Was crypto self-custody ever designed for beginners?

Crypto executives are divided over whether self-custody was ever designed for beginners, while approaches such as multisignature wallets and seedless backups come with their own security and usability trade-offs.

“We don’t expect every driver to be a mechanic, and we shouldn’t expect everyone who wants to own their assets to become a security expert,” Safe Labs CEO Rahul Rumalla told Cointelegraph. 

Making self-custody easier to use could be critical to Bitcoin’s broader adoption, as the ability to “be your own bank” remains one of its defining features.

Recent incidents involving Ledger and Coldcard have exposed weaknesses in hardware wallets, widely recommended as one of the safest ways to hold crypto because they keep private keys offline.

Implants in some Ledger devices stole recovery phrases, while a Coldcard firmware bug allowed attackers to recreate private keys and steal funds.

Related: Ledger’s early implant warnings deserved more action, Karpelès says

Michael Tanguma, CEO of Bitcoin custody provider Onramp, compared Bitcoin custody to personal computers in the 1970s, when users needed technical skills to assemble and operate them.

“Self-custody was never designed with newcomers in mind,” he told Cointelegraph.