Bitcoin security stress test

Pick a custody setup, throw disasters at it, and see what survives.

Secure

Click any item to break just that item

How the stress test works.

What you see

The board shows everything a way of holding bitcoin depends on: you, your keys (hardware wallets, seed phrases, and a passphrase if you use one), the wallet config file, and anything someone else holds for you, such as Unchained or an exchange. Each item shows where it’s kept.

Testing an incident

Press the incident button, and the stress test picks a random incident and plays it out on the board. Each step is added to What happened as it happens: what the incident affects, whether you still have enough to reach your bitcoin, and how you’d recover. Afterward, click any step to read the details and see the board as it was at that moment. A short summary then explains why your bitcoin survived, or why it didn’t.

Two modes

Standard uses a typical setup for each model, so you just press the incident button and watch. Custom mode lets you choose where each item is kept, pick a specific incident, break one item at a time, and, with Multi-incident on, stack incidents with no repairs in between until something fails.

The models

Collaborative custody. A 2-of-3 vault. You keep two keys, and Unchained keeps the third plus a backup copy of your wallet config file. Your own copy is in a password manager.
DIY multisig. A 2-of-3 vault where you keep all three keys and the only wallet config file, in a password manager.
Singlesig. One hardware wallet and its seed phrase. The passphrase version adds a memorized secret phrase with a written backup.
Exchange. An exchange holds your bitcoin. You have a login, a password, and codes texted to your phone.
Spot ETF. You own shares of a fund that holds bitcoin, in a brokerage account with a beneficiary named and a power of attorney on file. Three parties stand between you and the bitcoin: the fund’s custodian, which holds every key; the fund’s sponsor, which runs it; and your broker. You can’t withdraw the bitcoin. You have a login, a password, and codes texted to your phone.

Both multisig models are 2-of-3. Other setups, like 3-of-5, exist but aren’t simulated. Unchained Connections, where a friend or family member holds a key in your vault, isn’t modeled either. It has its own tradeoffs and security considerations.

Misc. assumptions

Each multisig key uses a different brand of hardware wallet, so one brand’s flaw only reaches one key.
Hardware wallets have PINs and laptops are encrypted. Something well hidden survives a burglary; something in plain sight doesn’t.
Seed phrases are on paper unless you switch them to metal in Custom mode. Metal survives fire and flood. Paper doesn’t.
Real recoveries take time. Unchained co-signs after its team reviews a short verification video of you, typically within three business days, and heirs need legal paperwork first. The stress test skips the waiting.

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Bitcoin security stress test

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