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PiWalletSV Disclaimer

Read this entire document before you install, build, or use PiWalletSV. By installing, building, or using any part of PiWalletSV (the Raspberry Pi signer, the companion web app, the documentation, or any helper scripts in this repository — collectively "the Software") you confirm that you have read this document, that you understand it, and that you accept the terms set out below.

This is the canonical disclaimer for the project. It is referenced from the project README, from the Pi's first-boot terms-of-service flow, and from the companion web app's first-load acknowledgment modal.

1. Alpha Software

PiWalletSV is alpha-quality, pre-release software authored as a personal / hobbyist project. It has not been independently audited for security, correctness, or fitness for handling funds. Bugs, regressions, undocumented behavior changes, and incompatible breaking changes may occur in any release.

Do not store an amount of Bitcoin SV (BSV) in PiWalletSV that you are not prepared to lose entirely.

2. Provided "As Is" — No Warranty

The Software is provided "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. The full license text (MIT) is in LICENSE.

No representation is made that:

  • the Software is free of bugs or vulnerabilities;
  • the Software will protect your funds from theft, loss, or seizure;
  • transactions you sign will be accepted by any miner or be confirmed by the network;
  • the cryptography used by the Software remains secure against future attacks, advances in computing, or implementation flaws in upstream dependencies (bsv-sdk, @bsv/sdk, @scure/bip32, @noble/hashes, cryptography, cbor2, the Linux kernel, etc.).

3. You Are Responsible For Your Keys

PiWalletSV is non-custodial. The author, contributors, and any third-party services referenced by the Software (WhatsOnChain, BSV Association, GitHub, Adafruit, Raspberry Pi Ltd., etc.) have no access to your seed phrase, your encrypted vault, your PIN, or your signing keys.

You are solely responsible for:

  • generating your seed phrase in a secure environment;
  • writing it down on a durable medium and storing it where you alone can find it;
  • choosing a PIN that resists casual guessing without locking you out;
  • physically protecting the Pi signer, its SD card, and any backup media;
  • maintaining your own backups — the Software does not perform cloud backup;
  • reviewing every transaction proposal on the Pi's screen before you press the confirm button.

If you lose your seed phrase, your funds are lost. No one can recover them. The author cannot recover them.

If your PIN attempt counter reaches zero, the encrypted vault is wiped and the device returns to first-boot state. This is intentional. Recover from your seed backup, not from the device.

4. Air Gap Caveats

The Pi signer is designed as an air-gapped device. You are responsible for keeping it air-gapped:

  • never connect the signer Pi to a network if you have entered or imported a seed;
  • never type, photograph, or paste your seed phrase into anything that has network access — including the companion web app, a phone, a password manager, a cloud document editor, or AI assistant;
  • the companion web app is online by design: it queries WhatsOnChain for UTXOs, fetches Merkle proofs, and broadcasts signed transactions. It only ever sees public extended keys (xpubs) and pre-signed transactions. The xpub is enough to enumerate every address you have ever used with that wallet, so treat the companion as a privacy-sensitive (but not key-sensitive) device.

Nothing in this repository — code, comments, documentation, commit messages — constitutes financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, or investment advice. Cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin SV, is volatile and is subject to legal and tax treatment that varies by jurisdiction and changes over time. Consult qualified professionals before relying on any wallet, including this one, for material amounts.

6. No Affiliation

PiWalletSV is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by:

  • Bitcoin Association for BSV / BSV Association;
  • WhatsOnChain / TAAL;
  • Raspberry Pi Ltd. or the Raspberry Pi Foundation;
  • Adafruit Industries;
  • the maintainers of bsv-sdk (Python), @bsv/sdk, @scure/bip32, @noble/hashes, or any other upstream dependency.

Trademarks (BSV, Raspberry Pi, Bonnet, etc.) belong to their respective owners and are used here only for descriptive interoperability.

7. Third-Party Network Risk

The companion app talks to WhatsOnChain by default. WoC is operated by TAAL and is not under the control of the PiWalletSV authors. Its availability, accuracy, and rate limits can change without notice. A malicious or compromised WoC response cannot make the Pi sign an invalid transaction (the Pi verifies SPV proofs locally before signing), but it can cause:

  • incorrect balance display;
  • failed broadcasts;
  • a built proposal that the network later refuses to accept.

Broadcasted transactions cannot be recalled. Once a signed transaction hits a miner, it is final.

8. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the author and contributors shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including but not limited to loss of cryptocurrency, loss of funds, loss of data, loss of profit, business interruption, or punitive damages) arising in any way out of the use of, inability to use, or any reliance on the Software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.

If a court of competent jurisdiction holds that any portion of this section is unenforceable, the maximum aggregate liability of the author and contributors to you for any and all claims relating to the Software shall not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid the author for the Software (which is zero) or (b) one United States dollar.

9. Jurisdictional Compliance

You are responsible for ensuring that your use of the Software is permitted under the laws and regulations of your jurisdiction. The Software is not designed or marketed for users in jurisdictions where non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets are illegal, restricted, or require licensing. Do not use PiWalletSV if doing so would put you in violation of local law.

10. Reporting Security Issues

Please report security issues responsibly. See SECURITY.md for the contact channel and PGP key. Publicly disclosing an unpatched vulnerability that costs other users their funds violates the spirit of this project and may also violate your local law.

11. Updates to This Disclaimer

This document may be updated as the project evolves. The Pi's first-boot acknowledgment flow and the companion app's first-load modal both track a termsVersion integer; when that integer is incremented (because this document materially changed), you will be re-prompted to acknowledge the updated disclaimer before continuing.

By continuing to use PiWalletSV, you acknowledge that you have read and accepted this Disclaimer in full.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-11. termsVersion: 1.