anticitizen13.7
Not posting at TMC after 9/17/2018
So your partner lost a USB drive that is now worth about $100,000,000? Ouch.
When I considered Bitcoin several years ago, securing the availability and integrity of the bitcoins was my biggest concern.
At the physical level:
Storing multiple copies of the private keys on different media types would increase the probability of them being available, but also increase the probability of theft. Storing the keys on encrypted media was a partial solution, but that only resulted in the problem of having to secure a decryption password.
If I just kept the password in my memory, there was the chance I could forget it, or suffer a head injury that could cause me to lose the memory. If I printed it out, someone could steal the password and then steal my coins.
My general solution was to divide up bitcoin holdings into multiple partitions, A, B, and C. Each partition would be copied to (1) an encrypted USB drive and (2) the private keys themselves cyphered and printed onto archival quality paper. The passwords a, b, and c for corresponding partitions A, B, and C, would be stored with a different partition. For example, the paper and USB drive with A would be stored with the password b. The resulting 3 bundles, Ab, Bc, and Ca, would each be placed in tamper evident envelopes, stored in safety deposit boxes at different banks in different towns, and their integrity audited at random time intervals. I would keep the safety deposit box keys on my person and memorize a, b, and c.
I also had considered a home network setup with a PC that only booted off a Linux DVD-ROM with which to conduct transactions.
In the end I decided this was too much of a pain in the rear.
Buying Tesla stock was just easier, and I preferred the Tesla mission to Bitcoin’s dubious prospects.