13 · Plebum Dominium

If you get stuck

What am I actually making?

Three keys are made at home, with dice, on a computer that is not on the internet. Any two of them can spend. One cannot. The keys are stamped into titanium and kept in three places. A hardware wallet is optional, and it does not create the keys.

I already own a hardware wallet. Do I start there?

No. The device stays in the drawer until the plates exist and a small payment has moved. A hardware signer does not create the key. If a key is later loaded onto a device, a second key goes onto a device from a different maker. All three keys are not put on hardware. The plates are the backup.

The download is newer than the version on the sheet.

Stop. This kit checks Tails 7.13, Sparrow 2.5.5 (sparrowwallet-2.5.5-x86_64.tar.gz), and Electrum 4.8.2. A newer file will not match. That is a stop, not an upgrade. Delete it.

The two word lists do not match.

Stop. Do not pick the list that looks nicer. Do not change word 24 to force a wallet to open. Roll again, or find the copying mistake. A “fixed” word is a destroyed key.

Can I keep the words in a password manager?

No. A photo, a note, a password manager, or an email is one hacked account away from the whole seed. The words go on metal. The map is encrypted. The passphrase for the map is on paper, away from the plates.

What if the map is lost, or its passphrase is lost?

Not necessarily. If all three plates still exist, three seeds rebuild the map exactly. But two plates cannot: the third key cannot be derived from the other two. So if the only copies of the map are encrypted and the passphrase is lost, two plates are not enough. Back up the passphrase paper in two separate places, away from the plates. The path is 2-of-3, native SegWit, m/48'/0'/0'/2'. Write that path on the inheritance sheet. It is not a secret.

What does my family do?

Give them the “If I am gone” sheet. They need two plates and the map. They buy a Jade and a BitBox from the makers’ own shops. One plate goes in each device. They do not boot Tails. They do not type the words into a phone.

Next. The last sheet answers the tough questions people raise about the method. It is not required to finish the setup.