This can be a good point indeed: basically hiding the cold storage in plain sight.


True, this part I forgot about.


This is a good argument. Still, this doesn't make the cold storage unsafe per se, especially since the wallet seed has backups.

OK, I'm trying now with Firefox (normal, latest, not esr), also with about:config JavaScript to false. And I've also disabled my add-ons...
Preview is working, I'll also post now. And... it works.

Did it occur to you to try with a different setup, maybe you have set something else in your browser and broke it?



Sorry, but your conspiracy theories are off topic here.

* They can make businesses no longer accept Bitcoin and will say they've banned it.
** Of course, people can still transact and use it. Is it a ban? Not really, but what's reality when people believe everything that's on TV?

* They can ban mining and say it's done.
** Of course, while most businesses will leave to mine elsewhere, some may use VPN and such and still mine it.

* Stopping all the bitcoin related traffic on the internet... I don't think it can happen without completely shutting off internet

* Getting all countries agree to act together ... I will not live long enough to see that happen. Neither you.


Is this good enough as explanation?

I'm just quoting you from Tor browser with Javascript disabled (Security Level: Safest).


Yes, JS is necessary for the initial captcha, unless you get your ccode from another session. But you really can do this once from somewhere else - if you are interested in your privacy you know this very good. But the rest seems to work fine without JS.
An no, this is not censorship, this is a small price to pay, as part of keeping the forum safe from attacks. If you would have a website, you'd know as much.


You seem to only see drama around you. Take a deep breath, chill, think twice before you write. If you just dump your anger to the forum people will fail to see any usefulness in taking you serious.
Take it as a friendly advice or ignore it.

The advised way to access a mixer is to do it over Tor. This being said, there's no valuable information to sell, since those not using Tor may not be actual users/customers, instead only some curious people. So I would not count on getting much of info from the browser.

Of course, if a mixer is a honeypot, they can lie about not keeping client information and instead sell all the info to chain analysis companies or government agencies.
After all, trusting a mixer still means.. trusting.


Of course, unless a mixer was specifically built for as honeypot, it won't be doing that (keeping and selling user info) because it will mean they admit they are mixing funds and some agencies may not like that. So let's not become too paranoid...

It worth mentioning that he had physical access to that old Trezor and also the vulnerability he managed to exploit was fixed since then by Trezor.
You know, if a thief manages steal your cold storage and then manages to steal your coins off it... it's not really considered a vulnerability of the cold storage...

I keep seeing people telling that phones are hard to airgap and.. sorry, but I'm not convinced.

* one can remove the SIM then mobile internet will no longer be used
* one can turn off NFC (if available); however, not a great attack vector
* one can turn off Bluetooth and go airplane mode; however, not a great attack vector unless 100% targeted
* one can remove/forget all known Wi-Fi SSIDs and set the phone not connect to any other/unprotected SSID

One very good argument is that a burglar will most probably steal that smartphone even if it's older, put a SIM in it and turn everything on, making indeed phones somehow risky for cold storage.
Another very good argument is that somebody in the house would do exactly that too (put a SIM in) because of not knowing it's a "special use" phone.

But all this can easily happen with a laptop too (stealing or plugging in a network cable). And let's not compare online securit between old laptops and old phones because both are bad and also dependent of owner's skills in setting them up.

I don't believe that story yet, so I'll answer only about the question on the offline wallet.
An offline wallet can be hacked into if the user is (very) sloppy and unlucky:
* use of USB to transfer things (usually unsigned/signed transactions) in/out of that device
* storing (or handling!) wallet backups, seed backups and similar information on the online/hot computer, or even worse, on e-mail or cloud
* doing regular backups of the offline computer and keeping the backups somewhere accessible from the internet
* also, obviously, actual access of somebody in the house (or bank/safety deposit or wherever people keep them) and stealing backups of wallets or seed

I tend to believe more and more it's a prank.

* The story is still only on Twitter and not on Mastodon, although it tells everywhere "Mastodon preferred"
* Stealing from the cold storage would be possible only if the user would be more than incredibly sloppy/uncautious.
* I don't think that somebody for so long in Bitcoin would ask for FBI help, and also would not do it on Twitter.
* Luke Dash Jr is (proudly!) asking for donations for his work; was he indeed owning 200 BTC ?!

I *know* that Peter Todd has confirmed the story, but the things still don't add up.


Yes, that too; I've followed some of those transactions and it looks more a consolidation of funds than anything else.

Use cold storage safer, i.e. transfer tx via images, not USB stick between cold and hot storage or simply use hardware wallet.
Make sure the private keys have never been and never will be on a computer that will go online, not even for printing them.

This kind of precautions should at least keep the cold storage safe.

It's already 3.4% and decreasing; I guess that the miners affected by the bad weather are firing their gears up again.

---

Since Gazeta keeps asking when I make my bet , here we are:

So you say that if some coins from Blacklisted address A are sent to address B and then to you they're absolutely fine, because they're not from a blacklisted address/wallet.
You're telling big words, but it looks like it's you who doesn't understand much.


This is a good one

I think that you may be misunderstanding something, so let's make the terms clearer.
Cold wallet or cold storage is usually a wallet software running on a laptop that's always offline.
Hardware wallet is an external device that can create wallet seed and sign transactions; this also needs a wallet software running on a laptop or smartphone, but they can be (should be) connected to the internet.

So, in order to get the master public key from a cold wallet you need either an USB stick, either (better) a camera, since Electrum allows sharing all kind of info, including the master public key, as QR image. If this is the "connect the cold wallet to the laptop/smartphone" you had im mind, then maybe you've used bad terms and I'm too strict.

If you meant hardware wallets... then there's no sharing of keys between the HW and the software wallet from your laptop/smartphone you should do. By connecting the HW to the wallet software the wallet software knows what to do in order to show you the addresses and request signing transactions. In this case, some wallets (Ledger Nano S plus, Trezor T, Trezor one, some others too) work with cable connection, others (Ledger Nano X, Satochip, some others too) work with wireless connection (Bluetooth or NFC) hence don't need physical connection.

Get a hardware wallet. Or a SeedSigner device.
...Or set up both your cold storage and companion watch only hot wallet with Electrum on laptops with cameras, hence allowing you transfer those transactions (unsigned and signed) as QR code images.

If you're adding a secondary cold storage:
* you're doing it wrong
* you've misunderstood something and need to read more

However, this is off topic, if you have more questions please make a new topic with them.

I've just found out that this topic is also discussed on Bitcoin Discussions.
And @tranthidung does have a point: this may not be META material.

...So... maybe we continue there? https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5432665.0

Everything looks more than sloppy for a Bitcoin Developer. Surreal. Hot wallet is possible, but a dev's cold wallet... hmm...

While Peter Todd has confirmed the story, also on Twitter, I find it incredible and I still tend to think that's higher chance both Twitter accounts (Luke-Jr and Peter Todd) are compromised than all this story (including Luke calling on Twitter for FBI, come on...). Even more, no sign of this story on his Mastodon/BitcoinHackers account.

1. I recommend you consider buying/using a hardware wallet, it's more newbie friendly and you may make less mistakes than with a cold storage.
2. No matter what storage you use (cold storage of HW), consider recovering from seed after the initial setup so you are sure the backup seed you will store (safely, offline, multiple copies) is the correct one.
3. I recommend you withdraw first a smaller amount to verify the process goes on as it should, then the rest, even if this means doubling the withdrawal fee. For 3 BTC no safety measure is too small.


Also the recommendation you've already got to ignore private messages and invitations to Telegram, Discord or whatever is a very good one.



It depends how badly you do it. Keep in mind that cold storage is meant to always stay offline, no matter what. Do you know how to use cold storage to sign a transaction without transforming it in hot wallet? I hope you do.

Mda, am vazut si eu chestia asta la unele concursuri; dar aici nu stiu daca a fost aceeasi situatie, ca au fost mult mai multe premii decat concurenti inscrisi. Dar na, nimic nu e imposibil...


Azi am planuri sa lucrez un pic la un proiect de-al meu, asa ca probabil ca voi fi apt, deci da.


Hehe, multumesc!
Pana miercuri-joi inca speram sa prind locul 1 si portmoneul hardware de la Betnomi, dar nu ma plang, nici premiul 3 nu e rau deloc!

I know that he's one of the known Bitcoin Core devs and I know that he's on other projects too and since his PGP key has to be considered compromised, people should be very careful.
About what's his role on this forum... this is his account, I don't know if he's mod on the forum.

And while OP may be wrong on the mod part, the rest is quite concerning (for both sloppiness and the actual fact he got hacked).

According to Peter Todd it's not a Twitter hack and it's for real
https://mobile.twitter.com/peterktodd/status/1609655629903265795

Although I fail to understand that
* everything is lost, even cold storage (come on...)
* he was asking FBI for help