Self-custody doesn't mean trustless. You have to trust yourself to not fuck up. And many users do not trust themselves.
If you ask a regular user who can secure their money better, a bank or their house, they will say the bank 99% of the time.
Trust is always there. The best way to onboard users into self custody is to give them the tools to trust themselves.
I have a question related to this. In the same way you will not tell everyone that you have money on your house, I don't think is a great idea to publicly say you have btc in self custody. So, how do you onboard users close to you (so they know who you are and where you live) and you don't get exposed to being ratted to tax authorities or assaulted?
Just don't ever reveal the size of your stack. You can freely teach self-custody best practices without ever revealing you have life-changing wealth.
selfcustody does not mean one tries to do shady stuff or avoid taxes. It is about who holds and governs the value.
You don't have your Bitcoin in your home. It's the signing device or key that you control. This is not part of the Bitcoin network.
Your key is a signing device or software that you unlock to sign transactions and your public key is used to provide addresses in order to receive payments on the "block chain".
The public key also is not revealed by providing addresses.
Learning how Bitcoin works will build confidence in self custody. Also learning that software solutions are governed by standards and protocols gives you the confidence to not be dependent on specific solutions.
As a known Bitcoin person you carry hot wallets that have small amounts and not wallets or signing devices with all of your Bitcoin.
You also don't live in fear because already you are being robbed by the state, banks, credit unions, inflation, poison food, medical quackery and other pre-orange pill standards.
Get off of zero. Learn to use Bitcoin and this will build your confidence. Also carry knives and guns and be dangerous or expensive to attack.
But the keys are in my mind and someone who knows, can try to force me to reveal them with a gun to my head or to the head of my family.
I know this may sound a bit paranoid (i live in a rather safe country and right now I have a shitty stack) but being ratted to local tax authorities does not seem so paranoid to me, and in any case, my question is if anyone has any tips on how to balance out the urge to discover btc to friends and family (people I care about) and the necesary caution you must have when doing self-custody
They can try to do such things, but if they end your life, they gain nothing. A more realistic paranoia is something plenty of wealthy people deal with, ransom. Guns, and other self defense or security measures are important additions to any bitcoiner’s life.
Also, if you’re afraid of the tax man, it’s because you’re lying to the tax man. Pay your taxes and play by the rules.
Also, a “ransom” stack can be useful. A stack on a seed phrase you’re willing to hand over to save someone you love’s life, but is not your whole stack.
This is why I love Bitcoin on chain. Also why I volunteer to run a full node.
Most people are NPC's who can't think for themselves, they need the media/state to tell them how to live their life
You write this as if there were people that have full independence. When having full independence would mean living off grid and have no influence on noone. It is rather about finding which information is most reliable and depend on its findings. When you connect to the internet, you depend directly on many sources which are shown on your browser. So it is not a question if you need media to get informed correctly. It depends on what media one consumes.
Defnitly the information of a known journalist with a reputation wnd depending his income on journalism I trust much more then some hobbiest influencer, which tries to play privat Sherlock.
BIP39 and a good password makes it much easier to host securely I would say too.
Self-custody is a question of values. Self-custody doesn't make sense for someone who wants a few thousand sats for zaps.
It's the same use of physical money that has been lost in generations due to cards. You have your wallet in your pocket for small amounts, you have the bank for larger amounts. And you have safes both at the bank and at home. Each method has its purpose. There is no single correct way to store money.
Umm .. I would start self custody with small amounts .. just to get used to the concepts and tools ..
This post sums up very well why custody solutions will exist and are important and must be improved.
My man ! 😻
Been saying this for ever .. it doesn't really matter if you got #gold or #dollars or #bitcoin .. not everyone is capable of self custody just as not everyone is capable of a sword 🗡️ fight ..
Some people grow potatoes and talk about 🥔 salads .. on nostr ..
They can send Salad to the custodians for keeping their money .. but keep such circles small like #fedimint ..
Know your banker 😁 😜 .. and quit as soon soon as you hear " Fractional Reserve "
By all means - do it - if you can .. I am trying with #bitkey .. it is pretty darn good but I am not ready to put more than 100 bucks on it ..yet .. I will get there when I get trust in the machine and the code .. which normally ten to fifteen years after launch .. but that is me ..
An honest question...what are the tools then? Can you pls clarify?
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Trying my best to be my own bank
Yes - but only when they are ready for it
Banks can secure our money better because if they lose it they can just add zeros by the computer or restore the database. It's not like it's actual real digital money that you cannot restore. It had no private keys.
Bitcoin on the other hand is limited to a certain number so if you lose it. It's actually gone. No way to recover. Bitcoin requires real security.
Bitcoin custody companies will require the most intelligent people out there working for them or they will end up like my gox and other exchanges.
It's definitely not easy securing your own money. It requires knowledge. I consider myself more tech savvy then most people and I still struggle somedays. No way the average person is capable to securing their own money especially after decades of dumbing them down.
No confío en nadie mas que en mí mismo, y tampoco lo hago ciegamente.
No confíes, verifica
