Cost of safe deposit box for seed phrase storage by you.

[DaveF]

Since it's the end of the year I got a note that in 2023 the bank that I have my safe deposit box in is raising the rates for next year.
I have 1 of a X of Y SSS key in there and 1 device of a X of Y multisig.
Nothing anyone would ever be able to figure out even if I told them they were in there and where they are.

For security there is also a bunch of unrelated things in there (car title / passport / other paperwork) that if I just have to replace one for some reason the time and effort to replace them would be more the the cost of the box for the year so if someone was looking it was logical to have them in there......Until now.

With the increase in cost I am going to look at other banks / credit unions.

Just wondering what the cost is in other places.
Online pricing is wrong, the 2 banks I checked still show 2021 (2020?) pricing.

-Dave

[jackg]

I'd recommend expanding your search to include self storage prices if you haven't (especially if bank rates have gone up a lot).

To me, bank vaults look like more of a target and have a higher chance of theft. But even if you want to stick with a bank, you might be able to ask how both do differently and negotiate lower - like you can end up doing in chain tech shops that put so many targets on their employees they resent the company...

[dkbit98]

Just wondering what the cost is in other places.
Online pricing is wrong, the 2 banks I checked still show 2021 (2020?) pricing.

Why don't you consider checking out non-bank private Safe Deposit Boxes that are also insured and they can even be semi-anonymous?
Price should be lower than using banks and trusting banks means that you are trusting your government that can always confiscate them.

[DireWolfM14]

I store my seeds locally in fire resistant safes, and tucked into fire resistant document bags.  I have three safes on the property with redundant backups.  The odds of all three burning up to the point of all backups being unrecoverable is pretty slim.  My brother and I have talked about each buying a small document safe to hide in the other's house for redundant off-site backups, but neither of us gone to such lengths as of yet.

I've never looked into a safe deposit boxes, so I don't know what they go for in my area but I can't imagine they're cheap.  A small document safe built to be fire and water resistant can be found for under $175.  Even if you had to buy two to have redundant backups in different parts of the house, that's still pretty affordable.  Again, not knowing the cost of a safe deposit box, I don't know how that compares.

[m2017]

I store my seeds locally in fire resistant safes, and tucked into fire resistant document bags.  I have three safes on the property with redundant backups.  The odds of all three burning up to the point of all backups being unrecoverable is pretty slim.  My brother and I have talked about each buying a small document safe to hide in the other's house for redundant off-site backups, but neither of us gone to such lengths as of yet.

I've never looked into a safe deposit boxes, so I don't know what they go for in my area but I can't imagine they're cheap.  A small document safe built to be fire and water resistant can be found for under $175.  Even if you had to buy two to have redundant backups in different parts of the house, that's still pretty affordable.  Again, not knowing the cost of a safe deposit box, I don't know how that compares.

Oh, this eternal headache with the organization of safe storage of seed phrases. Apparently, this problem will exist all the time as long as crypto exists. On the one hand, this is a great advantage, on the other, a great responsibility to oneself.

If someone really needs it, then without any difficulty they will open this safe (in principle, any). For the most part, this is protection only from petty hooligans.

The $175 safe is a carry-on, so you need to mount or buckle it up. At a minimum, so that attackers spend more time and make it easier to find them.

The solution with a safe deposit box (or other storage locker) is rather dubious, even if only part of the information is stored in them. Additional backups will be required here, in case access to the cell is lost (for example, due to confiscation or theft). It is rather reckless to consider a safe deposit box as the main place for storing a phrase. Why do you need the unique opportunity to personally manage the seed phrase if you leave it in the hands of centralized systems? It's like storing crypto currencies on exchanges.

[DaveF]

Why don't you consider checking out non-bank private Safe Deposit Boxes that are also insured and they can even be semi-anonymous?
Price should be lower than using banks and trusting banks means that you are trusting your government that can always confiscate them.

There are none close / convenient to me. And the ones that are closest but still not convenient are a lot more money then the banks are.

The solution with a safe deposit box (or other storage locker) is rather dubious, even if only part of the information is stored in them. Additional backups will be required here, in case access to the cell is lost (for example, due to confiscation or theft). It is rather reckless to consider a safe deposit box as the main place for storing a phrase. Why do you need the unique opportunity to personally manage the seed phrase if you leave it in the hands of centralized systems? It's like storing crypto currencies on exchanges.

Everything I have for long term cold storage is X of Y as I said. Keeping the seeds in there is more along the lines of EVERYTHING ELSE went to shit; like the condo burned down, fireproof safe failed, secure seed storage was destroyed by a heard of reindeer [it is Christmas] and so on.

And it's mixed in with other documents that a lot of people have in SD boxes. Just things that are not 'critical' but difficult / annoying to replace.

If it was just the seeds I would not keep, but since they are just one more thing in there I figured other people might still use one and have an idea on price.

-Dave

[Wind_FURY]

OP, consider soft copies, encrypted, and stored in encrypted USBs, all the same copies, then place each in different places.

For me personally, I have one USB in my house, one hidden in my car, one hidden in my parent's house, and one in a small safe in our family business. That's most of my savings I made from 2015 - 2019 in there. I checked today, and I used to check the address everyday to see if they're still all there, and they're always there, thank God. Hahaha.

[yhiaali3]

OP, consider soft copies, encrypted, and stored in encrypted USBs, all the same copies, then place each in different places.

This is also a good and less expensive method, but the OP doesn't want to store only the seeds, he wants to store other important things as mentioned:

If it was just the seeds I would not keep, but since they are just one more thing in there I figured other people might still use one and have an idea on price.

It seems that he is looking for a safe deposit box at a cheaper price than the ones in banks to keep all his other valuables (passport, car papers, any other important documents...).

For me, I don't see the idea of storing seeds in banks as a good idea.
As for the presence of such a box in the house, it is very eye-catching. Thieves are always looking for such boxes because they know that there are valuables inside.

[LoyceV]

It turns out most Dutch banks no longer offer safe deposit boxes. Just like "cash" seems to be a nuisance to them. They seem to be earning enough by moving numbers on a screen.

That leaves De Nederlandse Kluis, which claims to be "100% safe & robbery proof". That's a strong claim!
All they show is prices start from €9.95 per month. It says there's a full overview on the website, but I can't find it. I can set an appointment to get a tour, but that's bad for privacy.

[SFR10]

Just wondering what the cost is in other places.
Online pricing is wrong, the 2 banks I checked still show 2021 (2020?) pricing.

I prefer not to disclose my exact location, but somewhere in the MENA region, the annual costs are in the range of $150 - $800 ^{[depending on its size]}.
I managed to find a list from a "blog post" that has been recently updated, so I expect at least some of them are accurate ^{[IIRC, you were residing in the US, so hopefully it comes in handy]}.

[DaveF]

Just wondering what the cost is in other places.
Online pricing is wrong, the 2 banks I checked still show 2021 (2020?) pricing.

I prefer not to disclose my exact location, but somewhere in the MENA region, the annual costs are in the range of $150 - $800 ^{[depending on its size]}.
I managed to find a list from a "blog post" that has been recently updated, so I expect at least some of them are accurate ^{[IIRC, you were residing in the US, so hopefully it comes in handy]}.

The answer really seems to be 'it varies from location to location' even within the same bank. MY branch that rate-jacked me actually referred me to another branch of the same bank about 5 miles away for LESS then I was paying in 2022. Yeah, go figure.

After I finished looking at the person I was talking to like they just popped out another head. They actually explained that they use market pricing in some areas and the branch I was sitting in was considered prime space since there are lots of homes / condos / apartments in the area. But, the one 5 miles east was in a mainly commercial area so they didn't have a lot of people who wanted boxes there.

Which does have some kind of logic in the fact that you would want something like that closer to home then work.

But....the price difference was insane. So yeah, from $99/yr to $219/yr keeping it where is was to $89 in the other branch.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

-Dave

[kamvreto]

OP, consider soft copies, encrypted, and stored in encrypted USBs, all the same copies, then place each in different places.

For me personally, I have one USB in my house, one hidden in my car, one hidden in my parent's house, and one in a small safe in our family business. That's most of my savings I made from 2015 - 2019 in there. I checked today, and I used to check the address everyday to see if they're still all there, and they're always there, thank God. Hahaha.

Softcopy is made as a kind of offline storage diversification on the USB that you are using. Having a copy is also very important, but offline security is my priority. make sure only you can access and open it. USB also has a feature to lock so that there will be a password that must be entered to open it. As much as possible, do not connect USB softcopy containing important data to the internet, to prevent viruses or malware from attacking.

and for the safebox rented by the Op it might be too expensive if there is another increase. I've never made storage in a bank safebox and of course the rent is expensive. I prefer to save with a personal safebox that I can make myself.

[philipma1957]

mine is free at Wells Fargo but we have bank accounts

[MysteryMiner]

Guys, please do not store of anything in value in bank deposit safes!!! Contrary to spy movies of 1970's they are one of worst places to store valuables. Government founders, the safe box contents are taken by whoever is in charge. Bank founders or get robbed, the contents are emptied. You are taken down, police comes and takes the safe box contents. It is even worse than mailing the seed phrase to me personally for safe keeping. At least I promise to take your coins only when I run out of my own!

Hiding the seed phrase on wilderness is best thing. Just do not use metallic box to store them because diggers with metal detectors can find them and also do not use any recycled plastics that give off smell to foxes that also can dig out the box in search for food.

[LoyceV]

Hiding the seed phrase on wilderness is best thing.

I live in the Netherlands, we don't have wilderness here.

[DaveF]

Guys, please do not store of anything in value in bank deposit safes!!! Contrary to spy movies of 1970's they are one of worst places to store valuables. Government founders, the safe box contents are taken by whoever is in charge. Bank founders or get robbed, the contents are emptied. You are taken down, police comes and takes the safe box contents. It is even worse than mailing the seed phrase to me personally for safe keeping. At least I promise to take your coins only when I run out of my own!

Hiding the seed phrase on wilderness is best thing. Just do not use metallic box to store them because diggers with metal detectors can find them and also do not use any recycled plastics that give off smell to foxes that also can dig out the box in search for food.

Depends on what you are putting in there.
At least for me as an example.
Yes I have a fireproof safe at home BUT it is a smaller one so it's more for things I may need access to on a regular basis.

Car & motorcycle titles. Yes I can keep them at home, but I get a car a few weeks later the title shows up and then I don't need to see it for 5+ years.
Into the box it goes.
Passport might need once a year.
Part of a multi-sig seed. Part is at another location (not home). The other is in the box. Brings back what a friend said decades ago when ATM cards were 1st coming out. "Don't want one, if the banks are closed and I need cash it's probably a bad idea"

So even if "the big bad government" came in and took everything or the bank was robbed and all was lost it's a pain to replace, not impossible.
And for $89 a year still, it's also got some paperwork that should not be stored at home like the paperwork about the home.

-Dave

[NotATether]

I would not trust a safe deposit box for storing my seed phrase because 1) it could be seized or robbed 2) sometimes there might be an inside job from the bank 3) if you lose your wallet then you have to make a trip to the bank and that's really inconvenient.

For multisig seed parts it's fine as long as you place the other pieces elsewhere, but there's a reason why it's mostly used to store things like jewelry.

[dzungmobile]

Guys, please do not store of anything in value in bank deposit safes!!! Contrary to spy movies of 1970's they are one of worst places to store valuables. Government founders, the safe box contents are taken by whoever is in charge. Bank founders or get robbed, the contents are emptied. You are taken down, police comes and takes the safe box contents.

It's not safe, like this famous burglary.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatton_Garden_safe_deposit_burglary

It is even worse than mailing the seed phrase to me personally for safe keeping. At least I promise to take your coins only when I run out of my own!

Storing your seed phrase online is very bad and sending your seed phrase through emails (even all are yours) is not recommended. Same with storing it in Cloud storage and any similar online methods such as text messengers.

How to back up a seed phrase? has many good advice.

[dkbit98]

I live in the Netherlands, we don't have wilderness here.

Not even sea wilderness?
Remember tv show Dexter and Dexter Origin...he was often using sea for hiding ''stuff'', you just need a boat for that
Modern cities could also be considered as modern wilderness, but I wouldn't risk hiding anything around the city.

[LoyceV]

I live in the Netherlands, we don't have wilderness here.

Not even sea wilderness?
Remember tv show Dexter and Dexter Origin...he was often using sea for hiding ''stuff'', you just need a boat for that

Throwing your seed words into the sea doesn't make recovery any easier....