Hoskinson at Consensus 2026: Smartphone Secure Chips Will Replace Hardware Wallets for Most Crypto Users

At Consensus 2026, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson argued that users should never directly handle their private keys — and that the secure hardware already embedded in iPhones, Android devices, and Samsung phones already outperforms the chips inside Ledger and Trezor devices. Most crypto users, he said, are already carrying better signing hardware in their pockets without realizing it.

The technical case has real weight. Apple's Secure Enclave, Android's Keystore/StrongBox, and Samsung Knox all support non-exportable, hardware-bound keys that never leave the secure element in plaintext. Coinbase's smart wallet already operationalizes this model — users onboard via Apple or Google passkeys with no seed phrase, and Face ID or a PIN becomes the only interface they need. FIDO reports 5 billion active passkeys globally, with 75% of consumers having enabled at least one.

The…