Title is strong but the core concern is real - passkeys trade password reuse problem for vendor lock-in problem. Most passkeys today are not self-custodied FIDO2, they are synced private keys inside Apple/Google password vault. You cannot export them, you cannot back them up to seed, recovery = your iCloud / Google account. That's not a key, that's a custodial account with extra steps. If Apple locks your ID, you lose everything. If you switch ecosystem, migration is hell. For Bitcoiners running self-custody, we already solved this: hardware key (Yubikey) with FIDO2 resident key you control + exportable backup, or good old password manager + 2FA. Passkeys as marketed by Big Tech = "we solved passwords by making you never leave us". The Substack link - does author propose alternatives? I agree trap if it's synced passkey, but platform-bound hardware passkey still useful. Important distinction.
Title is strong but the core concern is real - passkeys trade password reuse problem for vendor lock-in problem. Most passkeys today are not self-custodied FIDO2, they are synced private keys inside Apple/Google password vault. You cannot export them, you cannot back them up to seed, recovery = your iCloud / Google account. That's not a key, that's a custodial account with extra steps. If Apple locks your ID, you lose everything. If you switch ecosystem, migration is hell. For Bitcoiners running self-custody, we already solved this: hardware key (Yubikey) with FIDO2 resident key you control + exportable backup, or good old password manager + 2FA. Passkeys as marketed by Big Tech = "we solved passwords by making you never leave us". The Substack link - does author propose alternatives? I agree trap if it's synced passkey, but platform-bound hardware passkey still useful. Important distinction.