Coldbit - New stainless steel seed backup design

[globtroter]

Hi folks.

If you own any cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin you probably know how important it is to have a backup of your seed written down on something that will survive a flood or a house fire.

After evaluating current cold storage solutions, I must say I wasn't thoroughly pleased with their quality and design. My thoughts are reflected in Jameson Lopp's  tests of various seed backup products.

So I decided to create my own. After months of testing I came up with a design that I'm very satisfied with and would like to share it with you.

• 4mm thick stainless steel (seed backup) + 2mm thick cover
• nickel binding posts, no loose parts
• 3mm A-Z letter stamp set made from hardened steel included
• capable of storing 24 recovery words + a passphrase, up to 8 characters per word
• compatible with Trezor, Ledger, KeepKey, Jaxx, Exodus, Electrum and many more
• metal box

It is called Coldbit. It's made of thick stainless steel (AISI 304). Instead of assembling the seed letters are stamped onto the plates using the most reliable and bulletproof technique - a hammer and a letter stamp set. They will not scramble even if a heavy log from the roof of your house hits it during a house fire. The steel plates are then bound together using nickel binding posts.

I believe this wallet will survive the most catastrophic events. I know that my seed words are safe inside it.

I'm planning to launch an online shop in Q4 2018. The prices will be competitive. Initially we'll ship only to EU countries and in Q1 2019 to the rest of the world. Look out for an announcement, I'll include a discount code when we launch.

Stay tuned.

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[mocacinno]

I'm defenatly interested...

Depending on the price of each item included in your package, i'd say it would be a good idear to include several stainless steel plates per set.. I have several seed phrases i'd like to backup, but i only need 1 set of letter stamps to stamp them all.

Let us know when these discount codes will be available and wether or not you'd be open to using a forum escrow!

[eternalgloom]

I really like the design of it, simple and robust, I could just bury the thing and it would probably survive decades (maybe centuries?) below the ground.
If it isn't too expensive, I'm definitely getting one when they're available. Just signed up on your website

Any idea what your price will be? Ballpark figure is fine.

[globtroter]

Any idea what your price will be? Ballpark figure is fine.

The price will be around 70 - 100 EUR. I'll figure out a competitive approach to multiple plates (eg. buy 2 get 3rd one free or similar).

The steel is 4mm thick, I don't think anyone sells seed backup plates that thick at the moment.
It is heavy but will not warp or deform after punching 24 words.

It's definitely something that you can bury in the ground and it'll still be there with readable words decades later.

[eternalgloom]

That's a pretty reasonable price, certainly if it's closer to 70 EUR.
Given that you also get the bits for punching the letters in, you can easily sell cheaper plates without them.

4mm sounds like the perfect thickness, I wouldn't imagine that would bend, while it's still light and compact enough. 

If you're ever going to release a version 2.0 of this, you might want to figure out a way to stamp entire words on.
Maybe through some kind of placeholder for individual letter bits?

Now you have to stamp one letter at a time, right? Seems that way, looking at the picture on your website.

[globtroter]

If you're ever going to release a version 2.0 of this, you might want to figure out a way to stamp entire words on.
Maybe through some kind of placeholder for individual letter bits?

This will be difficult to achieve with manual stamping because of the momentum required to punch just 1 letter.
To get good results with 1 letter you need a 1kg - 1.5kg hammer.

Punching 4 or 6 letters at once would require a ~ 6kg hammer, good alignment of all the stamps and force spread out evenly on each stamp.
This is something that would require some kind of support from a machine (punching 24 words with a 6kg hammer would be tiresome/impossible for most people).

[Patatas]

Very interesting. A have a few questions though

- Will the seed be covered with some material or the stainless steel on which the seed is written on will be an open cover?
- Don't you think the seed would be just more readable and more prone to exposure when it's printed on a big metal?
- Are you self-funded or backed up by venture capitalists?

[globtroter]

- Will the seed be covered with some material or the stainless steel on which the seed is written on will be an open cover?

The seed is stamped on a 4mm steel plate. It is then covered by another steel plate (2mm thick). The 2 plates are bound with nickel binding posts. Once bound the seed is not visible. I'll include a metal box for transport/storage:



Naturally a question then arises: "what happens when someone steals my wallet?". I personally use and recommend a passphrase (the 25th word) and NOT STAMPING IT on the plate. However if you wish to stamp the passphrase there is place for it at the bottom of the plate (it should fit ~ 16 characters).

- Don't you think the seed would be just more readable and more prone to exposure when it's printed on a big metal?

I think the seed should be readable. It should be big enough (and deep enough) that when your house burns and the steel oxidizes/rusts on its outer layer (due to high temperature) or is covered with several tonnes of rubble the letters should still be readable.

- Are you self-funded or backed up by venture capitalists?

I'm self funded. I'm a programmer, I work with code but I'm also interested in metalworking.

[eternalgloom]

Any updates on this?
I'd be very interested in buying one eventually and I've mentioned this to a few other people who also seemed interested.

[stomachgrowls]

Any updates on this?
I'd be very interested in buying one eventually and I've mentioned this to a few other people who also seemed interested.

Theres no update on their site and still shows that email input for subscribing. OP's last post is on October and last active was on Nov. 19.
Q4 isnt over yet we do still have 1 month left and they might announce it on December hopefully.Im interested with this thing.

[eternalgloom]

Any updates on this?
I'd be very interested in buying one eventually and I've mentioned this to a few other people who also seemed interested.

Theres no update on their site and still shows that email input for subscribing. OP's last post is on October and last active was on Nov. 19.
Q4 isnt over yet we do still have 1 month left and they might announce it on December hopefully.Im interested with this thing.

Well, I've just received an e-mail with an announcement that they're up for sale.
If you've subscribed to receive their e-mail updates, you should have received a 30% off coupon.

https://coldbit.com/product/coldbit-steel/

[globtroter]

I've not been active on the forum - been busy preparing the product and the Coldbit online shop.

You can pay with Bitcoin (on-chain), Lightning Network (off-chain) and credit cards.

Here's the letter stamping tutorial and FAQs

Feel free to ask if you have any questions: support@coldbit.com

[eternalgloom]

Well, to help you with the launch, I've written a short announcement on my Steemit blog.
Hope that it'll get you some backlinks at least and some recognition.

Protecting Your Wallet Seed Words with Coldbit - Stainless Steel Seed Backup

[globtroter]

Well, to help you with the launch, I've written a short announcement on my Steemit blog.
Hope that it'll get you some backlinks at least and some recognition.

Appreciated, thanks

With regards to the price, please keep a few things in mind:

• You only need 1 stamping set to cover all your crypto assets and your family/friends
• There's 4x more steel in 4mm plate than in 1mm plate
• 70 EUR is only 0.02 BTC (used to be even less), I guess this won't matter much when you've lost your seed due to fire/flood/negligence etc. - think of it as insurance

[eternalgloom]

Made the purchase, payment should be confirmed in a few minutes.
I'll definitely post a small review once it arrives.

Just because I'm curious, was I your first customer?

[globtroter]

Just because I'm curious, was I your first customer?

Close, you were the second

I just shipped the wallet to you, can't wait to hear your feedback.

[eternalgloom]

Just because I'm curious, was I your first customer?

Close, you were the second

I just shipped the wallet to you, can't wait to hear your feedback.

Yup, I've received the shipping confirmation.
I'll remember to take some pictures before I punch my seed words in

Now I hope that I have a big enough hammer.

Something like this should do the trick, right?

[globtroter]

Now I hope that I have a big enough hammer.

Something like this should do the trick, right?

Looks like a proper hammer, it should do the job

The hammer should be at least 1kg / 3.3 lbs
1.5 kg is a good compromise between its mass and ability to hold it.
2 kg works great too (if you can hold it).

[aoluain]

This is a fantastic idea. All that is required is the coldbit product, a lump hammer,
some elbow grease and a little patience.

Great way to store a seed and it can be fixed to anything in the house out of sight
with 2 screws.

Such a simple design, cant believe noone thought of it before.
I may purchase on soon, best of luck to the OP.

[eternalgloom]

I'm happy to announce that my package has arrived!
it's definitely a very heavy-duty steel slab, that's for sure

Thanks for including those earplugs, something I wouldn't have thought about myself.