On Thursday (February 28th), blockchain startup Casa announced a pioneering business model for its personal key manager product Keymaster that truly democratizes multi-signature (multisig) security.
Casa, which was founded in 2017 by serial entrepreneur Jeremy Welch (CEO), is perhaps best known for another one of its products, Casa Node, which is "a small, plug-and-play box" that is one of the "the fastest, simplest way to run your own BTC and Lightning Node."
The very cute Casa Node, which looks and feels like a product designed by Apple in terms of both hardware and software, makes it easy to run a full node, allows you to validate the Bitcoin blockchain yourself and to broadcast your own Bitcoin transactions (furthermore, "you don’t have to rely on outside servers for sending transactions" since you can "connect your Casa Node to mobile apps that work as light clients"), and enables you to "support the network and help Bitcoin grow."
There is even a Google Chrome extension that makes it easy to send and receive "Bitcoin and Lightning Network payments on the web using your Casa Node" (the idea is that this browser extension lets you quickly send/receive BTC payments "on websites without leaving the site").
As for the Keymaster product, Casa modestly describes it simply as "the best personal key manager on the planet." Keymaster was Casa's first product, and it was launched in March 2018, according to Forbes. Initially, Keymaster, which bundled multisig support with a white glove service at a cost of around $10,000 per year, was aimed at "people who own from $400,000 to $10 million in crypto assets" and only supported Bitcoin (with the aim to support other cryptocurrencies in the future).
Casa's "Casa’s Key Shield multi-signature technology means you can thwart both cyber and in-person attackers. Each transaction is approved from multiple devices spread across multiple locations, giving you maximum security and maximum peace of mind."
In a blog post published two days ago, Casa CEO Jeremy Welch explained how Keymaster's new business model was going to enable "multisig security for everyone." Welch wrote that Casa Keymaster now supported three keyset types:
- "Mobile Key for managing small amounts." (Casa's Keymaster mobile app, which is available for both iOS and Android, has been updated to include Mobile Key support.)
- "2-of-3 Basic Multisig as an entry-level multisig option." (This will be "rolling out to customers over the next few weeks.")
- "3-of-5 Key Shield for the best security on the market today."
The Casa Keymaster package (i.e. software plus customer support) now has a tiered pricing model, with three levels: silver, gold, platinum, and diamond.
Silver membership, which is free to start, is Casa's "starter kit for securing your digital assets with multisig." This provides two types of security: "2-of-3 Basic Multi-signature (phone, hardware wallet, and Casa Recovery)" and "Mobile Key". Although, "Basic Multisig is free to start," Casa charges a fee of 0.1% of total funds for usage of its Key Recovery Service. Support at this level is primarily provided via the Casa's FAQ guide and community tools only."
Casa calls its Gold membership, which costs $300 per year, the "best self-sovereign deal available on the market" and says that it provides a nice balance of "security, affordability and self-service." Here, you get the two types of security that you get with Silver membership plus these extras:
- "One Casa Node"
- "A Trezor One hardware wallet"
- "A surprise gift from Casa"
- "Unlimited Key Recoveries for the 2-of-3 multisig"
- "Direct email support from Casa"
- "Everything in Keymaster Silver"
Platinum membership costs $1,800 per year. This gives you the same two types of security as silver or gold membership plus the following extras:
- "One Casa Node"
- "Phone and email client service"
- "3x hardware wallets (your choice of Trezor or Ledger)"
- "3x hardware wallets kept in reserve for emergencies (includes overnight shipping anywhere in the world)"
- "A surprise gift from Casa"
- "Exclusive first looks at new products"
And finally, we have Dimaond membership, Casa's "full-service offering", which costs $5,000 per year, and provides the "ultimate in crypto security." Here, in addition to the two types of security that you get with silver, gold, or platinum membership, you get "multi-user signing support for families and teams" and "Inheritance planning." This time, the extras are similar to what you get with Platinum membership, except that you get two Casa nodes instead of one and instead of phone/email customer support, you get a "dedicated client service represenative."
There is also good news for existing customers of Casa. People who have already purchased a Casa node are getting "an upgrade to a full Gold Keymaster package," which means that they will be receiving a new Trezor One hardware wallet. As for the existing customers of the original "3-of-5 Multisig" service for Keymaster, they are being rolled into the Diamond level.
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