The community around Bitcoin got use to use certain keywords to describe how it works and the tools used to access and move their coins. Unfortunately, many of the words used are quite misleading and, in my opinion, such idioms do not help the new comers to understand the tech and how to use it.

One good example is the use of the word "wallet". The word wallet itself is misleading, we do not own a wallet, we own a "private key", we could had call it for the non tech savvy, “account access private words”. When I talk to a person that is new to Bitcoin, I use logical terms instead of the idioms adopted by the community, and it really works well, they get it right away because I am using terms they understand from their day to day interactions with mobiles and PC systems.

Recently, I read a post of someone making it even more confusing for new comers with concepts like ”cold wallet”, “warm wallet” and “hot wallet”..., if you are a new into Bitcoin, ignore it, focus on the basics, most of the tech savvy influencers in the Bitcoin community are not good communicators, hence, they do not add much value to you at this moment, probably they will confuse you, there is a handful that are good communicators and keep it basic for the new comers like Ben (BTC Sessions¹) and Ian Major (All Things Bitcoin²), do your own research and do not trust, verify.

When you decide to keep cash in your home, you know better than to keep it around for all to see it, so you have a safe or any other method you feel comfortable with.

If you lose your cash in the street or you are robed, in most cases there is no way to get your money back, same with Bitcoin, if you are keeping custody of your own “account access private words” and you lose them, is like you lost your cash.

When you keep your cash in the bank, you are trusting the bank to keep it safe for you, with Bitcoin is the same, many new investors prefer to keep it in a “bank”, called centralized exchanges like Strike, CashApp, CASA and Swan, I mention these ones because they are exchanges only for Bitcoin; since they do not hold or provide services for any other coins; chances are they are less pron to fraudulent activities, ponzi schemes pushed by insiders and employees in general like the known pump and dumps, the ones I mentioned do not have any native coins neither. An exchange with their own native coins are a red flag, indicative of potential market manipulation to push for their coins in detriment of your own investment in Bitcoin, examples of this type of activities in exchanges are plenty (FTX for example), I rather don’t mention any more of them since they are not worth any attention, if you go down that rabbit hole; my suggestion is; be wise and keep your savings away from them, you don’t need them unless you are a gambler and like to speculate or you are already tech savvy and with large funds looking for large liquidity pools for your trades.

There is a risk of not being your own bank as the tech was intended, in traditional finance, if the private bank you trust goes down you may lose your funds, the same applies with centralized Bitcoin exchanges (“Bitcoin banks”), if they go down you may lose your coins, as it was the case with FTX and many others.

If you go down that road, do your research, it is important you feel comfortable and you can sleep well knowing your funds are safe, specially if you are putting your life savings into Bitcoin (many people do), an option is to spread them across known stable recognized exchanges.

The tech savvy will push you towards best cyber-security practices for holding your coins that will make you uncomfortable and push you away. Let’s face it, the more secure a system is, the more inconvenient it is.

Problem for the new comers is that they are use to have a traditional bank account online or an app in their mobile to access their bank account, they input a password or biometric input and get in, convenient and easy, but that is not very secure and many people gets their funds stolen because of it.

If you will not put thousands of dollars into Bitcoin anytime soon, in my opinion, you can use the same security measures you use for your apps to access your bank accounts when using your apps to access your Bitcoin funds. If you increase the amount, you should increase your security, be more mindful since there is no recourse if you lose your funds, it is, after all, as if someone got in your home and took cash from one of your drawers because you didn’t store the cash in a safe box or a safer location.

If you will put your life savings into Bitcoin, do the research and follow the tech savvy suggestions, won’t be convenient, but it will be quite safe.

In summary, you will be able to handle it easily, you just have to keep your “account access private words” safe. You keep cash and other valuables safe, hence, you will be able to keep your access to your Bitcoin funds safe as well.

We do not call our bank mobile applications to access our accounts “wallet”?. We call it bank app, it is an application to access your account in the bank servers, with Bitcoin is quite similar, you use an application to access your account in a decentralized and public database (which is a ledger containing all the transactions ever done with Bitcoin). As with the banks we should have call it ”Bitcoin App”. That is what I use while explaining the basics to someone that is new to the concept of Bitcoin.

This one is the worst idiom of all for me, the use of "hardware wallet", instead of "seed signer", another misleading word that confuse new comers thinking they have a wallet and coins in the wallet.

The wording used was not well thought and is backfiring now, the FIAT finance system will create spot ETFs and the investors will be able to buy a stock ticker backed 1:1 by spot Bitcoin and feel confident since it is exposure to the asset without all the new tech idioms the Bitcoin community have added.

Last holiday season, I spent some time with a large group of friends and one of them was attempting to explain Bitcoin to someone, he was exited talking about wallets, the importance to hold your keys, the importance of cryptography, the importance of self custody…. The guy just wanted to invest in Bitcoin and got so confused that changed the subject stating that it was too complicated for him.

If you have been in Bitcoin for some time and you are passionated about it, you have, most probably been in a similar situation. I could not stand there and do nothing, later on, I took the interested guy aside and I downloaded a Bitcoin LN app for him and transfer him few dollars, he was amazed of how easy and fast it was. I told him to play with it and the concept of the private keys as your secret words to access your funds. I let him know that he needed to decide the level of privacy he feels comfortable with and based on that, decide where and how to store his “secret words to access his coins”. Today, he is a proud Bitcoin investor who practices self custody.