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title: Silcon Salon Notes
tags: [Notes]

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title: Silcon Salon Notes
tags: Notes
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## Current Tweetstorm

https://twitter.com/ChristopherA/status/1524934871637819392

## Current Post & Email

(original at https://www.blockchaincommons.com/salons/silicon-salon/ and [editable] (https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/www.blockchaincommons.com/blob/master/_posts/2022-05-12-silicon-salon.md) and issues at https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/www.blockchaincommons.com/issues )

![](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BlockchainCommons/www.blockchaincommons.com/master/images/silicon-salon.jpg)

What if semiconductor manufacturers made chips especially intended for crypto-wallets? That's the topic of Blockchain Commons' first [Silicon Salon](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silicon-salon-hosted-by-blockchain-commons-tickets-338323152657), which will feature two different chip manufacturers who are expanding into the crypto industry. The first is CrossBar, a leader in Resistive RAM (ReRAM) technology, which can implement high-performance physical unclonable functions (PUFs). Together, ReRAM memory and PUF solutions enable a new class of secure computing and storage with physical countermeasures — and CrossBar is interested in bringing that to digital-asset management. The second is Tropic Square, whose tropic01 secure element offers a fully transparent and auditable chip as a basis for better hardware security. They use transparency as a driver for innovation.

Because Blockchain Commons is dedicated to bringing together a community of developers and manufacturers to jointly develop specifications that will empower the entire industry, we've seized upon our work with these two companies to produce our first salon since the pandemic: a virtual Silicon Salon, where semiconductor manufacturers, crypto-wallet makers, and other interested parties can come together to talk about the next generation of semiconductors, which for the first time ever will be specialized for our cryptographic needs.

The Silicon Salon is scheduled for June 1st, running three hours beginning at 9am PT (noon ET, 6pm CET). Signups for the Salon are now available on [Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silicon-salon-hosted-by-blockchain-commons-tickets-338323152657), with tickets limited to the first 40 participants. 

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The first hour of the Salon will feature presentations from silicon manufacturers, crypto-wallet makers, and experts in the field about how semiconductor design can support cryptographic functionality. Companies CrossBar, Tropic Square, and Proxy and experts Bryan Bishop and Christopher Allen are all scheduled to talk.

The other two hours of the Salon will feature facilitated discussion of topics intended to determine the needs of the hardware-wallet community. Specific topics may include: the importance of MCU and secure enclave integration; the importance of secure and persistent storage; the need for physical countermeasures; the advantages of hardware and software cryptography; the use of open licenses for hardware; and discussions of how new semiconductor designs intended for cryptography can improve security and efficiency. We don't have all the answers: one of the most important goals of the salon is to find out the needs and thoughts of the community!

We hope you'll [join us](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silicon-salon-hosted-by-blockchain-commons-tickets-338323152657) to learn a bit about what's already going on and to share your ideas, requirements, and expertise!

We are limiting the number of attendees to allow for Q&A from the community, thus we are charging US$25 to hold a space at this unique virtual event. So [sign up](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silicon-salon-hosted-by-blockchain-commons-tickets-338323152657) soon! If you are already a [Patron](https://www.blockchaincommons.com/sponsors.html) or a [monthly sponsor on Github](https://github.com/sponsors/BlockchainCommons) of Blockchain Commons, please check your email: we will be sending you a free invite code automatically. If you don't receive it, contact us directly.

## Current Eventbrite Text:

(original is rich text at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silicon-salon-hosted-by-blockchain-commons-tickets-338323152657, editable at https://www.eventbrite.com/manage/events/338323152657/details )

Blockchain Commons, with the support of semiconductor manufacturers, invites you to the Silicon Salon this June 1st at 9am PT / 6pm CET, for a discussion of semiconductor support for hardware wallets. We are inviting attendance by cryptographers, by hardware-wallet manufacturers, and by additional semiconductor designers & manufacturers, to facilitate a deep discussion of the needs and possibilities for hardware security moving forward.

Currently, there are no semiconductors designed specifically for crypto-wallets, forcing wallet manufacturers to cobble together solutions from what exists. Fortunately, that’s about to change, thanks to semiconductor manufacturers such as CrossBar and Tropic Square seeking to directly address the cryptocurrency,  digital identity & assets markets. This Silicon Salon hopes to guide the direction of this new work, to produce semiconductors that do exactly what the cryptocurrency market needs. It’s your opportunity to voice your needs & desires for the future of cryptographic semiconductor design.

The Silicon Salon will feature presentations from silicon manufacturers, crypto-wallet makers, and experts in the field about how semiconductor design can support cryptographic functionality.

CrossBar will talk about their ReRAM technology, physical countermeasures, and system architectures.
Tropic Square will discuss their fully auditable Tropic01 secure chip.

Bryan Bishop and Christopher Allen will present cryptographic primitives they'd like to see implemented in silicon.

Proxy will  be talking about building flexibility and future-proofing into hardware products.
The latter two-thirds of the virtual salon will then include facilitated discussion of topics intended to determine the needs of the hardware-wallet community. 

Specific questions may include:
* Whether an integrated MCU + Secure Enclave environment is seen as more secure than the two elements existing separately.
* To what extent  UI software is an attack vector (boot, display, keypad, etc.).
* How important secure and persistent storage is, and what features are required for that memory.
* How important physical countermeasures are, and what invasive attacks people are most concerned about.
* Whether hardware or software cryptography is preferred.
* What open-source licensing features can be used or adopted for hardware designs and what form of pre-silicon hardware is useful.
* How new semiconductor designs explicitly intended for cryptography can increase the security and efficiency of our work. 

Join us to have your say on how we can do it right!

Thanks to our sustaining sponsors who make projects like this possible, including Bitmark, Blockchain Bird, Crossbar, Foundation Devices, Proxy, Tropic Square, and Unchained Capital, as well as our other GitHub sponsors.

We are limiting the number of attendees of this event to allow for Q&A from the community, thus we are charging US$25 to hold a space at this unique virtual event. So sign up soon! If you are one of our  GitHub sponsors, please check your email or contact us directly, as you should already have a code to attend this salon.

Silicon artwork courtesy of  Vecteezy.

## Silicon Salon Invite

Subject: Join Us at the Silicon Salon, May XX

Blockchain Commons, with the support of semiconductor manufacturers, invites you to the Silicon Salon this May XXth at 9am PT / 6pm CET, for a discussion of semiconductor support for hardware wallets. We are inviting attendance by cryptographers, by hardware-wallet manufacturers, and by additional semiconductor designers & manufacturers, to facilitate a deep discussion of the needs and possibilities for hardware security moving forward.

Currently, there are no semiconductors designed specifically for crypto-wallets, forcing wallet manufacturers to cobble together solutions from what exists. Fortunately, that’s about to change, thanks to semiconductor manufacturers now seeking to directly address the cryptocurrency market. This Silicon Salon hopes to guide the direction of this new work, to produce semiconductors that do exactly what the cryptocurrency market needs. It’s your opportunity to voice your needs & desires for the future of cryptographic semiconductor design.

The Silicon Salon will feature presentations from manufacturers about their work on semiconductor design to support cryptographic functionality. CrossBar https://www.CrossBar-Inc.com has already been confirmed to talk about their ReRAM technology and new Daric Architecture, Brian Bishop and I will be presenting about the cryptographic primitives we'd like to see implemented in silicon, Bob McElrath about user choice and control of firmware,  and Proxy https://www.Proxy.com will be talking about the unmet needs in emerging digital authentication hardware.

The latter two-thirds of the virtual salon will then include facilitated discussion of topics intended to determine the needs of the hardware-wallet community. Specific questions may include:

1.) Whether an integrated MCU + Secure Enclave environment is seen as more secure than the two elements existing separately.

2.) To what extent is UI software an attack vector (boot, display, keypad, etc.).

3.) How important secure and persistent storage is, and what features are required for that memory.

4.) How important physical countermeasures are, and what invasive attacks people are more concerned about.

5.) Whether hardware or software cryptography is preferred.

6.) What open-source licensing features can be used or adopted for hardware designs and what form of pre-silicon hardware is useful.

New semiconductor designs intended specifically for cryptography can increase the security and efficiency of our work. Join us to have your say on how we can do it right.

[how to sign up]

Christopher Allen, Executive Director, Blockchain Commons

===

## Header for Other Companies We May want to join

Dear XX,

Blockchain Commons is holding a Silicon Salon, a facilitated online event, in mid-May where we will be discussing the future of semiconductors designed for work with cryptographic wallets.
The first third of this virtual salon will be dedicated to manufacturers and designers sharing specific aspects of their work in semiconductor design or how they leverage cryptographic chips in their products today, and what they'd like to see in the future. We'd love to have your attendance, or possibly as a presenter of a relevant sub-topic, and be a financial sponsor for the salon by becoming a Sustaining Patron of Blockchain Commons.

To give a bit more background, Blockchain Commons https://www.BlockchainCommons.com is a not-for-profit organization focused on creating open, interoperable, secure, and compassionate digital infrastructure. For a few years now we've been working with a community of airgapped wallet developers to create the specifications for open and interoperable ways to work together. The specifications that we've developed and which are coming into use include Uniform Resources (UR), animated PSBTs via QR using UR, Sharded Secret Key Reconstruction (SSKR), digital object digests, non-correlative Decentralized Identifiers (DID), and wallet UX issues like the Lifehash visual hashes.

We've long had the patronage of hardware wallet companies as members of our community, but new is that we now have semiconductor designers joining us as well. Thus we are now expanding our collaborations to bring together hardware wallet vendors and semiconductor designers to define new requirements for the next generation of cryptographic wallets.

We are currently tentatively planning the salon for May 24th at 9am PT / 6pm CET, which is also May 25th at midnight in Taiwan. We expect it to be about a 3-hour event. We'd love to hear if that day works for you and if you'd like to join us as a sponsor.

Included is the current draft of our letter announcing the virtual salon.

