That counts as a hardware wallet in my mind though...
Maybe a DYI hardware wallet, but it's kinda the same anyway.
And you're kinda shilling your own favorite hardware as well. You can also for example use a Raspberry Pi Zero with Electrum to make your own hardware wallet...
Lmao not shilling. You can call it a HWW but most people already have a PC and a spare USB. Most people do not already have a dedicated signing device made by some company that pays an inflooencor like jimmy to promote.
There is no profit in educating bitcoiners to use the tools they already have. Easier and more profit in selling them overpriced hardware.
Hardware wallet companies are honeypots. They leak data about bitcoiners. Owning a hardware wallet or being seen with one identifies you as a bitcoin holder to anyone who knows what a HWW looks like.
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I agree with you, but also I think there is a niche for people that don't want to deal with a DIY wallet and just want to buy a ready-to-go, purpose-built device.
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truth. its why its being pushed so much as the safest way to do things. If they can sell you an "ab-crunch machine" they can make money
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Even if you boot a PC with a live distro you cannot be sure it is full airgapped because you cannot phisically detach the WiFi/BT modules and you cannot control if a potentially malicious software writes the main storage leaking data.
Btw a such system is a really good way to learn how to manage a cold storage and actually has a good security if you proper setup it (ex. full disk encryption for the main disk).
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Older laptops have removable wifi cards and no bluetooth. But I understand the limitation. Personally, having a record that I puchased a "Bitcoin Product" is a bigger threat than someone sniffing my bluetooths for private keys or some shit.
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Then you might also need a VPN or TOR since your ISP will know you visited SN, and they probably sell your data to the highest bid.
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you cannot phisically detach the WiFi/BT modules
You can always build a computer without WiFI/BT, they are external components.
And for example the Raspberry Pi Zero comes ready to use without any networking devices, no WiFi, and no BT.
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You can always build a computer without WiFI/BT, they are external components.
I was commenting the user case of using the PC you already own via Tailscale.
If you have to think about a new hardware and don't want to be registered as "bitcoin user" a SeedSigner is a really good, if not perfect, choise: off-the-shelf components for less than $50 and open source software: https://nostr.com/nevent1qqsqqqqqw6nzsdsk0qh3ha7hsvcepx9jaqx7u6t2y0fra936wrffkyszypaaaaa7ytwcuk05vq8qgj498gw0jadfm37j0h6cxw780kmcffvq2e7s7w4
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Tailscale in not the same thing as TAILS. FYI
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Oh yes, sorry wrong/lazy typing, thank you for pointing it out :)
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Use Tails, Electrum, and a border wallet and you don’t need any persistence or connections on the laptop or USB
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Of course you don't need them. The problem here is that storage and WiFi are actually connected and you cannot prove that a malicious software on the live distro don't use them somehow.
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It's not a hardware wallet because having a wallet app on your phone is not a hardware wallet. Same thing, different peripherals.
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