How to keep your bitcoins secure if you suddenly disappear (jail or prison)

[Dabs]

I thought about creating a service, like boomerang for gmail: Person signs a transaction from A->B, but doesn't broadcast it. My server will broadcast the transaction only if you don't check in for the last 30 days. If you get thrown in jail (or die), no one would suspect that transaction is yours.

Wouldn't a Dead Man's Switch work for that purpose? But those are mostly for emails only. If there was an email-to-broadcast-tx service, that would work with almost all those dead man's switches or even google inactive account manager.

[LiteCoinGuy]

I believe it's in the following video which is also on his website.  Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Crash Course
This crash course is 1:12 long and I have no idea at what point he mentions it.  I'm only 99% certain this is the correct video.  This talk is from last summer in silicon valley.  Being it was from last year some things are a bit outdated like regulatory uncertainty which also led him to say he wouldn't recommend it as an investment.  Meanwhile he says that it was almost all his investment.  This was before the congressional meetings last year and the subsequent bubble.  I gave this video to a certified financial planner as part of an intro I made for him about btc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP9-lAYngi4

dont get me wrong I love Andreas, but for some reason he looks
like a crazy vampire in that speech.

thats blasphemy!


 

[nioc]

no it's not, he admits it himself. 

[Ricke]

If I had to get my Bitcoins over a timespan of imprisonment:

Saving Bitcoins:
1) calculate x = sha256(my full name + birth date + name of the primary school I went to + something simple to memorize) or something like that
2) run a program which does nothing other than repeating "x = sha256(x)" until I push the "stop" key
3) wait as long as possible
4) just before going to jail, stop the program by pressing the "stop" key. After stopping the program, I take the current "x" value as the private key and tranfer all my Bitcoins to the corresponding public key.
4b) Memorizing approximately how many x=sha256(x) steps it took might help later

Restoring Bitcoins:
1) extract all Bitcoin addresses from the blockchain
2) calculate x = sha256(my full name + birth date + name of the primary school I went to + something simple to memorize) or what I've choosen
3) run a programm which does "x = sha256(x)" until the corresponding public key matches an address in the block chain (Memorizing 4b could accelerate the task because calculating a public key from a private key requires some extra power)
4) restore my savings

[zedicus]

Multisig paper wallet would be safest in my opinion. Then store multiple copies in separate safety deposit boxes

The police/district attorney could easily get warrants to search safe deposit boxes that you own, and the chances of them doing this to your boxes would be much greater if you are charged with a more serious crime.

I think whatever method you use, you must be able to access your funds using only your head and nothing more then your head.

[solitude]

Discuss.

Shall we discuss the fact that you're a racist asshole?

[8btc]

so many ways to be selected!

[oceans]

I agree there is far too many ways you could keep them secure, it really is just a case of looking into each option to select the best option not only for you but that is proven to be nearly 100% safe while you are away for such long periods of time.

[sandykho47]

There's a way :
encrypt your wallet.dat with good password > archive wallet.dat to zip with password > upload .zip to cloud storage (please choose secure & still avalaible even you dissapear for long time) > done

Or maybe you want to remember your private keys 

[drrussellshane]

How about a QR tatoo?

That might get a little...ehm...distorted over time in jail.

Actually, less than 3% of inmates are ever raped in jail.

Prison rape is deliberately exaggerated to keep everyone terrified of prison.

Do you mean "less than 3% of inmates are ever raped in jail"?

Or "less than 3% of inmates admit to being raped in jail"?

[Beliathon]

Do you mean "less than 3% of inmates are ever raped in jail"?

Or "less than 3% of inmates admit to being raped in jail"?

Hmm that may be a valid point.

"It was conservatively estimated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that approximately 1 in 10 inmates were assaulted in 2012, and as prison populations continue to grow, it can be assumed that this number has only increased in the past two years."

source: http://lawstreetmedia.com/blogs/crime/rape-part-sentence/

3% may not be accurate. If they're "conservatively estimating" 1 in 10 are being "sexually assaulted" in some way, it's probably 15-20% in reality.

But be aware that "sexual assault" includes things like touching and molestation, not necessarily full on rape.

[Dabs]

If I had to get my Bitcoins over a timespan of imprisonment:

Saving Bitcoins:
1) calculate x = sha256(my full name + birth date + name of the primary school I went to + something simple to memorize) or something like that
2) run a program which does nothing other than repeating "x = sha256(x)" until I push the "stop" key
3) wait as long as possible
4) just before going to jail, stop the program by pressing the "stop" key. After stopping the program, I take the current "x" value as the private key and tranfer all my Bitcoins to the corresponding public key.
4b) Memorizing approximately how many x=sha256(x) steps it took might help later

Restoring Bitcoins:
1) extract all Bitcoin addresses from the blockchain
2) calculate x = sha256(my full name + birth date + name of the primary school I went to + something simple to memorize) or what I've choosen
3) run a programm which does "x = sha256(x)" until the corresponding public key matches an address in the block chain (Memorizing 4b could accelerate the task because calculating a public key from a private key requires some extra power)
4) restore my savings

BIP38 is easier, and currently takes anywhere from a minute to 10 minutes on existing implementations, to encrypt/decrypt keys.

I've been looking at customized PBKDF's... like the one used in RAR, or TrueCrypt or VeraCrypt. Those are practically un-brute-force-able.

If it takes a modern computer a few seconds to derive the 256-bit AES key ... it's going to take forever for someone to just go from A to Z even if the password was only 10 characters, more is better.

[counter]

Actually, less than 3% of inmates are ever raped in jail.

Prison rape is deliberately exaggerated to keep everyone terrified of prison.

I wouldn't be surprised if that number was much higher.  Think about how many prisoners would like to openly admit something like that had happened to them.  I could be wrong and maybe it is just used as a fear tactic but I wouldn't be surprised to learn the real numbers are much higher in such a dysfunctional environment. 

[solitude]

What will you do when the jews come for your bitcoins and guns, white man?

[QuestionAuthority]

Holy shit! How did this become a NSFW thread? I opened this up on a city bus and the woman sitting next to me moved to another seat. LOL

[solitude]

Holy shit! How did this become a NSFW thread? I opened this up on a city bus and the woman sitting next to me moved to another seat. LOL

I'd rather walk then be on a city bus.

[QuestionAuthority]

Holy shit! How did this become a NSFW thread? I opened this up on a city bus and the woman sitting next to me moved to another seat. LOL

I'd rather walk then be on a city bus.

Tell me that again after walking 6 miles up and down California street in San Francisco.

[gonnafly]

May I suggest it's unwise to link users to a site where they enter their password to check its security.
No tech-savvy person would ever enter their real password on such a site, but that's not who this post was for.
What's worse is that that site is not even ssl protected, meaning anyone can read a plaintext password you enter over the wire. Nasty. Seriously, remove that link...

[silversurfer1958]

That's why Brainwallet was invented.
https://bitaddress.org

Just remember though that there are hackers out there pre compiling brainwallet passphrases into rainbow tables
so you need to make sure you use a very good pass phrase of 15 chars, uppercase lowercase numbers and special chars.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Holy shit! How did this become a NSFW thread? I opened this up on a city bus and the woman sitting next to me moved to another seat. LOL

Maybe you had some BO 
Anyways a brainwallet combined with some cold storage and I guess finding a place that you can keep it stored safely while in prison seem to be the main requirements to get it secure.

The question is people have the foresight to do it before they get arrested lol.