ColdCustodian

Lost crypto to BlockFi & Celsius. Built the self-custody + inheritance kit I couldn't find. Keep your crypto secure, and recoverable by the people you love.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

1/ I lost money to BlockFi and Celsius. Painful lesson, but a clear one: not your keys, not your coins. So I moved everything into self-custody. Then I ran into a problem almost nobody talks about. 🧵

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

If you've just been scammed, the second scam is already looking for you.
"Recovery companies" that promise to get your crypto back are the same industry, second shift.
Nobody can reverse a blockchain transaction. Anyone who says otherwise, for a fee, is scam number two.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

If you hold crypto and have never written down how your family would recover it, you don't have a security plan. You have a gamble.
So I built the plan I couldn't find anywhere: secure AND recoverable, without handing anyone your secrets while you're alive.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

Source: https://t.co/lgN1PNc7vT

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

AscendEX shut down this month. No MiCA license, withdrawals moved to "manual review," and investigators found the reserves nearly empty: about $13M left, mostly its own token.
FTX. Celsius. BlockFi. Now this. Same lesson every cycle: the coins were never yours.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

@natbrunell @meanwhile @CasaHODL @ztownsend Lopp's archive makes the pattern clear: most victims were findable first. Public gains, a known handle, an address sitting in an old leak. The technical setup matters less than not being on the list to begin with. Privacy is the real first layer.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

@smokepulser @lace_io Never. Any service that needs your seed phrase to "delegate" can spend everything, and one day will. Real delegation happens from inside your own wallet and the seed never leaves it. If the reward requires handing over your seed, the reward is you.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

@ovog29 @secondfiapp Yes, and a software wallet you control beats leaving it on an exchange. The tradeoff is the keys now sit on an internet connected phone. Write the seed phrase by hand, never a screenshot. Send a small amount first and test restoring it before you move the rest.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

Update: New Hampshire's governor signed it.
HB 639 is law: the right to hold your own keys, run a node, mine, and validate now has state-level protection.
Ten days from governor's desk to law. Still funny that it needs a law. Still good that it got one.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

New Hampshire just passed a bill protecting the right to hold your own crypto keys and run a node, no state or local government can restrict it. It's on the governor's desk now.
Funny thing to need a law for. Fitting week for it though.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

@CoinMarketCap Ten days from desk to law. The notable part: it protects the individual's right to hold their own keys, run a node, mine, and validate. Most crypto laws are about what companies may build. This one is about what you may keep.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

The most dangerous thing you can do with crypto isn't picking the wrong wallet.
It's telling people you own it.
"Wrench attacks", someone forcing you to hand it over in person, are rising. No app stops that. Silence does. Don't broadcast your bags.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

https://t.co/WcsZiXnFl4

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

Two Bitcoin forks are coming in August. Whatever you think of them, know this: fork season is scam season.
"Claim your free coins" sites and wallets will ask for your seed phrase. Entering it there hands over your real bitcoin.
No legit claim ever needs your seed. None.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

@SpotKolours @lopp It shows. The best education doesn't feel like a lecture. Going in my toolbox of ways to show someone what a confirmation is instead of explaining it. Nice work.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

@TheCryptoSquire The under-reported half: those users didn't just leave exchanges, they took a job. 70% of withdrawals means a wave of people holding a seed phrase for the first time. The next headline losses won't be exchange failures. They'll be bad backups.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

@Trezor @MrPicule @Ledger The one take the entire space agrees on.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

Most "crypto security" advice stops at "buy a Ledger."
What actually loses people their coins:

• bad seed backups
• phishing approvals
• no inheritance plan
• talking too much

What would you add?

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

Source: https://t.co/YSBgZDGa9K

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

Someone asked a New York court to declare 39,069 dormant Bitcoin wallets abandoned and hand him the 3.7 million BTC inside. Satoshi's included.
The suit dropped 44 wallets after owners moved coins to prove they exist.
Dormant is not abandoned. Someday you may have to prove it.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

If you hold crypto, do these 5 today:

1. Move it off exchanges into a wallet you control
2. Write your seed on paper, by hand, never typed
3. Test-restore it before you trust it
4. Lock your email with app-based 2FA
5. Tell no one you own crypto

Most of your risk, gone.

[ColdCustodian @ColdCustodian]

@AdamBLiv The exchange balance is a promise. The ETF is a fee with a ticker. The key is ownership, and ownership includes the part nobody sells: a verified backup and a written plan for who reaches it if you can't. Daycare has a next-of-kin desk. Self-custody has what you wrote down.