This article is brought to you by Seedor. Article patronage is essential to keep bitcoinnews.com free and support independent writers and creators.
Creating a backup of your bitcoin seed words is the most important duty of every bitcoin owner. Seedor Safe is a bitcoin seed wallet from Germany that makes the backup process easy as well as highly secure.
Seedor is designed to back up the recovery seed of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The waterproof and ferro-resistant stainless steel capsule holds up to 43 words, making the Seedor Safe suitable for the BIP39 standard (12 to 24 words) and compatible with all popular wallets such as Ledger, Trezor or BitBox.
The price tag of 149,00 EUR looks high but considering inflation in the Eurozone, time saving benefits and quality of materials, one can consider it a fair price for the product.
The key benefits Seedor promises are:
- Extremely resistant
Embossed in high-grade stainless steel, the Recovery Seed is protected from fire, water and corrosion.
- Higher security
Tamper-proof stickers with serial numbers make the Seedor Safe tamper-proof.
- Compact and mobile
Due to its compact design, the Seedor Safe can be easily hidden and transported.
- Compatible
The Seedor Safe is compatible with most hardware wallets such as B. Ledger, Trezor, Bitbox.
- Hackerproof
100% offline and discrete cold storage solution and thus protection against hacker attacks.
- Easy to use
The starter set comes with all the tools you need to create the recovery seed backup.
While you could also write down the backup phrase on a piece of paper or build your own safe with ordinary materials, the Seedor Safe provides a more professional process with specially designed tools for high precision punching that you cannot easily build by yourself.
Table of Contents
Before The Purchase
Have you also heard these stories of people losing their Bitcoin due to fake wallet software or tampered hardware wallets?
Hacks will never stop and security is always a priority. The first step for maximum security is therefore proper due diligence and research before the purchase.
When it comes to securing your bitcoin, caution and time are your best friends. ‘Don’t trust, verify’ as the saying goes. You better spend a couple hours more to on due diligence and researcha before you decide to purchase something.
If you fall victim to a scam product, your money is at risk and total loss could be the result.
So what should you know before the purchase? Well, a backup steel set such as Seedor is completely analog and offline, hence generally low risk. There is not a big chance you could get hacked as there is no electronic hardware or internet connection.
However, let’s think about ways that hackers could actually manipulate a bitcoin backup steel set:
Attackers could place small sensors inside the punches that could register shock and send the data via GPS. Or maybe a small camera could be hidden inside the box which records you while you punch in your seed words.
There are a number of attack vectors which, however small they might be, you’d be better off to complete eliminate for ultimate security of your funds.
That’s why you should do due diligence and research. Read trustpilot and amazon reviews and dig into comparison articles online. Research where the company is registered and if the feedback on social media is positive. Have any experts vouched for them or are they being called out as scammers on Twitter?
Finally, only buy bitcoin related hardware from the original source and not from third party vendors. Eventhough a distributor or vendor can be trustworthy, it’s always advised to purchase products directly from the shop of the manufacturer.
In the case of the seedor safe, you can easily find the shop at seedor.io
Why Backup Steel Wallets Are A Must Have
The seed or recovery phrase is most critical part when securing your Bitcoin. Many people don’t realize it, but the real security hole is having the appropriate backup of the seed. The seed or recovery phrase usually consists of 12, 24 or 48 words and allows to recover a wallet in case of loss.
Read more about Bitcoin backups from security expert James Lopp.
The more technical term of the recovery seed is mnemonic, mnemonic seed or mnemonic sentence. A mnemonic sentence (“mnemonic code”, “seed phrase”, “seed words”) is a way of representing a large randomly-generated number as a sequence of words, making it easier for humans to store. So in short, the mnemonic makes complex data easy to read for humans. In the case of bitcoin, the mnemonic allows us to turn the private key into something you could more easily memorize in your mind.
Whoever has your seed has your Bitcoin. But how can you protect your seed from all kinds of disasters? This is where steel wallets come into play.
According to Bitcoin security expert Jameson Lopp, the optimal steel backup device should have the following characteristics:
- Stainless steel or titanium
- Small but thick form factor
- A single solid piece of metal
- Center punched / electrolysis etched data
- Template for decoding data inscribed onto the device
Where To Purchase The Seedor Safe
Once you made the decision hat seedor is a good fit for you, you will want to actually purchase the product. The best place to buy the Seedor Safe is directly at the Seedor online shop.
Seedor: Steel Safe Made In Germany
The Seedor Safe allows to create a robust backup of your seed in a compact, capsule-shaped design that fits in any pocket, safe, lockbox or vault. Or at a place in your home that you consider a good spot to hide your multimillion Satoshi treasure. Don’t forget, this is about generational wealth and a swiss bank vault in your pocket. Perhaps the kitchen table is not the right option to store it.
Another advantage is that the seed is not immediately visible, but only when you unscrew the Seedor capsule and look at the individual plates. Other seed wallets, especially those where the entire seed is stamped onto an unprotected metal plate, are much more transparent, but in a negative sense.
Many will be pleased: The Seedor Safe was developed in Germany and is also shipped from there. This is particularly interesting for customers within the EU. Producst from outside the EU could take a long time to arrive at addresses in countries such as Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland etc.
The Seedor Safe-Starter Set reached us in fairly compact cardboard box. Inside we found a noble, black box, with the Seedor logo.
Inside the box we found the following contents:
– Hammer
– Capsule (Seedor Safe)
– Punch guide
– Punching plate
– Seed discs
– Punches (letters and numbers)
– Instruction manual
– Seal
– Earplug
The Seedor Safe capsule is made of V2A stainless steel. This is fireproof and waterproof as well as protected against corrosion.
Our biggest concern in testing the Seedor Safe was the punching pins and whether they might wear out quickly once some of the discs had been created. Fortunately, we were proven wrong and the punching pins are extremely durable.
According to Seedor, the material is the best choice:
“The entire capsule and the discs are all made of the same 316 stainless steel. We chose this material because it is very robust, corrosion and temperature resistant, and because it allows for two different types of processing, such as CNC turning of the capsule components and punching of the discs.
If the components were made of different metal alloys, galvanic crevice corrosion could always occur, which we have also ruled out by using the enclosed chrome vanadium punches. Stamp sets from DIY stores are usually made of C45 steel, which is not stainless and thus transfers foreign corrosive material into the discs when stamping the letters.”
Christian, Seedor
How The Seedor Safe Works – Step By Step Guide And Insdtructions
Using the Seedor Safe is not rocket science. However, a few things need to be addressed.
First advice, use the ear-plugs, the punching is incredibly noisy. Because of the noise, you probably want to be in a basement or garage, so neighbors don’t get suspicious. If you are of the paranoid breed, add other noise sources into the mix, such as the chain saw, angle grinder or lawnmower. You can tell your neighbors you’re working on a time machine or contemporary art if they ask what the hell you are doing.
You should also use a very solid table because otherwise the punching could be less effective.
When you open the box, you should ensure it is complete. If something is missing you should immediately reach out to Seedor.
Fortunately, using the Seedor Set and creating a backup of a seed or recovery phrase is mostly self-explanatory. You have to punch each word of your seed phrase on one of the steel disks.
So let’s get started. Prepare your mise en place, make sure you have full privacy and no observers or cameras around you. Ensure the noise does not raise eyebrows of anyone and wear ear-plugs for your own health.
1. Place The Punching Pad
After you unbox everything you will lay the punching pad on a solid surface. Don’t use a weak table or a soft surface like a bed or couch. Also remove any textiles from the surface as they could reduce the punching force.
2. Place The Steel Disk
Then, place the first steel disk on the punching pad to punch a word of your recovery phrase.
3. Place The Holder
Next, place the plastic holder on top of the disk. The punching pad has 8 different positions, each assigned to a letter from A-H. When you punch the first letter, you will start at position A, the second letter at position B and so forth.
4. Choose A Punch Stick
Take the right punch pin. If you are looking to stamp the word ‘zoo’ your first letter would be Z. Always double check if the punch you are using has the correct letter. Then slide it into the punch holder. Be careful that the letter has the right position and is not placed upside down.
5. Hammer!
Punch each letter with two strong hammer strokes. After you are done with one word, release the punch holder and closely examine the steel disk. If a letter is not imprinted deep enough you should rework it.
Once you have finished a disc, you will notice that it is no great feat. The only thing you should pay attention to is that all the letters point in the right direction. It can also happen that you don’t hit it hard enough the first few times. But that doesn’t matter, because you can always rework a letter.
6. Pack it up
Once you’re done with all words of your backup phrase, put the disks on the pin of the Seedor Safe. Make sure you didn’t forget or misspelled a word. When sliding the disks on the pin, ensure it’s in the correct order to avoid messing up your backup.
7. Close And Seal
The hard work is over. Now you will screw the cap on to the Seedor Safe and place the seal over cap and safe. This ensures that opening would be made visible.
8. Find A Hideout
The last step is to find the right place to store your safe. You could simply put it inside your home safe. Security statistics are constantly evolving and the ‘need-to-know’ principle is still regarded as smart strategy. This means to hide the Seedor Safe somewhere nobody would easily guess. And of course, don’t share the secret.
How difficult or enjoyable is the Seedor Safe?
While we acknowledge that not everyone will enjoy the process, we believe with the right perspective everyone can at least find some meaning in it. Each word you hammer down on the disk is a step towards individual sovereignty. By protecting your private key you also make the entire Bitcoin network more secure as self-custody makes it harder for malicious actors to confiscate user funds.
Just like young boys like to use a hammer, Bitcoiners like to protect their corn in a self-sovereign way. As Trace Mayer used to say “flexing your monetary sovereignty muscles” is everyone’s duty in times of uncontrolled money printing.
We hope you enjoyed this review. If you like, send a tip to the editorial team below.
