O.K. so I think I'm starting to get it. With BIP39 I can only make my 24 word seed phrase from an existing 2048 word list? For instance, I could not have some of these words be in Spanish, French, or Italian? I did see how complicated it would be for a computer to crack the code with from your example but it seems to me computers are getting smarter every second and they'll eventually will be able to crack BIP39 security. Am I wrong?
You're wrong
As long as it's generated at random, there's no way to crack it. Just to compare: Electrum by default uses a 12 word seed. That means there are
2048^12 times more possibilities to check.
For Electrum, lets assume 10 billion people each have 100 different seed phrases in use, and all 10 billion people have a computer that does 10 billion tries per second, then one of them may find one seed phrase from one person after a year.
And that's with just 12 words. So in short, you don't have to worry about this as long as you don't make a seed phrase by yourself.
Is it possible to get a wallet with a 10,000 wordlist or a 36 word passphrase?
That would increase the risk of making a mistake writing it down. And since it's very safe already, that's unnecessary.
I have another idea for generating a seed phrase. It just bugs me that if someone finds a Billfodl then they will immediately know that it is used to store a seed phrase.
I still haven't found a good solution for this problem: on the one hand, I don't want to rely on my memory, and on the other hand, I don't want to risk exposing a seed.
Just a thought: you can write it down anywhere you want: on the bottom of a door for instance, or use a metal punch to write it at the back of your safe. Just make sure you can't lose it.
Also, I am rethinking the idea of purchasing a safe. If I had a safe in my closet and a burglar broke into my apartment they would automatically know where the Ledger is. Since it is small it may be better to hide the Ledger in a inconspicuous place? It would be much harder for a thief to find. What's better, getting a safe for the Ledger or just hiding the Ledger somewhere?
Finding the Ledger shouldn't be much of a problem: the thief can try the PIN a few times, then it erases itself.
Note: I still don't have a hardware wallet, so haven't tested this by myself.
Also, since my critical information is the seed word, what should I do if someone stole the Ledger? I was thinking since I already bought a back-up Ledger Nano X, it might be better to not back up the second Ledger with the same seed phrase. I could just keep it new in the box and if anyone were to steal my original Ledger with Bitcoin on it I could activate the second Ledger and move my Bitcoin over from the first Ledger to the second Ledger before anyone tries to hack the first Ledger? Is this a good idea?
I'm not sure how many characterse long the PIN is, but the chance of a thief stealing your funds is quite small. The "wrench to the head scenario" where the thief forces you to share the PIN is probably more likely.
I know I keep asking questions but you're all so brilliant and I'm very insecure at this point
My suggestion: try it! Get a hardware wallet, secure the seed, deposit a small amount, try to recover it, and keep experimenting until you feel confident.
Everyone is saying I must get my Bitcoin off of Coinbase and I just want to have the most secure method of storing my Bitcoin. Thank you for your continued support.
You can also look at paper wallets. It has some pitfalls (most importantly: create it from a LIVE Linux DVD on a system without internet connection, and when you empty it you should use all funds at once). Here too: experiment a bit until you feel confident.
One more question about this forum? I hope my email is hidden in my profile. I would hate to have a hacker read this thread and have access to my email.
It's hidden.