# Defcon 34 Badges Feature Groundbreaking Open Source Baochip-1x for Ultimate Hardware Transparency For years, **Defcon** attendees have anticipated the intricately designed conference badges, often electronic marvels embedded with puzzles, crypto challenges, and hidden Easter eggs. While past badges have captivated with their external design, this year’s iteration, for **Defcon 34**, shifts the focus to what lies beneath the surface. Hardware hacker **Andrew “bunnie” Huang** was tasked with creating this year's badges, which prominently feature his groundbreaking **Baochip-1x**. This innovative, mostly open-source microcontroller, three years in the making, embodies **Huang's** long-standing vision for a chip with verifiable security. Crucially, the **Baochip-1x** module is detachable, allowing it to function as a hardware security token beyond the conference. ## The Baochip-1x: A New Era of Trust in Silicon The **Baochip-1x** represents a significant leap forward in hardware security. **Huang** has made its source code, including the operating system, firmware, processor core, cryptographic engines, and input-output system, publicly available on GitHub. This transparency allows for thorough inspection and use by the community. Beyond code, the physical packaging of the **Baochip-1x** is revolutionary. Unlike traditional chips encased in opaque plastic, the **Baochip-1x** is designed to allow infrared light to pass through its back. This feature enables researchers to visually inspect the internal silicon structures and verify them against the published design, mitigating the supply-chain risk of hidden backdoors or modifications during manufacturing.  **Huang** plans to demonstrate this inspection technique at **Defcon**, inviting attendees to examine the chip under infrared light. He emphasizes his long-term commitment to silicon trust and transparency, aiming for a chip that can be trusted "down to the very core, down to the transistor." ## Collaborative Development and Open Standards Developing a new chip is an expensive undertaking, but **Huang** found a crucial partner in **Crossbar** three years ago. **Crossbar**, seeking to develop a secure, open-source chip, allowed **Huang** to "piggyback" his CPU design onto their manufacturing run. This collaboration enabled both designs to share fabrication costs, a practice **Huang** notes is not uncommon, though rarely publicized. The resulting **Crossbar** chip incorporates both their proprietary microprocessor and **Huang's** design. The **Baochip-1x** is essentially the same chip, but with the **Crossbar** microprocessor disabled. While the **Crossbar** version utilizes a proprietary **ARM** core, **Huang's** version employs an open-source **RISC-V** core, leveraging the publicly documented **RISC-V** instruction set. Both versions share the same underlying infrastructure and peripherals, activating different CPU cores as needed. While some low-level physical design and manufacturing elements tied to **TSMC's** 22-nanometer fabrication process remain proprietary, **Huang** asserts that the **Baochip-1x** achieves an unprecedented level of openness for a security-oriented chip. ## From Badge to Persistent Security Token The concept of integrating the **Baochip-1x** into the **Defcon** badge emerged from a discussion between **Huang** and **Defcon** founder **Jeff Moss**. **Moss** recognized that the chip's principles aligned perfectly with **Defcon 34's** theme of "agency" – focusing on technologies and choices that enhance self-determination. The 27,000 **Defcon** badges represent the **Baochip-1x's** first major distribution, significantly bootstrapping its adoption beyond small development releases. **Moss** also had a specific requirement: the badges needed a purpose beyond the conference. Frustrated with the limitations and vulnerabilities of existing hardware security tokens and crypto wallets, he saw the **Baochip-1x** as a more secure alternative. "I've always kind of dreamed of this idea where you can take your secrets, put them in hardware, and then if an attacker gets in, they can't quite get your secrets," **Moss** explains.  The detachable module of the **Defcon** badge will function as a **FIDO** hardware security token, supporting time-based, one-time password systems and password management. **Huang** proudly states it is "probably the world's first open source security token that you can fully inspect all the way down to the bootloader [and] transistors." Additionally, the module includes a low-resolution camera for scanning QR codes to register with authentication systems. In line with **Defcon's** strict privacy policies and ban on surreptitious photography, the camera is designed for functional use in authentication, not general image capture.