In case you go kaput?
I haven't done so yet, but I'm gonna teach my wife and daughter how to use the hardware wallet today. I may teach them how to use a recovery seed later down the road.
I haven't experimented with any fancy multisig setups or inheritance configurations yet. I'm still a noob in that regard.
Neither my wife nor daughter seem interested in the least, but I'll keep trying.
Don't they at least see the importance of knowing how to access it if you're gone?
Yes, until I try to sit them down and pay attention.
If they cannot be bothered to learn, leave your stack access to someone who does.
Of my entire family and social network only three people are Bitcoiners (one who first told me about Bitcoin) ... it is depressing how few people understand its importance to freedom- are we in the west too complacent? I believe many are.
The banks have such a hold on the narrative and political process that the majority of people do not see they are being farmed.
My wife's dad just died and had done no estate planning so now she wants me to give her all the passwords to the crypto accounts
I've done my best with my wife, but I think she has a ways to go. I'm confident that between her and my brother, they can figure it out.
I've been fighting with my wife for half a year now!!
Why would she take the pill? She's only recently begun to accept and understand the value of Bitcoin!!
But I still need to teach her more!!
My wife was the first person, I taught
And I'm glad she knows how fiat has has ruined everything, and is the solution
my wife has done a few onchain transactions.
I made her do a full wallet recovery from backups and it did not go well.
kids love zapping on nostr and SN, and we've done a wallet backup practice with seed words.
That's about as far as the family wants to go, so far.
Being comfortable with on-chain transactions is a great start, knowing how to restore a wallet from seed phrase is even better.
i think about this exact thing, all the time. in fact, i've been meaning to sit down with my mum to show her how to move coins from the cold storage in case of me going kaput.
i would like someone to at least know how to move btc on chain.
what is a good way of showing them how to back up a wallet from a seed. could i just make a hot wallet and use that for teaching purposes?
Yeah, that's what I would do. Create your own hot wallet, then show them the steps to recreate it from seed phrase. That way when they have your real seed phrase, they know how to recreate it.
"I've heard bitcoin went down again, why don't you sell now, before it's too late? You've held it for so long already..." 🙂‍↕️
I find myself in a similar situation.
I already showed them how to use lightning. And I am unintentive to teach my wife how to use on-chain. Also about how I have private keys encrypted. (In case something happens, they can access the money)
I am also a rookie, and we still have to practice with multiforms, wallet hardware and more advanced details. (We keep learning without stopping a single day)
Good job!
This is important .. and becomes moreso as the value of your bitcoin increases.
As a starting point, one other useful thing to do, if or when you have one, is to introduce your trusted bitcoin mate to your wife and daughter so they know who to reach out to for help if you go kaput! Post-kaput grieving for them isn't a time for clear, rational thinking, or recalling careful conversations that you're starting to have now. Having a trusted friend they can reach out to can be helpful for when they're ready.
And hopefully, this is many decades away!
But! Good job on the forward planning :-)
Very important task!
Testnet is a great tool for teaching others.
Yep, but I could do more. IMO you need to use it to the point that it isn't scary and that takes a lot more time.
My most trusted person already knows how to get my wallet back from the seed phrase. They're not even into Bitcoin, but I told 'em not to trust anyone else to do it.
I have a brother that can figure out tech things thankfully.
Yes to my sister's husband @BitcoinAbhi who's also my friend, if you consider him to be a kin.
My wife isn't at all interested, nor does she possess skill to learn the technology.
Yes, my brother knows everything about my stack, including the keys.
I too. But I think it's not a big deal.
Hahaha, I think my 3-year-old son will understand how to use a wallet before my wife...
The poor thing doesn't even know how to use a debit card properly, and the bank app seems like science fiction to her.
Sometimes I think explaining how a 12-word seed works would be easier than getting her to remember her ATM PIN. But anyway, let's take it step by step... first I teach her that money doesn't live inside the phone. Then we move on to Sats hahahhahahahaha
If you're looking for a set of straightforward step-by-step exercises, check out my book Bitcoin, Hands-On! 28 “learn by doing” exercises to master the basics of managing your own Bitcoin, including wallets, transactions, and self custody
https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Hands-exercises-including-transactions/dp/1734166339
It doesn't deal with hardware wallets, I find them to be just a distraction until you really understand the fundamentals of seed phrases/private keys, transactions, etc. Not to mention that hardware wallets are all so different and change constantly.
I've helped a number of people through the exercises. The most motivated ones tend to be older people, whose kids are pushing them to learn and invest.
Anyone that wants a free pdf, email me at feedback@BitcoinHandsOn.com. And feel free to share with friends.
Here's the table of contents:
Introduction 1
Exercise 1: Install Sparrow Bitcoin Wallet 5
Exercise 2: Create wallet in Sparrow—Alice 8
Exercise 3: Buy Bitcoin 12
Exercise 4: Receive bitcoin into your Alice wallet 16
Exercise 5: Recover your Alice wallet 21
Exercise 6: Create wallet Bob 23
Exercise 7: Your first send—transfer bitcoin from Alice to Bob 25
Exercise 8: Review the Alice to Bob transaction 28
Exercise 9: Explore the Settings window of the Alice wallet 31
Exercise 10: Create watch only wallet based on Alice 34
Exercise 11: Explore the Alice Watch Only wallet 36
Exercise 12: Receive bitcoin via a watch only wallet 38
Exercise 13: Use the Alice Watch Only wallet to send a transaction 40
Exercise 14: Create wallet Bob Legacy Script Type 42
Exercise 15: Create wallet Alice With Passphrase 45
Exercise 16: Review some transactions 48
Exercise 17: Send bitcoin from Alice to Bob—review fees 52
Exercise 18: Bitcoin fees—what you pay, and why 54
Exercise 19: Install Blue Wallet and create the Carol wallet 58
Exercise 20: Send bitcoin from Bob in Sparrow to Carol in Blue Wallet 61
Exercise 21: Send bitcoin from your exchange to Blue Wallet Carol 63
Exercise 22: Import the Alice wallet to Blue Wallet via the public key 65
Exercise 23: Import the Alice wallet to Blue Wallet via the descriptor 67
Exercise 24: Set up password protection on Blue Wallet 68
Exercise 25: Recover the Bob wallet in Blue Wallet 70
Exercise 26: Send all bitcoin from the Bob Recovery wallet in Blue Wallet to Alice in Sparrow 73
Exercise 27: Bonus—use Blockstream wallet 75
Exercise 28: Clearing practice wallets and creating a long-term wallet 78
Final notes and next steps 80
Resources 89
Smart move. Better to teach them now than leave them guessing later. I’m in the same boat still learning, but taking it one step at a time.