Attacks
The attack that does not need any code: somebody who knows you hold crypto. Self custody removes the intermediary, which also removes the person who could freeze a transfer or reverse it. That makes a holder personally worth targeting. These attacks are rare relative to the online kind, but they are the ones where discretion is the entire defense.
What it is
Self custody removes the intermediary, which also removes the person who could freeze a transfer or reverse it. That makes a holder personally worth targeting. These attacks are rare relative to the online kind, but they are the ones where discretion is the entire defense.
How it plays out
You are identified as a holder
Usually because you said so, in public, under a name that can be tied to a place.
The details get filled in
From social media, from a leaked customer list, from a conference badge photo.
The approach is direct
Coercion in person, or a burglary aimed specifically at finding a seed phrase or a hardware wallet.
What gives it away
- Being asked, in any social setting, how much crypto you hold.
- Unusual interest in your travel, your address or your household.
- A data breach at a hardware wallet or exchange that leaked customer addresses.
How to not be caught by it
- Do not discuss holdings. Not amounts, not gains, not under a handle linked to your real name.
- Keep the seed phrase somewhere that is not obviously a seed phrase, and not at your desk.
- Consider splitting a backup across locations so no single place is enough.
- Use a passphrase on a hardware wallet, so the device alone does not open the real balance.
- Ship hardware wallets to a locker or a workplace rather than your home address.
- Have a small decoy balance that can be handed over, and never mention the rest.
If it already happened
- Your safety is worth more than any balance. Hand it over.
- Move remaining funds as soon as you are safe, assuming everything visible is compromised.
- Report it to the police. These cases are investigated and patterns get connected.
Where to go next
Check your setup before you need to
An hour on a screen share, going through your wallets, your approvals, your backups and your recovery plan. You click everything and we never ask for keys.