02.12.2022

Our Contribution to the Self-Custody Movement  

In the first two paragraphs of the Bitcoin Whitepaper, Satoshi Nakamoto used the word ‘trust’ six times. Satoshi viewed the need for trust as the biggest weakness of the traditional financial system, and Bitcoin’s decentralized nature eliminated this requirement. Even in the early days of cryptocurrency, it was evident to us at Numbrs that Bitcoin allowed for individual sovereignty.

As the cryptocurrency ecosystem developed over time, we witnessed the rise of centralized exchanges. As these centralized entities are the point of overlap between traditional Fiat currency and the new world of Bitcoin, these centralized exchanges became the most common place for holders to firstly acquire their Bitcoin, and in turn store it there.

Almost all of the biggest centralized exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase and Kraken hold possession over their user’s private keys, and by extension, the digital asset itself. In short, users have to once again place their trust in centralized entities. Not only does this contravene one of the founding principles of Bitcoin, but it has also led to these companies becoming subject to a tremendous number of disastrous issues.

The recent demise of FTX, Celsius and Terra sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency space. Amid a recent downturn in the market, these firms spiraled into a liquidity crisis, freezing customer withdrawals and declaring bankruptcy - eviscerating their user’s Bitcoin in the process. FTX went from a platform valued at $32 billion to bankruptcy almost overnight. Further investigations into these companies unveiled gross mismanagement of user funds, market manipulation and shady withdrawals. There are also countless examples of centralized services being hacked. These recent incidents have made one fact painfully clear - when digital assets are stored on a centralized exchange, their users’ funds are in jeopardy.

It is important to note these failures are due to fraud and human incompetence – the fundamental blockchain technology that supports Bitcoin remains true. This supported our motivation to build our own storage solution, to protect both ours and our client’s Bitcoin. Our developers have worked tirelessly over the last two years to create the most secure self-custody storage solution in the world. This is why we developed our product - Swiss Self Custody.

Our self-custody solution gives our users complete control over their private key. Not only that, Swiss Self Custody is a full-stack product, meaning we have zero dependence on other entities. Coinbase was recently forced to disable a feature on their mobile application, due to an intervention from Apple. We know that any reliance on third parties would significantly compromise the security of not only our client’s Bitcoin, but also our own. We proudly host and operate our own server infrastructure, based in the heart of Switzerland. Our servers are never connected to the internet, and are located in the high-security data centre of an “ISO 27001” certified colocation partner.

We believe that the undeniable power of Bitcoin’s decentralized architecture is paramount for wealth preservation in a turbulent financial world. Everyone should have the opportunity to hold their Bitcoin in self-custody. That's why from this week onwards, all Bitcoin holders can use our product free of charge, up to a balance of $50,000.

Self-sovereign control of assets, user discretion and Swiss-based financial stability should be accessible for anyone, anywhere - without restrictions. You can find further information about Swiss Self Custody on our website: www.numbrs.com.

Protect your Bitcoin – while it’s still yours to do so.