I don't know very much about this field - what are the major uses of JavaCard other than in SIM cards? Or are SIM cards where this OpenCrypto would be most useful for makers/researchers?
Smart Cards used for military/corporate computer authentication and facility access, some transit systems, some purpose-specific stored value cards (like bike locker rental at BART stations), then of course chip credit/debit cards. Anywhere you want the user's credential to have some intelligence (sign challenges under specific circumstances, credit and debit a balance without any central database in the loop, etc) b…
It was a real boon to the DC area technology consulting business. Timed well with stimulus in the post crash crisis as well. Lots of investment in this technology (reminiscent of the Secret History of Silicon Valley) and surprised it has taken this long to get to finance and other uses.
I think one problem is smart cards were timed with the take off of mobile. They weren't very mobile friendly and seemed kind of redundant, but I prefer them to a fingerprint scanner on the iphone or galaxy.
Excited to see where this goes.