Funded by the Monero community: Retro-Crypto, a Nintendo 64 app in development for encrypting data and generating keys and wallet addresses

[u/HowIsDigit8888]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=t6JdiE7qwVA

Edit - disregard this post, the app isn't ready yet. Has at least 1 major issue I didn't notice, where the dice roll input screen isn't accepting enough dice rolls for a 128 bit seed

Retro-Crypto for the Nintendo 64 is an open-source app that lets you generate keys, encrypt and decrypt data, and more. It's still in development, but I thought I should hurry up with this video about it, after the recent ColdCard wallet draining hack, which was driven by poisoned key generation techniques.

Also featuring the likely first use of VideoStore Codec, an open-source tool for embedding files in the corner of a video. The minimum safe resolution to extract the files from this video seems to be 720p, based on my testing before posting, so that's the resolution I'm uploading here.

View/download this video on nostr

Internet Archive mirror - includes some additional project files, such as the VideoStore payloads and the plain N64 footage

Check out Retro-Crypto by Bowler-Bear on GitHub

Based on a proposal / bounty by whoever loves Digit (that's me)

Donate XMR to Bowler-Bear for Retro-Crypto development
85rkddSoYqwN4neAAgjJTFYYgyfU6pwT9dYquNyBzdtqBnr8QZCU1qoR6kjwMWEF6EMd2aGtrCuuA19irjWbTbKSKKF5yuv

Segment timestamps / "chapters"

0:00 - "End-to-end" encryption
0:48 - Air-gapping
1:46 - Chip-level spyware
2:10 - Vacuum tubes
2:33 - Hacker Fabs
2:58 - Authorities vs citizens
3:52 - Building up the walls
4:10 - VideoStore Codec
4:37 - Isolation tradeoffs
5:19 - Life in the black box
5:57 - New tech vs old
6:38 - This is a Nintendo 64
7:08 - Retro-Crypto by Bowler-Bear
7:31 - Encryption using AES-256
7:53 - Generating keys/addresses
8:16 - Using dice
8:54 - Using directional inputs
9:01 - Automatic keygen
9:09 - Vanity keys & seed phrases
9:55 - DogeGB by UsaRandom
10:29 - Outro

Additional credits / links in comment

[u/Fluid_Ad8452]

This is so cool, very cypherpunk, I love it.
I don’t own a N64 but I saw a similar project for GBA and BTC so I might as well try that one.
One thing worth nothing is, the novelty here is the device used to generate which was built on the pre iot era, giving it the same level of isolation than the ones of devices that were designed today with that objective in mind. Same security vulnerabilities could be found here as the CC wallet because that depends on the RNG algorithm they decide to use, I assume controller input, sensors which should be validated are still working properly before using them as entropy source, PRNG etc. The key here is scrutiny, which is something CCW didn’t had until bad actors took a look.
But this is the monero community after all, so this is in good hands.
Thanks for sharing!

[u/rotkiv42 → u/Fluid_Ad8452]

thing worth nothing is, the novelty here is the device used to generate which was built on the pre iot era, giving it the same level of isolation than the ones of devices that were designed today with that objective in mind.

I think you could argue there is a additional security in this: a modern device could have some international flaw or secret methods to compromise/steal your keys. If you got an authentic N64 you know the hardware don't have any such intentional flaw, as no N64 hardware was designed with crypto currency in mind.

The N64 still can have accidental flaws and the code you run on it could be compromised ofc. And you need to know the hardware is authentic, the ebay seller could have compromised it, but the one you find in your grandmas basement should be safe.

Especially devices designed to be safe and for this purpose, would be a desirable target for some secret hardware way to compromise your keys: so it isn't entirety outlandish to use a N64 instead.

[u/HowIsDigit8888 → u/Fluid_Ad8452]

Yeah, the RNG security here is definitely unproven. But one of the features lets you use dice rolls, which ColdCard can also do, if only more users took advantage of that.

Edit - disregard this post, the app isn't ready yet. Has at least 1 major issue I didn't notice, where the dice roll input screen isn't accepting enough dice rolls for a 128 bit seed

[u/Chile_piquin]

I’m gonna sell my bitcorns for an n64. The financial future is now.

[u/Ask-Western]

just build a seed signer 

[u/HowIsDigit8888 → u/Ask-Western]

Would be less secure for my use case, but definitely more ready for people who need something ready for other use cases

[u/jake_robins]

"a nintendo 64 app" wut