I want to give some sats to my niece for her first birthday. I want that only she and no one else can spend it until she's 18yo. Until then, I would also give her sats to birthdays and other occasions.

My thoughts so far:

1. TimeLock

seems like a good solution but the uncertainty about the future is a big drawback:
  • (-) if bitcoin changes and for example the ECDSA or RIPEMD160 algorithm breaks, the coins can't transition because they are locked.
  • (-) Onchain fees are so high that it's very expensive to move the UTXOs (should be a lot of UTXOs because they can't be consolidated with active timelock)

2. 2/3 multisig

I don't know whats the best solution for key management for all parties(parents, godfather and me).
  • (+) no single point of failure
  • (+) be able to react in time if something unexpected happens
  • (-) to many people involved

3. HWW without any special rules etc.

I just gift a HWW, parents should set it up, give me the XPUB and hold custody until she is 18yo.
  • (+) simple solution
  • (-) out of my control if parents loose it or something else happens
  • (-) will todays HWW still be compatible in 17 years or will multiple upgrades be required?
What are your thoughts? Which solution would you prefer or are there others?
For something meant for 18 years later, a steel engraved seed plate in a tamperproof bag would probably be my move.
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Yea, I think I agree with this.
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Yes, that sounds like a good solution. It seems so obvious, I don't know why I didn't think of that before this post.
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Why not hold for her until she is of age then teach her different ways to secure the keys then hand them over. Remember don’t let complexity get in the way of your judgment.
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I want that it's not in my custody so I probably go with k00bs solution. Yes, you are right.
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I have a couple OpenDimes for my nephews. It's a bit of a YOLO situation, since I have no idea whether the devices will survive another decade, but we'll see. They're stored in anti-static bags in a dark, cool place.
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If you trust yourself, maybe it is a good idea you keep the seeds and her parents or herself a watch only wallet.
Cheers
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Yes, I see all 3 scenarios good for your case.
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