This is an opinion editorial by Will Schoellkopf, author of “The Bitcoin Dog” and a soon-to-be father.
I was a computer science student at UCLA when I first heard about Bitcoin in 2013. Skeptical of this new magic internet money, it wasn't long before the Mt. Gox exchange implosion[1] would confirm that skepticism, illustrating just how important it is to have self custody of your bitcoin. At the time, however, easy-to-use cold storage hardware wallet solutions were not yet available, so I made the mistake of giving up, deciding then and there that it was not worth the work to learn more about Bitcoin.
I was wrong.
While you have yet to be born, my heart is already warm with your love. As I reflect about this upcoming Father’s Day, my first as a soon-to-be father, I can already picture myself holding you in my arms. You're swaddled in a cute, little onesie and a floppy-eared hat, and as I rock you side to side, I nudge your nose with my nose.
“Who’s daddy’s girl?" I whisper in your ear. "You are!” My eyes swell with pride. A smile beams across my face when — to my surprise — you struggle to reach your hand out and grab my nose! Your tiny little fingers are barely able to grab on.
Today, as I sit in our rocking chair, the one in which we will rock back and forth, you in my arms, I look out your nursery window and ponder the world I want to bring you into: a world where cold storage hardware wallet solutions are readily available. I think about the goals you will set, your dreams, your ambitions! But I don’t want you to have it all — not too easily, anyway.
