I have a question about Trezor, which I am thinking about migrating the majority of our bitcoins to.
I honestly don't really care about security issues - because I feel very good about that having studied and read up on this for weeks. However if anyone wants to throw out any major flaws that aren't well known feel free.
My primary question is hypothetical in nature and involves the hypothetical demise of Trezor itself, as a company. My question/concern is EXCLUSIVELY related to what would happen if Trezor went out of business. It appears to me that things like "recovery" etc all require the mytrezor.com website. Now, there are all sorts of claims that you can use electrum, armory, and other wallets that are integrated with Trezor hardware wallets directly - but I also see enormous complaints/comments about a lot of this being hype and that many of these don't actually work. I would like to hear people's experience / knowledge on the subject.
Also, as the ultimate backup in the face of wierd events..... does Trezor work with Core?
Any thoughts appreciated as I am about to purchase many Trezor wallets. I should note that I do not use iOS/Droid. I am a desktop only. I think one thing that annoys me is when people make blanket statements about what something can or cannot do, and do not specify their sub-technology (subtec). Some stuff seems to work with iOS, or with Android, or with Desktop, etc.... but not with others. Please confirm your subtec applicability
Peace,
- david
Recovery only requires the 24 word seed phrase you copy down when you set up your Trezor for the first time. In an HD bitcoin wallet think of the seed as your bitcoin, as all addresses and keys you will ever use derive from the seed. The plastic hardware is just a way to make the seed usable for transactions. If SatoshiLabs went tits up (doubtful) you can restore your wallet to Electrum using the seed.
I am familiar with the "seed" process. I am also familiar with a TON of web complaints I have seen out there that Electrum has problems with restoring. I also see from Satoshi Labs own website that restoring would require a new Trezor if yours was stolen/lost/damaged.
However, the process of activating a new Trezor device seems to mandate use of the mytrezor website.
So here is my hypothetical (which while I admit may be extreme - I want to understand ALL possibilities before I commit substantial funds to this)....
My Trezor is damaged, and Satoshi Labs has gone out of business. Then what?