DEF CON 34's Badge Is a Transparent, Open-Source Security Key You Can See Inside

This year's DEF CON badge — DEF CON 34, 2026's edition of the conference — centers on a custom open-source chip called BaoChip, designed by well-known hardware hacker Andrew "bunnie" Huang, built directly into a badge that doubles as a functional hardware security key.

The defining design choice is transparency, literally: the badge is built to let attendees see the chip and its surrounding circuitry rather than hiding it behind an opaque enclosure, turning the badge itself into an inspectable platform rather than a sealed black box.

Beyond acting as a FIDO-style security key, the badge is positioned as a general-purpose secure element, capable of functioning as a password manager or hardware security module depending on how attendees choose to use it during and after the conference.

DEF CON badges have doubled as functional hardware for years, but building on an openly published, inspectable chip design is a deliberate statement in a community that treats "trust but verify" as a baseline requirement — you don't have to take Huang's word for what the chip does when you can read the design and see the die.

For a security-key form factor specifically, inspectability solves a real trust problem: commercial security keys are largely closed hardware, and BaoChip's open design gives researchers a rare chance to audit a security key at the silicon level rather than trusting a vendor's black box.