Multisig backups are a mess. The BSMS standard exists, but in my experience, the BSMS files are not compatible 100% from wallet to wallet. I’ve tried and some wallets fail to load BSMS files created by others. Period. This leaves me feeling like I would need to rely on one wallet vendor for recovery instead of the basic and universal, uncomplicated seed phrase. So for long term storage, it’s frightening to feel like you might have problems later if your chosen wallet vendor vanishes. You need to be concerned with derivation paths, key fingerprints and all that mess. My question is: has anyone simplified multisig (self-custody) backups to the fool-proof level of seed phrase simplicity? #asknostr #multisig
Discussion
Forgot to link to the standard https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0129.mediawiki
We were discussing this yesterday. I only understand a fraction of what you've written there, and for that reason, I think I'll just be sticking with single sig and a pass phrase, for now.
I tested it to its limits, but I couldn’t find an easy backup method that wasn’t a half page of text, couldn’t find one that I was certain I wouldn’t fail to recover in 10 or 20 years. We forget stuff over time and so the password to your fortune has to be both really complex and super simple to backup. I see no competitor to the seed phrase for this. It’s so perfect, and any complexity added beyond a 25th word is asking for trouble. The superiority and dominance of the basic seed phrase reminds me of what someone recently said about Spotify: “its only real competition is silence”
I was also speculating about this just yesterday. I think a possible solution is applying Shamir's Secret Sharing to the passphrase. This way you have a n-of-m access to the wallet without the derivation paths overload. I need to do some experiments.
Yes
I see recommendations to store each key separately using seed QR steel plates and save an ENCRYPTED copy of the public key backup on computer, personal server, google drive or whatever.
oh, I see, so save the xpub part in room-temp storage encrypted online while saving the seeds in cold storage on stainless steel. Good solution, I hadn’t really thought of it that way. Still complex, but less risky. Thanks!
You can just save it online encrypted with a few locations, or you can print copies out on paper and keep one with each backup of your keys.
There’s also other solutions where you pay someone to hold that info and give them 1 of the keys, like Casa.
If you treat a trusted family member or wife or something, give them 1 part and the public key backup. Or maybe a lawyer who’s handling your inheritance?
I forgot to mention nostr:npub1z072s0nvldeva7a6qek3kj358f0h5gm640kkllkk52h0qrjtnw8q38wfm4 and specifically the new version available for preorder. Could simplify a lot of things for people.
ok now we’re talking. These kind of discoveries are why I came to #nostr
Casa and Unchained are getting close
I think this will be a game changer
that looks interesting, and to be fair I only skimmed it but this jumped out at me “Crucially, with FROST you don't have to worry about storing additional metadata about your wallet. You only need a threshold number of devices (or their backups), nothing more.” So, I think this is why the seed phrase is superior because it doesn’t tie one to a vendor or their devices, unless I’m reading it wrong
nostr:nprofile1qqsfrkatna3xvr54ykzgp5hjelmdeld4z0eg4p06f764a6vn5k6xszgpr4mhxue69uhkummnw3ez6ur4vgh8wetvd3hhyer9wghxuet5qyw8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnzd96xxmmfdejhytnnda3kjctvqydhwumn8ghj7mn0wd68yttsw43zuum9d45hxmmv9ejx2askw6tvd is part of the team behind it, he will give a better answer than I could.
I didn’t fully understand all of it. But it seems very interesting
absolutely.