# Kao — the wallet with a face

Source: https://kaowallet.com
Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Kao-the-wallet-with-a-face?index=0x6a5f7ca3c0aeffd7de620daf30a0575e860cbdfd83c034ec63279e81d966ff5ff546eab8
Submitted by misha on 2026-07-21 UTC, 3 upvotes, 1 comment

## Summary

Kao is a free, open-source desktop wallet for self-custody of Ethereum assets, available for macOS, Linux and Windows, that aims to verify everything rather than trust third parties. It includes native Safe multisig support from its first release, decodes transactions into plain-language descriptions, and simulates each transaction locally with revm before signing. Balances are checked against consensus proofs through an embedded helios light client, and accounts and history are stored in an encrypted local database. The article notes that builds are not yet notarized, so macOS users must clear the quarantine flag from the app manually.

## Article

100% A BLOCKCHAIN ＼(★ω★)/ not a browser tab (¬‿¬ ) [NEW!!] v0.3.0 █ (╯✧▽✧)╯ rust inside

>> self-custody for ethereum · desktop_ █

Serious security. friendly_face (◕‿◕)

Kao is a desktop wallet that verifies everything and trusts nothing — then smiles about it. Safe multisig from day one, every tx simulated on your machine, every balance proven against consensus.

macOS · Linux · Windows — free & open source (^人^)

Paranoid under the hood (￢‿￢)

Every feature exists to answer one question: HOW DO YOU KNOW? Kao never asks you to trust a server, an RPC, or a blob of hex.

#01 (`･ω･´)

Safe multisig from v0

Not bolted on later — Kao speaks Safe natively from its first release. Propose, collect signatures, and execute without ever touching a web app.

safe · native

#02 (◕‿◕)

Clear signing

No more signing mystery hex. Every transaction is decoded into plain words — what moves, where it goes, and what it's allowed to do.

human-readable calldata

#03 (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

Local simulation · revm

Before you sign, Kao runs the transaction on your machine with revm and shows you the exact balance changes. No surprises on-chain.

revm · on-device

#04 (￣ω￣)

Zero JavaScript

A native desktop app with no embedded browser, no remote code, no supply-chain roulette. The attack surface a wallet should have: small.

no webview · no remote code

#05 (✧ω✧)

Verified balances · helios

Balances come with consensus proofs via an embedded helios light client — verified against Ethereum itself, not somebody's RPC.

helios light client

#06 (/ω＼)

Encrypted local database

Your accounts, labels, and history live in an encrypted database on your disk. Nothing synced, nothing phoned home, nothing to subpoena.

encrypted at rest

(￢‿￢ )

This page has cookies zero JavaScript too.

We mean it about attack surface. Kao the app runs no JS — and neither does this page. Every marquee, every blink, every glitch you see is pure HTML + CSS. What you see is what you got.

(`･ω･´)ゞ <script> tags on this page: 0 █

→ don't believe us? hit Ctrl+U and VIEW SOURCE ←

Built on boring, audited things ( ‾́ ◡ ‾́ )

Kao doesn't invent cryptography or consensus. It composes the most-reviewed pieces of the Ethereum stack and wraps them in a face.

(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ > revm

The Rust EVM used by reth and Foundry. Kao embeds it to replay your transaction against live state, entirely offline.

(✧ω✧) > helios

A trustless light client. Kao checks every balance and state read against Ethereum consensus proofs — RPCs become untrusted couriers.

(✿◠‿◠) > safe

The most battle-tested multisig contracts on Ethereum. Kao is a first-class Safe client from version zero.

Your keys deserve a face ツ

Free, open source, and verifiable all the way down.

macOS · first launch (•‿•)

Builds aren't notarized yet, so macOS quarantines the app. After dragging it to Applications, clear the flag once:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Kao Wallet.app"

Adjust the path if you installed it elsewhere.

signed releases · reproducible builds (^人^)

you are visitor № 0001337 (✯◡✯)

## Comments

**misha**: Tested it on Linux and MacOS. Seems safe but always DYOR and test first for a while with small amounts. Also very new but looks promising and love the idea: https://github.com/kaowallet/kao