A guest post by Bernard W. Kaplanian, founder of Cryptocurrency Consulting Munich . For many people, getting started with Bitcoin is still a big hurdle. Where is the best place to buy Bitcoin? How can I store my Bitcoin safely? There are already numerous answers to these questions on the Internet - but sometimes you need personal advice to get started in the Bitcoin world. In this case, Bernard is available as a personal contact to all interested parties with questions about Bitcoin.
The world's oldest cave paintings in a cave in Indonesia show images said to be at least 45,500 years old. Rock carving drawings and animal sculptures estimated to be over 15,000 years old were found at the “Sorcerer's Rock” in southern France. Bone carvings found in various places around the world are up to 30,000 years old.
What does all this have to do with Bitcoin?
Apparently, as early as the Stone Age, people began to store their worries and troubles, their joy and happiness, but also their information and secrets in a somehow safe manner (not yet in an alphanumeric password combination, but at least in a naive form, such as a string of Animal signs in hidden cave corners). Stone Age people often used non-combustible materials such as stone or rock and later also metal for this work. If we now use the time machine to jump 30,000 years into the present day, we are still faced with the problem of fireproof storage of important things such as private key backups for cold wallets.
What is the risk of loss due to fire?
Official figures from insurers and fire protection experts are alarming: there is a fire in a German apartment every 2 to 3 minutes. The number 1 fire risk in the home is electricity. Despite a smoke detector requirement for new buildings and renovations in all federal states, fires in German apartments are most often caused by electricity. The causes of electrical fires include overloaded multiple sockets, improper use and outdated or defective devices - all causes that can probably happen almost anywhere. This means that there is a not insignificant risk that your own cold wallet or PC with all access data as well as the associated private key backups could fall victim to a fire that could happen at any time. If the private key backups were completely destroyed, your own Bitcoin holdings would also be irretrievably lost.
Can cold wallets and private key backups be insured against fire?
The most likely option for this would be household contents insurance, with which you can protect your belongings, including cash and cash-like values, against damage caused by fire, storms, hail, tap water and burglars. However, only up to a certain maximum limit, which is often 1,000 to 2,000 euros. Higher sums and values are therefore not automatically insured; they can possibly be agreed individually, but probably at a significant additional cost. The extent to which this also includes Bitcoin and what special evidence must be provided for the value of digital assets must certainly be examined on a case-by-case basis.
So what does this mean in terms of backing up private keys?
First of all, for understandable reasons, all combustible media such as paper, plastic, PCs or mobile devices are excluded as seemingly secure backup media for private keys. From today's perspective, the only thing left is the iron that was used in early human history, which - unlike stone - is malleable and fireproof. Thanks to a melting point of around 1,400 degrees Celsius, the steel private key backup will be perfectly readable even after a fire. Corresponding experiments have confirmed this. Various steel-based methods are currently available on the market (including from Seedor, Cryptosteel, Billfodl), which are usually subject to the following methodology: the backups containing 12 or 24 passwords (recovery phrases) are independently engraved or punched into stainless steel plates or blocks or are already available as a punched letter set. The backup is therefore fireproof, waterproof and corrosion-resistant and – if in a safe location – also access-protected. The risk of loss due to fire is therefore kept to a minimum. Since this is currently the only fireproof backup method for private keys from cold wallets, it is also state of the art in terms of access and transaction security for cryptoassets and at the same time my very personal recommendation for all private and commercial users of Bitcoin.