If you would have started with bitcoin in 2009 and have a 10k stack, how would you store it?
  1. What is your desired end state? Do you want to buy a home and land and settle and have a family and split it between your offspring? Do you want to hold until some other point? What are you saving for?
  2. What is your threat model? Who knows about it? Who is a threat to you? What happens if you die tomorrow?
Depending on your answers it would inform your storage. The method I think is most safe for people with this much is to do the following:
-Build an air gapped pc. Encrypt it. On this pc will be very accurate descriptions of how to solve your multi-signature wallet scheme. Let’s use 3 of 5 keys as an example using 5 coldcard devices. Also, all your passwords for online banking, insurance policy locations, and anything else your family should know- is on this encrypted computer. The keys are not.
-Make 5 keys using the coldcards but add a passphrase (25th word) on each only you know. Store bitcoin split across however many addresses on that multisig wallet as you wish.
-Make 5 metal backups. Put stickers on backup and coldcard identifying which belongs to which. Now buy 2-5 more coldcards and metal backups and do the same but they are dummies. (You can keep them all in a safe or distribute dummies and 2 real ones to trusted associates that don’t know each other). Only instructions in the pc would let someone figure out which keys worked.
-Go to an estate attorney and have a will drafted. In the will you will put an attachment to be read upon your death with the password to unencrypt your pc and the passphrase for your coldcards. Leave will with attorney, put another copy in safe deposit box or a lock box. Make sure people know your attorney has your will. At your death they will be able to figure everything out.
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My only concern is the PC. Is the idea that if it's lost/destroyed your family could still potentially figure the multisig out, maybe with help from a knowledgeable confidant? The only thing I'd add is to thoroughly educate any family who are interested how multisig works. For example your wife could setup a 3/5 so she knows the process and how to spend etc. 10k Bitcoin seems like enough incentive for anyone to want to learn.
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What's the deal with the different addresses? To combat the chance of a private key being randomly discovered?
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  • spread into multiple wallets
  • inside each wallet spread into multiple addresses with smaller amounts easy to be moved when is necessary.
  • each wallet with multiple backup copies placed in different locations.
  • if you want to give access to family use a system of multisig, but only for part of thr btc not all and don't complicate too much.
  • use the 3levels of stash: hodl, cache, spend.
  • if you are not well comfortable with software, use hardware wallets. But just from this question you ask I suppose that you don't know well how to use software wallets in a safe way.
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This is what I would do
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You meant to write “If you HAD started”… Using “would have” here is incorrect grammar.
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Just send it to a hardware wallet and chill 💆🏻‍♀️
Or maybe pay out a little once every few months and enjoy a life of champagne, coke and hookers 😂😂
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That much Bitcoin? Definitely need to put that on an exchange. BitRug.pull or something.
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I heard InsolventFX and Conbase are good.
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Put it in a hardware wallet and forget about it
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Store some in strippers and coke
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Probably I would have moved them to a modern wallet with seed phrase support and keep it as cold storage.
Early wallets are not as secure as modern ones. Read about the recent hack of Luke Dashjr for a background on this.
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Dedicated cold storage (hardware wallet). 100%. Not even a question.
Those private keys should not be on an internet connected device and certainly not kept on an exchange.
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Id store it at the Bank of Amsterdam.... being the 1st (central bank) has its advantages
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10K BTC from 2009? you may have it in a paper wallet. There is no sense to use paper wallets anymore. Be very careful and do not try to send some of it to another wallet and lose the change. Search for paper wallet danger or something like that. You need to have it all in a multisignature. Or cold hardware wallet at least. And then you can spread it to multiple hardware wallets or multiple multisignatures.
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There is no sense to use paper wallets anymore. [...] Search for paper wallet danger or something like that.
I call bs on that. Paper wallets are as secure as cold wallets. Especially you can put in the words into a cold wallet.
Be very careful and do not try to send some of it to another wallet and lose the change.
You can send without dust. Transaction cost at 10k Bitcoin are negligable. What are you even talking about
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I mean it doesn't make sense to use new paper wallets today because we have better methods. Hardware wallets and hierarchical deterministic wallets. If you already have a paper wallet from many years ago, then it is fine as long as you protect it safe and know how to use it, but many users have lost a lot thinking they could use a temporary software wallet to spend part from a paper wallet not knowing how the change utxo works. The best thing you can do with a paper wallet is sweep it all to a hardware or cold software wallet. DO NOT CREATE NEW PAPER WALLETS. It is 2023.
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Paper wallets are not seed phrases written down on paper.
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Hardware wallet, likely with geographically spread Shamir Secrets in case you home burns to the ground.
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lightning wallet