WARNING: There are a number of scammers who are using my image and channel name to try to connect with my viewers on WhatsApp and other platforms to scam them. Just so you know, I will never refer you to "my personal trader" or try to connect with you personally to sell you something. I am trying to ban these scammers as quickly as they pop up. You can always recognize a scammer by clicking on the image and seeing how many videos he has. All of these guys have zero videos, while I have hundreds. I also now have a checkmark next to my name, so that you can distinguish the real Bitcoin University from the imposters. Follow me on Twitter @mattkratter
Hi Matt. I'm from Czechia where Trezor wallets are being made. I'd also love if Trezor were a Bitcoin-only company. In reality, they are strongly pro-Bitcoin and against altcoins. Stick and Slush, the guys who created the first hardware wallet ever, are interested only in bitcoin. But the company mentioned the following fact somewhere: less than 10 percent (I believe it was 8 percent actually) of Trezors stores only bitcoin. The vast majority of Trezor users is at least to some extent focused on altcoins and/or stablecoins too. In this sense Ledger is their main competitor and stopping the support of those scammy altcoin projects would unfortunately hit their business terribly. Well, it's sad but at least here in Czechia the altcoin community is pretty weak. Altcoin "bros" and "influencers" are getting a beating from bitcoin maxis:-)
I know they are strong Bitcoiners, but they've made a very bad moral compromise here. You can't say that you are against heroin, and then build a business that sells heroin. Actions speak louder than words or beliefs. By offering altcoin support, they are participating in getting their own customers rekt. It's a bad long-term plan
@@Bitcoin_University Yes, nothing to disagree about from my side. I was just trying to provide some background but it seems you're well aware of everything. Anyway, I am happy that you replied. Thanks for what you're doing for bitcoin!
As far as storing your seed phase I have found what I think is the best and cheapest method….i wish I could claim it as my own idea. All you need to do is purchase 1 metal stamp alphabet pack w/numbers, 14 stainless steel washers, 1 stainless steel bolt and 2 stainless steel nuts. On twelve of those washers you stamp the number order of the word (#1, #2, #3 and so on) and then on #1 stamp your first seed word, then on #2 stamp your next and so on. Then when you are done put one of the extra blank washers on the bolt, then put the 12 washers with your seed phrase on the bolt and then put the remaining blank washer on last. This will sandwich your seed phrase between two blank washers. Then take the 2 nuts and tighten them down on the bolt. The second nut is a backup nut to keep the first one from loosening up and falling off. You can also use a lock nut for the second one to make sure it will not come off. You can make as many of these as you want and store them in different places. One good thing about this method is no one would ever break into your house and steal a bolt with some washers on it.
The thicker stainless steel business cards and a pneumatic scribe work great for backups. I lined them out and wrote in sharpie then used the scribe to imprint. Way deeper and easier to control than an engraver. I don't trust any services or even a laser engraver that I'd have to create a file digitally, do it analog/mechanically
Great end of video advice - “do not be frustrated” - this is a nascent technology that keeps evolving. If you follow this channel and its teachings you will be fine. My phrase to BTC University for the valuable insight to help us navigate and learn while keeping all the noise and dirt away.
Personally-though no less favourably-I imagine they'll ultimately come to attain the stature of a 'living' time-capsule; like tutorials on TCP/IP, or punch-card programming, produced during the years when the internet and computing, much like bitcoin, had 'no future'. Nevertheless; while the particulars might become obsolete, I suspect that the principles they represent will prove to be evergreen.
Trezor is not going to stop offering universal storage options. And one of the reasons I switched to Coldcard using Sparrow. I’ve just finished building a SeedSigner but haven’t had a chance to sit down long enough to learn to use it competently. Security behavior is an on-going educational process. Self sovereignty and anonymity require overcoming laziness! Just sayin..
Very interesting take on the risks of memorizing your seed phrase. I haven't thought of that or learned that from anywhere else. Many thanks as always.
Self custody is still the most difficult issue related to Bitcoin/crypto. The more I think about it, the more I realize somewhere, somehow you need to trust something or someone, in different ways and in different places of the chain. My Bitcoin is pretty safe, but I did make mistakes on the way and I am not fully sure if it will be recovered if I die e.g.
Some sound advice. The tough part about Bitcoin is that to really understand it you need to learn some computer science concepts, a basic computing course is needed first. Just basic ideas like the computer's memory and disk space and code instructions and bits and bytes and network communications, internetworking, TCP/IP, computer languages, databases and so on. Without getting a handle on these core ideas its really difficult to understand Bitcoin I think. The concepts are just aIien to most people.
Luckily most people don't need to understand it to much of a technical level. The bulk of understanding they need is around economic issues like money supply and inflation.
In the video about fees, you might want to mention some "btc UTXO hygiene practice", i.e. consolidating small UTXOs into larger ones during times of low transaction fees.
Hey Matt - huge fan of your contributions to the ecosystem. I'm supporting a restaurant who is now accepting Bitcoin and we are challenged by the staff's reluctance to be orange pilled. Breaking their fiat brainwashing of money and value is more than I anticipated. Appreciate any advice you have on how to approach this effort. Thank you
I think the main problem most regular people have is simply: They don't understand Bitcoin. They view it as any other Crypto currency. I think the best way to explain it simply to them is that Bitcoin is not like the other crypto scams: - Its not run/manipulated/controlled by any individual/corporation/bank/government as our fiat/other crypto. - It is a store of value system whose value is completely controlled by the people (as opposed to fiat/crypto). By first making those assertions, what some times works is to follow up with something that hits close to home: the reason for the current cost of living crisis (housing/products/services) which is something everybody is experiencing on a personal level. Its not that things are getting more expensive, its that our fiat currency is losing value due to excessive government spending/money printing, which has no effect on Bitcoin. That seems to hit home a lot because they are all aware of it and feeling that pain. Adding on to this, you can simply share the value trajectory of Bitcoin (which has grown exponentially since 2010) vs that of fiat, which has done nothing but lose multiple times its value. One is going up. The other is going down. I am by no means a Matt, but thought I'd share what has (somewhat) worked for me. The main problem is that people simply cannot think outside the concept of fiat currency, as its all they have ever known.
Hi Matthew, I have a question. I watched a Q&A video Plan B recently posted and he raises concerns regarding the ordinals. Now don't quote me on this, but my understanding is that he believes ordinals are the latest attack on the bitcoin protocol and if bitcoin fails to repel it then it's proof that the protocol can be tampered. Any thoughts on this? Thank you 😅
Great point to use different software combined with a hardware wallet. I switched from Ledger to Blockstream Jade and have been using Green wallet with it. Switching to Sparrow after this. Thanks!!
I feel as though you touched on a major problem with Bitcoin in this video Matt perhaps incidentally. What you suggested was for people to wait for fees to die down to be able to send their Bitcoin to another wallet. As the mempool fills up with more and more adoption, is it not entirely possible that many people who own small amounts of BTC get economically priced out of being able to use their funds? Because let’s say we’re at the point where sats are equivalent to the US Dollar, there are some people with only $20 in their checking account. Fees were $30 just the other day. I know people will say to use lightning but LN is not perfect and to my understanding is not ready for large scale use yet. So what is the solution?
I entirely agree - and the for the first time in a long time of being in Bitcoin i've started having doubts about it's future as things continue playing out with ordinals, UTXO issues and what the network fees would look like if all nation state levels were involved in holding Bitcoin as a treasury asset. It looks like it entirely prices out individuals - which doesn't lead to any good outcomes for the average person or it's adoption. L2 may work for rudimentary transactions but the original idea of Bitcoin was supposed to be peer to peer and any individual could opt in or opt out. Satoshi was a very smart individual - but I don't think even he could forsee every possible outcome of Bitcoin - and certainly not how the core security protocols and design of Bitcoin offset with it's popularity could end up being the very reason it becomes a walled off garden only the rich and powerful get to play with. It's still the best hope we have though - so there's not really any other choice for now.
@@MrRem7600 Just spitballing but maybe that is where further non-bitcoin adoption comes in. No coiners or very little BTC holders would be priced/walled out of entering the reserve asset of crypto, but they could self custody the next safest coins (Eth, etc.) and maybe eventuality build a portfolio big enough to use BTC. Regardless, we definity need another BTC solution, a new tech
Thank you very much to share, I am learning a lot with your videos. Can bitcoin be transferred from Kraken directly to Blockstream jade or it needs to be transferred to sparrow then to Jade?
Hi Matthew, what do you think of the Jade 2fa multisig? Is it safe and is it a good option for someone who otherwise would just use singlesig with a passphrase? Thanks for all the amazing work you do!
Sometimes the fee gets higher if you increase how much bitcoin you want to send. This happens because your bitcoin is stored in multiple addresses and if you exceed the amount in a single address it requires more data and thus higher fees to send it.
This video just scared the heck out of me. I tend to be a big picture kind of guy and the Bitcoin end game is frightening. I don't want to die being tortured for my seed phrase. I want to use it to retire and take care of my family. The lines are becoming more clear even though we are "early in the game." The corporate controlled government and/or AI will come for it regardless. I just hope I can time things right.
To that last poster quoted - The tech world will abandon things and move onto newer, improved versions (eg SHA1 to SHA256) based on an attack that has a immeasurably low likelihood of being exploited in the real world, because it’s still extremely difficult/expensive/theoretical to do so. There’s a reason most hacks are social etc in nature, as that’s fruit that hangs way lower. So even if the Ledger is subpar, you’re probably still fine, just move when you can.
Great info! I was an idiot, I took a picture of my seed phrase. The picture went to the cloud and I lost my btc. Don't do what I did. I would like to add that self custody as it is now really needs to grow up for most of us to feel safe and comfortable about it. I imagine as more people come up with custody solutions this process will become more convenient and safe. As it is, after losing my btc, I am very paranoid about interacting with any wallet and really don't trust the self custody process much at all. Having to diversify with different wallets and even centralized exchanges sucks.
Wow, that actually happens! I'm all in for Bitcoin but I'm also a little older, and this is something I might do not realizing this could happen! That's my biggest fear regarding self custody. And then you have no one to blame but yourself. I'm so scared to lose my hard earned money. As embarracing and frustrating as it might have been, thank you for posting this.
Another great video Matthew, thanks once again. I have a question regarding moving my bitcoin from ledger to Jade and in your video you demonstrate how to do this very well but in a way that may cost higher tx fees right now. Is another option to recover the bitcoin from the ledger using the seed to the new jade? Would this be any different in terms of tx fees?
I think once BTC spots become available and it becomes more mainstream there will be banks that will compete to custody people’s BTC. The people that are too lazy or don’t have the technical capacity to self custody will gladly agree to have a bank hold it for them. It will be good for the price due to more access, but bad for the person.
Banks, at least here in the UK, are very much anti crypto. There is a very strong possibility that any customer sending or receiving funds from a crypto exchange will have his account closed!
i'm nearly convinced that BTc is our only hope of getting out of this mess, and i completely understand didactica's frustration, there's a big learning curve, but freedom for yourself, your family, for the entire society, it's worth the effort.
Please can you do a guide on how you fully use cold storage wallets and how they fully work like how does the creating many wallets within a wallet work can you have seed phrase for each one, if one gets scammed say by getting scammed say from an airdrop or a fake website that looks like a genuine one does that then compromise the others? Can you have the same bitcoin stored on two diffrent wallets and if not is that to do with hiw wallet addresses public and private keys are generated? Is it safe to trade and swap coins and can using the app or site some how be compromised i dont see any channle explaining all these little things that i need to know to fully understand how they work and limitations. Ive got a bit of crypto on exchanges and waiting for my crypto wallets to arrive but im anxious of doing it wrong i dont want to F it up. Can you point me into the right direction, please.
Every time I've set up a hardware device I've been supplied a 24 word phrase. This video references a 12 word backup seed phrase. Does the Blockstream Jade only use 12 words? Is 24 word seed phrase more secure? Thanks!
How safe is it to transfer crypto from an exchange to a cold hardware wallet? Is it possible to be hacked? I think I should have multiple cold hardware wallets to not have it all on one. Not sure if there is any other ways to be secure. Can I transfer offline from one hardware wallet to another? Thanks
You might elaborate on the fact that network fees are so high, Matt, and explain why. I sense it may indicate increased interest in people buying bitcoin.
Hey mat what do you think of Tangem wallet now that they offer seed phrase option ( 25th passphrase will be available soon too) curious to know your opinion. thank you
The Trezor Bitcoin-only wallet was a Limited Edition of 2013 units. All sold out within a few days. Hey Trezor, if you are listening release a non-limited version. We are trying to tell you something. I want one myself!
When you initially set up your Trezor, you can choose the Bitcoin Only option. I set mine up earlier this year with no shipcoins enabled, and it works wonderfully.
Thanks matt. I'm looking forward to you covering Mempool in detail so that we all have a better understanding of how transactions work. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Would there be a way to make a video with the blockstream satellite? Like how to pair it to your node, sign transactions, and even go as far as pairing it with impervious browser to become as self sovereign as possible?
Transfered from ledger to coldcard last night. Still "unconfirmed". I used medium to low priority. How long can it take ? I also have "unconfirmed parent"...lol...quite a learning curve here.
why not just use multiple bitlocker usb's with privkeys and or wallet.dat on them ? Then for rare tx's use a simple single purpose (btc) clean laptop. Airgapping of Jade is cool of course but its a trade off, usb's have no fishy firmware and generally stable storage. the less functions, the less can break or go wrong
@@Bitcoin_University so, u see no issue in cold storing like I described above? i wanna have some btc in case of emergency or store it till deep retirement
@@colddeath9797 A possible problem with your solution is how to get the private keys encrypted and loaded onto the Zip drive or other device without them touching the internet or an operating system that may contain malware. Much better just to use a hardware wallet to generate and store the private keys
Can you make an in depth video about the ETF situation? I’ve heard so many conflicting things from people saying they’ve already bought the BTC and or are doing it OTC so price won’t be affected to others saying we’ll see 1m soon. I accumulate and hold long term and don’t sell at the end of the cycles anyway but I’m just curious what the truth is to how the ETF situation really drives demand or price.
You say don’t stress out but these videos do stress me out. I feel the same as the guy you quoted and that I could lose my BTC at any moment because I have a ledger.
Important question. Blockstream Jade asks if you want to store seed as QR which looks secure. But then when using it for transaction you have to use your phone camera to scan the QR which is basically your seed. You say in your video never to have your phone camera looking at your seed, so would you say this is a unsecure practice. Or am I missing something???
I don't think I've seen this addressed anywhere, but I'm always so confused when I see the recommendation to store the seed phrase in a titanium plate or something. If someone else just sees it, you can lose all your coins. It's like having an unlocked gold vault with a ranged teleporter button on it. Isn't that even more risky than any of the alternatives? Not sure if I'm missing something here.
Running Bitcoin Core to help support the network is great. But I would never use the Bitcoin Core wallet for any real amount of money, since it's a hot wallet and thus vulnerable.
Not directly related to your question, but thought I would mention that Bitcoin Core also has the ability to add watch-only addresses. These can be used to display the balance of your cold wallet on the dashboard. It uses only your public key, so your private key remains secure on your hardware wallet. One place this can be useful is in a "canary in the coal mine" strategy. You put some decoy amount of bitcoin onto a wallet with the standard 12 or 24 word seed phrase, and your real stack onto a "hidden" wallet with an additional secret word. Add the public key for the first one to Bitcoin Core as a watch-only address, so that you can conveniently and continuously monitor it. If the bitcoin on there ever moves, then you know your seed phrase has been compromised, and you will hopefully have enough time to generate a new seed phrase and move your real stack to safety.
It's not at this moment , but it's more the fact these exploits have gotten through in the first place so who knows what other attacks may get through in the future. Shows an overall lack of security from the company.
They had a former employee make changes. This is a major red flag with how the company operates and handles customer data. While in your situation you are safe there could be further exploits that we don't know about as their code isn't open source. They have pledged to make it open source however, so that could change in the future.
If on a trezor wallet in a hidden address, could someone steal btc if they get a hold of recovery seed, or would they also need the hidden address secret word? Thanks.
They would also need the secret word. In fact, a good strategy is to put some amount of bitcoin (as large an amount as you can comfortably lose) onto the wallet without the secret word, and your real stash on a wallet with the additional secret word. If you set your node up to monitor both addresses, then the first one will act as a canary in the coal mine. If you see that amount move, then you know your seed phrase has been compromised. You may have time enough to generate a new seed phrase and move your real stash to safety.
What do you recommend for hardware wallets for IOS users/people without a desktop computer? I’ve been using Keystone which is airgapped but still I worry about the attack surface. They have a bitcoin only firmware upgrade, but without a PC i cant use it. Any suggestions for the mobile only folks?
Mobile is extremely vulnerable. If you can afford to invest any significant amount in bitcoin,, fork out the money for a cheap PC. Best if you use it for bitcoin and nothing else.You can get them for not a whole lot of money these days. Even if it takes you a while to save up, that's better than losing your bitcoin.
Unrelated to this video, but Guy Swann had an excellent take on ordinals. It seems so unnecessary. I feel like it was a huge mistake. What can be done about it at this point?
Hi Matthew. Would you consider making a video about UTXOs and the benefit of consolidating small UTXOs. I’ve been in Bitcoin for 2 years and am just learning about UTXOs. I feel that it’s a topic that is not as well known as it should be. Learning how a high fee environment could make small UTXOs unspendable is concerning and I think more people should know how to navigate this issue. There are some videos on TY on the topic but I’d love to hear your take on the matter.
@@Bitcoin_University I'm all for a video on that too. I'm letting my small weekly DCA's accumulate into a larger figure --- but not so large it would hurt much to lose it -- before transferring that single sum into my cold wallet.
Thanks again, Matthew! Getting my first real taste of UTXO management right now… I know I should have done it previously, but had waited until I compiled 15 UTXOs to do so, just so happened to coincide with the fee spike haha
If I created my seed words in a Blockstream Jade, but then used that seed to restore my wallet using the ledger nano x, should I create a new seed phrase when going back to Jade to be safe, or am I secure since I created it through the Jade?
What if someone (in order to steal bitcoin) just randomly input 12/24 words from that 2048 wordlist? And he could repeat it multiple times? Isnt there any possibility that he could finally meet any wallet that contain btc?
Hi Matt. What if you use a pass phrase and keep using block stream green or trezor suite, would they still be able to target you? (I mean Blockstream or trezor)
Thanks for emphasizing this. It seems some people don’t understand even though it’s highlighted. Thankfully, I learned my lesson when I lost some ADA before I was a bitcoin maximalist. Lesson learned.
Great content as always Matt. Thank you! Would be really interested in knowing more about mining fees, when is best time to transfer, and what you think will be the future of fees. Could future fees become so high that only institutional investors can afford them? Smaller UTXOs are getting wiped out recently.
What about entering your passphrase? Some software apps ask for your passphrase to be entered if you have one. Would you say it's safe to enter your passphrase into a PC or phone?
No, not for your deep cold storage retirement savings. For that, I would only enter the passphrase into the hardware device itself. If you have a hot wallet on PC or phone with just a little money in it, then it's fine. Hot wallets can be hacked, so use only for small amounts
The passphrase on a hot (online) wallet stops someone who manages to hack your wallet from using it. Yes, you want to set one on a phone or PC it encrypts your private key.
A hardware wallet is a secure way to store your private keys offline, but still be able to use them to sign Bitcoin transactions without your keys touching the internet. You need to sign a transaction in order to send/spend Bitcoin
WARNING: There are a number of scammers who are using my image and
channel name to try to connect with my viewers on WhatsApp and other
platforms to scam them. Just so you know, I will never refer you to
"my personal trader" or try to connect with you personally to sell you
something. I am trying to ban these scammers as quickly as they pop up. You can
always recognize a scammer by clicking on the image and seeing how
many videos he has. All of these guys have zero videos, while I have
hundreds. I also now have a checkmark next to my name, so that you can distinguish the real Bitcoin University from the imposters. Follow me on Twitter @mattkratter
Michael saylor asking you to send his bitcoin 😂😂 lmao
Hi Matt. I'm from Czechia where Trezor wallets are being made. I'd also love if Trezor were a Bitcoin-only company. In reality, they are strongly pro-Bitcoin and against altcoins. Stick and Slush, the guys who created the first hardware wallet ever, are interested only in bitcoin. But the company mentioned the following fact somewhere: less than 10 percent (I believe it was 8 percent actually) of Trezors stores only bitcoin. The vast majority of Trezor users is at least to some extent focused on altcoins and/or stablecoins too. In this sense Ledger is their main competitor and stopping the support of those scammy altcoin projects would unfortunately hit their business terribly. Well, it's sad but at least here in Czechia the altcoin community is pretty weak. Altcoin "bros" and "influencers" are getting a beating from bitcoin maxis:-)
I know they are strong Bitcoiners, but they've made a very bad moral compromise here. You can't say that you are against heroin, and then build a business that sells heroin. Actions speak louder than words or beliefs. By offering altcoin support, they are participating in getting their own customers rekt. It's a bad long-term plan
@@Bitcoin_University Yes, nothing to disagree about from my side. I was just trying to provide some background but it seems you're well aware of everything. Anyway, I am happy that you replied. Thanks for what you're doing for bitcoin!
As far as storing your seed phase I have found what I think is the best and cheapest method….i wish I could claim it as my own idea.
All you need to do is purchase 1 metal stamp alphabet pack w/numbers, 14 stainless steel washers, 1 stainless steel bolt and 2 stainless steel nuts.
On twelve of those washers you stamp the number order of the word (#1, #2, #3 and so on) and then on #1 stamp your first seed word, then on #2 stamp your next and so on.
Then when you are done put one of the extra blank washers on the bolt, then put the 12 washers with your seed phrase on the bolt and then put the remaining blank washer on last.
This will sandwich your seed phrase between two blank washers.
Then take the 2 nuts and tighten them down on the bolt.
The second nut is a backup nut to keep the first one from loosening up and falling off.
You can also use a lock nut for the second one to make sure it will not come off.
You can make as many of these as you want and store them in different places.
One good thing about this method is no one would ever break into your house and steal a bolt with some washers on it.
This is a brilliant idea. Thanks for sharing!
@@paullamb1100 there is a video I watched that showed the process….i would credit the guy if I could find it
The thicker stainless steel business cards and a pneumatic scribe work great for backups. I lined them out and wrote in sharpie then used the scribe to imprint. Way deeper and easier to control than an engraver. I don't trust any services or even a laser engraver that I'd have to create a file digitally, do it analog/mechanically
Great end of video advice - “do not be frustrated” - this is a nascent technology that keeps evolving. If you follow this channel and its teachings you will be fine. My phrase to BTC University for the valuable insight to help us navigate and learn while keeping all the noise and dirt away.
Trezor has a Bitcoin only firmware too.
The problem is that when you buy a Trezor, you are helping to support the altcoin ecosystem and prop it up. Trezor should drop all support for alts
@@Bitcoin_University couldn't agree more but I'd say it's one of the best devices (Model One) and software I've ever tried.
But if you using Bitcoin only is it safe enough?@@Bitcoin_University
Thank you for your contribution to Bitcoin knowledge. Months and years from now, these videos will educate the next adopters.
Thank you
Personally-though no less favourably-I imagine they'll ultimately come to attain the stature of a 'living' time-capsule; like tutorials on TCP/IP, or punch-card programming, produced during the years when the internet and computing, much like bitcoin, had 'no future'.
Nevertheless; while the particulars might become obsolete, I suspect that the principles they represent will prove to be evergreen.
Trezor is not going to stop offering universal storage options. And one of the reasons I switched to Coldcard using Sparrow. I’ve just finished building a SeedSigner but haven’t had a chance to sit down long enough to learn to use it competently.
Security behavior is an on-going educational process. Self sovereignty and anonymity require overcoming laziness!
Just sayin..
Very interesting take on the risks of memorizing your seed phrase. I haven't thought of that or learned that from anywhere else. Many thanks as always.
Self custody is still the most difficult issue related to Bitcoin/crypto. The more I think about it, the more I realize somewhere, somehow you need to trust something or someone, in different ways and in different places of the chain. My Bitcoin is pretty safe, but I did make mistakes on the way and I am not fully sure if it will be recovered if I die e.g.
yeah i think about this as well
Some sound advice. The tough part about Bitcoin is that to really understand it you need to learn some computer science concepts, a basic computing course is needed first. Just basic ideas like the computer's memory and disk space and code instructions and bits and bytes and network communications, internetworking, TCP/IP, computer languages, databases and so on. Without getting a handle on these core ideas its really difficult to understand Bitcoin I think. The concepts are just aIien to most people.
Luckily most people don't need to understand it to much of a technical level. The bulk of understanding they need is around economic issues like money supply and inflation.
Matt, when you use an air-gapped Coldcard, is the json wallet you export equivalent to a watch-only wallet containing only the public key?
In the video about fees, you might want to mention some "btc UTXO hygiene practice", i.e. consolidating small UTXOs into larger ones during times of low transaction fees.
I second this. Video on this please! Is it as simple as sending yourself in one large tranche?
I don’t know what this means but I’m curious now. Haha
UTXOs are so confusing to me, which means bitcoin is still confusing to me
@@w1ldthin9 UTXOs are actually quite intuitive, think of them as chunks of btc that get destroyed and reformed every time you spend them.
Hey Matt - huge fan of your contributions to the ecosystem. I'm supporting a restaurant who is now accepting Bitcoin and we are challenged by the staff's reluctance to be orange pilled. Breaking their fiat brainwashing of money and value is more than I anticipated. Appreciate any advice you have on how to approach this effort. Thank you
I think the main problem most regular people have is simply: They don't understand Bitcoin. They view it as any other Crypto currency. I think the best way to explain it simply to them is that Bitcoin is not like the other crypto scams:
- Its not run/manipulated/controlled by any individual/corporation/bank/government as our fiat/other crypto.
- It is a store of value system whose value is completely controlled by the people (as opposed to fiat/crypto).
By first making those assertions, what some times works is to follow up with something that hits close to home: the reason for the current cost of living crisis (housing/products/services) which is something everybody is experiencing on a personal level. Its not that things are getting more expensive, its that our fiat currency is losing value due to excessive government spending/money printing, which has no effect on Bitcoin. That seems to hit home a lot because they are all aware of it and feeling that pain. Adding on to this, you can simply share the value trajectory of Bitcoin (which has grown exponentially since 2010) vs that of fiat, which has done nothing but lose multiple times its value. One is going up. The other is going down.
I am by no means a Matt, but thought I'd share what has (somewhat) worked for me. The main problem is that people simply cannot think outside the concept of fiat currency, as its all they have ever known.
Hi Matthew, I have a question. I watched a Q&A video Plan B recently posted and he raises concerns regarding the ordinals. Now don't quote me on this, but my understanding is that he believes ordinals are the latest attack on the bitcoin protocol and if bitcoin fails to repel it then it's proof that the protocol can be tampered. Any thoughts on this? Thank you 😅
Great point to use different software combined with a hardware wallet. I switched from Ledger to Blockstream Jade and have been using Green wallet with it. Switching to Sparrow after this. Thanks!!
You should also recommend a passphrase. Even if you get my seed word. You still need that last one word that I made up. Extra security
Hey Matt. In the Sparrow Wallet is there a Public Server you "trust" more than others? Thanks for all you do!
What do you think of the Ballet cold card wallet??
I feel as though you touched on a major problem with Bitcoin in this video Matt perhaps incidentally. What you suggested was for people to wait for fees to die down to be able to send their Bitcoin to another wallet. As the mempool fills up with more and more adoption, is it not entirely possible that many people who own small amounts of BTC get economically priced out of being able to use their funds? Because let’s say we’re at the point where sats are equivalent to the US Dollar, there are some people with only $20 in their checking account. Fees were $30 just the other day. I know people will say to use lightning but LN is not perfect and to my understanding is not ready for large scale use yet. So what is the solution?
I entirely agree - and the for the first time in a long time of being in Bitcoin i've started having doubts about it's future as things continue playing out with ordinals, UTXO issues and what the network fees would look like if all nation state levels were involved in holding Bitcoin as a treasury asset. It looks like it entirely prices out individuals - which doesn't lead to any good outcomes for the average person or it's adoption. L2 may work for rudimentary transactions but the original idea of Bitcoin was supposed to be peer to peer and any individual could opt in or opt out. Satoshi was a very smart individual - but I don't think even he could forsee every possible outcome of Bitcoin - and certainly not how the core security protocols and design of Bitcoin offset with it's popularity could end up being the very reason it becomes a walled off garden only the rich and powerful get to play with. It's still the best hope we have though - so there's not really any other choice for now.
@@MrRem7600 Just spitballing but maybe that is where further non-bitcoin adoption comes in. No coiners or very little BTC holders would be priced/walled out of entering the reserve asset of crypto, but they could self custody the next safest coins (Eth, etc.) and maybe eventuality build a portfolio big enough to use BTC. Regardless, we definity need another BTC solution, a new tech
Thank you very much to share, I am learning a lot with your videos. Can bitcoin be transferred from Kraken directly to Blockstream jade or it needs to be transferred to sparrow then to Jade?
Hi Matthew, what do you think of the Jade 2fa multisig? Is it safe and is it a good option for someone who otherwise would just use singlesig with a passphrase? Thanks for all the amazing work you do!
I borrowed agiast my bitcoin, what lending platforms would you recommend?
Sometimes the fee gets higher if you increase how much bitcoin you want to send. This happens because your bitcoin is stored in multiple addresses and if you exceed the amount in a single address it requires more data and thus higher fees to send it.
This video just scared the heck out of me. I tend to be a big picture kind of guy and the Bitcoin end game is frightening. I don't want to die being tortured for my seed phrase. I want to use it to retire and take care of my family. The lines are becoming more clear even though we are "early in the game." The corporate controlled government and/or AI will come for it regardless. I just hope I can time things right.
To that last poster quoted - The tech world will abandon things and move onto newer, improved versions (eg SHA1 to SHA256) based on an attack that has a immeasurably low likelihood of being exploited in the real world, because it’s still extremely difficult/expensive/theoretical to do so. There’s a reason most hacks are social etc in nature, as that’s fruit that hangs way lower.
So even if the Ledger is subpar, you’re probably still fine, just move when you can.
Great info! I was an idiot, I took a picture of my seed phrase. The picture went to the cloud and I lost my btc. Don't do what I did. I would like to add that self custody as it is now really needs to grow up for most of us to feel safe and comfortable about it. I imagine as more people come up with custody solutions this process will become more convenient and safe. As it is, after losing my btc, I am very paranoid about interacting with any wallet and really don't trust the self custody process much at all. Having to diversify with different wallets and even centralized exchanges sucks.
Sorry to hear that
Wow, that actually happens! I'm all in for Bitcoin but I'm also a little older, and this is something I might do not realizing this could happen! That's my biggest fear regarding self custody. And then you have no one to blame but yourself. I'm so scared to lose my hard earned money. As embarracing and frustrating as it might have been, thank you for posting this.
What about no external software at all. Airgap wallets that use SD and QR codes? Any thoughts there?
Another great video Matthew, thanks once again. I have a question regarding moving my bitcoin from ledger to Jade and in your video you demonstrate how to do this very well but in a way that may cost higher tx fees right now. Is another option to recover the bitcoin from the ledger using the seed to the new jade? Would this be any different in terms of tx fees?
You can enable "only bitcoin" mode in every trezor
If you use Coldcard dice with less than 12 rolls your bitcoin could / will be stolen. Make a video about that!
I think once BTC spots become available and it becomes more mainstream there will be banks that will compete to custody people’s BTC. The people that are too lazy or don’t have the technical capacity to self custody will gladly agree to have a bank hold it for them. It will be good for the price due to more access, but bad for the person.
💯
Banks, at least here in the UK, are very much anti crypto. There is a very strong possibility that any customer sending or receiving funds from a crypto exchange will have his account closed!
@@rob-xb3vp they are only anti crypto until they can custody it and make money off of it.
i'm nearly convinced that BTc is our only hope of getting out of this mess, and i completely understand didactica's frustration, there's a big learning curve, but freedom for yourself, your family, for the entire society, it's worth the effort.
I'm fully convinced. And if BTC ends up being a CIA intro to crypto we're all screwed anyway might as well go all in either way.
I pressed like and left this comment. I am already subscribed and have no questions right now😊
Thanks for your support
@@Bitcoin_University Hey! That's what i am here for 😉
Please can you do a guide on how you fully use cold storage wallets and how they fully work like how does the creating many wallets within a wallet work can you have seed phrase for each one, if one gets scammed say by getting scammed say from an airdrop or a fake website that looks like a genuine one does that then compromise the others? Can you have the same bitcoin stored on two diffrent wallets and if not is that to do with hiw wallet addresses public and private keys are generated? Is it safe to trade and swap coins and can using the app or site some how be compromised i dont see any channle explaining all these little things that i need to know to fully understand how they work and limitations. Ive got a bit of crypto on exchanges and waiting for my crypto wallets to arrive but im anxious of doing it wrong i dont want to F it up. Can you point me into the right direction, please.
DCA into non custodial lightning wallet - then swap to on chain quarterly. 👏🏻
Is it better to restore a seed used on the ledger to a cold card or to just start fresh and send the bitcoin to fresh address on a cold card?
Start with a fresh new recovery seed on the Coldcard, otherwise there's no point. Yes, then send BTC to fresh address on Coldcard
Every time I've set up a hardware device I've been supplied a 24 word phrase. This video references a 12 word backup seed phrase. Does the Blockstream Jade only use 12 words? Is 24 word seed phrase more secure? Thanks!
How safe is it to transfer crypto from an exchange
to a cold hardware wallet? Is it possible to be hacked? I think I should have multiple cold hardware wallets to not have it all on one. Not sure if there is any other ways to be secure. Can I transfer offline from one hardware wallet to another? Thanks
2:32 Trezor has an option to choose BTC-Only firmware
Use strike and use the flexible withdrawal option. Might take all day but they’ll cover the fees, at least for now.
You might elaborate on the fact that network fees are so high, Matt, and explain why. I sense it may indicate increased interest in people buying bitcoin.
BRC-20 token grifters and Ordinals.
Why only mention Sparrow? Not Electrum or other? I’ve been using Electrum. Have thought about doing a sparrow test. First, gonna set up a node.
I signed up for your courses. Can you help me figure out how to bitcoin mine without kyc tracking
Why do you specifically mention blue tape? This video is not the first time you've referred to it.
Hey mat what do you think of Tangem wallet now that they offer seed phrase option ( 25th passphrase will be available soon too) curious to know your opinion. thank you
Tangem offers support for shipcoins, so I wouldn't use it. Wider attack surface and you are helping to prop up a scammy ecosystem
The Trezor Bitcoin-only wallet was a Limited Edition of 2013 units. All sold out within a few days.
Hey Trezor, if you are listening release a non-limited version. We are trying to tell you something. I want one myself!
When you initially set up your Trezor, you can choose the Bitcoin Only option. I set mine up earlier this year with no shipcoins enabled, and it works wonderfully.
Agreed. Both the Trezor Model T and Safe 3 can be set up with Bitcoin only firmware. Not positive about the model one.
Thanks matt. I'm looking forward to you covering Mempool in detail so that we all have a better understanding of how transactions work. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Would there be a way to make a video with the blockstream satellite?
Like how to pair it to your node, sign transactions, and even go as far as pairing it with impervious browser to become as self sovereign as possible?
Transfered from ledger to coldcard last night. Still "unconfirmed". I used medium to low priority. How long can it take ? I also have "unconfirmed parent"...lol...quite a learning curve here.
UPDATE: all confirmed when I got back home from work. The network is workin :-)
why not just use multiple bitlocker usb's with privkeys and or wallet.dat on them ? Then for rare tx's use a simple single purpose (btc) clean laptop. Airgapping of Jade is cool of course but its a trade off, usb's have no fishy firmware and generally stable storage. the less functions, the less can break or go wrong
Matt
Do you prefer a 12 or 24 word private key.
12 words (if truly randomly selected) is enough. 24 words is overkill and more difficult to deal with
No mention of tangem?
Bitcoin-only wallets have a smaller attack surface and don't help to fund shitcoins
Unfortunately, it's this confusion and lack of a user-friendly UI that will cause many people to buy the ETF instead of self custodying their bitcoin.
That's true. Then they will get rekt or realize that they made a mistake, and scramble to get some real BTC later on
@@Bitcoin_University Yep. And by that time, this will all be much easier!
Question: why using a physical ledger much better than using an encrypted ZIP with a private key inside for storing BTC?
Because when you send or spend BTC, you will need to sign the transaction using your private keys-- hardware wallets make this easy
@@Bitcoin_University so, u see no issue in cold storing like I described above? i wanna have some btc in case of emergency or store it till deep retirement
@@colddeath9797 A possible problem with your solution is how to get the private keys encrypted and loaded onto the Zip drive or other device without them touching the internet or an operating system that may contain malware. Much better just to use a hardware wallet to generate and store the private keys
@@Bitcoin_University hardware wallet looks suspicious, if u see such wallet u know something valuable is there. flashdrive looks completely innocent
Hi Matt, can you speak about the replace button on sparrow wallet and how or when to use that feature of sparrow??
THANK YOU MATHEW ❤
Can you make an in depth video about the ETF situation? I’ve heard so many conflicting things from people saying they’ve already bought the BTC and or are doing it OTC so price won’t be affected to others saying we’ll see 1m soon. I accumulate and hold long term and don’t sell at the end of the cycles anyway but I’m just curious what the truth is to how the ETF situation really drives demand or price.
You say don’t stress out but these videos do stress me out. I feel the same as the guy you quoted and that I could lose my BTC at any moment because I have a ledger.
Matt merry Christmas and happy new year
Hey Matt, do you have any opinion on the ngrave zero wallet? It’s much hyped for its EAL 7 Level security.
Just buy a coldcard. It's the gold standard among OG bitcoiners and whales. - I know because I work at a Bitcoin selfcustody company
Important question. Blockstream Jade asks if you want to store seed as QR which looks secure. But then when using it for transaction you have to use your phone camera to scan the QR which is basically your seed. You say in your video never to have your phone camera looking at your seed, so would you say this is a unsecure practice. Or am I missing something???
Sounds terribly unsecure. I don't do any banking, bitcoin buying or transferring, etc on my phone.
Is it worth it to move from Trezor to Jade? 🤔
Depends. I'd say worth a move once the fees are low. I'm considering getting Jade soon
With coldcard I am struggling to understand how it is safe when the seed phrase is saved on the hardware wallet
I don't think I've seen this addressed anywhere, but I'm always so confused when I see the recommendation to store the seed phrase in a titanium plate or something. If someone else just sees it, you can lose all your coins. It's like having an unlocked gold vault with a ranged teleporter button on it. Isn't that even more risky than any of the alternatives? Not sure if I'm missing something here.
You are doing God's work for people, Matthew. God bless you, matey.
What is your opinion on using Bitcoin Core and encrypting it? I run it on my PC to support the network.
Running Bitcoin Core to help support the network is great. But I would never use the Bitcoin Core wallet for any real amount of money, since it's a hot wallet and thus vulnerable.
Not directly related to your question, but thought I would mention that Bitcoin Core also has the ability to add watch-only addresses. These can be used to display the balance of your cold wallet on the dashboard. It uses only your public key, so your private key remains secure on your hardware wallet.
One place this can be useful is in a "canary in the coal mine" strategy. You put some decoy amount of bitcoin onto a wallet with the standard 12 or 24 word seed phrase, and your real stack onto a "hidden" wallet with an additional secret word. Add the public key for the first one to Bitcoin Core as a watch-only address, so that you can conveniently and continuously monitor it. If the bitcoin on there ever moves, then you know your seed phrase has been compromised, and you will hopefully have enough time to generate a new seed phrase and move your real stack to safety.
Thank you for the reply. You are my goto for all things BTC@@Bitcoin_University
But why is a Ledger bad if u don't connect it with dApps etc?
It's not at this moment , but it's more the fact these exploits have gotten through in the first place so who knows what other attacks may get through in the future.
Shows an overall lack of security from the company.
Ledger has a history of privacy leaks, and their firmware is still not fully open source, so you need to trust this unreliable company
They had a former employee make changes. This is a major red flag with how the company operates and handles customer data. While in your situation you are safe there could be further exploits that we don't know about as their code isn't open source. They have pledged to make it open source however, so that could change in the future.
I did not know it was a good idea to mix the hardware and software wallets.
If you camera accident hovered over your seed phrase, that would still compromise it?
Yes, potentially. You'll never know for sure, so better to generate a new seed
It hovered over the backup code for a split second.
@@8solideogloria How long does it take for a digital camera to pick up an image? A split second
If on a trezor wallet in a hidden address, could someone steal btc if they get a hold of recovery seed, or would they also need the hidden address secret word? Thanks.
They would also need the secret word. In fact, a good strategy is to put some amount of bitcoin (as large an amount as you can comfortably lose) onto the wallet without the secret word, and your real stash on a wallet with the additional secret word. If you set your node up to monitor both addresses, then the first one will act as a canary in the coal mine. If you see that amount move, then you know your seed phrase has been compromised. You may have time enough to generate a new seed phrase and move your real stash to safety.
What do you recommend for hardware wallets for IOS users/people without a desktop computer? I’ve been using Keystone which is airgapped but still I worry about the attack surface. They have a bitcoin only firmware upgrade, but without a PC i cant use it. Any suggestions for the mobile only folks?
Mobile is extremely vulnerable. If you can afford to invest any significant amount in bitcoin,, fork out the money for a cheap PC. Best if you use it for bitcoin and nothing else.You can get them for not a whole lot of money these days. Even if it takes you a while to save up, that's better than losing your bitcoin.
Unrelated to this video, but Guy Swann had an excellent take on ordinals. It seems so unnecessary. I feel like it was a huge mistake. What can be done about it at this point?
Hi Matthew. Would you consider making a video about UTXOs and the benefit of consolidating small UTXOs. I’ve been in Bitcoin for 2 years and am just learning about UTXOs. I feel that it’s a topic that is not as well known as it should be. Learning how a high fee environment could make small UTXOs unspendable is concerning and I think more people should know how to navigate this issue. There are some videos on TY on the topic but I’d love to hear your take on the matter.
Yes, great suggestion
youtube.com/@wickedsmartbitcoin?si=-vm03Fl2Wvbbj8Pz has some good videos on this too
@@Bitcoin_University I'm all for a video on that too. I'm letting my small weekly DCA's accumulate into a larger figure --- but not so large it would hurt much to lose it -- before transferring that single sum into my cold wallet.
i got the coldcard
ya but the fees...
Thanks again, Matthew!
Getting my first real taste of UTXO management right now… I know I should have done it previously, but had waited until I compiled 15 UTXOs to do so, just so happened to coincide with the fee spike haha
If I created my seed words in a Blockstream Jade, but then used that seed to restore my wallet using the ledger nano x, should I create a new seed phrase when going back to Jade to be safe, or am I secure since I created it through the Jade?
If it's been shared with Ledger, I would create a new seed on your Jade to be extra safe
Thank you sir! Really appreciate everything you do!
Love your talk about XRP (riple)😁😁
What if someone (in order to steal bitcoin) just randomly input 12/24 words from that 2048 wordlist? And he could repeat it multiple times?
Isnt there any possibility that he could finally meet any wallet that contain btc?
Hi Matt. What if you use a pass phrase and keep using block stream green or trezor suite, would they still be able to target you? (I mean Blockstream or trezor)
As long as you type the passphrase onto the hardware device itself, you should be fine. I wouldn't type my passphrase into Trezor suite
@@Bitcoin_University thank you for your precise reply
What is the best way to spend some of your Bitcoin if you really need it one day?
Great video reminder. Thank you Matt!
Good video. You talked me into looking at something more permanent to capture my seed phrase.
Thanks for emphasizing this. It seems some people don’t understand even though it’s highlighted. Thankfully, I learned my lesson when I lost some ADA before I was a bitcoin maximalist. Lesson learned.
Thanks, Mathew you are doing a great Job.
Great content as always Matt. Thank you! Would be really interested in knowing more about mining fees, when is best time to transfer, and what you think will be the future of fees. Could future fees become so high that only institutional investors can afford them? Smaller UTXOs are getting wiped out recently.
Trezor partnered with Exodus and now this beautiful hard wallet is compromised.
Thank you Matthew.
Thank you Matthew!
12 word seed should be a mistake. Use 24 + passphrase
Was that Michael Saylor ad for real or an AI fake? Why would Saylor be giving away Eth?
It's a scam. Please flag and report to YT
What about entering your passphrase? Some software apps ask for your passphrase to be entered if you have one. Would you say it's safe to enter your passphrase into a PC or phone?
No, not for your deep cold storage retirement savings. For that, I would only enter the passphrase into the hardware device itself. If you have a hot wallet on PC or phone with just a little money in it, then it's fine. Hot wallets can be hacked, so use only for small amounts
@@Bitcoin_University Got it, thank you for the reply.
The passphrase on a hot (online) wallet stops someone who manages to hack your wallet from using it. Yes, you want to set one on a phone or PC it encrypts your private key.
@@sang3Eta Yes but even some software apps prompt you to enter your passphrase even when using a hardware device.
don't take ambien, don't ever take ambien.
I agree-- it doesn't even improve sleep quality
@@Bitcoin_University thank you for everything matthew! i'm a pharmacist, i talk to people all the time hurt by zolpidem
Just do an offline paper wallet .
Where to keep steel plate? Asking for a friend😊
That's really going to depend on where you live, how safe it is, whether people know that you are a Bitcoiner, etc
Is it for you a mistake not using a multisig wallet?
If you are publicly known to own Bitcoin like me, multisig is a good choice. For most people, 12 word recovery seed (single sig) is enough
@@Bitcoin_University Thank you for your feedback.
I shoulda known better. From now on the only French tech I’ll trust is their house music.
i.e. Signing device?
A hardware wallet is a secure way to store your private keys offline, but still be able to use them to sign Bitcoin transactions without your keys touching the internet. You need to sign a transaction in order to send/spend Bitcoin
So, if I am traveling across a border I must leave my bitcoin behind to keep it safe.