Cryptick Physical NFT

Cryptick Physical NFT

2021

In 2021, I decided to experiment with IoT (internet of things), and create a stock ticker for cryptocurrencies. I was also interested in the practical use-cases for NFTs (non-fungible tokens) as applied to real, physical objects. Out of the experiments arose: Cryptick, the physical NFT stock ticker.

Each Cryptick device has an embedded crypto chip, which stores a unique crypto private key. The matching public key is stored in the associated NFT's metadata on the Ethereum blockchain. Neither the public key nor the private key can be changed once created.

The owner of the physical cryptick device can physically authenticate it by plugging into a computer via USB and running the Cryptick authentication app. The owner enters the public key from the NFT metada, and the app performs the digital signature authentication (DSA) process, verifying the device's authenticity.

Cryptick uses industry verifiable NIST FIPS 186-4 standard for digital signature authentication.

I also created an open source python library which can be used for DSA authentication via USB, to provide transparency of the algorithm - available on github.

During the middle of the project, the world-wide supply chain crisis hit, and most of the supply dried up for various components. I ended up buying dev modules from various suppliers to get the needed parts and desoldered them. I wouldn't recommend it for a large manufacturing operation, but for the limited run I was making, it worked fine.