A question that comes up often in the
@SeedSigner community chat: When generating the 24 words, is it recommended to add a passphrase? Or is it enough without it, thank you very much
My answer: This all depends on you and your personal threat models. Cryptographically, a 24 word seed is going to be as secure as an attacker having to pick a single atom in the observable universe to guess your key. Never happening. (someone correct me if I've got that wrong)
But if you leave your 24 words in your underwear drawer, your kids dumbass friend can find and steal your money very easily.
Adding a passphrase prevents someone from being able to steal your money with your 24 words, but also introduces the risk that your forget your passphase and lose access to your own money.
There's no free lunch in personal responsibility. Every option has trade offs. Complexity and security must both be monitored.
Best generic advice I might give a new Bitcoiner is to play around with all options until you feel like you personally understand well the technology and tradeoffs involved to make educated decisions.
You want to sleep well at night. Find the self custody solution that gives you the best sleep.
