Crypto News

Privacy Is A Group Effort

Published

11 months ago

October 27, 2023

Privacy is a complicated subject. It’s not always a simple binary thing, private or not private, seen or unseen. Seen by whom? Private from whom? Private to what degree? If you are walking down the street with a mask on your face no one can see your face, so that means you are private, right? What if you are the only one wearing a mask? Are you private then? People might not be able to see your face, but they can see that you are the only one wearing a mask. If you travel around the same areas frequently, people might not know your face and name, but they can consistently recognize you in the same way people do a familiar face simply by noticing the only person who wears a mask is back again.

So does this really constitute privacy? People might not have your face, so they cannot recognize you if you took off the mask, they might not be able to ascertain your legal identity due to never having seen your face, but they recognize you. They can consistently identify you when you are present in the sense of being aware it is the same individual across multiple incidents of encountering you.

In order to achieve meaningful privacy, you would need a large percentage of the people wherever you are to also be wearing a mask. Only when you are not alone in using a mask does it actually provide meaningful privacy, otherwise it is just as distinguishing and identifiable a feature as your face is. But that’s just the start.

Metadata And Behavior Patterns

Even in a scenario where everyone is wearing masks, are they all the same mask? How many different kinds of masks are there? How many people are wearing each type of mask? If there are three types of masks that everyone is wearing, in roughly equal distributions, then there are three groups of people that all blend in with other group members but not other groups. If someone is wearing a totally unique mask no one else is wearing, then we are back to square one.

It goes even further, what clothes are you wearing? How tall are you? What color is your hair? How long is it? How much do you weigh? Are you muscular or non-muscular? Are you wearing boots, shoes, or sandals? All of these little things all of a sudden start making unique fingerprints people can use to identify you if everyone doesn’t use the same thing. Wear the same shoes, same shirts, same hats, same masks. Some of these things, like your weight, your height, etc. cannot even be changed to conform exactly with everyone else. You might be able to lose a little weight, but someone who weighs 160 lbs and is 6 ft 2 isn’t going to lose 100 lbs and 2 feet off their height to be the same weight and stature as a 12 year old.

Now take things even further. Assume everyone is the same stature, wearing the exact same clothes, walking the same way. You can still be tracked and identified if someone can watch you without interruption. Even if you are of identical frame, wearing identical clothes, identical height, the whole shebang, if I can just watch you uninterrupted from the moment you leave home to the moment you get back at night, I can still surveil and associate every activity you engage in to you. Even if I don’t know what your legal name is.

No meaningful privacy can actually be obtained without either preventing entirely the ability to surveil you (not practical at all) or finding blind spots where you can “mix” yourself with other people and obscure who is exiting those blind spots in which direction. Without these places multiple people can go into, where they cannot be surveilled inside, and leave in different orders and exits obscuring who is who, no privacy can be obtained from surveillance. Preventing surveillance in the wider world is essentially impossible, but if you can prevent it just in blind spots people can use for this purpose, that is enough.

This is all exactly how Bitcoin privacy works. Your UTXOs are you, people can see where they were, where they’re going, deduce what you are doing with them, and compile a picture of all of this. Coinjoins, coinswaps, even centralized mixers in the imaginary ideal world where they were trustworthy (they aren’t), function as those blind spots. Without the possibility of mixers, all of your activity is laid out bare for everyone to surveil on-chain, and without blind spots to go scramble your movement inside of for those watching, it’s all taggable and trackable.

Now before we go into anything beyond the analogy, consider things through the lens of the analogy. Think about all the complex changes in your behavior, what you wear, how you travel from A to B, how you have to time up your movements to be able to get to blind spots in sync with enough other people, all of that complexity that you have to consciously manage and engage in.

That is how complex privacy on Bitcoin is right now. That is the lengths people have to go to in order to achieve it, and the level of privacy gained is only proportional to how many other people go to those lengths. That is not a viable solution. Especially when you consider the possibility of the surveilers simply standing outside the blindspots and grabbing people going in and coming out, demanding details of where they went and what they did to reduce the amount of uncertainty of what other people are doing before and after entering.

The Threat Of Checkpointing Blind Spots

The equivalent of those blindspot checkpoints on Bitcoin is your exchanges, your regulated and KYC businesses, that demand explanations and information whenever they see you mix your coins after withdrawing or before depositing. The more people using coinjoins, or mixers, or any technique to function as a blindspot who interact with such services or entities and wind up divulging information end up doing harm to the overall privacy of others using those blindspots. The more people using blindspots to hide their activity who then go on to tell authorities exactly what they did, the less ambiguity there is for those who don’t divulge that information.

Imagine the most extreme case of that, there is only a single person in a crowd of thousands of people who is not just divulging everything they are doing to authorities. That person has no privacy at all. With a full account of what every other person is doing, they de facto know everything the one person not giving that information to them is doing. That is the cat and mouse game of privacy on Bitcoin.

It is a very tough game to play, for many reasons. One problem is people actually acquiring Bitcoin. There are options to get Bitcoin without interacting with KYC systems directly, Bisq, Azteco, Robosats, ATMs requiring minimal information, even the possibility to meet directly in person through networks like local meetups. All of these solutions though generally come at a cost premium. The reason for that is most of the Bitcoin available for sale is on KYC exchanges. Centralized solutions to things just point blank have more efficiency most of the time, and that is especially true when it comes to things like order matching and price discovery.

This is ultimately a problem that must continue to be iterated on, like projects such as CivKit are doing. To pull all of those Bitcoin away from centralized KYC exchanges, better solutions must be built that offer a value add that those exchanges cannot in fulfilling the role of order matching and price discovery. If we want to get that Bitcoin away from places that tag it so it can be tracked, then we must outcompete those places in the role they fulfill. Otherwise, the damage to privacy done there can ripple out to people who avoid directly engaging with those services. That avoidance is not guaranteed to be enough.

Someone buying bitcoin KYC-free might think they are safe, but the reality of most bitcoin being on KYC exchanges means there is some trail from there. In all likelihood the person you are buying from bought it from such an exchange, and is KYCed. Those coins flowing out from him regularly represent a quasi-blindspot, and when the authorities show up and demand information they will get whatever they can. Did you contact this person by phone? A social media service that can be subpoenaed? That you identified yourself to? Now the person who thought they are beyond surveillance is surveilled.

This does significantly raise the cost for acquiring that information versus just directly querying exchanges, it doesn’t make it impossible, but it makes it more time consuming. And that is the point. They are going to surveil the blindspots, they are going to try and extract information from everyone who uses them. So they need to be absolutely everywhere. From every A to every B. There need to be so many of them it is impossible to surveil them all, to extract information from any sizable number of people using them. Bitcoin needs to be pulled away from KYC sources so that most of the liquidity never interacts with it anymore, instead of bouncing from blindspot to exchange back and forth never creating any real distance.

That starts with outcompeting them as a place to coordinate exchanging bitcoin, but it’s not enough alone. Those blindspots need to not only be almost omnipresent, they need to be convenient, intuitive, not prohibitively expensive. They need to be sustainable. They need to be all of these things so that people’s behavior actually can shift en masse to regularly using them.

Behavior And Technology

Why do so many people use things like Twitter? Because it’s intuitive and simple. There is no laborious process to interact with it, or high mental overhead for figuring out how to use it. Button, type, button. Function accomplished. The same thing with Amazon, or Netflix. No getting in the car and going to the store, walking around looking for specific things, just a few minutes maybe of scrolling and a button press and what you wanted to accomplish is accomplished.

That is how technology really alters behavior at a massive scale, by making it intuitive and easy to use. Look at how all those examples did so globally in the span of a decade in each case. They all altered the entire fabric of the market they entered, and totally altered the nature of how users interacted with those markets, and the behavior they engaged in within them. That is what must be done with software for Bitcoin whose goal is to create these blindspots.

Making Bitcoin Privacy Intuitive

On the side of actually outcompeting centralized exchanges, the problem fundamentally comes down to the issues of order matching and reputation. In other words, a communications channel and bond scheme. A way to prove that you are not a sybil entity spamming the network, and a way to communicate offers to exchange things with each other. These two pieces together form the framework to have an actually decentralized way to price Bitcoin. A bond as a basis for identity in that framework would give a way for entities to attest to past interactions and their outcomes, and for that to be publicly verifiable in sorting through the potential offers being broadcast. Adding escrow and enforceability to bad behavior is as simple as multisig and fidelity bonds, DLCs, or other smart contracts.

We have all the pieces necessary for simple and intuitive tools to make this easy, they just have to be put together. They have to be marketed, and people made aware of them. We need more of them. A scalable and sustainable ecosystem of them that can continue to thrive into the future, especially under external pressure.

It’s a very similar thing regarding transacting in a private way. Tools like Samourai Wallet, Wasabi, and Mercury Wallet, all exist right now. Lightning exists right now, though with many shortcomings in terms of user privacy. The nice thing there though, is we understand how to solve most of those shortcomings. It will just take the time and effort to glue them all together, and package them in an intuitive way.

If we go back to the analogy, if doing nothing is walking around in the open surveilled the entire time, things like coinjoins are having regular huts on every block that you walk through with a group of people and obscure yourself at the end of every block; Lightning is like a tunnel system with a checkpoint at the start where you register at the entrance you start from, publicly taking your mask off (but only at the starting entrance), and again when you get back to that point. Gluing these two things together, and fixing the issues on the Lightning side, we get a tunnel system with no internal surveillance, no checkpoints at any entrance, and entrances on every street corner.

We have on-chain privacy tools, and we have the start of off-chain privacy tools with Lightning. Fixing the shortcomings of Lightning, we have a scalable and cheap way to transact off-chain without leaking information about individual payments. With coinjoin now, we have a way to obscure the connection between individual on-chain UTXOs. Putting those two together properly, something not currently done, you have scalable and private off-chain payments with tooling to obscure who funded what channels. You have a tunnel system that is entirely private inside, with no way to identify who is entering or exiting where.

Doesn’t that sound much simpler than identifying yourself at an entrance after a walk through numerous blindspot huts to prevent people following you from home to there or vice versa? What if you had an entrance to the tunnel system in your home? None of that is going to happen without wider collaboration, without combining the individual pieces. The tools available now are better than nothing, but it is still not sustainable or intuitive enough at all to really gain any wide meaningful use. They’re not comprehensive enough in looking at the whole picture and packaging it in an intuitive and yet comprehensible way.

The reality is most coins are still on or cycling through KYC exchanges, most coins are not using existing privacy tools. The reality is the successful grabs by authorities at large troves of identifiable information to tag and track people are becoming more frequent. This is what most of the simplest tools encourage. Activism and tribalistic elitism and bickering isn’t going to change that, long-term sustainable solutions that are simple and accessible enough that people will use them will.

This is too important to screw up, and it’s not something we have all the time in the world to solve. The form technology takes informs the behavior it creates, and right now most of the technological tooling for interacting with Bitcoin is encouraging behavior that fundamentally undermines privacy. That is ultimately what this entire issue is about. Behavior. Privacy is simply not achievable alone, it requires numbers. Yet it also requires a very large change in behavior, and for a large number of people to engage in that change. Bad behavior is entrenched right now.

The only way to change that bad behavior is with tooling that reinforces privacy that is just as intuitive, simple, and sustainable. Bickering tribally won’t make tools.

Privacy cannot be accomplished alone, it inherently requires a group effort to be attained.

Crypto News

Trump Election Victory Could Send Bitcoin to $125,000, Says Standard Chartered Analyst

Published

12 hours ago

September 12, 2024

According to Geoff Kendrick, Head of Crypto Research at Standard Chartered bank, a Donald Trump victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election could drive Bitcoin to $125,000. However, Kendrick notes that new all-time highs (ATHs) for Bitcoin are likely no matter who wins the election, with Bitcoin still expected to hit $75,000 if Vice President Kamala Harris secures the presidency.

JUST IN: A Trump victory could send #Bitcoin to $125,000, but new ATHs are likely no matter who wins election, says Standard Chartered bank 🚀 pic.twitter.com/SfGoRSyKwn

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) September 12, 2024

In the new report, Kendrick explained that while the outcome of the election will impact the Bitcoin industry, the risks of a Harris presidency may be overstated. “BTC will end 2024 at fresh all-time highs under either election outcome – [circa] $125,000 level under Trump or c.$75,000 level under Harris,” Kendrick wrote. While a Harris win could initially result in a price decline, he emphasized that “dips would be bought as the market recognizes that progress on the regulatory front will still be forthcoming.”

Despite concerns within the industry that Harris may adopt a more hostile stance toward Bitcoin, Kendrick believes that her administration would be “much less negative” for digital assets than a second Biden administration. Furthermore, Standard Chartered maintains its bullish outlook, forecasting that Bitcoin will hit $200,000 by the end of 2025, regardless of who wins this year’s election.

The 2024 election has drawn attention to the differing approaches to Bitcoin regulation by the two candidates. Trump has become an ally to the Bitcoin industry, speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville this summer, where he expressed support for Bitcoin. The Republican National Committee has also included Bitcoin in its platform, pledging to defend the right to mine Bitcoin and protect self-custody.

In contrast, Vice President Kamala Harris has remained silent on the issue, opting not to attend the Bitcoin conference. The Democratic Party’s platform makes no mention of Bitcoin or cryptocurrency, which has led to concerns within the industry about the potential regulatory environment under a Harris administration. Although Harris has not publicly shown hostility to crypto, some fear a continuation of the stricter regulatory policies seen during President Joe Biden’s term, notably shaped by figures like Senator Elizabeth Warren and SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

A Trump win could fuel a Bitcoin rally, though new all-time highs are expected regardless of the 2024 election outcome.

Crypto News

Revolutionizing Bitcoin Mining: The Power of Three-Phase Systems

Published

15 hours ago

September 12, 2024

Bitcoin mining has seen exponential growth since the first ASIC miner was shipped in 2013, improving hardware efficiency from 1,200 J/TH to just 15 J/TH. While these advancements were driven by better chip technology, we’re now reaching the limits of silicon-based semiconductors. As further efficiency gains plateau, the focus must shift to optimizing other aspects of mining operations—particularly the power setup.

Three-phase power has emerged as a superior alternative to single-phase power in bitcoin mining. With more ASICs being designed for three-phase voltage input, future mining infrastructure should consider adopting a uniform 480v three-phase system, especially given its abundance and scalability across North America.

Understanding Single-Phase and Three-Phase Power

To comprehend the significance of three-phase power in bitcoin mining, it’s essential first to understand the basics of single-phase and three-phase power systems.

Single-phase power is the most common type of power supply used in residential settings. It consists of two wires: one live wire and one neutral wire. The voltage in a single-phase system oscillates sinusoidally, providing power that reaches a peak and then drops to zero twice during each cycle.

Imagine you are pushing a person on a swing. With each push, the swing moves forward and then comes back, reaching a peak height and then descending back to the lowest point before you push again.

Just like the swing, a single-phase power system has periods of maximum and zero power delivery. This can lead to inefficiencies, especially when consistent power is required, although this inefficiency is negligible in residential applications. However, it becomes significant in high-demand, industrial-scale operations like bitcoin mining.

Three-phase power, on the other hand, is commonly used in industrial and commercial settings. It consists of three live wires, providing a more constant and reliable power flow.

In the same swing analogy, imagine you have three people pushing the swing, but each person is pushing at different intervals. One person pushes the swing just as it starts to slow down from the first push, another pushes it a third of the way through the cycle, and the third person pushes it two-thirds of the way through. The result is a swing that moves much more smoothly and consistently because it’s being pushed continuously from different angles, maintaining a constant motion.

Similarly, a three-phase power system ensures a constant and balanced power flow, resulting in higher efficiency and reliability, particularly beneficial for high-demand applications like bitcoin mining.

The Evolution of Bitcoin Mining Power Requirements

Bitcoin mining has come a long way since its inception, with significant changes in power requirements over the years.

Before 2013, miners relied on CPUs and GPUs to mine bitcoins. The real game-changer came with the development of ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) miners as the bitcoin network grew and competition increased. These devices are specifically designed for the purpose of mining bitcoins, offering unparalleled efficiency and performance. However, the increased power requirements of these machines necessitated advancements in power supply systems.

In 2016, a top-of-the-line miner was capable of computing 13 TH/s with a power consumption of approximately 1,300 watts (W). While considered highly inefficient by today’s standards, mining with this rig was profitable due to the low network competition at that time. However, to generate meaningful profits in today’s competitive landscape, institutional miners now rely on rigs that demand around 3,510 W.

The limitations of single-phase power systems has come to the fore as the power requirements of ASIC and the efficiency demands of high-performance mining operations grows. The transition to three-phase power became a logical step to support the growing energy needs of the industry.

480v Three-Phase in Bitcoin Mining

Efficiency First

480v three-phase power has long been the standard in industrial settings across North America, South America, and other regions. This widespread adoption is due to its numerous benefits in terms of efficiency, cost savings, and scalability. The consistency and reliability of 480v three-phase power make it ideal for operations that demand greater operational uptime and fleet efficiency, especially in a post-halving world.

One of the primary benefits of three-phase power is its ability to deliver higher power density, which reduces energy losses and ensures that mining equipment operates at optimal performance levels.

Additionally, implementing a three-phase power system can lead to significant savings in electrical infrastructure costs. Fewer transformers, smaller wiring, and reduced need for voltage stabilization equipment contribute to lower installation and maintenance expenses.

For example, a load requiring 17.3 kilowatts of power at 208v three-phase would need a current of 48 amps. However, if the same load is supplied by a 480v source, the current requirement drops to just 24 amps. This halving of the current not only reduces power loss but also minimizes the need for thicker, more expensive wiring.

Scalability

As mining operations expand, the ability to easily add more capacity without major overhauls to the power infrastructure is crucial. The high availability of systems and components designed for 480v three-phase power makes it easier for miners to scale their operations efficiently.

As the bitcoin mining industry evolves, there is a clear trend towards the development of more three-phase compliant ASICs. Designing mining facilities with a 480v three-phase configuration not only addresses current inefficiencies but also future-proofs the infrastructure. This allows miners to seamlessly integrate newer technologies that are likely to be designed with three-phase power compatibility in mind.

As shown in the table below, the immersion-cooling and hydro-cooling techniques are superior methods in scaling up bitcoin mining operations in terms of reaching higher hashrate output. But to support such a much higher computation capacity, the configuration of three-phase power becomes necessary for maintaining a similar level of power efficiency. In short, this will lead to a higher operational profit with the same profit margin percentage.

Implementing Three-Phase Power in Bitcoin Mining Operations

Transitioning to a three-phase power system requires careful planning and execution. Here are the key steps involved in implementing three-phase power in bitcoin mining operations.

Assessing Power Requirements

The first step in implementing a three-phase power system is to assess the power requirements of the mining operation. This involves calculating the total power consumption of all mining equipment and determining the appropriate capacity for the power system.

Upgrading Electrical Infrastructure

Upgrading the electrical infrastructure to support a three-phase power system may involve installing new transformers, wiring, and circuit breakers. It’s essential to work with qualified electrical engineers to ensure that the installation meets safety and regulatory standards.

Configuring ASIC Miners for Three-Phase Power

Many modern ASIC miners are designed to operate on three-phase power. However, older models may require modifications or the use of power conversion equipment. Configuring the miners to run on three-phase power is a critical step in maximizing efficiency.

Implementing Redundancy and Backup Systems

To ensure uninterrupted mining operations, it’s essential to implement redundancy and backup systems. This includes installing backup generators, uninterruptible power supplies, and redundant power circuits to protect against power outages and equipment failures.

Monitoring and Maintenance

Once the three-phase power system is operational, continuous monitoring and maintenance are crucial to ensure optimal performance. Regular inspections, load balancing, and proactive maintenance can help identify and address potential issues before they impact operations.

Conclusion

The future of bitcoin mining lies in the efficient utilization of power resources. As advancements in chip processing technologies reach their limits, focusing on power setup becomes increasingly critical. Three-phase power, particularly a 480v system, offers numerous advantages that can revolutionize bitcoin mining operations.

By providing higher power density, improved efficiency, reduced infrastructure costs, and scalability, three-phase power systems can support the growing demands of the mining industry. Implementing such a system requires careful planning and execution, but the benefits far outweigh the challenges.

As the bitcoin mining industry continues to evolve, embracing three-phase power can pave the way for more sustainable and profitable operations. With the right infrastructure in place, miners can harness the full potential of their equipment and stay ahead in the competitive world of bitcoin mining.

This is a guest post by Christian Lucas, Strategy at Bitdeer. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

Why Three-Phase electrical systems can offer a competitive advantage to miners with ASIC efficiency gains tapering off.

Crypto News

Bitcoin Vaults and the Future of Bitcoin Custody

Published

1 day ago

September 11, 2024

Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, has come a long way from its informal past. From an experimental digital currency that occupied cypherpunk niches on the internet, it has grown to a trillion-dollar market cap asset valued at over $66,900 per coin as of this writing.

While investing in Bitcoin is still considered a wild ride, the asset is quickly maturing. Financial institutions are closing in and creating hybrid vehicles to invest in cryptocurrency. The ecosystem reached a new milestone with the advent of Bitcoin ETFs, making people realize the immensity of Bitcoin’s potential in traditional markets and spurring new demand.

As more people and institutions invest in Bitcoin, Bitcoin vaults become more crucial. Here, we examine the features and importance of Bitcoin vaults and how they contribute to ensuring a reliable infrastructure that promotes sustained value and investability.

We explore their role in professionalized and institutional custody. Secure custodians are vital to protecting digital assets from theft and loss. This article also tracks the fast-advancing technology of Bitcoin vaults and how it relates to future developments in the custody space.

What are Bitcoin vaults, and how do they work?

Bitcoin vaults are offline digital asset storage solutions offering enhanced protection against online threats. This protection is created through multiple security layers.

As the Bitcoin investment sphere grows, new products are being created. Bitcoin vaults are a critical component of these new financial products. While hot wallets and exchange accounts offer easy transaction access, they are vulnerable to hacks.

Bitcoin vaults are fortified digital safes. They protect your Bitcoin by taking it offline and shielding it from the constant openness to online attacks. Their multiple layers of security include withdrawal delays, multi-signature or multisig authentication, and cold storage solutions.

One highly secure approach to Bitcoin or crypto vaults is called air-gapping. Air-gapped storage offers robust protection against malware attacks, phishing scams, and unauthorized access.

Many Bitcoin vaults integrate advanced encryption techniques. They typically require multiple authorizations for transactions to proceed. Advanced encryption and the need for layered authorization steps bolster security posture.

As a Bitcoin investor, ensuring that your coins are kept in air-gapped and layered security vaults protects your investment and helps you hold it long-term.

Vaults: Vital Components of Bitcoin Custody

Bitcoin vaults are a component of Bitcoin custody solutions. Bitcoin custody is the entire process of holding and securing BTC.

Because Bitcoin is a digital asset, it requires unique storage solutions to protect it from theft and loss. As BTC’s value rises, so does the interest from cybercriminals and hackers. Therefore, secure custody solutions are essential for protecting these digital assets.

The Advanced Technology Behind Bitcoin Vaults

The following advanced technologies combine to create the security behind Bitcoin vaults. Understanding them helps you understand, evaluate, and appreciate their robustness.

Cold Storage

Cold storage is a security method that keeps Bitcoin offline or away from internet-connected devices. Being offline reduces the risk of cyberattacks. Bitcoin cold storage is often used with multi-sig technology to provide maximum security.

Multi-Signature Technology

Multi-signature or multisig technology requires multiple private keys to authorize a Bitcoin transaction. This method implies that even as one key is compromised, the Bitcoin in the wallet cannot be transferred. The transaction still requires the other keys to be approved.

Multisig technology enhances security by distributing ownership and control over Bitcoin. It makes it very challenging for a single entity to access or steal the assets.

Hardware Security Modules (HSMs)

Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) are tamper-resistant and hardened devices that secure cryptographic processes. They generate, protect, and manage keys used for data encryption and decryption, as well as digital certificates and signatures.

These specialized devices, in other words, are designed to protect and manage your digital keys. They provide a secure environment for cryptographic key generation, storage, and usage, ensuring that the private keys are never exposed to potential threats. HSMs are often used in Bitcoin vaults to enhance the security of the stored assets.

HSMs are recommended for those with significant BTC holdings. They are also ideal for businesses handling Bitcoin and other crypto. While integration can be complex and require continued maintenance, the security benefits far outweigh the cost for those with high-value holdings.

Furthermore, HSMS are tested, validated, and certified to the highest standards. They enable organizations to meet and exceed emerging and established regulatory requirements for cybersecurity.

Companies Offering BTC Custody Solutions

As Bitcoin and its related financial products gain popularity, so does the need for reliable custody. Companies that offer this service are called Bitcoin or crypto custodians and are a critical component of the digital asset industry.

These companies or platforms offer secure BTC and crypto storage and provide services such as private key management, online security solutions, and transaction processing.

Crypto custodians are gaining prominence as the cryptocurrency market grows. They are essential in ensuring that assets are stored and managed securely. Moreover, they protect investors’ funds by providing layers of security beyond what public wallets or exchanges offer.

However, it must be noted that exchanges, trading desks, and investment platforms run their own custody solutions. In addition, some exchanges are also the most noted custody providers. Examples of top custody providers, most of which offer investment access, include Swan Bitcoin, BitGo, Coinbase Custody, Anchorage, Gemini Custody, Bakkt, and Bitcoin Suisse.

How To Choose Among BTC Custody Providers

Several companies are competing in the crypto custody market. If you are a regular BTC trader or investor, you might be curious about how to choose what works for you.

Photo by Traxer on Unsplash

Platforms should enable users to buy and store Bitcoin easily. While popular exchanges like Binance and Kraken offer a wide range of services, including retail buying and selling of crypto, they have downsides. They may not provide the best storage options for your crypto, and they may be more vulnerable and open to various hacks.

Long-term BTC investors usually shun day trading and prefer the buy-and-hold strategy. Swan Bitcoin is a low-fee platform specializing in BTC-specific investments. It offers a full suite of BTC financial services, including Swan Vault, simplifying BTC storage for users. If you’re curious how it compares to large global exchanges, check out the Kraken review on Swan Bitcoin’s site.

The best Bitcoin vaults give you complete control over your coins, with user-friendly and straightforward features for setup, deposits, and withdrawals. They use the most reliable hardware to provide users with the most robust security. An example of such hardware is the Blockstream Jade signing device, a hardware wallet used by Swan Bitcoin to ensure BTC owners’ full access to keys offline.

You need signing devices that store two private keys to unlock a Swan Vault. Swan manages a third key called the Cloud Key, which is recommended for use as a second key to prevent bringing both hardware signing devices to the same location.

Bitcoin vaults must have sound recovery strategies for BTC theft or loss, as 72-hour holds for Cloud Key withdrawals. Moreover, these vaults need to offer comprehensive support services, including secure storage of spare keys to assist you in moving funds and customer support manned by trained specialists.

When Investing in BTC, Choose a Reliable Custodian

Bitcoin vaults are becoming increasingly important as more people and institutions invest in Bitcoin. As digital assets gain legitimacy through legalized financial products, security custody solutions become increasingly vital to protect them from theft and loss.

By leveraging advanced technologies such as multi-signature authentication, cold storage, and Hardware Security Modules, Bitcoin vaults provide a robust security solution for digital assets. In addition, multi-layered features ensure secure storage of private keys and means of recovery in case keys are lost or stolen.

Bitcoin vaults are not just meant to store BTC securely. They form the bedrock of the asset’s long-term viability as an investment vehicle.

It is not enough to leave the knowledge to technical experts or institutions. By understanding the importance of secure Bitcoin storage and the advancements in custody solutions, investors can make better-informed decisions about safeguarding their digital assets.

This is a guest post by Ivan Serrano. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

As Bitcoin grows in value and popularity, custody solutions become more critical. Learn about Bitcoin vaults and their importance in the custody space.