How To Safely & Securely Be Your Own Bank

Why Is It Always A Good Idea To Check the Mnemonic Backup Phrase Before Depositing Coins To the Wallet? Consider the following: Is is better to KNOW that your mnemonic backup phrase will work, to recover your wallet, or is it better to HOPE that your backup phrase will work, when you NEED to recover your lost or damaged wallet? The Steps to Checking the Recovery Phrase 1) We select the number of words that make up our mnemonic backup phrase. This can be 12, 15 or 24 for the Trezor One, or as many as 33 words for the Trezor Model T. Typically, we will have a 12 or 24 word mnemonic backup phrase. 2) Next, we will select either a Standard or Advanced recovery check. The Standard Recovery Check consists of the Trezor device requesting a word from a random position in the list. In Trezor Suite you enter the word that you have in the corresponding number position from your Recovery Sheet and select it. This process continues until you have entered all of the words from the Recovery Sheet. The Advanced Recovery Check consists of you entering each word from your Recovery Sheet in order, by spelling the word one letter at a time. This is done by selecting each letter from a selection displayed on the device, on a grid. You select the correct letter or range of letters that your current letter falls in, until you are presented with a short list of potential valid words, of which you select the valid word. 3) Once all of the words have been entered, the Trezor Suite application will compare the generated Primary Key to the Primary Key currently on the Trezor device. If they match you will see a success message and can rest assured that you will be able to recover your wallets on the Trezor device in the future. If an error occurs, you may have selected an incorrect word or entered a word in the incorrect order and you should test the recovery words again. If you still get an error then you may have the incorrect Recovery Sheet words for the device you are testing. In any case the Check Backup process has NO impact on the Primary Key that is currently held on the device. Differences Between the Trezor Devices in the Check Backup Process Trezor One offers both the Standard and the Advanced Recovery Check. Operations are viewed on the Trezor One device's grid and you select the corresponding grid location within the Trezor Suite's screen. Trezor Model T only offers the Advanced Recovery Check option. All operations are performed on the Trezor Meodel T device's screen.

In this video tutorial we demonstrate: a) The installation of the Trezor Suite application b) The installation of firmware to the Trezor Model T device c) The recording of the mnemonic backup phrase d) The confirmation of the mnemonic backup phrase e) The selection and confirmation of an access PIN

In this video tutorial we demonstrate: a) The installation of the Trezor Suite application b) The installation of firmware to the Trezor One device c) The recording of the mnemonic backup phrase d) The confirmation of the mnemonic backup phrase e) The selection and confirmation of an access PIN

What Is Covered In This Video? The differences in the location of the control buttons on the Trezor One and Trezor Model T devices. Trezor One has physical buttons located just below its view screen. The Trezor Model T has a color touchscreen with a red cancel or back button located in the lower left of the screen and a green confirm or continue button in the lower right side of the screen. For either device’s setup we will follow these steps: 1) Install the Trezor Suite application to our laptop or desktop computer. This program is used to manage updates to the device's firmware and also acts as a wallet manager for the coins held by the wallet. 2) Connect the Trezor device to the computer and install the device's firmware from the Trezor Suite application. You should check for updates periodically in order to keep your Trezor device up to date with any wallet changes or improvements. 3) Next, we will record the Mnemonic Backup Phrase onto the recovery sheet in ALL CAPS and in the correct order. Printing the words in ALL CAPS will make it easier to restore a device from the backup sheet, and lead to fewer errors. 4) The next step will be to confirm the mnemonic backup phrase on the device. It is best practice to laminate the recovery sheet, to protect it from water damage, and to store it in a fire resistant safe to protect it from fire damage and unauthorized access. 5) Next, we will choose a memorable access PIN that is from 4 to 9 digits in length. You want a number that is easy to remember but not easily guessed. Avoid using phone numbers, birth dates, Social Security numbers, etc.

In this video demonstration, we show how to change the default screensaver setting to a different timeout, or simply turn off the screensaver feature.

Why Would I Need to Reset My Ledger Nano Device? 1) You have forgotten your access PIN. 2) You have your PIN but wish wipe out the old accounts and start fresh, or you wish to gift the device to someone else and want to be sure it is clear. 3) You received a device from a friend or from a questionable source. After a device has been reset, you can set it up as a new device or restore it from the 24 word mnemonic backup phrase. A demonstration video on restoring a Ledger Nano device will be done in a separate video in the Mnemonic Backups section of videos.

If you received your Ledger Nano device from any source other than authorized sellers, as listed by Ledger.com, you may check that your device is genuine by looking for the white on blue checkmark next to the name of your Ledger Nano device on Ledger Live. Official list of resellers: https://www.ledger.com/reseller and also in this article: https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/4404389367057?docs=true

In this video tutorial we demonstrate: 1) The installation of desired coin apps to the Ledger Nano device. 2) Adding accounts for the coin app so we can manage the wallet directly from Ledger Live. 3) Retrieving and confirming the Public wallet address. 4) Working with apps that require a 3rd party wallet.

In this video tutorial we demonstrate the installation of the Ledger Live companion application. This software needs to be kept up to date to ensure that you can keep your Ledger Nano device up to date and correct, including firmware updates and coin apps. This is particularly necessary when changes occur to the way that a coin behaves on its Mainnet, thus requiring updates to the coin's wallet.

This video tutorial demonstrates the importance of recording your 24 word mnemonic backup phrase onto your recovery sheet in the correct order, in ALL CAPS,. We also demonstrate the confirmation process to ensure our recovery sheet is correct.

In this video tutorial we demonstrate the selection of the Ledger Nano device's access PIN or personal identity number, as well as the confirmation of the PIN.

This video tutorial demonstrates the top level menus and initial setup for a new Ledger Nano device.

This video tutorial covers the steps that we will take to setup a new Ledger Nano device, such as: 1) Choosing an access PIN. 2) Recording the Mnemonic Backup Phrase to the Recovery Sheet. 3) Confirming the Mnemonic Backup Phrase is correct 4) Installing Ledger Live for management of our Ledger device 5) Installing the required apps to setup individual coin accounts.

This video tutorial demonstrates installing the Ballet companion application, how to add the card and other cryptocurrency assets. It also demonstrates the Privacy Mode feature to keep your asset information safe from others.

Similarities Between a Standard Metal Wallet and the Ballet Metal Wallet 1) Both are durable and resistant to water and fire damage due to being made fro stainless steel or other metal. 2) Both hide the Private Key information behind a peel-able sticker. 3) Similar to paper and metal wallets there is no mnemonic backup phrase that can be used to recover a lost or stolen wallet. Care must be taken to protect the steel card which contains the security code and the Private Key. Differences Between a Standard Metal Wallet and the Ballet Metal Wallet 1) The Ballet wallet has more security features, such as tamper evident stickers over a special security code. 2) The Ballet wallet can support several coins and tokens through its companion application, where a standard metal wallet will only support a single coin type. 3) A standard metal wallet cannot send coins directly to another wallet, but must be swept like a paper wallet. A Ballet wallet can be used like a software wallet to send and receive coins via the companion application.

Since you cannot spend or send coins from a paper wallet directly, you must sweep the entire contents of the wallet into a software wallet that has the option to sweep a wallet. At this time a hardware wallet cannot be swept to due to the fact that the hardware wallet has its own set of Private Keys. So the act of sweeping coins to a software wallet should be viewed as a temporary step. Either you are sweeping the coins to spend them immediately or, you wish to hold them long term on something more durable than paper. If you are spending them, then do so from the software wallet. If you wish to hold them long term, then transfer them from the software wallet to a hardware secured wallet address. After you have swept the paper wallet, destroy the paper wallet. This is necessary because some wallets will keep the Private Key info from the paper wallet which will put the coins in the software wallet at risk.

How Do I Create a Paper Wallet? The best practices for creating a paper wallet are as follows: 1) Use a dedicated computer that never connects to the internet. We want to be sure our wallet generating software is free of spyware, that may capture our Private Key information and transmit it over the internet. As this may not be a viable option for most people, scan your computer for viruses and spyware and make sure that your computer is disconnected from the internet while creating the paper wallet. 2) Use a wired connection to the printer. Do not use a WiFi connection! This will prevent any wireless attacks from occurring. 3) Only use wallet generating software that has been recommended by the coin's official website. 4) After printing the paper wallet, test the QR codes for the Public and Private keys, to make sure that they scan correctly. 5) Shred any extra copies of the paper wallet, to prevent unauthorized access to the wallet. 6) Clear the buffer of the printer, if it has a re-print capability. This will prevent extra copies being printed after the wallet has been created. After generating the paper wallet and before depositing any coins to the wallet, check the Public wallet address on a blockchain explorer and confirm that it works, and that it currently has a zero balance.

In this video tutorial we demonstrate the following: a) An overview of two different wallet setup scenarios. b) A demonstration of the native wallet synchronization from a laptop or desktop installation to a mobile Exodus app installation. The important take-away is that the Private keys of the wallet will reside on both the mobile app and the computer application, thereby increasing the risk of exposure to hacking attempts. So never hold more coins in the wallet than you are willing to lose! A stronger synchronization setup, by using a Trezor hardware device to secure the wallet, will be demonstrated in a separate video dealing with the securing of software wallets with hardware devices.

This video tutorial takes you through the best practice for: a) Creating a new Theta web wallet that is accessed via a Keystore file. b) The best practice for using the Mnemonic access method. c) How to access and save a copy of the Private Key code d) We demonstrate how to test the mnemonic phrase by accessing the wallet with the mnemonic backup phrase, and then compare the two wallet addresses.

Walkthrough of Setting Up an Exodus Wallet Application In this video tutorial we demonstrate the following: a) The installation of the Exodus wallet application. b) Setting up a strong password to access the application. c) Backing up the mnemonic backup phrase. d) Restoring the wallet using the mnemonic backup phrase.

This video tutorial takes you through the best practice for creating a new Persistence web wallet that is accessed via a Keystore file. Also we demonstrate how to restore a wallet by generating a new keystore file from the mnemonic backup phrase.

What Is a Keystore File? A Keystore file is an encrypted text file that is used to access a web wallet. The Private Key os the web wallet will be stored within the Keystore file, but will be encrypted by the password that you chose when you created the file. Steps Taken to Create a Keystore File 1) Choose a good strong password. This will be used to encrypt your Private Key information within the file. The password will be used to decrypt the Keystore file for login purposes and for signing of transactions. Your password is the only true security for this type of wallet access. 2) Record the Mnemonic Backup Phrase in an offline manner. If possible take the computer offline, before revealing the mnemonic backup phrase. This will reduce the risk of exposure of the backup phrase to the internet. Paper copies should be printed in all caps, and laminated to protect it from water damage. If it is not possible to take the computer offline during the mnemonic backup phrase step, then using a Copy & Paste technique to copy the mnemonic and paste it into a text file that is stored on a USB flash drive may suffice. Do not take a screenshot or save a digital copy of the backup phrase onto a cloud server like GDrive, iCloud, Dropbox, etc. Also, until you upgrade to using a hardware device to secure the wallet, never deposit more coins than you are willing to lose onto the wallet. 3) Locate the downloaded keystore file which typically is your Downloads folder, and move it to a known location for your keystore files. It is good practice to store a backup copy of the keystore file onto a USB flash drive. 4) It is highly recommended to perform a restore wallet or 'generate keystore file' process, before you deposit coins to the wallet. This is to check that your copy of the mnemonic backup is correct and to ensure that you can restore your wallet from the mnemonic phrase when needed. The BIP-39 Word List Optionally, you can download a copy of the BIP-39 word list from, https://getcoinplate.com/blog/bip39-wordlist-in-english-printable-one-page-pdf/ The BIP-39 word list contains every legitimate word used for mnemonic backup phrases. You can use it to troubleshoot spelling mistakes with the words you have recorded. You can load the words into a text editor or a spreadsheet and search for each word in your mnemonic backup phrase to see if you made a mistake in recording the word.

This video presents a step by step tutorial on creating a new Keplr wallet and the restoration of a Keplr wallet from the mnemonic backup phrase.

This video presents a step by step tutorial on creating a new Metamask wallet and the restoration of a Metamask wallet from the mnemonic backup phrase.

What Is a Browser Extension Wallet? A Browser Extension wallet is a software or hot wallet that is hosted by your web browser on your laptop or desktop computer. Some browser extension wallets, such as Metamask, can act as a bridge between different wallet networks. The security of a browser extension wallet is only as strong as the following: 1) The password that you create to access the wallet. 2) The storage and care of the Mnemonic Backup Phrase for the wallet. 3) The security of the laptop or desktop computer's installed anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware software. If you use the browser extension wallet in a naked or default fashion, the Private Keys for the wallet will reside on your computer, in an encrypted format. This may expose the private keys to hacking attempts on your computer. A browser extension wallet that is protected by a hardware device, will not be exposed to hacking attempts on the computer, since the Private Keys will reside on the hardware device itself. Steps to Create a Browser Extension Wallet 1) Download the browser extension from the official download website. 2) If at all possible, disconnect from the internet prior to revealing the mnemonic backup phrase. 3) Record the mnemonic backup phrase, in ALL CAPS, onto a card or sheet of paper. 4) It is recommended to restore the wallet from the mnemonic backup phrase, prior to depositing any coins, to ensure that the backup phrase recovers the same wallet.