SeedSigner

Why do I not trust secure elements? I once saw, first hand, a device that could instantly read the data inside any secure element we could get our hands on. It may sound unbelievable, but I saw it with my own eyes. This device exists. It is not in the open market (obviously). Surprisingly, it wasn't a black market tool either. This was a device used for testing. The manufacturers know about it. They are the ones that provided the keys. No, I don't personally have access to it, and I truthfully don't know where to find it. The only person I knew that knew where to get it has long since retired. It is a closely guarded secret. But one day, it was on my desk. If you are using a secure element as part of your bitcoin storage, I would encourage you to include a stateless or blind oracle device as part of a minimum quorum so you aren't able to sign a transaction with a secure element wallet alone. A recommended 2-of-3 multisig setup might look like this: SE wallet = ColdCard Stateless = Seed Signer Blind oracle = Jade That way there is no single point of failure. Btw, there are only a very few (maybe 2 total) companies that make these secure elements. Most of them come from the same manufacturer. Secure elements are definitely a requirement in today's world, and I'm not saying they are worthless. Just want you all to know that there are still vulnerabilities with them.

Had an interesting conversation with the designer for one of the largest HWWs in the bitcoin industry yesterday, he was having trouble wrapping his mind around why we give everything away. The short answer is that when you try to build a profitable business, you almost inevitably have to create a competitive moat by holding back some of the best stuff, and we just don’t want to do that. As a free, permissionless, open source network I think bitcoin deserves a free, permissionless, open source savings tool too. I also think the obligations and expenses of full time employees, supply contracts, leases, taxes, advertising commitments, etc. etc. can end up corrupting incentives over time and can lead to selling customer data, trying to squeeze them for every penny that you can via over-marketing, and even supporting shitcoins, etc. etc. We just don’t want to become what we’re disrupting and I’m blessed to be in a position financially to take the approach we have. But another really cool thing about SeedSigner is that we can be a sponge for talent that the bitcoin space would otherwise have no access to. Some of our lead contributors have high paying fiat jobs that they have zero plans to leave, but they are wonderful bitcoiners who want to use their skills to contribute to the bitcoin ecosystem. Our project provides an outlet for their talent that would otherwise never make it into bitcoin. Do I love “working for free”? Nope. There are moments that are super gratifying and I see the impact that the project has had literally around the world, and I’m proud of that. But would I love an OG to see what we’ve done and flip a few bitcoin our way? Yes, LoL, yes I would. But for now I just awkwardly plod forward because there’s not an easy answer. Anyhow, just some thoughts.

Had an interesting conversation with the designer for one of the largest HWWs in the bitcoin industry yesterday, he was having trouble wrapping his mind around why we give everything away. The short answer is that when you try to build a profitable business, you almost inevitably have to create a competitive moat by holding back some of the best stuff, and we just don’t want to do that. As a free, permissionless, open source network I think bitcoin deserves a free, permissionless, open source savings tool too. I also think the obligations and expenses of full time employees, supply contracts, leases, taxes, advertising commitments, etc. etc. can end up corrupting incentives over time and can lead to selling customer data, trying to squeeze them for every penny that you can via over-marketing, and even supporting shitcoins, etc. etc. We just don’t want to become what we’re disrupting and I’m blessed to be in a position financially to take the approach we have. But another really cool thing about SeedSigner is that we can be a sponge for talent that the bitcoin space would otherwise have no access to. Some of our lead contributors have high paying fiat jobs that they have zero plans to leave, but they are wonderful bitcoiners who want to use their skills to contribute to the bitcoin ecosystem. Our project provides an outlet for their talent that would otherwise never make it into bitcoin. Do I love “working for free”? Nope. There are moments that are super gratifying and I see the impact that the project has had literally around the world, and I’m proud of that. But would I love an OG to see what we’ve done and flip a few bitcoin our way? Yes, LoL, yes I would. But for now I just awkwardly plod forward because there’s not an easy answer. Anyhow, just some thoughts.

The better 240x240 display arrived. Looking forward to hacking up a better UI/UX for Ark payments! I think it deserves a name too. 🤔 Dare I call it an....Ark Signer?