Self Custody Help - Coldcard \ stacker news ~bitcoin

20 sats \ 12 comments \ @DandelionLightning 14 Jun 2023 bitcoin

So I have the majority of my stack in cold storage, on my air-gapped coldcard. Seed phrase is in multiple spots, in one spot on a titanium plate, etc. I feel like I have the basics down.

The most important topic though that I’m hoping to get some advice on - I’ve never actually had to recover any wallet using my seedphrase. I’m not new to bitcoin or to self custody as I previously had a Trezor for years but as my stack grows and now that I feel I’ve taken all the right steps to do self-custody ‘right’ - I’m worried about messing it up in the event I actually need to use my seed phrase. For instance, I lose my coldcard or my computer crashes (I use sparrow wallet with the air gapped setup).

My question is - what would be the best way to ‘practice’ recovering my funds knowing I still have access to my coldcard, seed phrase and computer as it stands today - and not compromise the fact that I’ve air-gapped my setup? Is it possible?

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22 sats \ 1 reply \ @JTNode5 14 Jun 2023

Have you looked into setting up a 2 of 3 multi-sig vault using your CC and your trezor? You can do this at Unchained. Basically if something happens to either of your 2 seed phrases or 2 devices, you have a backup (3rd party) to sign and help you recover anything.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DandelionLightning OP 14 Jun 2023

I have not. I’d imagine I’d need to pay Unchained in some sort of monthly subscription fee?

0 sats \ 6 replies \ @TSW 14 Jun 2023

If you never ran the test before putting significant funds on it then I wouldn’t test it by wiping your existing seed from your CC, what if the seed you wrote down is wrong.

Assuming you want to keep the private key air gapped you can either test with another CC or cheaper, with a Blockstream

Also, I don’t see any mention of a pass phrase.

10 sats \ 5 replies \ @DandelionLightning OP 14 Jun 2023

Thanks. I need to add a pass phrase, you’re right.

I’ll look into grabbing a block stream jade to stay air gapped.

Do I really need to wipe out my existing seed though? That’s my point, since I still have everything and in the event that I wrote down a wrong seed, won’t I just not be able to recover onto the second device? This is where I’m a little fuzzy because I’ve never needed to

44 sats \ 2 replies \ @TSW 14 Jun 2023

Let's look at the following events:

Your seed backup is wrong but CC is still working fine. In this case you can continue to use your CC with access to the private key
Your seed backup is wrong and your CC is unusable/lost. In this case you cannot access your private key anymore.

As stated you can check your private key within the CC itself. But what if you swapped around two words when writing it down and you didn't see that. This is highly unlikely but you would only find it when really testing the seed import on a factory wiped device.

For me on your situation it would come down to how much bitcoin I would have in cold storage:

Small amount (for you to decide), I wouldn't buy a 2nd wallet. I would: -- Check the Seed words against my backup -- Factory reset the device and import the seed to ensure it is working as expected
Large amount (for you to decide), get a 2nd wallet to test the seed import

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @DandelionLightning OP 14 Jun 2023

Thanks again. And if for whatever reason the seed wasn’t right (not likely) and I attempt to import onto the second device (Jade), then basically my wallet just wouldn’t import, right? It’s as simple as that?

22 sats \ 0 replies \ @TSW 15 Jun 2023

Correct. It is highly unlikely to find a working seed by mistake as the checksum won’t check out https://www.blockplate.com/blogs/blockplate/the-special-last-word-of-a-seed-phrase

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @senf 14 Jun 2023

You can check your Coldcard's seed in the Danger Zone menu.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @TSW 14 Jun 2023

Yes. You can view the Seed there, which is still not the same as testing it as if you have lost your CC. https://coldcard.com/docs/advanced

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Darkbulb 14 Jun 2023

Get another one. Or just try it with a phone wallet

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @DandelionLightning OP 14 Jun 2023

Thanks, I’m going to look into a Jade to stay airgapped

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nerd2ninja 14 Jun 2023

If you back up from seed phrase on your jade the derivation path might be different

https://walletsrecovery.org/

(PS I didn't check to see if it was)