Self custody, done carefully
How to hold your own bitcoin without losing it. Practical guides on wallets, backups and the mistakes that cost people everything. No investment advice, ever.
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Latest articles
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Arculus Wallet: Three Wrong PINs and One Odd Seed Path
What the Arculus card does and does not show you before it signs, what three wrong PINs cost, and why a restored Arculus phrase can show…
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Multisig Wallet for One Person: What 2 of 3 Really Costs
A multisig wallet for one person means 2 of 3. The worked setup from the vendor documentation, the descriptor that two seeds cannot rebuild, and six…
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BitBox02 Review: Two Chips, Two Editions, Three Fixes
What the BitBox02 dual chip design protects, what the Dixence firmware update fixed on which editions, and what owners report about touch sliders, import fees and…
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Blockstream Jade Review: What the Blind Oracle Protects
Blockstream Jade stores no decryption key on the device. Its PIN is enforced by a blind oracle server that holds one of three secrets, so the…
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Samourai Wallet: What Happened and Where Your Coins Are
Samourai Wallet was shut down on 24 April 2024 when its founders were arrested and its servers and domain were seized. Nobody seized user keys. Coins…
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Trezor Safe 5 Review: The 20 Word Backup Is Not BIP39
The Trezor Safe 5 is a $129 touchscreen signer with an EAL6+ secure element, and its default backup is a 20 word SLIP39 share rather than…
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Ledger Flex Review: The Screen, the Key and the Fine Print
The Ledger Flex is Ledger’s mid range signer: a 2.8 inch E Ink touchscreen, an ST33K1M5 secure element certified to CC EAL6+, Bluetooth, NFC and a…
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Coldcard Q Review: Why Firmware Comes Before the Seed
What the Coinkite advisory and the Q release history actually say, the air gapped signing workflow checked against the docs, and what 37 reviews and three…
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Coinbase Wallet, Kraken, Robinhood: Who Holds Your Keys
Coinbase, Kraken, Robinhood and Gemini each ship two products with one brand: a custodial exchange account and a self custody wallet. Which is which, from the…
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Cryptosteel Capsule Solo: Retired, and What Replaces It
The Cryptosteel Capsule Solo is discontinued and its product page now redirects to the Seed24. What changed, and whether 123 characters is enough for a seed…
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Best Hot Wallet: How These Wallets Actually Get Drained
The best hot wallet question hides the real one: how much sits in it. Three mechanisms drain these wallets, and only one can be undone.
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Coldcard Mk3: The Seed Flaw and What the Fix Misses
What Coinkite’s advisory says about Mk3 seed generation, why updating does not repair an old seed, and what a used device really risks.