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Backing your coins up is very easy, most wallets support BIP32/39/44. Just write the mnemonic down and put it under your mattress. Or a safe if you have one. Bu
by wereHamster 9y ago
Backing your coins up is very easy, most wallets support BIP32/39/44. Just write the mnemonic down and put it under your mattress. Or a safe if you have one. But seriously, for most people under the mattress is equally safe. I don't understand why anyone would keep a non-trivial amount of coins in a wallet and not have a backup. That's irresponsible.
- Retric 9y agoAs the parent pointed out, that increases the risk of theft.
- bpp 9y agoPeople losing their life savings because they kept it under their mattress is basically the reason that banks were invented. So I suppose this has all come full circle now.
- wereHamster 9y agoThere are web wallets today where you only have to remember a password, and can recover access if you can prove your identity. Like uhm… banks. If you don't trust yourself to keep the coins safe and backed up then go put them there. No shame in that.
- jnordwick 9y ago> recover access if you can prove your identity So hackable, you're saying?
- wereHamster 9y agoLike banks. The discussion is turning in circles. People lose coins. Have a backup. Too difficult. Put them in a bank. Banks are hackable. Manage the coins yourself. But then I might lose them. (you can replace bank with 'trusted third-party', doesn't change the outcome) Consider the two options: self-managed, or in a trusted third-party. Whichever has the smaller (perceived) risk, that's where you store your coins. Not everybody asses risk equally, and that's fine. My preferred solution may not be the same as your preferred solution. That's fine, still.
- jnordwick 9y agoFiat banks can recover money though - cash can be found and transactions unwound - and there are techniques to poison what is stolen without permanently decreasing the money supply. Freezing a wallet basically destroys the btc forever with no way to print more.
- wereHamster 9y agoAnd the bitcoin software is written in stone, can never be changed.
- mort96 9y agoBasically, yeah. I mean, the wallet software is obviously open source, and you can change it however you want of course, but allowing for transactions to be undone would basically require rewriting the entire protocol and everything which interacts with the bitcoin network - and that's if it's even possible in the first place, without removing vital parts of bitcoin like the decentralization or being able to trust the entire network without trusting any one entity.
- junk_f00d 9y agoGlacier Protocol offers a solution. https://glacierprotocol.org/releases/Glacier%20Protocol%20Document%20v0.91%20Beta.pdf https://glacierprotocol.org/releases/Glacier%20Protocol%20Do...
- aeternus 9y agoTo call that a solution is generous.. it is unlikely the average person could follow the Glacier Protocol.
- dangerboysteve 9y agoIsn't the problem keeping the coins in on online wallet or exchange? If you store your personal wallet offline how can you be hacked?
- aeternus 9y agoLots of ways: - Software you use for key generation uses a known random-seed. - Compromised software that converts your seed into an address/priv key. - Compromised transaction generation software. - Offline wallet physically stolen - Malware / firmware exploit on USB used to transfer transactions between online & offline computers