40 sats \ 9 replies \ @ek 7 Oct 2022 \ on: PSA: When choosing a cold wallet realize that some require software be installed bitcoin
How so? You don't depend on Trezor not going bankrupt, you just need access to the software. For example, you can host it or save it somewhere yourself. Or others might.
Also, someone posted a few hours ago if the Bitcoin Core software should have more seeders of it's torrent. Something like this could be done for other "essential" bitcoin software.
Additionally Trezor actively works on ensuring that Trezor users can to continue living there Bitcoin life even if the company sinks.
Firstly, the Trezor Suite, Firmware, Bridge are all open source.
If the Trezor blockchain explorer/backend (known as Blockbook) gets shut down, that too is open source. So members of the community can run an instance.
This year Trezor introduced support for custom Electrum backends too. For users who have something like an Umbrel instance running at home.
Also open source is the Trezor command line client. So if you are reading this in the year 2121 and find a Trezor buried in the rubble of society, look up trezorctl in the archives of humanity and spend those coins.
It's not perfect, but Trezor company wants you to have your coins accessible, always.
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That’s all great but in the end, fact of the matter is that with Trezor you have to worry about software, with Cold Card you don’t.
Also, something I didn’t mention in my original post is the fact that I don’t want to install unnecessary software on my new computer. No matter how much you trust a company, installing their software opens you up to an additional attack vector.
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Well, the only software you should trust is on the hardware.
Which is why hardware vendors constantly prompt you to verify what is on the device screen, and not the attached host.
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I meant more as an attack vector in general (virus, etc) more than just being able to steal your bitcoin. I try and keep the software installed on my machines to the bare minimum required and there should be no reason that I need to install bloated software in order to use a hardware wallet. I don't want to use their platform to buy and sell bitcoin nor do I care about all the other sh*t coins.
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All fair. Trezor also has BTC only firmware.
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fact of the matter is that with Trezor you have to worry about software, with Cold Card you don’t.
That's true. I just don't agree that the software problem with Trezor is as big as you make it out to be. But if Cold Card works for you, that's great :)
I'll definitely try Cold Card as my second hardware wallet after all the good stuff I heard about it
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Highly suggest getting a Cold Card. It's hard to describe but when you have all three of these hardware wallets, you quickly realize how much better a Cold Card is. It definitely inspires confidence that Trezor and Ledger do not in terms of longevity, security, and just overall futureproof-ness.
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You can host or save it all you want, unless you’re going to go through the hassle of doing that with every release, it’s very possible that what you have saved is outdated and may not work/be compatible/break with future OSes or patches.
Point is you have to depend on software while with a Cold Card you don’t. Something I didn’t mention in my original post is the fact that I don’t want to install unnecessary software on my new computer. No matter how much you trust a company, installing their software opens you up to an additional attack vector.
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Not entirely accurate. Cold card has its own software, ala firmware.
But I get your point.
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