Mnemonic seeds for risky situations
summary
Critiques grid-based Border Wallets for using a non-cryptographic PRNG, shuffling all 2,048 BIP39 words (lossy and nonstandard), and relying on low-entropy human patterns that break if the grid is seized. Proposes an experimental Emergency scheme that uses a short mnemonic like seven words (≈77 bits) plus a changing block hash salt, stretched with modern KDF Argon2id to slow brute force; estimates breaking cost as astronomic today but warns it is temporary-use only and unimplemented.
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chapters (16)
- 0:00Mnemonic seeds in risky situations
- 1:58Cryptographic keys from entropy
- 8:56Threat model for border crossings
- 10:00Border Wallets analysis
- 15:13Brain wallets are unsafe
- 16:57Emergency mnemonic seed design
- 21:31Post-risk fund security
- 22:13Conclusion
- 22:56Q&A: Grid patterns & entropy
- 26:07Q&A: Structured mnemonics
- 28:12Q&A: BIP39 flexibility
- 31:41Q&A: Word lists & software
- 33:26Q&A: Sentence mnemonics & entropy
- 34:55Q&A: Threat model assumptions
- 36:19Q&A: Laptop passphrases
- 37:01Q&A: Extra entropy & resistance
