Prioritize Self-Custodial, privacy and safety as a Bitcoiner

[Abiky]

Bitcoin is on the verge of a new era we have never seen or experienced before, with 95.10% BTC mined, which makes this time the moment we have to prioritize self-custodial, privacy, and safety more.
Sadly, the rate of BTC ETF investors are increasing.
Ignore the investment in the BTC ETF because Bitcoin was created to be fully p2p decentralized crypto with no trust in a third party, get a secure open-source hardware wallet, or hd airgap wallet.

The dream of everybody who understands the potential and benefits of Bitcoin is to hold at least 1BTC out of the total 21 million coins, but for someone its a lost dream. Nevertheless, holding 0.1BTC is still a good thing.
Nevertheless, if you have the privilege and opportunities to hold at least 1 or more BTC in this current market, it normal for excitement to kicks in due to the future benefits of it, and this is happened this is when a Bitcoiner needs to be very careful of the company s/he keep, prioritize privacy more, and be careful about the information s/he share, especially online.

This reminds me of the story of what happened to  Kaitlyn Siragusa, aka Amouranth, who's a streamer and OnlyFans content creator. She holds 211 BTC, which is worth $20 Million at the time of the incident last year, and reveals her crypto portfolio online.

Afterwards, her Houston apartment was invaded by an armed robber. She was pistol-whipped and forced to give up her wallet, but she was able to tweet for help, and luckily, her husband was armed. He fired shots, and the attackers fled. Although 4 suspects were later arrested, if her husband is not available, there's a chance that she will be killed.

Used this incident as an example, and as a reminder, because in the future, when the eyes of some people, organizations opened to the benefit of BTC alot of BTC holder maybe the next target, and there's no guarantee that the workers of the firm you bought their BTC ETF from who know your ETF worth wont be after your life or family in the future.

Self-custody is a must. Especially with the increasing number of hacks and/or theft. You can obtain all of the benefits of Bitcoin if you practice self-custody and privacy. What use would it be to have a non-custodial wallet that you would ultimately transfer funds into a centralized exchange? Self-custody without privacy, greatly defeats the whole purpose of Bitcoin.

I understand it's getting harder to achieve privacy these days with the increasing number of government regulations. But "where there's a will, there's a way". I hope institutional investment firms and governments don't end up buying most (if not all) of the circulating supply. Otherwise, we won't be able to hold the BTC ourselves (self-custody). The future is unpredictable, so anything's possible.

[TastyChillySauce00]

Anyone should treat self custody the same way as carrying cash. Everybody that know you have something will try to do something bad to you and rob you.
That case above you mentioned is exactly why you should never share your bitcoin's holding the same way you'd never carry cash around in public area letting people know that you got something.

I'd like to imagine telling people that you have bitcoin is the same thing as shouting in the public space that you have a gold bar.

[TokenTikas]

Not everything should be shared openly with everyone. In some situations, it is very important to keep our privacy. People who are able to protect their privacy properly usually do not face many problems. For personal safety, staying private is the smartest choice. If someone finds out that you own bitcoin, no matter how close that person is, if they are not part of your family, you could be putting yourself at risk. Knowing that you have bitcoin is something only you need to be aware. there is no need to tell others and expose yourself to unnecessary danger. So, keep your privacy, stay safe, and continue to move your bitcoin investment forward step by step, as this will be the best thing for you.

[FinneysTrueVision]

Self-custody is a must. Especially with the increasing number of hacks and/or theft. You can obtain all of the benefits of Bitcoin if you practice self-custody and privacy. What use would it be to have a non-custodial wallet that you would ultimately transfer funds into a centralized exchange? Self-custody without privacy, greatly defeats the whole purpose of Bitcoin.

I understand it's getting harder to achieve privacy these days with the increasing number of government regulations. But "where there's a will, there's a way". I hope institutional investment firms and governments don't end up buying most (if not all) of the circulating supply. Otherwise, we won't be able to hold the BTC ourselves (self-custody). The future is unpredictable, so anything's possible.

Self custody doesn’t do anything to prevent $5 wrench attacks like the example shared by the OP. Amouranth only managed to not get her coins stolen because she lured the robbers to a place where her husband was located with a firearm. The only lesson here is that we should always have good opsec, in the physical world and online.

Self-custody along with privacy tools can make it harder for people to know how much BTC you own, but that effort is wasted when you go out of your way to tell a large audience that you are a crypto millionaire. Knowing that she has dealt with crazy stalkers and that all her personal information is available online, she should have had better judgment.

[SilverCryptoBullet]

Self custody doesn’t do anything to prevent $5 wrench attacks like the example shared by the OP. Amouranth only managed to not get her coins stolen because she lured the robbers to a place where her husband was located with a firearm. The only lesson here is that we should always have good opsec, in the physical world and online.

Self custodial wallets are helpful for privacy and anonymity but with public blockchains, scammers can use on-chain tools for easily finding wallet addresses as their potential victims. They don't mind who are people behind those addresses, and what they care is doing massive wrench attacks for finding victims. What they care are simply cryptocurrency funds stored in those addresses.

Protect yourself against $5 wrench attacks.

[suzanne5223]

Bitcoin is on the verge of a new era we have never seen or experienced before, with 95.10% BTC mined, which makes this time the moment we have to prioritize self-custodial, privacy, and safety more.
Sadly, the rate of BTC ETF investors are increasing.
Ignore the investment in the BTC ETF because Bitcoin was created to be fully p2p decentralized crypto with no trust in a third party, get a secure open-source hardware wallet, or hd airgap wallet.

The dream of everybody who understands the potential and benefits of Bitcoin is to hold at least 1BTC out of the total 21 million coins, but for someone its a lost dream. Nevertheless, holding 0.1BTC is still a good thing.
Nevertheless, if you have the privilege and opportunities to hold at least 1 or more BTC in this current market, it normal for excitement to kicks in due to the future benefits of it, and this is happened this is when a Bitcoiner needs to be very careful of the company s/he keep, prioritize privacy more, and be careful about the information s/he share, especially online.

This reminds me of the story of what happened to  Kaitlyn Siragusa, aka Amouranth, who's a streamer and OnlyFans content creator. She holds 211 BTC, which is worth $20 Million at the time of the incident last year, and reveals her crypto portfolio online.

Afterwards, her Houston apartment was invaded by an armed robber. She was pistol-whipped and forced to give up her wallet, but she was able to tweet for help, and luckily, her husband was armed. He fired shots, and the attackers fled. Although 4 suspects were later arrested, if her husband is not available, there's a chance that she will be killed.

Used this incident as an example, and as a reminder, because in the future, when the eyes of some people, organizations opened to the benefit of BTC alot of BTC holder maybe the next target, and there's no guarantee that the workers of the firm you bought their BTC ETF from who know your ETF worth wont be after your life or family in the future.

Self-custody is a must. Especially with the increasing number of hacks and/or theft. You can obtain all of the benefits of Bitcoin if you practice self-custody and privacy. What use would it be to have a non-custodial wallet that you would ultimately transfer funds into a centralized exchange? Self-custody without privacy, greatly defeats the whole purpose of Bitcoin.

I understand it's getting harder to achieve privacy these days with the increasing number of government regulations. But "where there's a will, there's a way". I hope institutional investment firms and governments don't end up buying most (if not all) of the circulating supply. Otherwise, we won't be able to hold the BTC ourselves (self-custody). The future is unpredictable, so anything's possible.

You said it yourself; when there's a will, there's a way, and despite the increased level of government regulation, achieving privacy is not hard. It is achieving total privacy that's hard.
The increase in the governments/institutions accumulation of Bitcoin, the future possible force of control, and future attack on Bitcoiners that may happen is the reason why I believe everyone needs to practise selfcustody and privacy more than ever.

Anyone should treat self custody the same way as carrying cash.

Treating selfcustody like carrying cash comes with vulnerability to physical attacks if using hot wallet or single signature hardware wallets

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Used this incident as an example, and as a reminder, because in the future, when the eyes of some people, organizations opened to the benefit of BTC alot of BTC holder maybe the next target, and there's no guarantee that the workers of the firm you bought their BTC ETF from who know your ETF worth wont be after your life or family in the future.

In as much as someone is knowledgeable enough about Bitcoin before going ahead to invest with a third party company, they have their reasons for doing so and I don't have to bother myself about that because there are many other things to worry about, the situation where I only give an advice is if the person don't know about Bitcoin yet and perhaps come to me for inquiry. Personally, I learned that Bitcoin is centralized and better to be treated that way while investing and since I started investing on Bitcoin, I have taken self custody very important.

[vanesha]

Security is indeed a complex issue. We live in a digital era where everything becomes easier—and unfortunately, so does crime in the digital world. In Bitcoin’s early days, it was often associated with illicit transactions, which made hackers major actors in this space.
The best way to deal with this risk is by securing our own personal wallets. I strongly recommend using hardware wallets such as Ledger or similar devices.

[KiaKia]

Anyone should treat self custody the same way as carrying cash. Everybody that know you have something will try to do something bad to you and rob you.
That case above you mentioned is exactly why you should never share your bitcoin's holding the same way you'd never carry cash around in public area letting people know that you got something.

I'd like to imagine telling people that you have bitcoin is the same thing as shouting in the public space that you have a gold bar.

Bitcoin is even more valuable than cash now, many criminals doesn't know this yet because of lack of knowledge, but the day that they finally knows about it will becomes the day they will start hunting for people who talks every secrets they have away in the public.

Wherever there is gold blood always follows, the same thing will. Happen to Bitcoin soon, wherever there is Bitcoin blood will start following because they understand that Bitcoin is just like Gold and they don't need to start digging to find the gold like a real gold..

Homes will once again start becoming a hunting ground, becoming your own bank will be very unsafe idea unless you know how to say nothing and act like you don't have any crypto.