Store Cold Storage Data

1. Shut down any nearby computers or smartphones, or other devices with cameras.
2. Immediate storage of Cold Storage Information Packets:
   1. Double-check to make sure each envelope contains a handwritten private key and a Cold Storage Information Page.
   2. Seal each envelope.
   3. Use tamper-resistant seals in addition to the envelope’s normal adhesive to seal it.
   4. Immediately put all Cold Storage Information Packets in the safest possible location in your home or office that is immediately accessible.
   5. No, really. Like right now. That’s basically a huge pile of cash you have just sitting there in envelopes on your desk.
3. Hardware storage:
   1. Put tamper-resistant seals on the ends of all USB drives.
   2. Close the quarantined laptops, and seal the screen shut with a tamper-resistant seal.
   3. Store the hardware somewhere where it is unlikely to be used by accident.
4. Maintenance planning:
   1. Create a reminder for yourself in six months to execute the Maintenance Protocol. (If you don’t have a reminder system you trust, find one on the web.)
5. Long-term storage of Cold Storage Information Packets:
   1. As soon as possible, transfer each Cold Storage Information Packet to its secure storage location (e.g. safe deposit box).
   2. Don’t put more than one packet in long-term storage in the same building! Storing two keys in the same building increases the risk of losing both keys in a disaster (e.g. fire) or to a thorough thief.
   3. If you are entrusting any packets to trusted signatories:
      1. Do not send them the packet electronically – no e-mail, no photograph, no “secure instant message”. If they are distant, using a courier service is probably fine, as long as you get tracking and send packets on different days and/or from different locations. (Prevents an opportunistic thief from happening across two of your private keys. Also avoids a case where you send all your keys out in the same batch, and that entire batch is lost – along with your access to your money.)
      2. Tell them verbally who the other signatories are, to facilitate access to funds if you are dead or incapacitated.
      3. Instruct them not to keep any related notes on or with the packets. In the event the key is seen by someone untrustworthy or stolen by a random thief, such clues help them understand the significance of the key and give them an incentive to plot further thefts or attacks.
      4. Remember that signatories will have the ability to know your cold storage balance!

You have finished securing your cold storage funds.