At first glance, the world seems safer than ever. The global poverty rate is dropping. Life expectancy is climbing. Technological advancements are skyrocketing. Yet, as the recent conflicts and a global pandemic have shown us, stability is merely an illusion.
Of course, you, as a savvy crypto enthusiast, understand this better than most. The crypto market charts can quickly go from boringly predictable to maddeningly irrational. Sometimes all it takes is the blink of an eye. Yet this volatility is not a bug but a raw glimpse into the world’s true unpredictability.
So if you’ve already taken the crucial step of self-custody—a prerequisite for true financial independence—congratulations! You’re already ahead of the curve. As the adage goes, “Not your keys, not your coins.”
But in a world where unpredictability is painfully predictable, is traditional self-custodianship enough?
Welcome to the Doomsday Prepper’s Guide to Crypto Security
Here, we’ll explore how to fortify your decentralized fortress against threats of all varieties. From natural disasters and cyberwarfare to rogue governments and bizarre phenomena, we’ll prepare you for the widest range of scenarios.
In a world of infinite possibilities, the only truly impossible events are those that defy the laws of physics—the rest are opinions waiting to be disproven.
So, buckle up and prepare to dive into the world of crypto self-custodianship that can weather any storm.
The Threat Matrix: Preparing for All Possibilities
Threats to your digital assets can jump out of unexpected corners. While we can’t foresee every possible scenario, we can prepare for a broad range of possibilities by identifying and mitigating primary threats.
Let’s explore the key threats you can safeguard your portfolio against without much hassle.
1. Natural Disaster
It’s hard to imagine natural disasters as something that could happen to us. But the numbers say otherwise. In 2023 alone, the world witnessed 15,600 detectable earthquakes. There were floods in practically every region of the world. Even lightning flashes amounted to a mind-boggling 92 million. Yes, these numbers are for last year only.
Those numbers aren’t just statistics. They are a wake-up call to acknowledge that Mother Nature’s fury knows no bounds—and your crypto assets could be caught in its crossfire.
Picture this scenario: You’ve scribbled your private keys and seed phrases on a piece of paper to eliminate digital threats in a single swoop. You’ve also tucked it away safely in a discreet little corner of your house. Are your “secrets” truly safe
Unfortunately, a single flood can turn a neighborhood into a temporary Venice. Then, a little bit of water is all it takes to turn your “cold storage” into an unreadable, soggy mess. And don’t think an electronic wallet will prove invincible either.
Nature has many weapons in its arsenal. Water damage, blunt force from falling debris, or the intense heat of a wildfire can render the defenses of an electronic wallet useless in seconds.
SOLUTION
The key to protecting your decentralized fortune against nature’s unpredictable lashings lies in a strategy as old as civilization itself: don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
In the context of crypto, this means making multiple copies of your wallet secrets. Then it’s only a matter of distributing them geographically across different locations.
You could put one in your office, another in your local bank’s vault, and yet another in a family mountain cabin. You could even go global by placing one in the hands of a trusted friend abroad.
Thanks to geographical distribution, nature’s impact on your crypto fortunes will be minimal at worst.
2. Electromagnetic Disturbances
The digital world has exposed us to many invisible threats. Living on the electromagnetic spectrum, these unseen forces can wreak havoc on our electronics and, consequently, our crypto assets.
Solar flares, for instance, aren’t just celestial light shows. These cosmic events emit a powerful blast of electromagnetic pulses that’s capable of frying electronics. While NASA estimates the prevalence of significant solar storms once every 11 years, the sun often hits us with multiple solar flares daily.
Just this year we witnessed three huge solar flares within 24 hours. While most of these daily bursts are harmless, we cannot cross out the possibility of a powerful wave frying our electronics.
Of course, that’s just nature. There’s also the remote but no-less-real possibility of the man-made variety. EMP from specialized weapons unleashed by some foreign agents is a popular example. And let’s not forget about our extraterrestrial friends either. After all, science fiction is often just a precursor to real science.
SOLUTION
To protect yourself against these invisible threats, your first instinct may be to buy proprietary devices that come with built-in protection. Instead, you’d be better off investing in a Faraday cage.
Made of electromagnetic-resistant material and shaped in many dimensions, these holders can protect your valuables against solar storms, man-made EMPs, and even EMF radiation.
3. Accidents & Mishaps
We often imagine doomsday scenarios as some grand, apocalyptic events. Yet the truth is that personal catastrophes can be just as devasting to your crypto holdings.
Accidents like burst pipes, house fires, electricity surges, or even a slip of the hand that sends your electronic wallet tumbling to the ground could spell disaster for your decentralized fortune.
Take, for instance, the heartbreaking story of Yuki and Art Williams. This couple bought 3,000 Ethereum coins at a pre-sale 2014 event for less than a thousand dollars (worth $10 million today!). Unfortunately, their lucky charm came to a burning end in 2021. A house fire through everything in their house, including the device containing their wallet’s private key.
The awe-inspiring success story quickly turned into an overnight nightmare. The couple’s generational fortune was burned both in the physical and crypto sense (tokens in inaccessible wallets are essentially “burned”).
The Williams’ story is a heartbreaking, cautionary tale, but far from unique. Countless crypto enthusiasts have lost their satoshis to personal misfortunes, both small and large. A spilled cup of coffee, a misplaced piece of paper, or a corrupted hard drive is sometimes all it takes for irrecoverable losses.
SOLUTION
The importance of multiple backups and geographical distribution cannot be overstated. Not only will that approach protect you against natural disasters, but it will also keep you safe in the face of countless everyday mishaps.
Remember: in crypto, redundancy is your best friend against the unpredictable nature of daily life.
4. Cyberwarfare
In the 21st century, governments are increasingly waging wars with keyboards instead of conventional weapons. From brute DDoS attacks and platform breaches to ransomware and every other malware variety, the electronic frontlines are fraught with landmines at every turn.
Worse yet, cyberfare isn’t just about state secrets anymore. It’s a threat that can directly impact your crypto holdings. A notorious example of rogue governments waging war against crypto users is North Korea.
The list of crypto crimes sponsored by their hackers runs so long that the UN Security Council had to conduct a thorough assessment. Their findings? North Korean hackers stole $3 billion worth of crypto between 2017 and 2023 alone!
Between state-sponsored hackers, rogue cyber militias, and lone-wolf actors, the threats to your devices and crypto holdings have never been greater.
SOLUTION
Thanks to the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies, you only need to safeguard your private keys and or seed phrases. That’s why cold storage with an air-tight system that doesn’t use networks or store codes in memory is necessary.
That way even if all your devices and home network get compromised, your crypto holdings will still remain safe and sound in most cases.
5. Economic Collapse
An economic collapse could take shape in many ways. Hyperinflation could make the local currency worth less than the paper it’s printed on. Local financial institutions could break down and become defunct. In such a scenario, trust becomes the ultimate commodity.
After all, what are fiat currencies if not a promise of encashment by a trusted authority (the government and its agents)? What happens when that trust erodes?
In such a scenario, crypto can quickly emerge as a lucrative asset. Unlike fiat, cryptocurrencies operate entirely on a trustless system. Their value and operations are managed by impartial, inalterable, and foolproof software code. In times of turmoil, these properties will make cryptocurrencies highly attractive.
Unfortunately, that also puts a target on those holding their riches in satoshis. Economic desperation can drive people to extreme measures. Tech-savvy thieves will likely employ a mix of device snooping and NFC/RFID scanning of chip-stored credentials. Others may go for the old-and-tested approach of outright theft.
Then there’s the matter of state actors going on a confiscation spree. History is filled with instances of governments confiscating people’s gold holdings. Even the US, a nation that prides itself on the freedom of its citizens, is no stranger to gold seizures. What’s to say they will turn a blind eye to your “digital gold”?
SOLUTION
The key to protecting your crypto riches in a collapsed society lies in advanced encryption and distributed control mechanisms. This entails encrypting your crypto secrets using a powerful algorithm.
Today’s state-of-the-art encryption models are so powerful that even a supercomputer wouldn’t crack them in a thousand years. The encrypted data should then be stored in a cold-storage device disconnected from the rest of the world.
But don’t stop there! For maximum protection, you should consider setting up a multi-signature protocol where participants must sign to authorize decryption.
This way even if your device is lost and the password is compromised, it’d still be impossible to drain your wallet without the signatures from other parties.
Don't Get Caught Unprepared: Secure Your Crypto with Cuvex
We live in a world where uncertainty is the only certainty. Where change is the only constant. Stability is fleeting, and predictability is a mere illusion. In such a landscape, prepping against doomsday scenarios is not a sign of paranoia but the key to survival.
To help crypto enthusiasts become truly sovereign individuals in the face of those challenges, we made Cuvex—the ultimate tool in your crypto arsenal.
Cuvex offers offline functionality through an air-tight system with military-grade encryption. Your private keys, seed phrases, and any other secrets can live safely and securely in small NFC cards. With sturdy materials and 10,000 minimum lifecycles, our cards are built to survive.
Furthermore, Cuvex supports as many NFC cards as you need, making geographical distribution technologically effortless. Your portfolio can be immune to any localized disasters.
Lastly, Cuvex offers built-in support for multi-sig functionality. During encryption, you can add up to 6 participants to serve as your board for authorizing decryption. Each member sets their unique password, making unauthorized access practically impossible.
If you wish to up your self-custodianship game and disaster-proof your portfolio, be sure to give Cuvex a shot.
