Wait... what?? The fraction of the 5 btc not spent will go to either a completely new "change" address, totally unrelated to all my other 19 addresses... or if I choose to not use change addresses as per the functionality offered in several wallets, the wallet will send the unspent amount back to the original address... which is also totally unrelated (from an external point of view) to all my other 19 addresses.
You have read BIP32 and BIP44 and understand about "external" (aka receive) and "internal" (aka change) addresses right? Pretty much all the hardware wallets that I'm aware of implement BIP44... and keep receive and change addresses separated as per the specification, that is to say using Derivation Paths of m/44'/0'/0'/0 and m/44'/0'/0'/1 respectively.
Most of them are also smart enough to prevent address re-use so while you could follow a chain of transactions that start with one 5 btc input... it'll never touch any of the other inputs (or their chain of transactions) until such time as you don't have enough coins in a single input to be able to send the amount you want to send and it needs to use 2 or more inputs.
All of which is relatively moot for "cold storage" anyway... and works pretty much the same way as your "paper" wallet system.
Like I've been saying all along... your system is pretty much the same as using a hardware wallet, without the convenience of being able to spend easily if required... or sign messages... or use on an online machine while maintaining security... or use easily with a mobile phone wallet... or use as a FIDO U2F secure key...
But hey, you're happy with it... and you saved yourself $100.
You have read BIP32 and BIP44 and understand about "external" (aka receive) and "internal" (aka change) addresses right? Pretty much all the hardware wallets that I'm aware of implement BIP44... and keep receive and change addresses separated as per the specification, that is to say using Derivation Paths of m/44'/0'/0'/0 and m/44'/0'/0'/1 respectively.
Most of them are also smart enough to prevent address re-use so while you could follow a chain of transactions that start with one 5 btc input... it'll never touch any of the other inputs (or their chain of transactions) until such time as you don't have enough coins in a single input to be able to send the amount you want to send and it needs to use 2 or more inputs.
All of which is relatively moot for "cold storage" anyway... and works pretty much the same way as your "paper" wallet system.
Like I've been saying all along... your system is pretty much the same as using a hardware wallet, without the convenience of being able to spend easily if required... or sign messages... or use on an online machine while maintaining security... or use easily with a mobile phone wallet... or use as a FIDO U2F secure key...
But hey, you're happy with it... and you saved yourself $100.
1. You are assuming hackers and kidnappers are so stupid that they do not know about dummy wallets. You have wrong assumption.
2. If you have tons of change addresses, your backup will be very problematic. You don't believe? Try it out. You should pray your hardware wallet will stay fine without glitches, or else you can say sorry to all your savings. Oh, yeah. Don't worry. You have the seeds written down and stored somewhere just in case for recovery. I assume they cannot be eaten, stolen, or destroyed.
3. What I mean is that 19 addresses are part of the change addresses as well, or else you will have far more than 20 addresses to look after.
4. You are avoiding the question on how to secure your hardware wallet's seeds/mnemonics/passphrases, which I believe you can never answer satisfactorily.
5. If you want to spend, you don't necessarily must use hardware wallets to do the job. Desktop wallets can work fine and they cost $0.
Come on. Give me a break. You are here arguing against my method without giving even a single credit to it, as if it is useless. Clearly you are here to argue for the sake of winning an argument and rest assured I will never let you win this argument.
Edit:
Notice I bold the 4th point for your eyes to see.
Like I've been saying all along... your system is pretty much the same as using a hardware wallet, without the convenience of being able to spend easily if required... or sign messages... or use on an online machine while maintaining security... or use easily with a mobile phone wallet... or use as a FIDO U2F secure key...
Nope, you are wrong. My method is not the same as using a hardware wallet.
A hardware wallet:
1. Doesn't give you 100% control of your keys. Using some source code to derive the keys from the seeds is bullshit as that's not the company's intention.
2. Doesn't protect you from a $5 wrench. Using dummy wallet as excuse is bullshit as we all know what you have is more than just dummy wallet.
3. Is a 3rd-party security risk. Denying this is bullshit. Saying/implying it is compulsory to use WinRar for my method is also bullshit.
4. Doesn't allow unlimited backups, vs my method that allows so.
5. Requires the same/similar need for encryption/security/backup (of seeds/mnemonics/passphrases). Implying they do not need so is bullshit.
There is NO such thing as needing hardware wallet to spend the cryptocurrencies easily, conveniently, safely, and securely. Implying that we need hardware wallet to spend is bullshit. In my article, I've said it clearly that hardware wallet is an option (but not the only option) when it's time to spend. You being a smartass, either do not read my article, or read it but have partial understanding of it, try to seek the pleasure of arguing with me. I will not let you win this argument. It is very easy to spot someone arguing for ego, and someone arguing for solution. You argue for ego, because you give NO solution.