Yishi

OneKey

2026-10-14 03:12:32

OneKey founder says iPhones can serve as cold wallets, but only from iPhone 17 onward

OneKey founder Yishi said in a post on X that an iPhone can be used as a cold wallet, but he only recommends doing so with an iPhone 17 or newer running iOS 27 or later. He added that the device should be replaced every one to two years. Yishi said he would not use an iPhone 16 or any earlier model as a long-term signing device for important asset transactions, and that even an iPhone 17 with iOS 27 is only the minimum setup he currently considers acceptable. For long-term storage of large amounts of funds, he said he prefers a dedicated signing device with a transparent security design, ongoing maintenance, and on-device transaction verification. He also said the firmware, supply chain, and recovery process of such devices still require more review. In his view, taking a phone offline is only a precaution, while the actual effectiveness of that precaution depends on factors including hardware, patch level, BFU/AFU state, passwords, and wallet key management.

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OneKey

2026-10-14 04:21:40

OneKey founder says an iPhone could serve as a cold wallet, with iPhone 17 and iOS 27 as the minimum bar

OneKey founder Yishi outlined what he sees as the minimum security requirements for turning an iPhone into a cryptocurrency cold wallet. In his post on Oct. 14, he said keeping a device offline alone is not enough to defend against physical extraction by forensic tools. He argued that the baseline should be an iPhone 17 or newer running iOS 27 or later, with the device replaced every one to two years. Yishi said the A19 chip’s Memory Integrity Enforcement, or MIE, improves resistance to vulnerabilities. He also pointed to the security difference between BFU, or Before First Unlock after shutdown, and AFU, or After First Unlock, saying BFU is safer. Based on that, he advised users storing crypto offline to fully power down the device rather than simply disconnect it from the internet. He also warned against storing seed phrases in Notes or Photos and said users should set a strong random password of at least 12 characters. For long-term storage of large holdings, he still recommended using a separate dedicated hardware signing device first.

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