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Comment by fancyfredbot | Hacker News Reader

So much more hassle though. Nobody's going to bother with that now - what's the point?

UX with hardware wallets (which you can get for like $60) is pretty decent these days and it eliminates a lot of stress in the workflows you typically use. There's still a huge room for improvement with seedphrase backup and "social recovery", but it's easier now than it's been in the past.

How does the average person back these up in a secure, yet durable way that lasts decades and can easily be discovered by (and only by) their ultimate heirs?

Passphrase in a bank safe deposit box.

I think everyone will have different behavior sec for their funds, with the options now ranging from simply committing a 12 or 24 word seed phrase to memory and buying ETF shares.

There is shamir secret splitting, multisig, MPC, secure enclaves with biometerics, etc...

There will be apps like Fuse wallet: https://www.fusewallet.com/

There will be phones like Saga: https://solanamobile.com/hardware

I think how one handles their wallets will be much like how people make their espressos. Some will just stick k-cup in a machine and hit a button, others will become full-blown coffee enthusiasts that carefully measure their beans, de-static their grinds, and extract for the exact right amount of time.

> simply committing a 12 or 24 word seed phrase to memory

That's absolutely out of the question for almost any human being, especially given the timeframes involved.

> There will be phones like Saga [...] There will be apps like Fuse wallet: [...]

Again, we're talking about a timeframe of decades. How many of these will even still boot up after that amount of time? None of these seem safe to just throw in a bank safe deposit box.

> make their espressos. Some will just stick k-cup in a machine and hit a button

I'm really not a coffee connoisseur by any meaning of the word, but even I know that what comes out of a k-cup machine is brewed coffee, not espresso.

My point is there are thousands of ways to handle your wallets, I don't think there will be one average way.

The ETF is probably the equivalent of this "espresso style" k-cup https://www.keurig.com/Beverages/Dark-Roast/Espresso-Style-C...

> I'm really not a coffee connoisseur by any meaning of the word, but even I know that what comes out of a k-cup machine is brewed coffee, not espresso.

No, that's his passphrase

Same as anything else really: A sheet of paper and a safety deposit box.

You die, your heir or executor takes the appropriate paperwork to the bank, and then they get the contents of the box.

How many people even have a safety deposit box?

Many banks don't offer them anymore, and in some countries they have a disturbing tendency of getting robbed, with absolutely no recourse for the depositors (since contents are usually unverified and uninsured).

Then buy a large fire safe, bolt it to your floor inside a closet, and fill it with 10 lb barbell plates until it requires a forklift to move.

If your threat model includes someone inside your home with power tools and you can’t trust a bank… you might want to consider moving.

Given that people probably don't arrange their life around the ability to safeguard physical assets, I think you've just given several good arguments against self-custody:

Many people don't own a home. Not all of those that do want to expose themselves to the liability of storing valuables there. The safety situation between homes even within the US varies greatly, and even more so internationally. Banks with safety deposit boxes aren't ubiquitous.

If it works for you, great! I'm just saying that you might be in the minority here.

That's cool. What do I do when I move every few years because I'm a renter and can't afford to own a home in this economy?

You tell me.

That's what the "social recovery" ideas are for. It's a framework for doing key management across multiple trusted parties under controlled conditions in the hypothetical case your primary keys are inaccessible. You could have your executor hold a key, for example.

I love this scenario.

"Why is Bitcoin a great asset?"

"Because its the future of currency! Its great and everyone will use it!"

"Then why don't you just get it directly?"

"Uh, its too much of a hassle. For me. A professional finance worker."

It's not really that hard, and the tools are continually evolving to be more user friendly (e.g. Last year Trezor added hardware support to simplify Shamir backup).

Of course the ability to hit "buy now" in the same marketplace you manage all your other investments is pretty low friction and I'm sure this decision will bring fresh investment out of the woodwork.

But what’s the point of Bitcoin then? They might as well put anything in these ETFs and it’d be the same thing then: the flat rocks in my garden are limited in number and very scarce, wanna put some in an etf?

Maybe, but my rocks are better, faster, and more scalable!

Frankly we could probably get our rock ETF's approved more quickly. Regardless of how you feel about Bitcoin, it's not (or shouldn't be) the SEC's place to play nanny and dictate the particular assets/commodities/etc. in which you're allowed to invest your money. Incidentally even one of SEC commissioners agrees https://www.sec.gov/news/statement/peirce-statement-spot-bit...

Well as a matter of fact btc is none of these things compared to any other crypto, which are themselves not particularly any of these things.

But I agree with the fact it’s not the SEC’s role to tell us the merit of btc. I do have some worries on the Tether scam still going on for example though, which has been manipulating BTC for years.

No matter if it is a scam or not, at the end it worked. Similar to banks which don't have enough capital.

Now Tether owns tons of money, and can buy treasuries that bring few % of interests, and these interests are not paid back to USDT holders.

As a result, overtime, they'll be able to fill-in any potential gaps or money accidentally lost.

Impressive, isn’t it? They bootstrapped a stablecoin!

Edit: spelling

I don’t think you quite understand. One ounce of gold or one bitcoin is indistinguishable from any other, i.e. fungible.

Also, limited in number and scarcity only partly define value. In addition to these properties, other people must agree with you.

If your flat rocks are scarce and people want to invest in them, by all means…

One bitcoin is very much distinguishable from another bitcoin as they can be traced through transactions and wallets, with the outcome that some bitcoins might be rejected by recipients that are uncomfortable with certain source wallets or mixers.

There's no way for a wallet to block incoming transfers. If someone sends Bitcoin to an address, the transfer will be processed by the network.

Yes but you could refuse to deliver whatever the sender is paying for. I mean you need to wait for 6 confirmations or whatever anyway before "approving" the payment transaction.

Bitcoin's value lies in its potential as a secure means of payment for microtransactions and its integration with advanced technologies like the Lightning Network. Its worth is tied to its perceived future utility in various domains, particularly in facilitating transactions over APIs. The recent ETF news contributes to its liquidity and stability, essential for its role in digital transactions. As the technology and applications around Bitcoin continue to evolve, its true value might become more apparent, potentially transforming the landscape of digital commerce and AI interactions.

Everyone who does not have access to the US financial system will keep doing it. Which is 7/8B people on this planet.

Are you missing some other somewhat relevant financial systems here by any chance?

The EU (higher population than the US) has had Bitcoin ETFs for a while now.

> Nobody's going to bother with that now - what's the point?

This is actually a great comment that I think applies well to the crypto world as a whole, even if that wasn't your original intent.

I will own up to trolling slightly to draw attention to the fact that exhanging bitcoin as a digital currency is not something which would occur to most people who own it. The only thing most people will do with their bitcoin is exchange it for fiat.

That and hodl it, hoping it'll someday be worth more.

Save approx. 1% on fees annually is the point.

Your question is equivalent to asking the point of bitcoin (avoid centralization).

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