The Prague-based company has received feedback and data on the performance of its open-source prototype chip for Bitcoin hardware.
Tropic Square, a startup backed by SatoshiLabs, the company behind Trezor, has been testing its new TROPIC01 chip, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine.
The chip prototype will arrive from UMC, a Taiwanese manufacturing company, in December 2022. Testing of the secure element chip is scheduled to continue in the first half of 2023.
The press release describes how “the initial test results are very positive and have shown that the development of the chip can continue as planned – to produce a second prototype next year and then, after verification, start mass serial production.”
Tropic Square’s goal with the design and production of the chip is to create an open source security chip for Bitcoin hardware use. Bitcoin Magazine previously covered the chip’s announcement in August 2022, where the Tropic Square team explained how “Being open-source will allow the company to make improvements based on community and expert feedback.”
According to Tropic Square CEO Evzen Englberth, the test “brings us closer to mass production and closer to the introduction of the first transparent solution. These chips will have the opportunity to change the current security standards in the market.
Jan Pleskač, CTO of Tropic Square, explained how “Examining and inspecting chips from all angles can help ensure the quality and reliability of the final product that goes out into the world.”
The press release details the company’s plans to make the final pre-production prototype next year, then hopefully start mass production and launch it on the market in 2025.