Dad: Son, the risk of a modern "Carrington Event" is higher over the next 1.5 years as the Sun's poles flip.
Protect your electronics like USB sticks, your computer, smartphone, ham radios, and I guess your Bitcoin hardware wallet.
Son: Hi Dad,
My recovery seed words are stored in a Cryptosteel Capsule. Yours should be too.
My Coldcard is protected in an Altoids tin.
Dad: Another way to protect your electronics is to use a Faraday bag or buy an old microwave and put everything in there.
Son: A microwave? Never thought about that one.
#Bitcoin
Son: Dad,
Passphrases are easy to use.
Dad: Son, that is why everybody should use it. Right?
Son: Passphrases are easy to lose.
Dad: Uhm, that is bad. What do you suggest?
Son: That's why everybody should use a Cryptosteel.
Dad: It is not easy to do everything right.
Son: Get a "Capsule Duo". Use one for the recovery seed words and one for the passphrase. Store both Capsules on different locations. That's it.
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, what are "HD Bitcoin Wallets"?
Son: Dad, by definition, wallets are private key and public key management systems. In the beginning, every key pair used had to be backed up individually. That's why many have reused addresses, which is bad for privacy, as you know.
BIP-32 made Bitcoin better and introduced "HD wallets", which stands for "Hierarchical Deterministic", and not for "High Definition". With this BIP, it's possible to generate multiple addresses (public/private key pairs) derived from a single source of random data (=entropy).
Dad: Why was this introduced in the first place?
Son: It makes backing up the random bits of data much easier and safer, especially if combined with BIP-39, which introduced the mnemonic seed words, which is just entropy in a human-readable form.
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, did you know Bitcoin is connected to the butterfly effect?
Son: Hi Dad,
What's that?
Dad: Small events can have big consequences.
Like a tweet or an article can change its price.
Are you still buying Bitcoin?
Son: Stacking slowly.
I don't want to cause a hurricane in Texas, Dad!
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, when will today's buyers sell?
Son: Hi Dad,
Most coins bought today will never be sold again.
Dad: Who buys these Bitcoins? Companies?
Son: Today's buyers are individuals and professionals with long-term vision and staying power.
These bitcoins disappear into deep cold storage.
Dad: Son, what are your plans?
Son: Always buy, never sell. It would be so simple, Dad.
#Bitcoin
Son: Hi Dad,
If you want to know the truth:
- Don't ask a banker about Bitcoin.
- Don't ask a taxi driver about Uber.
- Don't ask a hotel owner about Airbnb.
Dad: Son, you're right, I'll keep that in mind. ;)
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, I just found free Satoshis in my wallet!
Son: Hi Dad,
There are no free sats. This is called a "dust attack".
Dad: Is this dust dangerous? What should I do now?
Son: If you spend the dust-tainted coin you will break the privacy of your transactions and the attacker probably will de-anonymize your identity.
Dad: Oh, my goodness! Son, what should I do now??
Son: Use "coin-control" in your wallet to freeze the coin. Never spend the dust. Problem solved.
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, I have many small transactions in my wallet. How can I reorganize these for more efficiency?
Son: Hi Dad,
I agree that having an optimized UTXO set is a good idea, but you shouldn't link the transaction history by sending all your funds to a new address.
You could mix your coins using a mixing service, or just combine the UTXOs from the same source.
Dad: How should I know which UTXO can be mixed?
Son: Privacy starts with proper coin control.
From now on, label each UTXO with the payment reason and the sender's name. This helps for further processing.
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, tell me something interesting about BIP39.
Son: Hi Dad,
With pleasure. So, did you know that BIP39 is still a proposal, yet everyone is using it?
Dad: So its status is de facto "Final"?
Son: Yeah, you could say so.
#Bitcoin
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, what do you actually do all day besides your family, your work and Bitcoin?
Son: Hi Dad,
I'm a sats collector, a volunteer UTXO curator and a lifelong learner.
Oh, and did I mention I'm on Twitter a lot? ;)
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, you cannot buy happiness.
Son: Hi Dad,
Who said you can't buy happiness?
You can buy bitcoin.
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, governments are now developing alternatives to Bitcoin to regain control of their currencies.
China: E-Yuan
Europe: Virtual Euro
America: E-Dollar
Switzerland: E-franc
Son: Hi Dad,
I never opt for those, and I won't use those, I suppose.
Bitcoin is the money I chose.
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, what do you mean by "stacking sats" exactly?
Son: Hi Dad,
To me, "stacking sats" is the act of converting an inferior asset into a superior one, namely bitcoin.
Because stacking sats is done often and mostly on a regular basis, this result is a fraction of a bitcoin, measured in "sats".
One bitcoin can be divided into 100,000,000 Satoshis, or "sats" for short.
Dad: Son, let us stack some sats together!
#Bitcoin
Son: Dad, Bitcoin is hope.
Dad: Seems so, son.
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, what about trading bots?
Son: Hi Dad,
The bitcoin markets are unpredictable.
Few are able to consistently turn a profit, particularly during a bear market, much less code a program to do so.
Dad: So, that is a taboo?
Son: Anything or anyone claiming guaranteed profits or insider knowledge should be treated as scam or scammer, uhm, with caution.
#Bitcoin
Son: Dad, Bitcoin is the best money humans ever had.
Bitcoin is secure, decentralized, permissionless, borderless, and settles within an hour, regardless of the value sent.
Dad: Son, these are all indeed fascinating properties, and "One world, one money!"
Son: Exactly, Dad.
Bitcoin is the future.
Embrace it, one block at a time!
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, this Bitcoin thing is just a passing fad. Back in my day, we trusted banks and cash! Cash was king.
Son: Hi Boomer Dad,
Times are changing. Bitcoin offers decentralized, permissionless and secure transactions that are final. It's the future!
Dad: I don't understand it, and I don't trust it.
Son: Don't be afraid, Dad.
You might be surprised by the benefits it brings.
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, why do you not use numbers based the word’s indexed number in the BIP39 list instead of the first 4 letters of the recovery word?
Son: Hi Dad,
That's a good question. Let's quote the BIP39 creators to answer it.
"A mnemonic code or sentence is superior for human interaction compared to the handling of raw binary or hexadecimal representations of a wallet seed. The sentence could be written on paper or spoken over the telephone"
I think it is wrong to use numbers when the creators intentionally designed the standard so that we use words.
Dad: Ok, makes sense. Thanks.
#Bitcoin
Dad: Son, I just got my Coldcard hardware wallet today.
The bag is really special. Pretty sure it has more security feature than a banknote.
Son: Hi Dad,
Not sure about that one. ;-)
But yes, the device seems well protected. However, I recommend you download the latest firmware from Coinkite, check it and install it on your Coldcard manually. And also inspect the device visually, and verify the bag number.
Dad: Son, why all the effort, it is "just a calculator".
Son: Haha. Anyway, I will send you a tutorial later.
#Bitcoin