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100 sats \ 3 replies \ @LibertasBR 28 Mar \ on: How do you tell your heirs about your stack? bitcoin
It seems like the letter is quite concise. I’m more curious about the recovery steps so I can help with drafting the letter.
So, when an event triggers the delivery of the letter, it reaches the recipient with detailed instructions and almost all the Bitcoin available inside the hardware wallet, which will manage the release of these funds. No seed involved in the process, right? Even so, the wallet is practically set up with everything needed so that whoever gets it, along with the instructions, can access it. That seems insecure to me.
Perhaps a safer method—and one that could also reduce the size of the letter—would be allowing the wallet owner to set an heir email, which would send the wallet descriptor protected by a password.
As for the Cryptosteel, does it contain everything necessary to recover the wallet without relying on anything else? I’m not very familiar with this device and its recovery methods.
Thanks for the feedback!
it reaches the recipient with detailed instructions and almost all the Bitcoin available inside the hardware wallet
This is the big question. We use a relative timelock to lock the coins so that this recovery key cannot spend them until a pre-specified length of time after the primary key has been used (as much as 15 months).
If a person becomes dies, it may indeed take some time for people to sort through belongings and wills. If it takes more than 15 months, the hardware device will definitely have an active key that can spend all the funds.
Also, if the person hasn't used their primary key recently (say in the last year), then it is also pretty likely that the key on the hardware wallet will have the ability to spend the funds.
You're point is definitely worth thinking about.
Perhaps a safer method—and one that could also reduce the size of the letter
Also great point. Keeping the descriptor separate from the seed is safer, but it also adds complexity. Additionally, email addresses change or stop being checked. You could see a world where a user sets this up and then 10 years go by and the beneficiary email they designated is no longer in use. I think we've opted for a situation where everything needed to recover the funds is needed.
As for the Cryptosteel, does it contain everything necessary to recover the wallet?
The cryptosteel only has the seed. You still need the descriptor to recover the wallet. Currently this is stored on the USB drive or as an opt-in alternative on a Wizardsardine server.
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About the letter delivery system, who is responsible for that? If it’s a company, instead of requiring an heir email, it could use a login system, like a digital vault, where the wallet descriptor is stored. The letter would contain the login instructions, and the person in possession of it would have to prove they are a valid heir from a list left by the owner. This approach solves the issue of email technological obsolescence and centralizes the process.
Regarding the cryptosteel, if it contains the seed, all of this is just extra layers—whoever has the seed can access the wallet and transfer the funds wherever they want, without cooldowns or additional verifications.
It’s almost like a bank, which is why I don’t really like the idea, but I’m here to brainstorm, not to judge lol.
Meanwhile, I’m thinking of a more secure and personal model. Since we’re talking about inheritance, it assumes you have direct contact with the person. I also believe they should at least understand what it is because otherwise, the chances of them messing up or simply cashing out into fiat are high. In other words, they need to deserve it.
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if it contains the seed, all of this is just extra layers
Not in this case. The seed given to the heir is actually one seed in a 1-of-2 multisig (this is why they need the descriptor--whatever wallet software they use to recover needs to be able to know how to find the coins), but it's a 1-of-2 where the primary key (held by you) can always spend and the heir's key (stored with this letter) can only spend coins if the primary key isn't used for a prespecified length of time. This is enforced by Bitcoin script at the consensus level, so not trusting a third party.
The advantage to this is exactly what you are getting at: an executor or your heir won't be able to spend your funds until you want them to (or stop using your key) even if have access to the seed/hardware signer/letter.
they should at least understand what it is
You are spot on. This is a really important point. At least with current pop understanding of Bitcoin, an heir who has no real idea about it may be very casual in their approach to recover (or just ignore it).
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