BitBox02 Nova vs Keycard Shell BitBox02 Nova leads by 12 points.
BitBox02 Nova scores 12 points above Keycard Shell, led by rebuildable firmware and checkable keys. BitBox02 Nova ranks #1 and Keycard Shell #6 of 23 published hardware wallets. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.
BitBox02 Nova81
vs
Keycard Shell69
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #1 and #6 of 23
BitBox02 Nova scores 12 points above Keycard Shell, led by rebuildable firmware and checkable keys.
BitBox02 Nova #1 of 2381
Keycard Shell #6 of 2369
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99; a bar is empty at 41 and full at 99.
Why, term by termBitBox02 Nova leads on 2 of 6 published criteria; Keycard Shell on 0. The terms sum to the gap.
TermBitBox02 NovaKeycard ShellWeightPoints
Rebuildable firmware10/107/106.5+5.1for BitBox02 Nova+2.6 of 32
Checkable keys10/100/102.9+7.5for BitBox02 Nova+3.8 of 32
Net of the terms+12.5
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread−0.1
Reproduced gap+12.5
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below8169+12.0
Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.
BitBox02 NovaScore 81EAL6+ secure chip and firmware rebuilt and matched, with Bluetooth — new in 2025, €175Strength: Secure element you can look up — 10/10Watch-out: First shipped in 2025, so it has a short record in buyers' handsKeycard ShellScore 69An air-gapped QR signer with a screen around an EAL6+ Keycard — firmware rebuilt and matched, €129Strength: Secure element you can look up — 10/10Watch-out: First shipped in 2025, so it has a short record in buyers' hands
Quick facts
At a glance
3 of 5 rows read the same for both.
FactBitBox02 NovaKeycard Shell
One-time priceSnapshotBitBox02 Nova, Multi edition, at €175.00 including 19% VAT on https://shop.bitbox.swiss/en/products/bitbox02-nova-79/, read 1 October 2026; no US dollar list price is published.Keycard Shell (with two Keycards) at €129 including VAT (regular €149) on https://keycard.tech/products/keycard-shell, read 1 October 2026; no US dollar list price is published.
Asset coverageEditorial——
Region fitSnapshotus, europe, globalus, europe, global
Custody modelEditorialSelf-custody: the keys stay on the deviceSelf-custody: the keys stay on the device
Security postureSnapshotSecure element, EAL6+ certified; fully open source; no air-gapped signing.Secure element, EAL6+ certified; partly open source; air-gapped signing.
From the published criteria
Which should you pick?
BitBox02 Nova
81#1 of 23
Leads
Pick it when
Pick BitBox02 Nova if rebuildable firmware matters most — it scores 10/10 to Keycard Shell's 7/10 there (weight 27).
Strength
Secure element you can look up — 10/10
Tradeoff
First shipped in 2025, so it has a short record in buyers' hands
Keycard Shell
69#6 of 23
Pick it when
Keycard Shell leads BitBox02 Nova on no published criterion and no score dimension — pick it only if a fact outside the score (country, funding rail, custody) decides for you.
Strength
Secure element you can look up — 10/10
Tradeoff
First shipped in 2025, so it has a short record in buyers' hands
Self-identify in 10 seconds
Which one is actually for you?
BitBox02 NovaLeads
Choose BitBox02 Nova if rebuildable firmware matters most
Rebuildable firmware: 10/10 against 7/10 for Keycard Shell (weight 27)
Checkable keys: 10/10 against 0/10 for Keycard Shell (weight 12)
BitBox02 NovaScore 81EAL6+ secure chip and firmware rebuilt and matched, with Bluetooth — new in 2025, €175Strength: Secure element you can look up — 10/10Watch-out: First shipped in 2025, so it has a short record in buyers' hands
Keycard Shell
Keycard Shell leads BitBox02 Nova on no published criterion
Choose it only if something outside the published criteria decides for you — your country, a funding rail, or custody.
Keycard ShellScore 69An air-gapped QR signer with a screen around an EAL6+ Keycard — firmware rebuilt and matched, €129Strength: Secure element you can look up — 10/10Watch-out: First shipped in 2025, so it has a short record in buyers' hands
Criterion by criterion
Scorecard
Published criteria · weight in points of 8612 of 12 cells scored. Strength is read from the evidence file; the weight is the published one. Methodology
Secure element
weight 6.5 of 86Tie
BitBox02 Nova10/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell10/10 out of 10
Rebuildable firmware
by 3 of 10weight 6.5 of 86BitBox02 Nova leads
BitBox02 Nova10/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell7/10 out of 10
Genuine check
weight 2.9 of 86Tie
BitBox02 Nova7/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell7/10 out of 10
Checkable keys
by 10 of 10weight 2.9 of 86BitBox02 Nova leads
BitBox02 Nova10/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell0/10 out of 10
Maker independence
weight 2.6 of 86Tie
BitBox02 Nova10/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell10/10 out of 10
Fund-loss record
weight 2.6 of 86Tie
BitBox02 Nova5/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell5/10 out of 10
Score dimensions
weights sum to 86
The published score is five dimensions, each weighted for the category. "Published criteria" is the criteria block above; the other four are the engine's own terms — availability, friction, trust record, measured data. Each bar is one side's points out of that dimension's maximum; the weight beside the name is its points of the 86-point weighted total. The published criteria above can fill 24 of the block’s 30. A weight marked “constant here” belongs to a dimension every ranked product in the category holds at the same value: it still counts in the total, and it orders nothing here.
Availabilityweight 20 of 86 · constant here
BitBox02 Nova14/20Keycard Shell14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
BitBox02 Nova21.8/30Keycard Shell17/30
BitBox02 Nova leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
BitBox02 Nova2.7/10Keycard Shell2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
BitBox02 Nova3.2/8Keycard Shell3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
BitBox02 Nova5.5/18Keycard Shell5.5/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order
Choose BitBox02 Nova unless the term Keycard Shell leads on is the one you are buying.
Keycard Shell leads BitBox02 Nova on no published criterion and no score dimension — pick it only if a fact outside the score (country, funding rail, custody) decides for you.
The published order weighs every criterion the same way for everyone. To weigh them your way, run .
From the published order
Next best action
If this isn't your case
Other matchups worth comparing
How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
Key failure: your own keys are made, shown or recovered unsafely.
Scored by Secure element you can look up · 27% (BitBox02 Nova 10/10, Keycard Shell 10/10)
Scored by Firmware anyone can rebuild and match · 27% (BitBox02 Nova 10/10, Keycard Shell 7/10)
Scored by Proof the device is genuine and unmodified · 12% (BitBox02 Nova 7/10, Keycard Shell 7/10)
Scored by Key creation and signing you can check · 12% (BitBox02 Nova 10/10, Keycard Shell 0/10)
Scored by Sign and recover without the maker · 11% (BitBox02 Nova 10/10, Keycard Shell 10/10)
Scored by Years in buyers' hands without a device-level fund loss · 11% (BitBox02 Nova 5/10, Keycard Shell 5/10)
Every failure family that applies to this category is scored, except Information failure, which the provider pages show as a fact.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
BitBox02 Nova scores 12 points above Keycard Shell, led by rebuildable firmware and checkable keys. Published scores, out of 100: BitBox02 Nova 81 (rank 1 of 23 hardware wallets), Keycard Shell 69 (rank 6 of 23).
Reviewed means both products compared here was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.
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