You're Securing Your Bitcoin Wrong w/ Max Hillebrand

About this episode

🔗 GUEST LINKS: Max Hillebrand — Sound Money Solutions: https://soundmoneysolutions.io/ Max on Nostr: https://njump.me/npub1klkk3vrzme455yh9rl2jshq7rc8dpegj3ndf82c3ks2sk40dxt7qulx3vt Personal site / archive: https://towardsliberty.com/ Mention HashrateUp when you reach out to Sound Money Solutions. 🛠 Sponsored by: Luxor, Mining software, firmware & hashrate tools https://luxor.tech/ Altair Technology, ASIC hardware, replacement parts & mining infrastructure Code: HASHRATEUP https://altairtech.io/aff/125/ You spend all your time and money maximizing mining profits, but what happens to those coins on the backend? In this episode, I sit down with Max Hillebrand, co-founder of Sound Money Solutions, to talk about Bitcoin self-custody and how to actually keep the coins you mine safe. The timing couldn't be sharper, with the recent Cold Card entropy and brute-forcing issues making the rounds, but the deeper point is bigger than any single wallet. We get into why most people never upgrade past their first setup, why no hardware wallet from 2017 is still secure, how holistic security ties your physical and digital life together, threat modeling, single-sig vs. multisig, inheritance planning, and why running your own full node is the real privacy minimum. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro & the Cold Card self-custody issue 2:09 The most common self-custody mistake 3:49 Why we stick with what we know (Ledger, Binance) 6:39 What Sound Money Solutions actually offers 9:42 Self-sovereignty & why custody feels daunting 13:12 Sponsor: Luxor 13:41 Holistic security: your physical life protects your Bitcoin 14:46 Threat modeling: what are you protecting, and from whom? 15:27 GrapheneOS, VPNs & password managers 17:10 Full nodes, hardware wallets & the Cold Card Q 18:12 Inheritance: making your setup work without you 21:35 The North Korean hacks, SIM swaps & Telegram attacks 23:13 Security vs. convenience: striking the balance 25:16 Why your family is a target too 27:53 Sponsor: Altair 28:26 Max's background & what qualifies him 32:05 First steps: the lowest-hanging fruit to fix 34:32 The minimal basic setup (single-sig + passphrase) 35:12 Is custody always bad? Max's nuanced take 40:09 How to get comfortable sending Bitcoin 41:47 Testing your backups before funding a wallet 44:19 Rapid fire: mistakes, wallets, multisig & privacy 47:32 Wrap-up & where to find Max 📊 HashrateUp Hardware Deals: https://t.me/hashrateup 📩 Free 5-Day Bitcoin Mining Course: https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/ #Bitcoin #SelfCustody #BitcoinSecurity #ColdCard #HardwareWallet #BitcoinPrivacy #Multisig #GrapheneOS #Cypherpunk #HashrateUp ### Chapters - **0:00 — Intro & the Cold Card self-custody issue** - **2:09 — The most common self-custody mistake** - **3:49 — Why we stick with what we know (Ledger, Binance)** - **6:39 — What Sound Money Solutions actually offers** - **9:42 — Self-sovereignty & why custody feels daunting** - **13:12 — Sponsor: Luxor** - **13:41 — Holistic security: your physical life protects your Bitcoin** - **14:46 — Threat modeling: what are you protecting, and from whom?** - **15:27 — GrapheneOS, VPNs & password managers** - **17:10 — Full nodes, hardware wallets & the Cold Card Q** - **18:12 — Inheritance: making your setup work without you** - **21:35 — The North Korean hacks, SIM swaps & Telegram attacks** - **23:13 — Security vs. convenience: striking the balance** - **25:16 — Why your family is a target too** - **27:53 — Sponsor: Altair** - **28:26 — Max's background & what qualifies him** - **32:05 — First steps: the lowest-hanging fruit to fix** - **34:32 — The minimal basic setup (single-sig + passphrase)** - **35:12 — Is custody always bad? Max's nuanced take** - **40:09 — How to get comfortable sending Bitcoin** - **41:47 — Testing your backups before funding a wallet** - **44:19 — Rapid fire: mistakes, wallets, multisig & privacy** - **47:32 — Wrap-up & where to find Max** Source: [HashrateUp](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxJXUBVDUnc)