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Tom Honzik

How can you actually verify your ownership of bitcoin?

Learn how to verify bitcoin ownership with confidence—whether for personal peace of mind or institutional auditing. Explore methods like address confirmation, test transactions, and message signing to prove control over your bitcoin in self-custody.
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Tom Honzik

Understanding passkeys and why they will change account security forever

Learn why passkeys make it easy to bolster your digital security, using technology similar to bitcoin.
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Tom Honzik

Holding your own bitcoin keys: Is it really worth it?

Confused about how to own bitcoin? This guide breaks down the pros and cons of exchanges, ETFs, and self-custody to help you choose the right approach.
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Tom Honzik

Managing UTXOs is becoming mandatory for bitcoin self-custody

Discover why managing UTXOs is becoming essential for bitcoin holders as prices rise. Learn how UTXO management impacts fees, privacy, and the long-term value of your bitcoin savings. Practical tips to protect your funds and avoid costly mistakes.
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Tom Honzik

How a bitcoin transaction actually works

If you’ve ever felt a bit uneasy during the process of sending or receiving bitcoin, you’re not alone. Many people feel apprehensive when it comes to moving bitcoin around.
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Tom Honzik

Wallet configurations: The architecture required for bitcoin recovery

Discover the importance of wallet configurations for bitcoin recovery. Learn how singlesig and multisig setups work, why backing up xpubs and derivation paths is crucial, and how collaborative custody can enhance security.
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Tom Honzik

What is segwit and how does it affect bitcoin custody?

Learn how Segwit (Segregated Witness) improves bitcoin transactions by reducing fees, enhancing security, and enabling Lightning Network support. Discover its impact on self-custody wallets and how to check if your wallet uses Segwit.
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Tom Honzik

Multi-level thresholds: Why multisig always has a higher security ceiling

Discover the optimal ways to custody bitcoin for individuals and institutions. From singlesig wallets to multisig and multi-level thresholds, learn how security strategies vary based on accessibility needs, treasury size, and risk tolerance.
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Jeff Vandrew

What you should know about McNulty v. Comm'r and bitcoin IRAs

What you should know about “checkbook” IRA in a bitcoin context, what the McNulty v Comm’r opinion said, and how Unchained IRAs fall outside of it.
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Anil

The best bitcoin hardware wallets 2023

This high-level overview will equip you with the information needed to pick the best hardware wallet (or wallets) for you.
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Jeff Vandrew

How to set up a bitcoin inheritance plan

One of the most frequent concerns bitcoiners have is inheritance—making sure their bitcoin passes properly at their death.
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Trey Sellers

Why bitcoin is FIRE-friendly

Is bitcoin compatible with the financial independence retire early movement? Why bitcoin is a better store of value than index funds.
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Unchained

8 ways to use bitcoin more privately

Bitcoin privacy ultimately can’t be completely solved, but here we cover 9 ways to help improve your bitcoin privacy.
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Unchained

How to move permanent residences with bitcoin in 2-of-3 multisig

Learn how to relocate while ensuring the safety of your bitcoin in a 2-of-3 multisig setup. This guide covers evaluating key storage, securing private key items, and avoiding single points of failure during your move for ultimate peace of mind.
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Ted Stevenot

How to set up a DIY bitcoin multisig escrow in Caravan

Learn how to set up a secure 2-of-3 bitcoin multisig wallet for escrow using Caravan. This detailed guide covers hardware requirements, wallet setup, funding, and disbursement for safe bitcoin transactions.
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Ted Stevenot

What is bitcoin multisig escrow and how does it work?

Discover how bitcoin multisig escrow provides trustless, secure, and transparent fund management. Learn about its benefits, including faster settlement times, global accessibility, and customizable agreements for seamless, censorship-resistant transactions.
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Buck Perley

What the fees: How do bitcoin transaction fees work?

Bitcoin transaction fees, how they’re calculated, and how to pay less.
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Ted Stevenot

What is a bitcoin hardware wallet, and what do they do?

A bitcoin hardware wallet is a compact, dedicated device that generates and safely stores your bitcoin's private and public keys offline.|A bitcoin hardware wallet is a compact, dedicated device that generates and safely stores your bitcoin's private and public keys offline.
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Tom Honzik

Managing UTXOs and addresses to preserve privacy in a bitcoin economy

How you approach sending and receiving bitcoin can determine what information you are exposing to other people.|How you approach sending and receiving bitcoin can determine what information you are exposing to other people.|How you approach sending and receiving bitcoin can determine what information you are exposing to other people.|How you approach sending and receiving bitcoin can determine what information you are exposing to other people.|How you approach sending and receiving bitcoin can determine what information you are exposing to other people.
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Jessy Gilger

6 strategies for dealing with bitcoin volatility

Hodling bitcoin is simple, but it’s not easy. Learn to embrace volatility and dance with the bear rather than fight it. |Hodling bitcoin is simple, but it’s not easy. Learn to embrace volatility and dance with the bear rather than fight it. |Hodling bitcoin is simple, but it’s not easy. Learn to embrace volatility and dance with the bear rather than fight it.
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Ted Stevenot

How to establish a dollar-cost averaging (DCA) plan as a bitcoin saver

Establish a dollar-cost averaging (DCA) strategy for bitcoin: consider your income, choose an amount, buy bitcoin, and plan for self-custody.|Establish a dollar-cost averaging (DCA) strategy for bitcoin: consider your income, choose an amount, buy bitcoin, and plan for self-custody.
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Ted Stevenot

What is dollar-cost averaging (DCA) and why is it popular in bitcoin?

Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) is a time-tested strategy for saving, and it's especially popular with bitcoin savers focused on "stacking sats."|Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) is a time-tested strategy for saving, and it's especially popular with bitcoin savers focused on "stacking sats."
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Jessy Gilger

6 common pitfalls of self-directed & checkbook IRAs

Self-directed and checkbook IRAs have several potential pitfalls, and bitcoin IRAs need a unique approach that mitigates these risks.
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Tyler Campbell

When do I need to replace a key for my bitcoin multisig wallet?

If one of your multisig keys is compromised, you should replace that key ASAP. Conversely, replacing a key unnecessarily can introduce risks.
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Ted Stevenot

How many bitcoin are there?

Since bitcoin launched, new bitcoin have been issued on a regular basis, but it will eventually reach its cap of 21 million.
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Ted Stevenot

7 reasons to run your own bitcoin node

If you're wondering why you should run a bitcoin node, these seven points cover the benefits—both personally and for the bitcoin ecosystem.
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Ted Stevenot

What is a bitcoin node and how does one work?

A bitcoin node is software that connects to the bitcoin peer-to-peer network. Nodes receive, transmit, and validate new transactions.
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Unchained

Bitcoin passphrase vs. multisig: Which is right for you?

Two popular approaches to bitcoin custody are singlesig with a passphrase and multisig. Let’s see how these two approaches compare.
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Unchained

Bitcoin IRAs compared: Spot ETF vs. no-key-control vs. physical bitcoin

There are many different ways to hold bitcoin in an IRA, and each has trade-offs. Here's how different approaches to bitcoin IRAs compare.
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Neil Woodfine

Multisig 2-of-3 vs. 3-of-5—are more keys more secure for your bitcoin?

The most common m-of-n models that have emerged for bitcoin multisig cold storage are 2-of-3 and 3-of-5. Here we compare them side-by-side.
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Tyler Campbell

Top 10 tips for every bitcoin multisig beginner

If you’re just beginning to understand the benefits of bitcoin multisig, I hope these ten tips will address some of your top questions.
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Jeff Vandrew

The ultimate guide to bitcoin IRAs

A bitcoin IRA is a sustainable, robust mechanism for building and saving your wealth for retirement. Here’s everything you need to know.
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Jeff Vandrew

What you need to know about bitcoin mining, IRAs, and taxes

We don’t allow clients to engage in bitcoin mining within their Unchained IRA because mining within an IRA can have adverse tax consequences.
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Jeff Vandrew

CRUTs: Dump “cryptocurrencies” to stack more bitcoin while being tax-smart

Looking to dump “crypto” for bitcoin but afraid of the up-front capital gains tax? A charitable remainder trust (CRUT) may your solution.
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Jeff Vandrew

How to make a backdoor contribution to your bitcoin Roth IRA

Backdoor contributions allow you to contribute to a bitcoin Roth IRA even if your income exceeds the IRS income ceiling.
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Jeff Vandrew

Do I need to disclose my bitcoin on an FBAR report?

Are bitcoin holders required to file FinCEN Form 114 ("FBAR”)? Failing to file one when necessary can bring severe penalties.
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Jeff Vandrew

How do 401k (employer plan) to bitcoin IRA rollovers work?

If you’re considering rolling over a 401k into a bitcoin IRA, you should first learn about the tax considerations and the mechanics.
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Unchained

Ultimate guide to storing your bitcoin seed phrase backups

In this article, we cover how and where to store your seed phrase backups in different bitcoin custody contexts, like singlesig, multisig, and more.
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Unchained

Seed phrases are forever: paper, metal, and other backups

Seed phrases are key to bitcoin custody, so your back up method—paper, metal, or otherwise—is also essential to ensure your bitcoin remain yours!
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Unchained

Bitcoin hardware wallets: What is a secure element?

In bitcoin, a secure element stores the seed phrase and private keys within a hardware wallet, giving the device significantly more protection.
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Unchained

What is a multisig wallet configuration file and what is it for?

If you use bitcoin multisig, whether through an Unchained vault or otherwise, you should know about something called a multisig wallet configuration file
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Buck Perley

Non-Orwellian Contact Tracing With Bitcoin and LSATs

Stopping the spread of a pandemic using the immutability of the Bitcoin blockchain and the security of the Lightning network, without sacrificing privacy.
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Yassine Elmandjra and Dhruv Bansal

Bitcoin’s Resilience to Exponential Change