The recent hardware wallet supply-chain attack have raised a question of how much the design of a hardware wallet contributes to its security. The reported attack didn't require breaking the secure element. It's a reminder that even when a secure element does its job, other components can introduce vulnerabilities. When we designed Solflare Shield, we made a deliberate decision: keep the hardware as simple as possible, without compromising its core purpose. Shield is a card-sized hardware wallet built around a secure element, with only the components necessary to protect private keys and authorize cryptographic operations. 1. Keeping the hardware minimal Hardware components beyond the secure element can create additional opportunities for attackers, particularly when they introduce new interfaces or communication channels. Shield has no screen, display interface, battery, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or cellular modem. It's a passive NFC card that draws power from your phone during a tap. This eliminates certain classes of hardware attacks, including the specific display interception mechanism. 2. Separating the wallet experience from key protection Shield is designed to work with the Solflare app rather than operate as a standalone device. The app handles the interface and prepares transactions, while Shield's EAL6+ secure element performs cryptographic signing internally. The tradeoff is that your phone acts as the screen. The recovery phrase is shown once in the Solflare app during setup, and transactions are reviewed there before you tap. After setup, your private key stays on the card and is never stored on your phone or in the Solflare app. This separation keeps the physical hardware focused on protecting keys and authorizing transactions, without requiring additional components to support the user interface. 3. Reducing supply-chain exposure Hardware security also depends on what happens between manufacturing and delivery. Shield is sold exclusively through the official Solflare Shop, without an authorized reseller network or third-party retail distribution. Additional protections, including cryptographic authenticity verification, safeguards against unauthorized software replacement, and tamper-evident packaging, are designed to reduce the risk of compromised devices reaching users. These measures reduce certain risks, but no distribution model or security mechanism can completely eliminate the possibility of physical tampering. Security is a series of design decisions Sophisticated attacks are a reminder that protecting private keys requires looking at the entire device, its components, and the supply chain behind it. Different hardware wallets make different design tradeoffs, and no architecture is immune to every threat. With Shield, we chose to prioritize simplicity, minimize unnecessary components and keep the hardware focused on protecting your keys.