What do you do with your wallet and seeds when traveling?
3109 sats \ 10 comments \ @criptopanas 17 Apr 2023 bitcoin
Hi there,
I'm planning to do a video for my Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@criptopanas) about BTC custody during holidays...but I want to know your opinion and I'm ready to read your advices & ideas.
The assumption is that the bitcoiner has a Hardware wallet and a Passphrase for his life savings and a hot wallet in his phone with some funds (pocket money).
The hardware wallet is hidden in his house. The seeds are on a paper store in a safe place at his house. The PASSPHRASE is in his mind and in a paper at his house (not with the seeds).
Scenarios:
  1. He travels abroad ONLY with his phone, so hardware wallet and seeds STAY at home.
  2. He travels abroad with his phone and hardware wallet. The seeds STAY at home.
  3. He travels with everything (phone, hardware wallet, seeds and the passphrase in his mind)
There are Pros & Cons to all of them.
If you want to add more variables...maybe the place where he lives is not a safe place. Or the place where hi is going to is not very safe, he could get retain in the border crossing for days until he gave access to the funds...
Which scenario do you choose?; what have you done when travelling?
Looking forward for your help & answers!
GRACIAS!!!
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367 sats \ 1 reply \ @orthwyrm 17 Apr 2023
It's not really a good idea to travel with a HWW or physical seed backup on your person, so I'd leave those at home.
It's also a bad idea to leave both the seed and passphrase unattended in the house. If the house is robbed and ransacked, then game over.
Thinking about what's necessary to restore the wallet, there should be at least two backups (points of failure) of both the seed and passphrase. Yet in this scenario the user only has one secure location to store backups (his house), so there's not much to work with.
I'd probably do something like this:
  • Seed backup #1: Metal Backup @ Home
  • Seed backup #2: HWW (seed-only) @ Less Secure Location #2
  • Passphrase backup #1: Paper Copy @ On Person
  • Passphrase backup #2: Memorised
In this case I think it's OK to leave the HWW in a less secure location, at least for a short while. Although far from ideal, there is no chance of someone finding and cracking the wallet before you get back. And if they do, it's only the wallet for the seed without the passphrase. I'd stick ithe HWW in an anti-tamper bag to help mitigate against evil maid attacks.
I'd keep the passphrase written down on paper. Nobody will recognize its significance as a passphrase in and of itself.
Lastly, I'd also have a watch-only wallet set up for the seed-only xpub, which could have a small dummy amount on it. If the funds move, you know to return back early.
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20 sats \ 0 replies \ @criptopanas OP 18 Apr 2023
I really like the idea of the watch only wallet for the dummy funds.
Thanks
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45 sats \ 2 replies \ @rijndael 17 Apr 2023
Why do you need to bring your life savings with you when traveling? Moving/fleeing is a different story, but if you’re going on a vacation or traveling for work or something, leave all that at home. Throw what you think youll ACTUALLY need on a phone or laptop wallet.
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7 sats \ 0 replies \ @criptopanas OP 17 Apr 2023
So, your answer is Scenario #1.
I know that some people prefer to carry the seeds with them, because the home is not a safe place.
Thanks for your answer.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ak 17 Apr 2023
Agree!
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25 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bitcoiner1 17 Apr 2023
I'll go with #2.
If he loses the seeds, the funds are safe with the Passphrase. So, he will need to write down the words again, not a big deal.
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @021da48107 17 Apr 2023
At the end of the day you should read up on the threat model, and come up with your own.
If you hold a large amount of your net worth in BTC you really should have the majority of the BTC in a multi-sig wallet.
If you are just traveling I would go with scenario 1, with the idea that if you need more BTC when you get to where you are going you can buy more and send it to your phone/hot wallet.
If you are moving, or a nomad with no home base. I'd say explorer border wallets, and/or a multi-sig setup. You could go with a setup like, have 1 private key to your multisig on your person, 1 with a friend/custodian (unchained capital, Casa), and 1 you mail to your destination.
Having any type of clues with you while going through government checkpoints is probably not a good idea. Therefore if you have a mnemonic phrase, hardware wallet, etc with you the government might see that and cause you more trouble.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Descent 18 Apr 2023
Store the hardware wallet in a safe at your house, the seed at a trusted family member: parent or grandparent. In the event of a robbery in which one item is compromised, with the remaining item (seed or wallet), transfer the fund to a new wallet.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kenn_b 17 Apr 2023
Take the seed words and write them (in random) all over your stuff you take with you travelling. Then remember the order of the stuff.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @selfish_gene 17 Apr 2023
все так и ринулись писать...
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