Foundation pushes beyond Bitcoin into identity, AI authorization with $6.4M raise

Bitcoin-related startup Foundation has raised millions in funds as it moves decisively into digital identity and MFA.

The U.S.-based Foundation has raised $6.4 million as it brings its Passport Prime security device to general sale and opens its KeyOS platform to outside developers.

The round was led by Fulgur Ventures with participation from Arche Capital. It brings Foundation’s total funding to $16.5 million and as it pushes beyond Bitcoin self‑custody into identity, multi‑factor authentication and AI agent authorization.

The start-up’s key product Passport Prime began shipping to pre‑order customers in March. Foundation calls it “Human Authority Hardware” — marketing it as dedicated, American‑made devices that force high‑stakes digital actions to pass through a trusted screen held by the user.

CEO and cofounder Zach Herbert said each era brings a key management problem and that for Bitcoin it was self‑custody. For AI agents, it is determining who actually authorizes the actions they take.

“That question cannot be answered by the same computer running the agent,” Herbert believes. “It has to be answered on dedicated hardware, with a display you can trust and an operating system you can inspect. Nothing happens without your approval.”

Passport Prime includes a Bitcoin hardware wallet, FIDO security keys, 2FA storage, a “secrets vault” and 50GB of encrypted storage. It runs KeyOS, a Rust‑based microkernel that Foundation spent three years building. The device also ships with QuantumLink, a post‑quantum‑secure Bluetooth protocol that uses ML‑KEM and ChaCha20‑Poly1305 on an isolated chip.

Foundation is opening the KeyOS SDK to developers. Documentation, tooling and a simulator are available. Developers can build and test apps without hardware, then request a developer unit for on‑device testing. Foundation plans to launch a KeyOS app store by the end of Q2, giving developers a direct path to users.

CTO Ken Carpenter said Passport Prime is meant to become a hardware root of trust for everything users do online. He said the SDK lets developers build applications that enforce user‑defined policies, turning the device from a key vault into a broader security platform.

Cake Wallet is the first external team shipping on KeyOS. Its app gives one million users a cold‑storage option on Passport Prime. Foundation expects more integrations across Bitcoin, identity, and AI agent workflows through 2026.

Fulgur Ventures partner Oleg Mikhalsky said Foundation is extending the discipline of self‑custody and explicit user approval into new markets. Arche Capital partner Will Wolf, who led Foundation’s seed round at Polychain in 2022, said the company always aimed to pair secure hardware with a secure operating system that could support a user’s entire digital life. He said KeyOS now delivers on that vision.

“The SDK, simulator, and security architecture turn dedicated hardware into the most advanced application platform for personal and enterprise security on the market, and let developers build the next generation of apps for money, identity, and AI authorization,” Wolf says.

Article Topics

AI agents  |  authorization  |  digital identity  |  Foundation  |  funding  |  multifactor authentication