ArkansasBitcoin.org
The graduation step
At Arkansas's Crater of Diamonds, whatever you dig up is yours to keep — no middleman, no permission. Self-custody is that same idea applied to your money.
Strike is a great place to start. But an app holds your bitcoin for you. When you hold your own keys, no company can freeze, lose, or block it. Here's the whole path — five steps, in plain English.
Walk the pathNo rush, and no pressure. ArkansasBitcoin.org doesn't custody funds or sell hardware — we're here to educate.
The path to your own keys
You don't have to do this today, and you don't have to do it all at once. But when you're ready, it's a short, well-worn path. Here's every step.
Where you are now
Right now, your bitcoin lives in Strike. That's a completely fine place to start — it's a regulated U.S. app, it's convenient, and it's the easiest way to receive your first tips or buy your first bitcoin. Nothing wrong with it.
Here's the one thing to understand: when bitcoin sits in Strike, Strike holds the keys and owes it to you — like money in a bank. That works as long as the company stays open, solvent, and willing to let you withdraw. For small, everyday amounts, that trade is reasonable.
The decision
There's a saying in Bitcoin: “not your keys, not your coins.” When you hold the keys, the bitcoin is yours directly on the network — no company in the middle to freeze it, lose it in a bankruptcy, or tell you no. That's the whole point of self-custody.
There's no magic number, but here are the honest signals it's time:
Set it up · ~20 minutes
A recommended, beginner-friendly pairing: a Blockstream Jade (a small device that holds your keys offline) and Nunchuk (a free app that shows your balance and lets you send and receive). The app is the window; the Jade is the vault — the app never holds your keys.
Open-source, Bitcoin-focused, and among the most affordable (roughly $65–$80). It signs transactions without ever exposing your keys to your phone. Buy it only from the official maker (blockstream.com) or an authorized reseller — never used.
A free, Bitcoin-only wallet app for your phone or computer. It pairs with your Jade, and it grows with you — later it can do multi-signature setups for even stronger security.
Those recovery words are the most important thing on this whole page. Don't tap past them. The very next step is what to do with them.
The one real job
Those 12 or 24 words the Jade just showed you are your bitcoin. Guard them and you can always get your money back — even if the device is lost, stolen, or destroyed. This is the one job self-custody asks of you, and it's simple.
Backed up. Your keys now survive anything that happens to the device. This is the moment most people never reach — you just did.
You made it
Now move a little first. In Nunchuk, tap Receive to get an address or QR, send a small amount from Strike to it, and confirm it arrives. Once it does, move the rest of your long-term savings the same way.
You now hold your own keys. The bitcoin at that address is controlled by your Jade — not by any company. You dug it out. You keep it.
When you're ready for more
You don't need this to start — but when you're securing a larger amount, it's the natural next step.
The Coldcard is a Bitcoin-only hardware wallet built for maximum security. It's fully air-gapped — it can set up and sign transactions without ever plugging into your computer, passing data by microSD card or QR instead. It has a steeper learning curve than the Jade, which is exactly why it's the “next step,” not the first one.
Same rule as always: buy from the official maker (coinkite.com), never used.
A diamond you pull from the ground at the Crater is yours — no one can un-give it. Bitcoin in your own custody is the same: scarce, durable, and truly held.