Ethereum’s Buterin advocates multisig, says Shamir backup is ‘way easier to screw up’

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin publicly favored multisig over Shamir backup, saying the latter was “much easier to screw up” for casual users.

In an

Peter Watts, founder of NFT marketplace Reservoir, went on to 19 epidemics.

Counterpoint: The biggest risk when using a hardware wallet is yourself. Watch out for pistols:
– Someone finds your hidden seed
– You hide the seed so well that you forget
– You put the seed in the bank’s safe deposit box and then you move abroad in a hurry due to Covid 😬 https://t.co/UzAV13wzPB

—Peter | Reservoir (@ptrwtts) 30 April 2024

The conversation took a new turn when Vitalik Buterin joined in, advocating the use of multi-signature (also known as multisig) solutions to secure personal funds. Buterin did not reject the idea of ​​cold wallets, but he emphasized decentralized security, favoring multi-signature setups where multiple keys are required for transactions, and emphasizing the importance of security in crypto.

The reason I use multi-signature is the above (@trustworthy) for over 90% of my personal money 🙂

M-of-N, some keys are in your possession (but not enough to hinder recovery), the rest are in the hands of others you trust. Don’t even reveal who other people are to each other.

Decentralize your own security.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 1, 2024

He emphasized the need for an “M-of-N” configuration, where some keys are held by the user and others by trusted individuals, without their identities being revealed even to each other.

In response to Buterin’s suggestion, Ethereum investor Tobby Kitty proposed Shamir, a backup method for splitting cryptographic keys or passwords into multiple pieces called “shares.” While Buterin acknowledged the benefits of Shamir, he cautioned that it is “much easier to screw up” compared to multi-signature because it depends on many parts of the secret being carefully handled and kept. If any of these pieces are lost or mishandled, it may be impossible to put the secret back together.