Sinon, j'ai ecris un poste en anglais sur ma mesaventure.
Je met a la fin des lien et outils utiles, ainsi qu'un ensemble de questions que chaqun devrait s'etre pose.
So yes it is a catchy title
Let me tell you my feedback on using my memory and using hardware (hardwallet, or mobile phone).
The keyword of my story is to have redundancy, why is that? because like everything in life one must always have a backup plan.
Story 1 : Brain / memory
So, before xmas my wife and I went on a holiday. Because we have a dog we took the habit to get a house/dog sitter while we are away.
Pro : the dog stays home instead of a kennel, dogs goes to the same park and same walking tracks. House is not empty.
Cons: have to do interview, have to put all jewelry in the safe, have to have a camera in our bedroom to check no intrustion...
Anyway, we found the perfect dog sitter.
I tuck all the pricey stuff on the safe, install a couple of camera in the room to check if someone opens the door and see what they may do.
I decided not to take my Ledger S with me on that holiday because we decided to go to 2 countries that are not super safe.
Just in case someone was going to break in, I decided to NOT put my ledger in the safe, but to HIDE it in my bedroom.
I hid it so well that 4 weeks later I am still looking for it (MASSIVE FACEPALM !!!!) My memory failed me !! I Legit have looked everywhere, I can't find it.
No one has entered the room, it has to be in the room, I just don't remember where.
This is where the contingency plan goes into action.
It turns out I have the seed somewhere safe (bank deposit, not in the same city).
I just need to go fetch it and insert my 24 words in a new device.
The reason the seed is not at my house is due to the fear of a fire. Or in the event of a burglary, they might take it.
Conclusion : don't believe you will remeber everything, have a back up plan.
Story 2 : hardwallet / hardware / mobile phone
This is another story, I'm roughly 33. I've had a mobile phone since I was 14 years old.
In almost 20 years i have NEVER broken or lost a phone!
Back in 2017, there was the GByteball airdrop. And it was very easy to do on a smartphone (easier than computer).
I did it while I was on holiday with my family.
Because it was just for 1 week, I didn't bother saving the seed on paper.
I told myself I would do it once I am back home and that everything will be fine.
Well, it didn't, I decided to take a photo of my family swimming. I had water to my knees and my phone fell in the water.
Instant death, lost 5 GBYTE lesson learned.
Never trust that your mobile phone will last forever.
Fortunately, I had 2 phones, and all my 2FA were on both phones.
Same as my password manager and all my photos and date.
Redundancy!
So, in my first story, I haven't lost anything, in the second one I've lost free coins.
What I would like to tell to beginners and also to more experienced users is to have backup, contingency and always keep in mind that things can go unexpected.
I'll drop here a few questions to help you think about
your own strategy.
1) what happens if you lose your phone? (2FA? emails access? wallets on the phone ?)
2) what happens if your ledger or trezor is broken/stolen / or reset by someone that uses 3 wrong pin
3) what happens if your house catch fire while you are away. Are you losing both your hardware and back up seed? what about computer and USB back-up?
4) what happens if you have an accident and end up in a coma. Who can access your coins? How would they know where to look? Did you leave enough explanation so your next of kin can enjoy your coins? Life can end abruptly.
Useful resources (no ref link) :
Fireproof seed :
cryptosteel or
crypto key stackHow to share/save a seed 2 ou of 3 between family Authy allows you to have 2Fa on multiple devices Lastpass is a good password manager
