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Trezor Model T Review: Video of the Latest Cryptocurrency Hardware Wallet

June 14, 2018 ·

The long awaited Trezor Model T is the latest hardware wallet available from the Trezor team. After shipping several rounds of pre-orders towards the end of 2017 it is now available on full release. So of course we ordered one to find out whether it was worth all the hype for this Trezor Model T Review!

Trezor Model T First Impressions

After ordering a full price Trezor Model T at the end of May, it turned up on just a few days later before it's estimated June arrival and despite having travelled half way around the world. I put together a quick unboxing video below to go through exactly what you get in the box and share my first impressions of the device.

Trezor Model T Unboxing Video

Trezor Model T Review: The Setup

The biggest change since the release of their first hardware device is the addition of a touchscreen interface so you can use it without having to input private keys, seeds, or pins through a computer, or clunky button interface.

You can watch along as we go through the initial set up of the Trezor Model T in the video below…

Note: As of June 2018 the actual software side of the wallet is still in beta which means there is more extensive logging of interactions and could be due for upgrades in the near future.

Trezor Model T Review: The Hardware

The Trezor Model T is small enough to fit in your hand or pocket so you can easily carry it around. However it doesn't come with a keyring strap as with other companies hardware wallets so it feels less like it has been designed for true usage on the go. This is backed up back the fact that it comes with a wall mount so you can securely hang the hardware wallet in a secure place or somewhere convenient.

The outer body is plastic and overall it feels relatively hardy. The USB port is open, which isn't unusual, but does mean you wouldn't want to take it to the beach or anywhere too adventurous. It very much feels like a device you would keep in an office or a “safe space” rather than taking it to your local coffee shop or offline bitcoin bazaar for frequent daily usage.

Trezor Model T Review: The Software

The first neat feature you'll notice when logging into the device is that the pinpad changes order every time. This means that you should be safe from someone watching you input your login details in person or through CCTV, or even trying to work out your codes from your fingermarks.

Both the on-screen and desktop wallet interfaces are quite clear and easy to understand. The biggest confusion for new users is likely to be the logout functionality where you tell the desktop wallet to “Forget your device”. This terminology is likely trying to avoid confusion in relation to the way assets are stored on the blockchain whilst meta data is stored on the desktop wallet.

Whatever wallet you use, hardware or otherwise, it is important to remember that access to your assets is always controlled by a seed or private key . In the case of a Trezor device the private keys are cryptographically derived from your 12 word seed key.

Trezor Model T Supported Coins

Trezor Model T Supported Coins

As things stand the Trezor Model T supports many of the most popular cryptocurrencies and hundreds of other crypto assets through it's ERC20 Token support. It does have a few omissions which can be found in the Ledger Nano but it comes with more modern feature such as the touchscreen and it is always possible that more coins will be added later.

  • Bitcoin (BTC)
  • Litecoin (LTC)
  • DASH
  • Zcash (ZEC)
  • Bitcoin Cash / Bcash (BCH)
  • Bitcoin Gold (BTG)
  • Ethereum (ETH)
  • Ethereum Classic (ETC)
  • ERC-20 Tokens – This covers hundreds of Cryptoassets on the Ethereum Blockchain!
  • Expanse (EXP)
  • UBIQ (UBQ)
  • NEM (XEM)
  • Namecoin
  • Dogecoin
  • Bitcoin Testnet

Other Notable Features

In addition to the storage of cryptocurrency it can also work as a two-factor authentication device as “Something you have” in addition to your password, i.e. “Something you know”. There are much cheaper devices for this (e.g. Yubikeys) that are a lot more affordable and indestructible so again, this probably wouldn't be you primary 2FA device however it could be useful to use it in co-ordination with online accounts that are related to your cryptocurrency.

Trezor Model T vs Trezor One

Of course the real purpose of a cryptocurrency hardware wallet is for safely storing and interacting with crypto-assets and the real test of this is over the long term. Trezor have been making hardware wallets since at least 2013 when with the Trezor One, so they have a lot of experience keeping crypto safe.

The Trezor One has mostly withstood the test of time except for a few blips which were quickly fixed. As the new software components for the Trezor Model T are still in beta it is probably too early to say that is definitely better but they have already removed the risk of having to input data on your desktop device.

One current restriction with the newer device is that you can only generate 12 word seed keys. This is not uncommon and the developers argue that a 24 word seed key actually adds very little entropy (read: security). So whilst theoretically doubling the amount of words would make it harder to brute force 12 words should already be enough to protect against this possibility.

Overall as long as they keep up their attention to detail and are quick to fix any issues that are discovered then you should be in good hands with either Trezor device.

Trezor Model T Price

Both the Trezor One and Trezor Model T are premium hardware wallets for storing cryptocurrency. But if this is you first cryptocurrency hardware wallet then it is easy to use and comes from a trusted brand. It is a little on the expensive side in comparison to their older model or even a Ledger Nano S, but it is more cost effective than similar touchscreen devices such as the Ledger Blue or Keepkey wallet.

Some Final Thoughts on Hardware Wallets…

The sad reality is that cryptocurrency is an attractive target for hackers. If you hold any amount that you don't want to lose, it is highly recommended that you use a hardware wallet. There are still only a few players in this market and Trezor is undoubtedly one of the most well known brands. Whether you buy a Trezor One or Trezor Model T, you will likely be happy with your choice.

With that said; the Trezor Model T is the newer model will likely be getting the most updates so that would probably be my choice, but the flip side is that the Trezor One is the most battle tested at this stage, so if you have a lot to secure and want to be extra cautious you might opt for that instead. And ultimately if you're truly paranoid with a lot to lose, then it might make sense to split your funds over multiple hardware wallets from multiple brands and throw in some cold storage with a Cryptosteel locked up in a vault so you can split your risk.

Bitcoin Pizza Day – 2018 Bitcoin Pizza Price Index

May 22, 2018 ·

Today as I write this, May 22nd 2018, it is officially Bitcoin Pizza Day. This year it marks exactly 8 years since one of the first consumer purchases was made with Bitcoin. If you hadn't already guessed from the title of this post, that purchase was for pizza. Actually it was two pizzas from Papa Johns if we are being picky. Two pizzas were bought and paid for at the bargain price of 10,000 bitcoin. Wait, what?!

How Bitcoin Pizza Day Began

Back in May 2010 a user on the Bitcoin Talk forums offered to buy two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoin. The market was so under-developed at the time that it actually took four days from announcing the request on May 18th 2010 to actually getting someone to fulfil the pizza side of the bargain on May 22nd 2010. Each individual bitcoin at the time was valued at less than 1 cent each and another user on the forums had previously tried to sell 10,000 bitcoin (unsuccessfully) a couple of months before for $50.

10000 Bitcoin Pizzas

The Original 10000 Bitcoin Pizzas – Image Credit: laszlo [Image Source]

Which of course brings up the question of just how much would those bitcoin pizzas would be worth today? Well at 5,000 bitcoin per pizza, right now each would cost ~$42,464,250 USD bringing the total to just under $85 Million USD! If the pizza seller is still holding on to those bitcoins, it is probably one of the best transactions they will make in their life.

Statistics like this go to show just how fast the market for Bitcoin has grown over the past few years even if it isn't always smooth sailing. Looking back through time this single transaction has been used to create the “Bitcoin Pizza Index” to track the growth in the market value of a bitcoin. Every year cult followers of the cryptocurrency space celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day on May 22nd.

Bitcoin Pizza Value Over Time

  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2010 = ~$41 USD
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2011 = $64,700 USD
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2012 = $50,700 USD The first bitcoin pizza day “loss”.
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2013 = $1,228,900 USD
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2014 = $4,920,500 USD
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2015 = $2,353,200 USD Potentially a great year for Pizza investors!
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2016 = $4,432,200 USD
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2017 = $20,431,900 USD
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2018 = $84,928,500 USD (Coinbase Open)

And of course every active market has two sides…

How Many Pizzas For 10,000 Bitcoin?

Note: The following is based on an assumed price of $41 USD for two pizzas as we don't have accurate exchange data for USD to Pizza conversion.

  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2010 = 2 ?
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2011 = 1,578 ?
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2012 = 1,236 ?
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2013 = 29,973 ?
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2014 = 120,012 ?
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2015 = 57,395 ?The bitcoin crowd may have been hungry this year!
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2016 = 108,102 ?
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2017 = 498,339 ?
  • 10,000 Bitcoins in May 2018 = 2,071,426 ? We may see our first Pizza millionaires this year.

Are You Celebrating Bitcoin Pizza Day 2018?

If you're first name is Satoshi then you may choose to celebrate with 2 million pizzas but that isn't the only option. Luckily you don't need 10,0000 bitcoin to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza day in 2018 with a slice of your own; two pizzas should only cost you 0.00487640 bitcoin in 2018. That is a saving of 99.999951236% savings compared to just 8 years ago. You can probably afford to treat yourself… Or can you? ?

Fixing Unconfirmed Zero Confirmation Transactions

June 8, 2014 ·

If you're ever in the unfortunate position of having sent a transaction and it still hasn't shown up on the blockchain hours or even days later then this post is for you. Even though your coin may seem to have disappeared it is most like locked in your wallet and the software just thinks it has been spent. As long as you keep the private keys safe the coin is safe too.

Bitcoin Error

There are several ways you can try fix this issue and they should all work whether you are working with Bitcoin or another Bitcoin based digital currency. Remember before you try anything; back up your wallet to stay make sure you have a safe copy.

1. The first and most simplest way of unlocking your coin is a simple rescan of the blockchain. You can access this via the Debug Console in the Help menu. Once the console has loaded type “-rescan” and hit enter. This should go through the history related to your addresses and if the transaction isn't found on the live blockchain then your coin will no longer show as spent and you should be able to rebroadcast it.

2. The second way is by downloading a fresh copy of the blockchain. Close your wallet application and navigate to the folder where your coin files are stored. On Windows this is usually ‘C:/Users/PCUSERNAME/AppData/Roaming/Bitcoin' and is where you will find a copy of your wallet which you should back up. You can then delete every other file in this folder apart from wallet.dat and then reopen the wallet software. This should initiate a new download of the blockchain and as it is verified your transaction will either appear unsent or verify and go through to the original destination.

3. The last option is to make a backup of your wallet.dat file using the built in Backup option from your wallet software. Then completely uninstall your wallet software and make a fresh installation using the official installer. Once it has reinstalled you can import your wallet.dat by moving the backup to the data folder described in the previous option or importing the private keys manually. This should either verify or unlock your coin.

It can be frustrating and worrying when your coin is locked and it shouldn't happen often. The only time I've seen this issue is when your computer battery dies in the middle of the process or there was an underlying problem with the network connection when the transaction was made. With one of the above options your coin should now be unlocked or sent to the original destination. If this works for you, help other out in need by sharing this post with a friend in need or your favourite website as thanks.

YouTube is Broken: Rethinking Monetization With Bitcoin

June 20, 2013 ·

This talk from Adam B Levine was given at the recent 2013  Bitcoin Conference in San Jose. It discusses the realities of monetizing your content on the web and then presents Bitcoin as a possible solution for generating a return on your published works through people quite literally voting with their wallets.

Rather than simply donating to a single address, users can tip specific pieces of content that they enjoy which in turn lets the publisher know where they are getting their biggest donations from and what content their users enjoy the most. In essence it is a kind of monetized analytics that provides feedback in a profitable way.

If the concept of monetizing your content on the web with Bitcoin sounds interesting then you should definitely check out the full video if you get a chance. You should also make sure to subscribe to our email updates because we have announcements coming up soon on some great Bitcoin WordPress plugins to help monetize your websites!

Rethinking Monetization With Bitcoin

An Introduction to Mining Bitcoincs

May 29, 2013 ·

Created by AcademicEarth.org

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