A lot of Bitcoiners are not technical.

That is fine.

If we want to onboard new coiners, self-custody advice cannot sound like you need a cybersecurity degree to protect your Bitcoin.

After the recent Coldcard incident, my advice is simple:

Choose a well-established hardware wallet that prioritizes:

• open-source hardware and firmware
• reproducible or independently verifiable builds
• a strong security track record
• public vulnerability disclosure, ideally with a bug-bounty program
• keeping your recovery words completely offline

For beginners today, I would look at BitBox02 Bitcoin-only, Trezor, and Blockstream Jade.

Open source does NOT mean bug-free.

It means the manufacturer is not asking you to blindly trust what is happening inside the device. Independent researchers can inspect it, challenge it, and report weaknesses.

Then keep the rest boring:

Buy directly from the manufacturer.

Never photograph or type your recovery words into a phone or computer.

Start with a small amount.

Learn how recovery works before moving serious savings.

As your holdings grow, your security can grow with them.

You do not need to become a security engineer before taking self-custody.

You need a setup you understand, can recover, and are unlikely to screw up.

Good security should make Bitcoin ownership safer.

Not scarier.