Coldcard vs Cypherock X1 Coldcard leads by 6 points.
Coldcard scores 6 points above Cypherock X1, led by secure element, checkable keys, and maker independence. Coldcard ranks #11 and Cypherock X1 #15 of 23 published hardware wallets. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.
CLColdcard66
vs
Cypherock X160
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #11 and #15 of 23
Coldcard scores 6 points above Cypherock X1, led by secure element, checkable keys, and maker independence.
CLColdcard #11 of 2366
Cypherock X1 #15 of 2360
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99; a bar is empty at 41 and full at 99.
Why, term by termColdcard leads on 3 of 6 published criteria; Cypherock X1 on 2. The terms sum to the gap.
TermColdcardCypherock X1WeightPoints
Secure element5/103/106.5+3.4for Coldcard+1.7 of 32
Checkable keys7/100/102.9+5.2for Coldcard+2.7 of 32
Genuine check5/107/102.9−1.5for Cypherock X1−0.8 of 32
Fund-loss record1/108/102.6−4.8for Cypherock X1−2.5 of 32
Maker independence10/104/102.6+4.1for Coldcard+2.1 of 32
Net of the terms+6.4
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread+0.1
Reproduced gap+6.5
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below6660+6.0
Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.
ColdcardScore 66July 2026 seed flaw cost owners funds — fixed in 5.6.0; a Bitcoin-only signer that works from microSDStrength: Firmware anyone can rebuild and match — 10/10Watch-out: 30 July 2026: Coinkite reported that firmware before 5.6.0 generated weak seeds (about 72 bits) on Mk4, Mk5 and Q, and that attackers stole funds from weak seeds; update, then move any seed made before 5.6.0 to a new oneCypherock X1Score 60Seedless split across a vault and four cards — firmware rebuilt and matchedStrength: Firmware anyone can rebuild and match — 10/10Watch-out: DARKNAVY's 2025 exploit chain changed the vault firmware and took control of newly generated seeds; Cypherock names no fix, and the bootloader cannot be updated
Quick facts
At a glance
3 of 5 rows read the same for both.
FactColdcardCypherock X1
One-time priceSnapshotCOLDCARD Mk5 at $219 ("Buy Now $219 USD") on https://coldcard.com/mk5, read 1 October 2026.Cypherock X1 Basic (one vault, four cards): the maker's store feed https://api-commerce.cypherock.com/api/products reads "price":99,"compareAtPrice":129, read 1 October 2026; the same feed names "currency":"USD" (read 28 October 2026).
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, no listed certificate; fully open source; air-gapped signing; a device-level flaw cost owners funds.Secure element, EAL5+ certified; firmware open source; no air-gapped signing.
From the published criteria
Which should you pick?
CL
Coldcard
66#11 of 23
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Coldcard if secure element matters most — it scores 5/10 to Cypherock X1's 3/10 there (weight 27).
Strength
Firmware anyone can rebuild and match — 10/10
Tradeoff
30 July 2026: Coinkite reported that firmware before 5.6.0 generated weak seeds (about 72 bits) on Mk4, Mk5 and Q, and that attackers stole funds from weak seeds; update, then move any seed made before 5.6.0 to a new one
Cypherock X1
60#15 of 23
Pick it when
Pick Cypherock X1 if genuine check matters most — it scores 7/10 to Coldcard's 5/10 there (weight 12).
Strength
Firmware anyone can rebuild and match — 10/10
Tradeoff
DARKNAVY's 2025 exploit chain changed the vault firmware and took control of newly generated seeds; Cypherock names no fix, and the bootloader cannot be updated
Self-identify in 10 seconds
Which one is actually for you?
CLColdcardLeads
Choose Coldcard if secure element matters most
Secure element: 5/10 against 3/10 for Cypherock X1 (weight 27)
Checkable keys: 7/10 against 0/10 for Cypherock X1 (weight 12)
Maker independence: 10/10 against 4/10 for Cypherock X1 (weight 11)
ColdcardScore 66July 2026 seed flaw cost owners funds — fixed in 5.6.0; a Bitcoin-only signer that works from microSDStrength: Firmware anyone can rebuild and match — 10/10Watch-out: 30 July 2026: Coinkite reported that firmware before 5.6.0 generated weak seeds (about 72 bits) on Mk4, Mk5 and Q, and that attackers stole funds from weak seeds; update, then move any seed made before 5.6.0 to a new one
Cypherock X1
Choose Cypherock X1 if genuine check matters most
Genuine check: 7/10 against 5/10 for Coldcard (weight 12)
Fund-loss record: 8/10 against 1/10 for Coldcard (weight 11)
Cypherock X1Score 60Seedless split across a vault and four cards — firmware rebuilt and matchedStrength: Firmware anyone can rebuild and match — 10/10Watch-out: DARKNAVY's 2025 exploit chain changed the vault firmware and took control of newly generated seeds; Cypherock names no fix, and the bootloader cannot be updated
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
by 2 of 10weight 6.5 of 86Coldcard leads
Coldcard5/10 out of 10
Cypherock X13/10 out of 10
Rebuildable firmware
weight 6.5 of 86Tie
Coldcard10/10 out of 10
Cypherock X110/10 out of 10
Genuine check
by 2 of 10weight 2.9 of 86Cypherock X1 leads
Coldcard5/10 out of 10
Cypherock X17/10 out of 10
Checkable keys
by 7 of 10weight 2.9 of 86Coldcard leads
Coldcard7/10 out of 10
Cypherock X10/10 out of 10
Maker independence
by 6 of 10weight 2.6 of 86Coldcard leads
Coldcard10/10 out of 10
Cypherock X14/10 out of 10
Fund-loss record
by 7 of 10weight 2.6 of 86Cypherock X1 leads
Coldcard1/10 out of 10
Cypherock X18/10 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
Coldcard14/20Cypherock X114/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
Coldcard16.1/30Cypherock X113.6/30
Coldcard leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
Coldcard2.7/10Cypherock X12.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
Coldcard3.2/8Cypherock X13.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
Coldcard5.5/18Cypherock X15.5/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order
Choose Coldcard unless the term Cypherock X1 leads on is the one you are buying.
Pick Cypherock X1 if genuine check matters most — it scores 7/10 to Coldcard's 5/10 there (weight 12).
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% (Coldcard 5/10, Cypherock X1 3/10)
Scored by Firmware anyone can rebuild and match · 27% (Coldcard 10/10, Cypherock X1 10/10)
Scored by Proof the device is genuine and unmodified · 12% (Coldcard 5/10, Cypherock X1 7/10)
Scored by Key creation and signing you can check · 12% (Coldcard 7/10, Cypherock X1 0/10)
Scored by Sign and recover without the maker · 11% (Coldcard 10/10, Cypherock X1 4/10)
Scored by Years in buyers' hands without a device-level fund loss · 11% (Coldcard 1/10, Cypherock X1 8/10)
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
Coldcard scores 6 points above Cypherock X1, led by secure element, checkable keys, and maker independence. Published scores, out of 100: Coldcard 66 (rank 11 of 23 hardware wallets), Cypherock X1 60 (rank 15 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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