup is a seed, seed, so you write the phrase down and keep it away from the card. That single phrase is what restores access if the card is lost, so its storage matters as much as the card itself.

The card reaches your phone over nfc, so a tap is all the connection it needs. The handset does the work while the card keeps the keys off the network. That suits people who already carry a phone and would rather not plug anything in.

Coverage is listed at from 10,000 coins, well above the median hardware wallet on the site at 345. That figure counts assets across the chains the software handles, rather than a fixed list on the card. For most long term holds it is ample.

Open source is no. The code cannot be inspected by the community or patched by outsiders if a flaw appears. Key protection rests on the secure element embedded in the Arculus card together with the maker's own software, rather than on public review of the code.

Help runs on email, phone and help centre. The company is Arculus Holdings, L.L.C., based in the US, and the help centre, email and phone cover both setup questions and card problems. A direct call tends to be quicker than email for a card that will not tap.

Both are hardware wallets, and the difference is form. Arculus is a card that pairs over nfc at $59.76, while Trezor is a device priced at $79. Either keeps the keys with you, but only Arculus fits in a pocket as a card.