Ai investit în cripto, dar într-un fel sau altul, ai pierdut totul.

Sună cunoscut? Sperăm că nu.

Totuși, cum te asiguri că nu ajungi în această situație? Protejându-ți fondurile cu singurul pachet de care ai nevoie pentru securitatea criptomonedelor tale, care conține Kryptodots și Ledger.

Există câteva povești frapante ale unor oameni care își pierd accesul la activele lor cripto. E destul de dureros când se întâmplă asta. Să deții o anumită sumă de criptomonede, dar fără posibilitatea de a le accesa din cauza unui eveniment nefericit… e un scenariu în care nimeni nu vrea să se imagineze.

Dar problema este destul de prezentă pentru toți deținătorii de criptomonede. Vestea bună este că există o soluție prudentă. Hai să aprofundăm subiectul!

Portofelul non-custodial

Se spune că dacă „nu deții cheile de acces, nu deții monedele”. Dacă ar fi să explicăm acest lucru în doar câteva cuvinte, trebuie să aducem în discuție cele 2 tipuri de portofele pentru deținerea activelor digitale: custodial, cu ajutorul unui intermediar care este de cele mai multe ori o platformă de exchange, și non-custodial, unde numai tu ai acces către fondurile tale. Dacă vrei să afli mai multe detalii despre acest subiect, citește articolul Portofele custodiale & non-custodiale | Puncte cheie, argumente PRO & CONTRA de pe blogul nostru.

Când deții un portofel non-custodial, ceea ce deții cu adevărat este o cheie privată. Această cheie privată este cea mai mare datorie pe care o ai. Păstrezi cheia privată în siguranță; îți păstrezi criptomonedele în siguranță. Iată cum faci asta.

Ghid pas cu pas pentru securizarea criptomonedelor

1. Creează un portofel cu ajutorul unui Ledger. Dacă deții deja unul dar îți dorești să te bucuri de securitatea maximă pe care ți-l oferă un ledger, îți poți crea un nou portofel cu ajutorul acestuia și îți transferi activele digitale pe el.

2. Ia o bucată de hârtie și notează fraza secretă generată de Ledger care conține 24 de cuvinte. Atenționări:

⚠️ Fraza secretă va apărea o singură dată în Ledger. Asigură-te că o notezi corect!

⚠️ Nu introduce fraza secretă pe niciun site web sau program software (cum ar fi Note, Notion, Word Doc/Excel Sheet/Slides)!

⚠️ Nu face fotografii sau capturi de ecran frazei secrete!

3. Transformă cele 12/24 de cuvinte în numere cu ajutorul listei bip39 inclusă în kitul Kryptodots.

4. Folosește encoderul și marchează punctele pe placa de oțel inoxidabil Kryptodots.

5. Marchează permanent punctele de pe placă cu ajutorul punctatorului și a unui ciocan.

6. Bucură-te de o viață fără griji știind că ți-ai stocat în siguranță activele digitale.

Nu te pune în situația în care să ai accesul blocat la finanțele tale. Deține-ți fondurile și asigură-te că parcurgi toți pașii necesari pentru a le proteja.

Ledger-ul

Ce este cu adevărat minunat la Ledger, indiferent dacă alegi un Nano S sau un Nano X, este că oferă cea mai bună securitate pentru criptomonedele tale și este foarte ușor de utilizat. Deții un portofoliu vast de monede? Asta nu este o problemă pentru Ledger, deoarece poate gestiona o gamă largă de monede și tokeni. În plus, software-ul adaugă în mod constant monede nou lansate.

Ledger-ul generează fraza secretă - care este cea mai importantă atunci când deții un portofel non-custodial - și o va afișa o singură dată, atunci când creezi portofelul. Acest moment este crucial deoarece trebuie să ai mare grijă cum stochezi în siguranță fraza secretă. Cum faci asta? Cu ajutorul Kryptodots, desigur.

Kryptodots

Acest dispozitiv offline de back-up stochează și protejează fraza secretă, astfel încât să nu pierzi niciodată accesul la portofelul tău. De asemenea, face decriptarea frazei o misiune imposibilă pentru oricine ar vrea să îți “spargă” cuvintele frazei. Cum face asta? Prin conversia celor 12/24 de cuvinte în numere și apoi în... puncte. Da, ai citit bine. Hai să vedem procesul!

Lista de cuvinte în engleză bip39 - inclusă într-un kit Kryptodots - te va ajuta să transformi cuvintele în numere. Conține 2048 de cuvinte, deci dacă fraza ar conține doar 12 cuvinte aleatorii, numărul de combinații posibile ar fi 2048^12 = 2^132 și fraza ar avea 132 de biți de securitate, iar pentru 24 de cuvinte aleatorii, numărul de combinații posibile ar fi 2048^24 = 2^264. Asta se traduce prin super-securitate. Tot ce trebuie tu să facii este să cauți în lista bip39 corespondentul în numere pentru cuvintele frazei secrete. Atât de ușor este.

În al doilea rând, encoderul - inclus în kitul Kryptodots - te va ajuta să marchezi punctele în locul potrivit pe placa de oțel inoxidabil. Prinde-l de placă și, cu ajutorul unui marker sau unui creion, marchează punctele pe ambele părți. Asigură-te că le marchezi corect.

În al treilea rând, bate și marchează permanent punctele pe placă ajutându-te de un ciocan și punctator. Asta e tot!

Singura alternativă rezonabilă la Kryptodots este o simplă bucată de hârtie. Dar ne putem imagina cu toții punctele vulnerabile ale acesteia. Se poate degrada foarte ușor, poate lua foc sau se poate uda,  devenind inutilă. Și nu doar asta. Să presupunem că alegi să laminezi hârtia pe care ai notat fraza, deci e impermeabilă. Este adevărat, obții un nivel mai ridicat de protecție, dar nu cel mai bun. Încă poate lua foc cu ușurință. În plus, cuvintele tale nu vor fi codificate. Deținerea unui Kryptodots te asigură și de această protecție. Ca să nu mai vorbim că poți aplica orice tip de model sau metodă de amestecare a informațiilor pe care doar tu le cunoști pentru un plus de securitate.

Pachetul suprem: Ledger + Kryptodots

De ce formează Ledger-ul și Kryptodots echipa perfectă pentru siguranța criptomonedelor tale? Pentru că beneficiezi de securitate la toate nivelurile și în toate punctele cheie ale procesului.

Dacă ți se întâmplă să ți se strice calculatorul, să ți se corupă hard disk-ul sau chiar să pierzi Ledgerul, poți descărca același software de portofel sau poți cumpăra un alt portofel hardware (Ledger) și utilizezi copia de rezervă a frazei secrete, pe care ai stocat-o pe Kryptodots. Astfel, îți recuperezi accesul la activele digitale.

În calitate de creatori ai Kryptodots, oferim* un pachet promoțional cu acest duo ingenios: Kryptodots + Ledger, atât Nano S, cât și Nano X, cu o reducere de 20%.

*pentru o perioada limitată, până la sfârșitul stocurilor.

Cumpără Kryptodots + Nano S -20% https://kryptodots.com/product/bundle-kryptodots-ledger-nano-s/

Cumpără Kryptodots + Nano X -20% https://kryptodots.com/product/bundle-kryptodots-ledger-nano-x/

You invested in crypto, but somehow you lost everything.

Sounds familiar? Hopefully, not.

However, how do you make sure you don’t end up in this situation? By protecting your assets with the only security pack you need, containing Kryptodots & a Ledger.

There are some outrageous stories about people losing access to their crypto assets. It’s rather heartbreaking if you think about it. Having a certain amount of crypto, but with the impossibility to access it due to an unfortunate event, is a scenario no one wants to picture himself in.

But the problem is quite present for all crypto holders. The good news is that there is a cautious solution. So let’s dive into that!

Non-custodial wallet

“Not your keys, not your coins”, they say. If we were to explain this in just a few words, it would imply the 2 types of wallets for holding digital assets: custodial, with the help of an intermediary which is mostly an exchange platform, and non-custodial, which puts you in full control of your funds. If you want to read more about this subject, make sure you check the Custodial & Non-Custodial Wallets | Key points, Pros & Cons article on our blog.

When you own a non-custodial wallet, what you really own is a private key. This private key is the greatest duty that you have. As with the eyes in the head, you need to store and protect it. You keep your private key safe; you keep your crypto safe. See below how you do that.

Step-by-step guide to securing your crypto

1. Create a wallet with the help of a ledger. If you already own a wallet, and you want to enjoy the extra security a ledger offers you, create a new wallet and transfer your digital assets. 

2. Take a piece of paper and note down the freshly generated seed phrase containing 24 words. Cautions: 

⚠️ The seed phrase will only appear once in your ledger. Make sure you note it down correctly!

⚠️ Don’t type it into any website or software program (like Notes, Notion, Word Doc/Excel Sheet/Slides)!

⚠️ Don’t take photos or screenshots of the seed phrase!

3. Convert your 12/24 words into numbers with the help of the bip39 list included in the Kryptodots kit.

4. Use the encoder and mark the dots on the base plate of the Kryptodots.

5. Permanently mark the dots on the plate with the use of the center punch and a hammer. 

6. Enjoy a carefree life knowing you safely stored your digital assets.

Don’t get yourself in a situation in which you are locked out of your finances. Own your money and make sure you take all the necessary steps in protecting it.

The Ledger 

What’s truly great about the Ledger, whether you choose a Nano S or a Nano X, is that it offers the best security to your crypto assets and it’s super easy to use. Do you own various portfolios of coins? That’s no problem for the ledger, as it can manage a wide range of coins and tokens. On top of that, the software constantly adds the newly launched tokens.

The ledger generates the seed phrase - as in the most important thing when owning a non-custodial wallet - and will only show it once when it creates the wallet. This moment is crucial for your soon-to-be-filled wallet because you have to take great care of the seed phrase. And how do you do that? With Kryptodots, of course.

The Kryptodots 

This offline backup device permanently stores and protects your seed phrase, so that you may never lose it. It also makes it impossible for anyone to decrypt it. How does it do that? By converting the 12/24 words into numbers, and then into… dots. Yes, you read that right. Let’s see the process below!

The bip39 English word list - included in a Kryptodots kit- will help you turn the words into numbers. It has 2048 words, so if the phrase contained only 12 random words, the number of possible combinations would be 2048^12 = 2^132 and the phrase would have 132 bits of security and for 24 random words, the number of possible combinations would be 2048^24 = 2^264. That’s translated into super-secure. All you have to do is to search all your seed phrase’s words into this bip39 list and note down the correspondent 4 number code. It’s that easy.

Secondly, the encoder - included in a Kryptodots pack - will help you mark the dots into the right place on the base plate. Just tie it to the plate and, with the help of a marker or crayon, mark the dots on both sides of the base plate. Make sure you mark them correctly. 

Thirdly, with the help of a hammer and the center punch, permanently mark the dots on the plate. That’s it!

The only reasonable alternative to the Kryptodots is a piece of paper. But we all can imagine its weaknesses. It can easily degrade, catch fire, or get wet and become useless. And it’s not just that. Let’s say you choose to make a laminated paper that's impermeable. It’s true, you get a higher level of protection, but not the best one. It still can burn easily and also your words wouldn’t be encoded. Owning a Kryptodots assures you of this protection, too. Not to mention that you can also apply any kind of pattern or method of scrambling information that only you know for extra security. 

The ultimate pack: Ledger + Kryptodots

Why do the Ledger and the Kryptodots make the perfect team for your crypto safety? Because you have security on all levels and on all key points of the process. 

If your computer breaks, your hard drive becomes corrupted or even the hardware wallet, i.e. the Ledger, gets lost, broken, or stolen, you can download the same software wallet again or buy another hardware wallet and use the seed phrase backup from your Kryptodots to get your assets back. 

As the creators of Kryptodots, we offer* a Promo Pack with this ingenious duo: Kryptodots + Ledger, both Nano S and Nano X, for 20% off.  

*for a limited period, until the end of stocks.

Shop Kryptodots + Nano S - 20% off https://kryptodots.com/product/bundle-kryptodots-ledger-nano-s/

Shop Kryptodots + Nano X - 20% off https://kryptodots.com/product/bundle-kryptodots-ledger-nano-x/ 

In this article, we will talk about blockchain technology in very basic terms. There are a lot of sources that talk about blockchain and ledgers, about how decentralized currencies have the power of changing the future, about how “the ship has sailed” on becoming rich with Bitcoin, and how the word “trust” has gained power again. But what do all these actually mean? 

It’s no surprise that the word “blockchain” made a fuss in the past years and it has become more and more fascinating to people all around the world. And not only that, but the blockchain is already disrupting the financial system. So it’s time to look at it responsibly.

First things first: what is a blockchain?

As the name says it pretty obviously, a blockchain is a chain of blocks. 

Each block contains 3 things: a bunch of data, the hash of the block, and the hash of the previous block. 

The data stored on the block can be almost anything, depending on the type of the blockchain. If we talk about money, we’re talking about transaction records, but it can be any other type of data: pictures, links, information about a specific topic. For the sake of the article, we will focus on the history of transactions. It can store the following details: the sender, the amount of the transaction, and the receiver of the amount. For example, Anna sends 100 dollars to Alex. This is only one of all the transactions on that list. You can also check the topic of the smart contracts, as they are also part of this data that can be stored on the blockchain. Transactions are exchanges of coins based on some conditions that make them storable on the blockchain. 

Ok, getting back to the other elements of a block, let’s move on to the hash. The hash is actually an encrypted digital fingerprint. This means it’s unique, just like a fingerprint. It’s calculated as soon as the block it’s created, and if there are modifications to this block, the hash will change. 

The third element, which is the hash of the previous block, creates the chain of blocks that’s making the blockchain secure. 

Let’s say that we have 10 blocks in the chain: each block has a hash and the hash of the previous block. The only block which doesn’t have a hash of the previous block it’s, of course, the first-ever created block, which it's called the “Genesis Block”. 

Well, if the hash of a block has been changed after it was validated by everyone, all of the following blocks will become invalid. And this is because they no longer store a valid hash of the previous blocks. 

All computers in the network have to allow the changes before they occur, therefore we can say it’s consensus-based permission.

So, the new block in the link is stamped in order to establish a chronological order, and the hashing process proves that the block is qualified to be added to the chain. Each new block is identified and validated by its hash which was established taking into account data from previous blocks. It’s an unbroken chain - a blockchain - which leads all the way back to its very first block. 

OK, things start to make sense, but what exactly does a blockchain do?

Well, the answer is complex, but not hard to understand. 

Blockchain is a distributed ledger that’s open to everyone and that can record transactions between two parties in an efficient, verifiable, and permanent way, without a third-party intermediary.

At its most basic technological level, a blockchain is a recording of the facts and is time-stamping things so that it would be impossible to backdate or to temper with them. Therefore, blockchain is a ledger that confirms a few things:

What about trust?

Blockchain is a new kind of database, which is shared across a number of participants. Updates are added to this database. Always at the end of it and not through the old data. This means that once the data is there, it cannot be erased or modified anyhow. All changes are simply captured as new blocks. This characteristic is called immutability.

Thus, it’s impossible for someone to erase an earlier block without attempting to destroy all the following blocks. But as all of the following blocks were already validated by everyone, the attempt is impossible. So this is important because blockchain is time-stamping things in a way that cannot be manipulated or tampered with. 

Another paramount thing is that blockchain technology is bulletproof when it comes to manipulation in transactions. With its attribute of distributing the records to all the members of the network to be verified, it's impossible to tamper with the data because too many people have a copy of the original. 

This is what we call decentralization. This means that no one can be evil and mess with everyone’s money. It’s a database with no central authority governance. 

Each participant on this network holds, at the same time, an identical copy of the blockchain database on their computer. Therefore, the digital record and signature of the transactions are identified, validated, stored, and then shared with everyone. So blockchain keeps track of all changes, like an accounting ledger, but a superior one: a distributed ledger. 

Blockchains use a decentralized network to facilitate the transaction between parties. This means that, unlike the banks which take custody conducting payments, the blockchain transfers money without a third party as a middleman. This is also called The Trust Protocol. Because the platform itself is based on the trust concept.  

So if Anna wants to send 100 dollars to Alex, there is no financial institution through which the money will be transferred. There is no need for an intermediary, or a third party such as lawyers, banks, brokers, and so on. This is the huge potential that blockchain has. 

What’s the catch with Bitcoin?

To understand Bitcoin as it is today, we need to talk a bit about the history of the internet and computers.

Back in the ‘80s, there were many problems with privacy, security, and inclusion on the Internet. It was that period in time when the algorithms that support modern cryptocurrency appeared for the first time. 

Almost 2 decades later, the computer scientist and blockchain pioneer Nick Szabo developed Bit Gold, the predecessor of Bitcoin, a proto-cryptocurrency that was never implemented but had a lot in common with Bitcoin’s features regarding transactions and decentralized networks. It also operated on a proof of work algorithm which involves computer power in solving cryptographic puzzles. 

And then the world was disrupted with the 9-page white paper sent by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto in October 2008, describing the disruptive technology - Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System

He outlined a new peer-to-peer electronic cash system using a cryptocurrency called Bitcoin - which gained tremendous fame and widespread traction. We can undoubtedly say that Bitcoin defined and highlighted the importance of blockchain. 

But...there is more than one "but". Bitcoin is scarce and has limitations. One of the most important problems is scalability. And more than this, the competition for “mining” the few millions of Bitcoin left to be claimed is harder and harder. Because it requires knowledge, expensive equipment, and electricity. All in all inaccessible or unaffordable for most of the world.

Thus, from a sustainability perspective, Bitcoin is not a winner. The massive energy consumption for mining Bitcoin cannot be fixed with renewable energy. This is the reason why alternative cryptocurrencies - like Elrond - were needed. 

Elrond uses a more evolved mechanism, the proof of stake. This doesn’t require the enormous computing power and energy required by Bitcoin. We truly believe in this sustainable ecosystem and highly scalable public blockchain. It's the future! 

The Elrond ecosystem brings a great improvement in the blockchain speed, scale, and user experience. The Elrond blockchain can sustain up to 15000 transactions per second, which is like the speed of light compared to Bitcoin’s capacity of 7 transactions per second. 

Moreover, Elrond is highly scalable, enabling many parallel transactions processing, and also operates on a secure and efficient proof of stake. 

We’ll talk more about it in a future article. 

Conclusion

One thing is for sure: blockchain will disrupt the financial system and the economy greatly. The blockchain revolution is centered on individual autonomy and human capitalism. We will be able to re-engineer deep structures of innovation and it will be a major paradigm shift. When and how? We will dig deeper into this in our next articles.

Our mission and responsibility is to work on sharing our knowledge and to create together a  clear understanding of what this digital disruption means.