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Comment by ashleyn | Hacker News Reader

1) if you don't exclusively have the private key (wallet), you don't own the crypto. if someone else gets the private key unwittingly, they now own the crypto

2) split cumulative funds into two wallets, a "hot" wallet and a "cold" wallet. keep the funds in the "hot" wallet to no more than for which total unintentional loss is tolerable. keep the private key to the "cold" wallet off any internet connected device except for the minimum duration required to transfer funds to the hot wallet.

3) print the recovery phrase for the cold wallet and store it in a physically secure location

4) if an ideally secure physical location is not possible, split risk across multiple "cold" wallets

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that sounds tedious af and still prone to error, i'd rather literally pay someone to handle all of this for me, let's say, some kind of institution which specializes in storing and handling money

Hey, what if there was a way to get paid to have someone else handle this for you? That would be crazy right

While practically that’s true of course, I think a hardware appliance that did this that you had to physically interact with to release the funds from would be cyberpunk and cool. Imagine exchanging a handful of currency chips for like a flying motorcycle or something.

And when that hardware fails?

The problem with crypto is that every problem requires additional layers of complication which each have their own failure modes which then need to be further addressed. And the complication itself adds yet more ways to breed failure.

This is the fundamental challenge with a system where any mistake or error results in the instantaneous and irrevocable loss of unbounded funds.

If it fails, you can’t retrieve the money of course. Don’t put more than you can afford to lose on one chip.

You understand this is insane right?

I’m not offering financial advice.

i would argue crypto isn't meant to straight replace the banking system. only substitute for it where certain privacy is required

Except it is explicitly not private?

It would also be cool if it were guaranteed up to a certain amount, very much like FDIC does for amounts smaller than $250k.

> 1) if you don't exclusively have the private key (wallet), you don't own the crypto. if someone else gets the private key unwittingly, they now own the crypto

That's not how the legal system works, and they're the ones who decide who owns things.

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