Everyone says not to store your wallet seed phrases online, but almost no one touches upon the fact that storing them offline (via paper, metal, safeboxes) is a pain. Sure, there are hardware wallets, but to be honest, not everyone's going to be able to get a hardware wallet, and even then there's always the possibility of losing the "paper"/"metal sheet" or having someone stumble upon it. Initially (we're talking around 5 - 6 years ago) I wrote my phrases down on paper, but after a bit, I found that it was not convenient (or secure for that matter). I moved to storing them in Google Docs (the Google account I used had no connection to any third-party apps, wasn't used to sign up for any service, wasn't signed into any other device, and exclusively hosted the file containing the phrases), but I've also come to realise, that this is not ideal either. Not only can Google lock you out.... but there was also the possibility of them accessing your data (yes, I know policies and safeguards exist to prevent this, but if we are being honest, we have to acknowledge that there's always a chance your data could be exposed/read by an employee or anyone with required admin credentials.) Plus, if the Google account itself got compromised, the wallet would be as good as gone. To circumvent these issues, I've resorted to using SHA-256 encryption to secure my seed phrases. Here's how the process goes: -> I have Claude create a Python script that uses SHA-256 (via the cryptography library) to encrypt the inputted seed phrase using a master passphrase of my choosing. -> I move the script to a VM and run it offline to generate the encrypted output. (this step isn't necessary, but I tend to get paranoid about malware, even when I'm fairly confident there's none on my PC. 😂 ) -> After encrypting, I take the ciphertext and store it in Google Docs or Fileverse, while also keeping offline copies on external drives. {Images depicting the workflow below} With this setup, even if someone gains access to the document containing the ciphertext, they still can't access the wallet without the master password that decrypts the ciphertext. This method isn't without its flaws - you could lose data on the drives due to degradation or forget the master password - but as long as you maintain regular backups across multiple drives and never forget your encryption key, I'd argue it's one of the more practical options for anyone who needs to store phrases online. That said, I'd still advise against keeping large amounts on such a wallet - When it comes to security (especially with crypto wallets), you have to assume any system could be compromised. So if you absolutely must, consider getting a hardware wallet or a separate software wallet and configuring it as a multi-sig --> one that requires approval from two or more wallets before any transaction goes through. So, what do you guys think? Is this approach solid enough? Plus, what do you use for storing your seed phrases? 👀 p.s. To help with not losing access because you forgot your master password, consider having it engraved on a metal plate. You could commission a small decorative piece - a keychain or a medallion, for example - and have the words engraved discreetly on the back (the engraver doesn't need to know what it's for.).
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lowercase supremacy!
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kindly show some love on this piece by liking & retweeting. need to have a minimum of 20 engagements to be eligible for judging. https://x.com/i/status/2070261960873058622
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