Stephan Livera Podcast

Recent attacks exposed how even large, educated Bitcoin holders remained exposed through single-vendor setups. The core lesson is that self-custody alone does not remove single points of failure; deliberate design is required.
Dhruv Bansal, co-founder and CISO of Unchained, joins to examine these incidents and the practical barriers that keep most hardware wallet users on single sig despite years of warnings.
The conversation covers the gap between theoretical multisig knowledge and actual adoption, the trade-offs between anonymity and regulated inheritance paths, why newer layers attract attacks first, and the need for human review of AI-generated code at Bitcoin firms.
Bansal argues that cryptographic hardware will become ordinary infrastructure for everyone in an AI-driven internet, not a niche Bitcoin tool, and that mature risk systems rely on fractal networks rather than centralized controls.
Timestamps:
01:42 — No Single Points of Failure Allowed
05:34 — Even Large Holders Skip Multisig?
09:14 — You Could Be Your Own Failure Point
13:35 — Anonymity vs KYC
16:27 — Don't Half-Ass Your Bitcoin Security
21:23 — One Wallet, True Multi-Vendor Security
24:24 — Single Sig Can Still Lose Everything
30:26 — Why Everyone Will Need Hardware Wallets
32:06 — Why Attackers Hit Bitcoin L2s First
36:32 — Bitcoin Firms Must Human-Review AI Code
40:05 — Bitcoin as Humanity's AI Defense System
42:59 — Remove Single Points of Failure Forever
45:25 — Hardware Wallets at Every Gas Station
47:34 — Bitcoiners and Key Entropy
Links: 
https://x.com/dhruvbansal

https://x.com/unchained

https://www.unchained.com/

Stephan Livera links:
Follow me on X: @stephanlivera

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Official Podcast Episode: https://stephanlivera.com/77000:00 - Interview with Gabriele Vernetti of Stratum V2 @gitgab1915:38 - Interview with Jimmy Kostro @jimmykostro13:14 - Interview with James Check of checkonchain.com
Links: https://x.com/gitgab19https://x.com/jimmykostrohttps://x.com/_checkonchainhttps://x.com/_checkmatey_https://x.com/stratumv2Bitcoinchiangmai.orgStephan Livera links:Follow me on X: @stephanliveraSubscribe to the podcastSubscribe to Substack
#Bitcoin #BitcoinPodcast #StephanLiveraPodcast #SLP770 #OriginSeoul #BitcoinSeoul #Bitcoin2026 #StratumV2 #BitcoinMining #BitcoinMiningDecentralization #BitcoinDevelopment #BitcoinOnChain #OnChainAnalysis #JamesCheck #CheckonChain #JimmyKostro #GabrieleVernetti #BitcoinAsia #BitcoinConference #BitcoinKorea

Interviews at Bitcoin Asia 2026 Day 2
00:00 - Piriya Sambandaraksa
05:14 - Alexander Mann
11:04 - Shone Anstey of LQWD
17:03 -Liam Eagen from Ideal Group
Links: 
https://x.com/piriya

https://x.com/idealgroup

https://x.com/liameagen

https://x.com/LQWDTech

https://x.com/shoneanstey

https://x.com/alex_singh_mann

Stephan Livera links:
Follow me on X: @stephanlivera

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In this episode, I interviewed several people at Bitcoin Asia 2026.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Interview with Adam Poulton
06:28 Interview with Giovanni Santostasi
15:18 Interview Jeff Walton of Strive
34:11 Interview with Alex B from ArkLabs
Links: 
http://x.com/Giovann35084111

http://x.com/adampoulton

http://x.com/bergealex4

http://x.com/arklabshq

http://x.com/punterjeff

http://x.com/strive

Stephan Livera links:
Follow me on X: @stephanlivera

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In this episode, Piers Macrae demonstrates Wallet Playground and explains why hardware wallets are signing devices, not wallets.
Timestamps:
01:10 — Teach Me vs Do It For Me
03:23 — Test Any Wallet Free in Browser
09:09 — Coldcard Drama Forced Early Release
14:03 — Generate Seeds Using Your Webcam
17:52 — Hardware Wallets Aren't Real Wallets
21:52 — Only 1% Use Multisig for Life Savings
25:33 — Self-Custody Like Firearms Drilling?
27:30 — Only Tiny Percentage Will Self-Custody
Links: 
X: @mineracks — https://x.com/mineracks

Wallet Playground: https://walletplayground.com/

mineracks: https://www.mineracks.com/

Stephan Livera links:
Follow me on X: @stephanlivera

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