Is Your Bitcoin Setup Ready for the Worst? The Case for Timelocks

What happens to your Bitcoin if you get hit by a bus tomorrow, and could your family actually access it, or would it be lost forever?

Mike, product manager at Guardblock, joins Honest Money to tackle the hardest problems in Bitcoin self-custody: backups, inheritance, and staying secure in a world where AI is making attacks more sophisticated by the day. In the wake of the Coldcard hack, Mike explains why a single device is no longer good enough, how collaborative security using multisig and Bitcoin timelocks works, and how to make sure your coins reach your heirs without leaving a dangerous security hole.

🎙️ EPISODE SUMMARY

Mike and Anja discuss self-custody, collaborative security, and Bitcoin inheritance.

The conversation moves from the lessons of the Coldcard hack and recent data breaches, through the difference between custodial and non-custodial, single-sig and multisig, to how Guardblock's time-locked vaults add a co-signing key and recovery pathways without taking custody of your coins. Mike explains why self-custody still demands personal responsibility, how timelocks let you exit unilaterally if the company disappears, and why inheritance is the single biggest reason people are signing up.

The episode also covers wills and letters of wishes, the privacy and trust trade-offs of collaborative security, which hardware wallets work with Taproot miniscript, the product's pricing, and why everyday people shouldn't need to be technical experts to keep their Bitcoin safe.

🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS

After the Coldcard hack, a single device and basic setup is no longer enough

AI tools are making attacks on Bitcoin self-custody more sophisticated

Multisig removes the single point of failure that sinks single-sig setups

Collaborative security adds a co-signing key so a stolen seed alone can't move funds

Bitcoin timelocks create recovery pathways and let you exit if a provider disappears