Opinions: "Self Custody of Bitcoin with a hardware Wallet is Easy."
Me: YES
Background:
The hardest part for me was picking the 'right' wallet. In hindsight, however, it doesn't matter which wallet you choose, nor do you need to upgrade all the time. Once you get your Bitcoin on the Base Layer it doesn't matter. However, I have a super logical explanation on why I chose the one I did.
Which hardware wallet did I choose?
Blockstream Jade. First because of Price (it's essentially ok to throw it away at some point so why go fancy. A paper match works as well as a fancy lighter) and second because of Adam Back. I am not going to bother explaining why, Adam is technical like a Steve Jobs and not a marketer like Bill Gates. It matters to me.
Boating accidents. Old PCs,Thumb Drives. Fire. Flood.
Bitcoin has your back on the Base Layer/Base Chain.
Why?
Because all you need is the 12 word seed phrase otherwise known as 'YOUR KEYS" (or 24 words but to me I will take my chances with only 2 Earth's worth of energy to break it quantum computing or not.)
Real World TRICK:
The trick isn't setting one of these things up and see how it works, the real learning comes in from helping people. Specifically with RECOVERY. I have had to do wallet recovery several times already helping people. You get 3 strikes with a PIN on a Jade , my 75 year old buddy has finally stopped screwing up his PIN but I showed him how easy it is to 'RECOVER' a wallet. Yes, with a Matchbook sized hardware device reentering the 12 words on Jade is incredibly easy.
Everyone who has a hardware wallet should screw it up, THEIR OWN, even with a zillion dollars on it ON PURPOSE and then show someone the recovery process FIRST.
Blow their minds by using a different hardware wallet than when you started?
Look, I am 58 years old, helping people older than me, there is no excuse to not doing self custody. From PayPal to your Jade Wallet using Green, from Coinbase, from Coinbase Wallet.
You literally need to go on Blockstream Green app get your 'RECEIVE' address and then send YOUR bitcoin to YOURSELF. I texted myself my buddy's RECEIVE address and mine once and I have reused them like a cheap suit.
To send him Bitcoin to Cold Storage.
To send myself Bitcoin to Cold Storage.
In helping him get through his anxiety, we did several small transactions first, some took up to 2 hours and cost about .54 cents, even with the Ordinal/Mempool being full nonsense. Who cares?
But why don't I care?
Because the current freaking bar is it takes my stupid banks (Wells/US Bank) 2-3 business days to start the process to send money to me. Bitcoin is 24x7 there is no such thing as 'Bankers Hours' in Bitcoin thus why it is a 21st century solution to a problem most have just accepted as being okay. Banking is not okay, in the United States, in the world. NOT OK.
The FUD out there on self custody is so dumb, getting on the Bitcoin Baselayer is easy and soon will not be cheap AND I wrote up all of this to help my older friends who are getting into Bitcoin.
Transaction fees will go up.
Bitcoin Base Layer, by design, is going to be tougher and more expensive to use.
Big deal, I wrote up all my notes here and will write a lot more on this subject if there is interest. I am already telling my family/friends I will happily help them to Self Custody but I will, I will charge them at least $200 without guilt because they have been so unsupportive. I tell them this. Bitcoin is that cool.
Special thanks to Natalie Brunell for the motivation to type up this supporting document to Self Custody.
https://bitcoinapolis.blogspot.com/2023/09/bitcoin-like-time-scarcity-in-base.html