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Coldcard Hardware Wallet
Coldcard Hardware Wallet
  • Why we recommend Coldcard
  • Guide Overview
  • Wasabi Wallet companion app
  • 🏰Security Overview
    • Is Coldcard secure?
    • Securing the wallet: overview of the basics
    • How people lose their Bitcoin
  • 🔐Create your wallet & backup
    • What you need
    • Initializing the device
    • Coldcard PIN Overview
    • PIN Steps
    • Updating the Firmware
      • Verifying the Firmware
    • Wallet backup basics
    • Create Wallet backup
      • Dice Roll Method (optional)
      • MicroSD backup (optional)
    • Seed XOR (optional)
      • Steps for Seed XOR
      • Restoring from Seed XOR
    • Passphrase Overview
    • Steps for adding a passphrase
      • Lockdown Seed
    • Installing Wasabi Wallet
      • Verifying Wasabi Wallet
    • Connecting to Wasabi Wallet
      • Air-Gapped Coldcard (optional)
  • ⛓️How to use Coldcard with Wasabi Wallet
    • Steps for receiving Bitcoin payments
    • Steps for sending Bitcoin
      • Privacy/Coin Control
      • PSBT Method (optional)
  • 🏹More Features
    • PIN Security Features
    • Power & Login
    • Address Explorer
    • BIP-85 Wallets
      • Using BIP-85 with Wasabi
  • ⚠️Summary
    • DO's & DONT's
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  1. Security Overview

How people lose their Bitcoin

Know your enemy, know yourself.

PreviousSecuring the wallet: overview of the basicsNextWhat you need

Last updated 3 years ago

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The risks of losing funds by getting hacked are very low, unless you are specifically targeted by a highly skilled attacker. You must develop a "threat model" by analyzing different risks based on different situations.

Always keep the following scenarios in mind when creating and using your Bitcoin wallet.

Loss and physical theft

The most common causes of people losing their bitcoin is accidental loss and physical theft.

  • You forget your passphrase.

  • You lose your Coldcard device (or it breaks) and you don't have a backup.

  • Someone finds a copy of your backup and you hadn't put a passphrase.

  • Someone finds a copy of your backup, but you were also storing your passphrase at the same place and now they have both.

  • You write down your PIN and your passphrase (or you don't put a passphrase) in the same location as you keep your physical device and someone steals all of it.

Fraud and scams

  • Most people who lose Bitcoin simply get scammed and voluntarily send their Bitcoin to ponzi schemes. Be wary of anybody soliciting you for unsolicited investment or payment in Bitcoin.

  • Many people get tricked into revealing their passhprases and handing over their Bitcoin backups by fraudsters impersonating technical support for your Bitcoin wallet.

Extortion, ransom, assault

  • People who know you are the owner of Bitcoin may attempt to violently coerce you into handing it over to them. This is a very real risk and should not be taken lightly (it is also why Bitcoin privacy matters).

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Scenarios where you can lose your funds.