Billfodl Review – How To Use BillFodl & Do You Need It At All?
Rene Peters
Cryptocurrency is a rapidly growing industry and with it comes an increasing need for secure ways to store digital assets.
One such option is the use of metal cryptocurrency wallets, also known as steel seed phrase backups. These wallets offer a physical, tamper-evident way to store your recovery seed phrase, which is essential for accessing your cryptocurrency in the event that you lose access to your digital wallet.
Billfodl is one of the, if not the best metal crypto wallet on the market.
You only need to safely store your seed phrase and you don’t need to worry about losing access to your coins. How many times did you hear this advice from crypto circles? Yeah, I know – it’s the first thing you hear once you step into the magical world of cryptocurrencies.
But, your seed phrase backup is just a piece of paper with random words written on it. That doesn’t sound too durable and time-proof.
Enter the world of crypto steel wallets and meet the flag bearer of metal wallets – Billfodl.
This is a Billfodl review where we discuss metal wallets in general, how they work, why Billfodl is better (or worse) than its competitors and most importantly: do you actually need Billfodl and is it worth it?
What you'll learn 👉
What is Billfodl metal wallet?
Billfodl is a fireproof, watertight, and explosion-proof steel container for your 24-word recovery phrase. By reassembling your recovery phrase using the steel unit and character tiles, you have a nearly unbreakable backup.
How does Billfodl work?
Flip open your Billfodl and take out the character tiles. Slide the four-letter words of your recovery phrase into the main unit to form the whole phrase. Words and their respective slots are clearly labeled on the main Billfodl unit.
Below is the full guide with steps:
- Open the Billfodl. Turn the top screw until the groove is horizontal using a tile, screw driver, or coin. You may unlock the lower spring lock by applying pressure with the tile. In order to open the gate, pull it open while the spring is depressed.
- The initial four letters of each word should be slid in.
- Third, secure the gate by aligning the vertical groove with the top screw. In order to re-engage the spring lock at the bottom, push down on it.
- Fourth, flip the Billfodl over and do the same thing with the other 12 words. Wrap up the Billfodl and stow it away.
Do you need Billfodl? How should buy Billfodl?
Everyone wonders if it’s really necessary to get a Billfodl when you can just as easily write everything down on paper.
You should now have a better idea of the dangers associated with something as basic as a piece of paper after reading the above. If you have a sizable quantity of cryptocurrency in your wallet, you really want to think about leveraging Billfodl as a backup.
So, Billfodl is a good buy for a long-term hodler that doesn’t plan to use his crypto for years to come, just wants to save it for the future when its price soars (a dream of all holders, including the author who writes this :).
Most cryptocurrency holders already have splurged on $100-$200 hardware wallets to secure their holdings. If you’re a HODLer who’s ready to pay this much to keep your money safe, you should probably also use a supplementary “insurance policy” to protect it against natural disasters, for which paper isn’t suitable.
It’s wise to spend a little more money now in order to save a lot of stress later on if something unexpected happens, as is the case with most things in life.
What does Billfodl’s seed storage wallet cost?
Billfodl costs $99.00. Due to its 24-word or 96-character capacity, each Billfodl is suitable for backing up a single wallet.
To back up each coin with a separate Billfodl might be expensive if you have a range of coins stored in several wallets. The cost of losing every bit of cryptocurrency in those various wallets is probably much higher. Using Billfodl as a backup is probably a good idea if the value of your wallet reaches 5 figures or more.
Given that Cryptosteel, Billfodl’s rival, costs $149 or 50% more, you can see that Billfodl provides far greater value for your money.
Billfodl vs. Paper seed storing
A paper backup is extremely fragile. It can be damaged very quickly if exposed to humidity, water, dust, heat, cold, radiation, etc.
Apart from that, paper is not resistant to time. Even though we live in a digital world, paper documents don’t age well. They become brittle over time and eventually crumble.
How to use and set up Billfodl to safely store your seed phrase?
Open the mechanism
You must first open the mechanism if you wish to use your hardware wallet’s 24 Billfodl words as a backup.
Upon opening the housing, a tiny slotted screw can be seen in the top right corner. Using one of the plates, rotate this object 90 degrees. Then firmly press down the bracket that is situated in the slot’s lower right corner. This can be done effectively with a coin. The big bar on the right side can then be opened.
Insert Characters
The BIP39 standard allows you to print out a six-character seed phrase that you can use to restore access to your wallet. This process is called mnemonic encoding. To do this, you must generate a 12-word passphrase consisting of 24 random words.
You can then write down those words in order, starting with the most significant character and continuing with each subsequent character. For example, the following phrase encodes the English word “Bitcoin”:
- Bitcoin
- Blockchain
- Cryptocurrency
- Digital currency
- Bitcoin cash
- Ethereum Classic
Seal the Case
You can even seal the closed device if you want to be completely protected. The shop’s seals, each of which comes on a sheet with 12 matching seals, are perfect for this use. Simply fasten them around the casing and note the seal’s identification number.
A secured Billfodl that has been sealed with an ABUS lock.
Because the stickers are made to fall into bits when handled, it will be clear if someone attempts to open the Billfodl. A typical padlock can also be inserted through the hole. An ABUS lock turned out to be a great fit in this scenario.
How about using Billfodl as your go-to cryptocurrency wallet?
You could use it that way, in theory… it’s not the worst idea, but it’s not the best one, either. To achieve this, you would need to generate a new cold wallet (for example, a paper wallet) and then import its private key into the Billfodl.
There are a number of problems inherent with paper wallets, especially if you only plan on making minor purchases with your cryptocurrency. If you don’t have a third-party app that can access your money, you’ll need to enter your private key every time.
To access and spend your cryptocurrency quickly and easily, a hardware wallet is the way to go. Then you may use Billfodl to supplement your current money-protection measures.
Creating a backup of your hardware wallet is as simple as setting it up and entering the appropriate tiles into the steel case when prompted with your seed phrase.
The Best Places to Stash Away Your Billfodl
You may feel secure about storing your backup phrase after entering it into the Billfodl. Your mind is the only thing limiting the possibilities.
What’s awesome is that the steel housing can keep on ticking no matter how strange or hot the weather becomes. Just go ahead and use your imagination:
- Put it in the back of the freezer.
- Put it in your yard.
- Lay it at the bottom of your fish tank.
- Tuck it into your spare wardrobe.
- The potential outcomes are limitless. Find what works for you, and stick with it. Be careful you don’t lose track of its whereabouts, though.
How high is Billfodl’s resilience?
Many have tested Billfodl’s resilience by doing 3 types of tests which are described below.
Heat & fire Stress Test
Unfortunately, the heat warped the tray enough to cause the letters to become loose, and several dropped out. We have to think of this as a catastrophic failure, even though the equipment itself was unharmed.
Corrosion Stress Test
The acid unharmed the device, and Billfodl maintained its appearance during the heat test.
Crush Stress Test
The device was reasonably resistant to crushing in terms of the entire gadget. When it comes to handling the device’s deformation without experiencing data loss, it isn’t quite as sturdy. These gadgets’ rail-based construction makes data loss more likely since even minor deformation causes letters to pop out of their holes. Almost all the letters had fallen out when we pried them back open.
Is Billfodl Compatible with Hardware Wallets?
Yes, you can use Billfodl to back various hardware wallets that fall under the most popular ones on the mark, such as Ledger Nano X, Ledger Nano S, Trezor One, Trezor Model T, and Keepkey.
Thus on recovery, you can cross-reference this list or other bip39 language lists to recreate your backup seed.
Billfodl alternatives
There are plenty of alternatives you could choose from. We have reviewed all the best ones here. You can find out everything about each of them and see what makes it stand out from the rest.
Coinplate Alpha
With Coinplate, you can rest easy knowing that your cryptocurrency investments are secure no matter what happens in the future. Use stainless steel instead of paper while protecting your priceless seed phrase.
Keystone Tablet
The team at Keystone developed a solution called Keystone Tablet. The Keystone hardware wallet, which is regarded as one of the greatest hardware wallets, is also one of their distinctive products.
Keystone Tablet is interesting because it’s fireproof, corrosion-resistant, and convenient.
Cryptosteel Capsule
The Cryptosteel Capsule is the top backup tool for independent offline storage of priceless data without the involvement of a third party. The sturdy metal device, built to withstand harsh environments, functions in almost all situations.
Cryptosteel Capsule Solo
Your 24-word Recovery Phrase is protected by a capsule made of solid steel. built to withstand harsh environments. Your only copy of your crypto assets is in your recovery phase.
By safeguarding your backup and delivering the highest level of durability, Cryptosteel Capsule Solo adds an additional layer of security.
FAQs
It adds a layer of security. Whenever a device is in seeding mode, a backup session is carried out. the action of massive cloud backup data uploading. Seed backups are created to a temporary storage device; then, from a different computer with a fast Internet connection, they are uploaded to the cloud.
Billfodl does not offer protection against unforeseen events like fire and/or water damage. Your paper backup could be readily destroyed by a flood, even if it is kept inside a safe. A fire could potentially quickly destroy your chances of recuperation. Paper also has a number of other drawbacks.
Your wallet can obtain your private key using a seed phrase called your recovery phrase. You can only access your wallet’s account in this way. No one, not even the wallet staff, can access your account balance without the Recovery Phrase.
No, Billfodl is not a replacement for hardware wallets. Only a paper backup is replaced by Billfodl.
Billfodl is a great device where you can store your seed phrases.
Your recovery seed can be kept in a nearly unbreakable Cryptotag Zeus instead of being written on a thin piece of paper that is easily lost or destroyed. By safeguarding your recovery seed, Zeus ensures you can always recover your bitcoin, regardless of what happens to your cryptocurrency wallet.
The Cryptosteel capsule effectively acquires the status of offline permanence once the desired sequence has been locked into a device, offering resistance to physical harm such as fire, flooding, corrosive environments, electric shock, and impact from accidents. To ensure optimum durability, each character is deeply stamped into the tiles.
The Billfodl is secured by two locks: a top screw lock that requires a screwdriver or tile to turn, and a bottom spring lock that keeps the gate closed unless depressed. You could not unintentionally open it as a result.
