Over the past few months, I've noticed a growing debate about how to securely store Bitcoin private keys.
Following the COLDCARD vulnerabilities, Ledger controversies, and other security concerns, some Bitcoiners argue that hardware wallets can no longer be trusted.
They point to various risks, including supply chain attacks, compromised firmware, malicious manufacturers, and hidden vulnerabilities.
Others still believe that hardware wallets are one of the safest and most practical solutions for self-custody.
Recommend multi-vendor multisig setups, using hardware wallets from different manufacturers to reduce reliance on any single device or vendor.
I've also seen many Bitcoiners recommending a return to Bitcoin Core's built-in wallet, with securely backed-up wallet.dat files. Some even argue that this is a better approach than relying on hardware wallets.
What are your thoughts on the current state of Bitcoin self-custody, and which approaches make the most sense for long-term security?
https://seedsigner.com/
But I personally think Electrum in Tails OS is a safe enough alternative if used as an airgapped signer for watch-only BlueWallet.
if you use electrum on Tails with an air gapped PC to generate your seed. How do you export xpubs or signed PSBTs from the OS?
Despite the high visibility catastrophes we've had this year, I have a feeling a bitcoiner is still more likely to over complicate their setup and lock themselves put of their coins. So you have to choose a setup that isn't too complicated.
That being said, a multisig wallet is a fairly good option. Try testing out your flow with a small amount of Bitcoin. Send a few transactions in and out until you feel confident. Then try to make at least one transaction a year so that you are testing things somewhat regularly.
I particularly value the ability to never bring a quorum of keys together and the redundancy you get from multisig.
There is no safest way, there are just degrees of risk
Name all of the methods you know, they all come with either tradeoff's or risks
Look at this advice from Paul, very sound but still risks, kid finds your laptop and messes with it, over decades the laptop will erode, same as usb sticks
Always risks