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Adam Back's house: the Jade wallet, a no-refunds store, no secure element
Blockstream is bitcoin infrastructure royalty: founded in 2014 by Adam Back, Pieter Wuille and others, it builds the Liquid Network, enterprise custody, the Blockstream App and the Jade family of open-source hardware wallets. Checked 2026-08-21, the store sells the original Jade at $79 ($67 on sale), Jade Core at $99 (sold out) and Jade Plus at $149-169 — with the product page saying $169.99, a small mismatch of its own.
The Jade's security model deserves the careful read its footnote invites: the original Jade has no physical secure element. It "simulates the protection of a secure element" via a blind-oracle scheme — a clever design that keeps the device fully open source, but a different animal from the certified chips its competitors advertise. Blockstream words this precisely; spec-sheet skimmers will miss it.
Corporate details are thinner than the pedigree suggests: Blockstream Corporation Inc. publishes no company number and no single HQ — ten offices from the Caymans to Tokyo — while its terms are governed, surprisingly for a nominally Canadian firm, by California law. No regulatory licence is claimed; none is needed for hardware.
One store policy stands out enough to headline: "No returns or refunds offered for Blockstream Store purchases." For a $169 device that is stricter than nearly every competitor, and worth knowing before you click buy.
Key details
| Entity | Blockstream Corporation Inc. (no company no. published) |
| Founded | 2014 — Adam Back, Pieter Wuille, Erik Svenson et al. |
| Jade prices | $79 / $99 Core / $149-169 Plus (store, 21 Aug) |
| Security model | No physical secure element: blind-oracle "virtual SE" |
| Open source | Fully — firmware and design |
| Store policy | No returns, no refunds — own terms |
| Governing law | California (for a nominally Canadian firm) |
| Last checked | 2026-08-21 |
