Re: My friend's mistake; a lesson for everyone!
by on 09/12/2025, 07:38:10 UTC
His second mistake, relying only on digital backups, the good old method of writing your seed phrase could have also saved him.
Yes, but the idea was that he wanted to encrypt the seed phrase. Paper is great, easy, cheap, but doesn't support encryption. To mitigate that, Bitcoiners invented BIP38 years ago. It's essentially a paper wallet, with added encryption. I believe, until today, that this pattern is one of the best ways to create cold storage, but not frequently usable wallets. If I wanted to secure much money for years, I'd go with a BIP38 encrypted paper wallet and multiple backups.
2.he contacted a USB data recovery service, pay them and still achieve nothing, all these officers are nothing than fake and scam, because they will only collect more from you and do nothing.
I can't say that. I'll not support this argument. The fact that these companies get paid in advance, for checking if they can identify and solve the problem, is rational. They get paid for their time. The price is pre-agreed and therefore, they don't actually cheat. My father managed to gain back some old photos once, using a similar service. And, yeah, even though we talk about my father, those photos weren't printed
You know, dad trying to make his digital revolution.As a result, I learned from the experience and came to terms with the loss, deeply regretting it. Now, knowing the "jokes" flash drives can bring, I also store everything laminated in several places out of reach of children and curious adults.
I get you, especially babies who start exploring the world, beginning from your appartment, can very easily expose you. It's happened to me once, luckily the little devil gave my guests the electricity bill which was hidden behind the dog's treats box. But, you never know what else they can find. So yes! Hide them out of reach.
This is the reason memorizing the passphrase can be very good. It is not good to depend on only the memory but also have two backup like he did. I have my passphrase also written on a paper but I make sure that I also memorize it which is my forth passphrase backup. I am not saying people should depend on memorizing seed phrase or passphrase but it can be of a help for them in some situations.
Why memorizing the passphrase could be better? it can actually be worse because you can't rely on your memory completely, sometimes you might forget even the smallest detail, either you misremembered the initial letter or even forgot part of it, and that's enough to make the whole passphrase useless and you permanently lose access to your wallet.
Indeed, memorizing is a bad option. But, come on... Didn't you read the post where you answered?
The other user said: "It's not good to depend only on memory" and "I am not saying people should depend on memorizing seed phrase or passphrase". It's obvious that the meaning is: "Apart from your storage media and the various patterns you follow, you can also try to memorize it". This isn't wrong, but it's definitely optional.