Didi Taihuttu – head of the family known as the “Bitcoin Family” – said he completely changed the family's security system after a series of threats.
The Taihuttu family once sold all their assets in 2017, from their house to their shoes, to bet everything on Bitcoin when the price was only about 900 USD. They live nomadically with their three daughters and completely avoid traditional banking.
Over the past 8 months, he said the family has abandoned hardware wallets and switched to a mixed security system: partly digital, partly manual. The seed phrase is encrypted, split, and stored through blockchain services or hidden across four continents.
“We changed everything,” Taihuttu said from Phuket, Thailand. “Even if someone points a gun at me, I can’t give them more than the bitcoin in my phone wallet, and that amount is negligible.”
In 2022, CNBC reported on their unusual storage system, where Taihuttu hid hardware wallets across multiple continents – from rental apartments in Europe to storage units in South America.
After receiving threatening messages pinpointing their location from YouTube videos, the family was forced to move from Phuket and completely stop sharing journey updates.
The situation is becoming increasingly dangerous with physical attacks aimed at cryptocurrency holders.
Recently, Moroccan police arrested a 24-year-old suspect accused of being behind a series of brutal kidnappings targeting cryptocurrency leaders.
One victim – the father of a crypto millionaire – was held for several days in a house south of Paris and even had his finger cut off.
Previously, the co-founder of Ledger and his wife were kidnapped right at their home in central France in a blackmail scheme targeting several other executives.
Last month in New York, an Italian tourist was kidnapped and tortured for 17 days in an apartment in Manhattan, as the attacker tried to force him to reveal his bitcoin wallet password — they used electrical wires to shock him, beat him with a gun, and attached an AirTag to his neck to track him.
Common feature: All aim to capture cryptocurrency wallet login information – which allows for immediate and irreversible digital asset transfers.
JP Richardson – CEO of Exodus wallet – advises users to self-custody their assets, use hardware wallets for large amounts, and implement multi-signature wallets for an additional layer of security.
He also advises to split the money across multiple wallets, avoiding large balances in hot wallets.
The wave of insecurity has led insurance companies to rush to offer kidnapping and ransom insurance products specifically for cryptocurrency holders.
The Taihuttu family chooses to self-protect by diversifying all their assets and personal risks.
“We have talked a lot about this issue in the family,” Taihuttu shared. “My children also read the news – especially the case of a CEO's daughter in France who was almost kidnapped on the street.”
Currently, his daughters are starting to ask tough questions: What if someone deliberately tries to kidnap us? What is our plan?
And Taihuttu has a new protection method: Splitting the seed phrase into multiple parts, hiding them around the world. The family uses a 24-word seed phrase – the key to unlocking their bitcoin wallet – then: encrypting some words to mislead; splitting into 4 groups, each with 6 words; storing distributed: some use blockchain services, while others are engraved on fireproof steel and hidden across four continents.
“Even if someone finds 18 out of 24 words, they can’t do anything,” Taihuttu asserts.
The reason for abandoning hardware wallets: the family lost trust in third-party devices, fearing backdoor vulnerabilities, especially after the controversy over Ledger's software update in 2023.
They still keep a small portion of their assets in hot wallets for daily spending or operating trading bots, but all require multi-signature confirmation to execute transactions.
They use Safe wallet (formerly Gnosis Safe) for ether and altcoins.
Bitcoin on exchanges like Bybit also applies a similar multi-layer security method.
Long-term assets: 65% of total crypto assets are stored “cold” across 4 continents. This is the system that Taihuttu trusts more than centralized storage vaults like Xapo (owned by Coinbase) in the Swiss Alps.
“What if that company goes bankrupt? Will I still have access? At that point, you are giving your capital to someone else.”
Instead, he keeps the keys himself – hidden all over the world. Access requires international travel if he wants to fully recover the seed phrase. This money is expected to be used only when bitcoin reaches 1 million USD – the goal for 2033.
Taihuttu's goal in the current growth cycle: a net worth of 100 million USD, with 60% still in bitcoin. The rest includes ether, platform tokens like solana, link, sui, and AI startups – education, including a platform teaching blockchain and life skills for children that he founded.
Ultimately, Taihuttu is considering stepping away from the limelight.
“I am really passionate about creating content – it’s what I love every day,” he said. “But if it’s no longer safe for my daughters… I need to reconsider.”