Was crypto self-custody ever designed for beginners?
Summary
Crypto executives disagree on whether self-custody was designed for beginners, but say improving its usability is important for broader adoption. Recent Ledger and Coldcard incidents highlighted hardware-wallet risks: recovery phrases were stolen from some Ledger devices, while a Coldcard firmware bug could enable private-key recreation. Multisig wallets add approval layers but can be difficult to manage and cannot stop signers from approving a malicious transaction. Seedless wallets avoid recovery-phrase management but require users to protect multiple physical devices; losing all devices can mean permanent loss of funds. They also may leave users vulnerable to deceptive transaction approvals, especially when they lack a built-in screen.
