Bitcoin storage safety for full-time traveler

[Redscorp]

I travel a lot/don't have permanent residence, and am spending some time re-analyzing how secure my coins are right now. Price has risen so much!

Owning a hardware wallet has never seemed like the best choice for me - having my backpack/luggage stolen is too risky. Yes, I could write down the keys somewhere as a backup, but that would make the Trezor/etc supurfluous.

So digital wallets seem best. I am recently learning that blockchain.com is less trustworthy than expected? I've been using it for some time with no problems, and I like that it won't let me login without email and 2FA phone confirmation.

It seems clunky to have a full node on my computer - 350gb right now I think? So Armory, Bitcoin core, etc maybe aren't the best bet? Other desktop wallets like Wasabi, Exodus, Electrum might be safer?

What about web wallets like Guardia?

My other question is where/how to safely store recovery phrases. Of course I can get creative regarding this, but if there's any general protocol you guys recommend, I'm all ears!

[o_e_l_e_o]

Owning a hardware wallet has never seemed like the best choice for me - having my backpack/luggage stolen is too risky.

How is the risk of this any different to the risk of having your mobile phone or laptop stolen?

Yes, I could write down the keys somewhere as a backup, but that would make the Trezor/etc supurfluous.

How are you backing up your seed phrase at the moment?

So digital wallets seem best. I am recently learning that blockchain.com is less trustworthy than expected? I've been using it for some time with no problems, and I like that it won't let me login without email and 2FA phone confirmation.

I would never recommend any web wallet, and blockchain.com is a particularly bad one when it comes to customers losing accesses to their funds and customer support being absolutely zero help. Also consider that if you log in via your mobile phone, which has access to both your email account and 2FA authenticator app, then that is not really two factors at all since the compromise of one thing - your phone - would allow an attacker to access your account.

It seems clunky to have a full node on my computer - 350gb right now I think? So Armory, Bitcoin core, etc maybe aren't the best bet? Other desktop wallets like Wasabi, Exodus, Electrum might be safer?

Wasabi, Exodus, and Electrum are all good lightweight wallets.

My other question is where/how to safely store recovery phrases. Of course I can get creative regarding this, but if there's any general protocol you guys recommend, I'm all ears!

If I was constantly traveling with only a laptop, I would either use a hardware wallet, or I would set up a USB stick with which I could live boot to a clean Linux OS which contains my encrypted wallet. In terms of seed phrases, I would back them up on paper and leave them in a secure location, such as with a trusted friend or in a safe deposit box at a bank.

[20kevin20]

Avoid Blockchain. Had my funds blocked for around 2 years and, as @o_e_l_e_o said above, customer support is completely useless. I was able to recover my funds only by myself, thanks to a very old backup I had.

Get yourself a hardware wallet and always keep it close to your body rather than in a backpack. If possible, put it inside a zipped pocket to make sure it doesn't fall. You could use it with a phone through OTG (or bluetooth with Nano X) to send crypto and generate new addresses.

Ledger's Nano S is very portable. Most people will probably not even distinguish it from a normal USB stick. Not sure how to properly store the seed tbh, but Nano S has 3 attempts to break the PIN code before it resets automatically. In order for a thief to steal your HW and your funds, they need to know of an unknown exploit to physically extract the seed/privkeys from your Nano or to enter it without a password. You'd probably have to be as "lucky" as winning a million bucks jackpot to have that happening to you.

If you don't plan on actually spending the Bitcoins, what you could do is print your Bitcoin address on a QR code on a piece of paper, laminate it (or engrave it in some metal necklace) and use it as a receiving address.

What I'd do if I were you is.. I'd store the seed phrase at my actual home and carry a HW around the world with me. As long as you don't somehow forget your PIN, you should be fine.