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20 sats \ 3 replies \ @optimism 16 Feb \ parent \ on: What if wallet makers go bust? bitcoin_beginners
The main objections are listed here: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/wiki/Comments:BIP-0039
Thats a good reference but not what I'm talking about, I'm talking about meeting the end user
As for alternatives, what Bitcoin Core does is simply encrypt a dat file... that eliminates most of the stupid ways people lose coin with seed phrases. The people that will forget or fumble an encryption string or fail to backup the file will also fuck up a seed phrase. Compromised devices are a problem no matter what software you use.
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Compromised devices are a problem no matter what software you use.
Exactly! And truly securing a device is mostly recurring, time intensive, sometimes high pressure work.
There's definitely something to be said for a security mechanism with less attack surface than your average zero-policy win11 device, but BIP39 offers no security at all in its currently most-deployed form: it is just cleartext. A long-form password to a weakly hashed brainwallet basically (remember those?)
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Yea and I think that's why the HWW cash grab works so well. Setting up a secure device can sound like a daunting task and HWW vendors are happy to sell the self-custody equivalent of a weight-loss pill to users that don't understand the trade-offs (side-effects)
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