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In a recent interview, Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (known as CZ) was asked about the most promising narrative in crypto today.
“If you had a very talented team of developers and all the money in the world, what narrative would you jump in?” Crypto Banter, the interviewer, asked.
The answer CZ gave, which can be seen in the video below, was rather unexpected, but actually we were not surprised at all here at Safe Haven.
(We’ll include the video of the full interview at the bottom of this article)
“I wouldn’t go for the most promising narrative, but I would chase the hardest problem crypto faces today, which is the wallet.”
– Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ)
So why is CZ saying that?
Apparently he has the same vision as Safe Haven and believes the use and security of digital wallets are the main blocker for crypto or DeFi mass adaption.
Digital wallets require self custody. You’re the one in charge of your own wallet, there’s no centralized entity to help you out when something goes wrong.
“Today, DeFi protocols are fun and easy to use. All you have to do is connect your wallet and you’re good to go. At least, if you know how to do it. DeFi is very simple, there’s no KYC, no AML, but most people have no clue how to store their private keys securely.” CZ continued.
“Wallets require you to be technical. Your computer can not get a virus. If you ever happen to get a virus and lose access to your computer, you’re losing money. If you don’t have access to your computer, you need a backup and that backup needs to be encrypted. Most people don’t know how to do that properly. And if you have an encrypted backup, its okay to lose your computer, but what if eventually you die? What if you’re not around? How to make sure your kids have access?”
That problem -according to CZ- is not solved yet (but he couldn’t be more wrong on this! We’ll explain below) and is one of the main reasons most people today still prefer to use an email, password and call customer support when something goes wrong.
People still want to use centralized exchanges out of fear of managing their own assets, which potentially is blocking DeFi mass adoption.
But what CZ apparently doesn’t know (yet), is that we at Safe Haven have already solved this problem since 2017.
Our solution has multiple patents in different jurisdictions around the world and even includes our own cold storage hardware device, the SafeKey.
We even have a solution on how to implement our protocol into Binance and other centralized exchanges or DeFi wallets:
So, what’s our story?
Solving The Hardest Problem In Crypto
In 2017, our CEO and Co-Founder Jürgen Schouppe was wondering about the same issues CZ describes in the interview, namely:
- People need encrypted, decentralized backups for secret data
- People need crypto inheritance plans to protect their assets
In crypto’s history, many fortunes have been made, but more and more fortunes are now getting lost forever. There are many cases where people have lost their seed phrase or private key, had their computer crash or died unexpectedly.
Even keyholders of crypto exchanges have disappeared.
How is this possible funds can get lost that easily?
In a multi-trillion dollar industry, valuable assets still too often ought to be secured beyond writing a secret phrase on a little piece of paper. Very few people are taking proper care of their hard earned assets.
So how do you make sure your cryptocurrencies will never get lost, even after your death?
That’s when Safe Haven was born and Jürgen started building.
The Solution To Both The Encrypted Backup And Crypto Inheritance Problems
Since Safe Haven entered the crypto and blockchain space in 2017, it became our main goal to solve this problem, which we did and will continue to do.
In the last 5 years we’ve mainly been focussing on building technical fundamentals for our solution to crypto’s hardest problem, which resulted in 2 innovative products already:
- Inheriti®
- SafeKey
And a patented protocol which was also invented and designed by Jürgen Schouppe:
- Secure Share Distribution Protocol – SSDP
Inheriti® (as an online tool) , in combination with SafeKeys (as a secure storage device for encrypted shares) makes it possible to store or transfer secret and sensitive data (also if you happen to die).
And despite the fact that over the years competition has also surfaced, there’s not a single solution that’s as secure and as decentralized as ours.
Why?
Because our Secure Share Distribution Protocol makes use of 3-layer topology to securely store the different encrypted shares, which includes:
- Blockchain
- Cloud storage
- SafeKey as a cold storage hardware device
This solution is unique and superior to software and app-only solutions because SSDP is quantum-proof, hacker proof, 100% decentralized and stores majority of the encrypted shares offline on a secure tamper-proof hardware device.
Here’s How The Solution Works
In simple words: Inheriti® encrypts and splits data into secret shares utilizing different protocols such as Shamir’s Secret Sharing algoritm.
Those encrypted secret shares are then stored on your SafeKey devices (in combination with encrypted backup shares stored on secure cloud and blockchain storage) and have to be brought back together in order to reveal the secret data.
Sounds easy? You’re right, it is!
Important to note here is that you never directly store funds or actual cryptocurrencies in your inheritance or backup plan. Instead you leave data or credentials (guidelines, private keys, passwords, user names, pin codes, …) to access the location (your wallet, exchange, ledger, …) where your cryptocurrencies and NFTs are located.
By the way, if you’re in crypto and already have a hardware wallet, you’ll love using the SafeKey to create secure backups of your private keys or seed phrases. It’s an indispensable extra security layer on top of your Ledger or Trezor.
Full details on how to create your own encrypted backup or crypto inheritance plan can be found here:
Traditional Backup Solutions To Avoid
For some people it might sound like an overly complicated process to backup private keys and seed phrases with Inheriti® and Safekey.
They prefer to keep it simple. But simple usually also means unsafe.
Let’s take a look at some traditional and common used solutions and why they put your digital assets at risk.
Screenshots
Taking a screenshot of your seed phrase might seem like an obvious solution, but it’s actually one of the least secure methods.
If your phone or computer is ever lost or stolen, someone could easily access your seed phrase and steal your funds.
If you get hacked, a savvy hacker could recognize the seed phrase and drain your wallet.
Also some people’s screenshots get automatically uploaded to their cloud services, which should be avoided at all costs.
Writing It Down
Writing down your seed phrase or private key on a piece of paper seems to be what quite a few people are doing, but it’s far from safe.
Paper can get lost or damaged, and if someone finds it, they can take your seed phrase and again, steal your funds.
USB Sticks
Saving your seed phrase to a USB drive is better than writing it down on paper, but it’s still far from perfect.
Your USB drive will need to be stored safely, and anyone who might happen to find it would be able to enter it into their computer.
You could encrypt the USB drive, but this encryption can be cracked by seasoned hackers, and anyone with the access code would still be able to use your USB drive.
Mark Words In A Book
Writing or marking the words down in a book is marginally better than using a USB drive.
If you lose the book, or if it somehow gets damaged, your seed phrase would be gone forever.
However, if someone finds the book and is able to decode the words, they are again able to take your seed phrase and steal your funds.
Cloud Storage
Saving your seed phrase in the cloud might seem like a good idea, but it’s actually one of the least secure methods.
If you use a centralized service like Dropbox or Google Drive, your seed phrase would be stored on their servers.
This means that if their servers or your account were ever hacked, your seed phrase could be compromised.
Online Vaults
Some crypto users use online vaults or mobile apps to store their seed phrase. While this might sound better than most of the methods above, it is not foolproof.
If the online vault is ever hacked or the company goes out of business, your seed phrase could be lost forever.
Online vaults or clouds are also not based on smart contracts nor are they decentralized. Your private information is simply stored in their vault.
The Beauty Of Inheriti® And SafeKey
If you’re using Inheriti® in combination with SafeKey to create encrypted backups or a crypto inheritance plan, it will have many advantages above any other solution:
- Decentralized cold storage of encrypted unreadable shares
- Keep control over your own data, forever
- Create multiple backups and shares
- Eliminate intermediaries
- Avoid data loss
- SafeKey allows you to plausibly deny the existence of data
- Use tamper proof and patented technology
- Highest standards of security and military grade encryption
- Ongoing independent audits
- 3-Layer topology (blockchain, cloud, cold storage devices)
- Lifetime validity
- 100% decentralized
- No critical information is stored in databases
- Pin-code protection that serves as an additional layer of security for beneficiary shares
- Fail-safe mechanisms that verify if the owner of the encrypted data is deceased before unlocking validator shares on the blockchain — Dead Man Switch
Click here to learn more about our patented solution: Inheriti® »