Bitcoin (BTC) hardware wallet manufacturer Foundation has raised $6.4 million in a funding round led by Fulgur Ventures with participation from Arche Capital to help accelerate its expansion beyond bitcoin self-custody wallets.
“We aim to support Bitcoin companies that can scale and solve real problems for large markets,” Fulgur Ventures Partner Oleg Mikhalsky said in a statement. “Foundation is taking the discipline of self-custody, open source software, dedicated hardware, and explicit user approval, and extending it beyond Bitcoin into identity, multi-factor authentication, and AI agent authorization.”
The new capital brings Foundation’s total fundraising to $16.5 million, though the structure of the round and a post-money valuation were not disclosed.
“I backed Foundation’s original vision in 2022 because Zach and Ken understood that the long game was not just simple signing devices, but secure operating systems coupled with secure hardware enabling users to manage their entire digital lives,” said Will Wolf, Partner at Arche Capital, who led Foundation’s 2022 seed round from Polychain Capital.
The firm also announced the general availability of its flagship Passport Prime device on Thursday, which combines a bitcoin hardware wallet, FIDO security keys, 2FA storage, a secrets vault, and 50GB of encrypted storage. Passport Prime began shipping to pre-order customers in March, and is now open to all buyers for the first time, the firm said, adding that it is the first device in its “Human Authority Hardware” category.
“Every era has its key management problem. For Bitcoin it was self-custody. For the agentic era it is who actually authorizes the decisions an AI agent takes on someone’s behalf,” Foundation co-founder and CEO Zach Herbert said. “That question cannot be answered by the same computer running the agent. It has to be answered on dedicated hardware, with a display you can trust and an operating system you can inspect. Nothing happens without your approval.”
Additionally, Foundation expanded access to its KeyOS developer platform, with the SDK opening Passport Prime to developers building security applications. The firm said it plans to launch a KeyOS app store for users by the end of the second quarter.
“A hardware wallet is a calculator. KeyOS is a computer,” Foundation co-founder and CTO Ken Carpenter said. “The SDK lets developers write policies that execute inside dedicated security hardware. The device stops being a box your keys sit in and becomes the trust layer for everything you do online.”
Cake Wallet is the first external team building on KeyOS, Foundation said, with additional integrations across bitcoin, identity, and AI agent workflows anticipated throughout 2026.
[The Block]
Executive Summary (TL;DR):
Foundation’s pivot from Bitcoin hardware wallets to AI agent authorization represents a critical evolution in digital security, positioning the company at the intersection of two explosive growth markets. The strategic move positions hardware-based security as the essential trust layer for the coming AI economy, potentially creating a new fundamental category of digital infrastructure.
The Core Friction:
The fundamental conflict lies in the paradox of AI agent authorization: as artificial intelligence becomes more autonomous and makes decisions on behalf of users, traditional software-based security systems create a circular dependency where the authorizing system could be compromised by the very agent it’s supposed to control. Foundation’s “Human Authority Hardware” approach attempts to solve this by creating a physically isolated, user-controlled authorization layer that exists outside the computational environment of the AI agent. This isn’t merely an expansion of their existing product line—it’s a bet that hardware-based security will become as fundamental to the AI economy as private keys are to Bitcoin.
Market Impact & Chain Reaction:
– Short-term: The funding validates the hardware security thesis beyond crypto, creating immediate pressure on competitors like Ledger and Trezor to either expand their value propositions or risk becoming commoditized in the face of Foundation’s more ambitious vision. The Passport Prime device combines multiple security functions into a single device, potentially accelerating the consolidation of the personal security market.
– Mid-term: This positions Foundation as a potential gatekeeper for the AI agent economy, where hardware-based authorization becomes a standard requirement for high-value AI interactions. The KeyOS developer platform and planned app store could create a moat around their hardware, potentially making them as central to AI security as Apple’s App Store is to iOS. This also benefits other hardware security players who can position themselves as complementary solutions, while pure software security providers face existential questions about their trust models.
RichSilo Verdict:
Smart money should watch the adoption rate of KeyOS among AI developers and the integration of Passport Prime with major AI platforms. The real play here isn’t just about securing AI agents—it’s about becoming the fundamental trust layer for all digital interactions in the coming agentic era. If Foundation executes correctly, they could evolve from a Bitcoin peripheral to a core infrastructure provider, with valuation multiples reflecting this transition from a hardware company to a security protocol enabler.
