Six years ago, I wrote an article advocating for the opening of an “off-the-grid” account—a self-custodied cryptocurrency wallet. Six years later, while the incentives may seem to have faded, I believe this is the most opportune moment: freezing accounts has become trivial, making defense more important; ETFs and the GENIUS Act have clarified the legal landscape; and the infrastructure has matured. I recommend Ether.fi, which offers a five-minute setup, a VISA card, and 3% cashback. I welcome you to use this as your entry point.
On July 7, 2020, I started my column #decentralizehk in the Hong Kong Apple Daily. The first article was “Opening an ‘Off-the-Grid’ Account in Five Minutes,” which introduced how to set up a cryptocurrency wallet.
Six years have passed. In today’s era of “moving from order to prosperity,” the social environment has changed drastically. Let us return to the starting point and discuss the significance of self-custodied cryptocurrency wallets once again.
No More Curiosity, Bull Market, or Defense
Since launching LikeCoin in 2017, I have constantly looked for various reasons (you could call them excuses, and that would be fine) to encourage others to open a wallet—sharing writing fees, giving red packets, splitting government refunds, airdrops, Mid-Autumn Festival gifts, and subscription rebates. I have tried everything I could think of.
My friends and readers, excluding those who participated just because they were annoyed by my persistence, were primarily motivated by curiosity, investment, or defense. No matter which point it is, the appeal today is far less than it used to be.
People are only curious about things that are unfamiliar. Cryptocurrency entered the mainstream in the previous bull market; it was not only heavily reported by the media but also widely discussed among the public. Over the few years, I have repeatedly heard ordinary people talking about Bitcoin in buses, restaurants, and other places, showing that it is no longer a novelty.
On the other hand, the crypto market is in an undeniable bear market. While bear markets are the best time to enter, that is rational thinking, and human decision-making is irrational most of the time. People often feel they must rush to enter only when Bitcoin climbs back above 100,000. An article discussing web3 concepts receives vastly different reactions when published in a bull market versus a bear market. Trying to encourage readers to take action now is like swimming against the current.
Finally, there is defense. “Defense” here means avoiding complete reliance on the system and self-custodying a portion of one’s assets to ensure that if assets within the system—or the system itself—encounter problems, some assets remain unaffected. As Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins enter legal frameworks in the United States and many other countries, managing cryptocurrency through investment accounts has become as easy as pie. Although these are all custodial and exist within the system just like bank accounts, many people feel at ease simply having cryptocurrency in their portfolio and are not “obsessed” with self-custody.
Adding all these reasons together, advocating for self-custodied wallets six years later seems out of step with the times.
Need to Defend, Clearer Laws, Mature Tools
However, from the perspective of technological development and ecosystem evolution, today is more necessary and more suitable for advocating self-custodied wallets than at any other point in history. The reasons can also be divided into three points: defense is neglected, the law is clarified, and the infrastructure is mature.
The original incentives that brought people into the cryptocurrency space—curiosity and investment—have expired. Only defense remains equally important, or perhaps even more so. Laws are changing with each passing day, and departments can freeze citizens’ bank accounts with ease. Yet, human nature is always to feel complacent in calm times, infected by the seemingly peaceful social atmosphere, and to completely forget about defense.
I resist mentioning AI in every article, or blaming every problem on AI, but I must admit that the ebbing of web3 discourse has a great deal to do with AI stealing most of the attention. I have said before that AI improves production efficiency, while web3 focuses on improving production relations. Both are important, but the former is “offense”—easy to understand and attractive; the latter is “defense”—difficult to understand and dull. Just as the most eye-catching part of the World Cup is inevitably the goals scored by strikers, everyone’s attention is currently focused on how to make the best use of AI. It sounds counterintuitive, but this makes the advocacy for defense even rarer and more important.
I remember in the early years when I encouraged people around me to open a wallet, besides the technical barrier, another popular reason for refusal was the fear of breaking the law. I once encountered someone working in a bank who said their company prohibited holding “virtual currency.” As soon as they heard me mention it, they backed away. Although I would explain that not being regulated by law does not mean it is illegal, I could not provide a guarantee (on what basis?), and I was not a legal professional (and professionals only emphasize risks). Whenever the other party had these regulatory concerns, I would shut up and comply, never forcing the issue.
However, since the US approved the launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs in early 2024, recognizing mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, and with the “GENIUS Act” clarifying the legality of stablecoins, Hong Kong has quickly followed suit. The above situation has not occurred since; it has been replaced by FOMO. People hope to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum at the bottom, or even obtain relevant licenses to capture business opportunities. Some friends have opened accounts to understand it firsthand.
“Opening an ‘off-the-grid’ account in five minutes”—”off-the-grid account” refers to an account that is not regulated by local or foreign governments and can store assets, which is a self-custodied cryptocurrency wallet. Technically, it has been possible to generate such a wallet in five minutes for more than a decade. However, whether the process is simple, whether management and preservation are easy, and whether depositing and withdrawing funds after opening are convenient—these aspects have only become comparable to traditional banking or web2 services in the last two years, and some are even simpler.
Fluidkey, which I introduced during the Lunar New Year, is the best example. Never mind five minutes; three minutes is enough to open an off-the-grid account. Although I paid out of my own pocket to give $100 to 100 people at the time, and it turned out that a person opened over seventy accounts to take most of it, which was very stupid, it also proved the opposite: opening an off-the-grid account is really very simple.
Five Minutes to Open an Account with Ether.fi
I have said so much, but if I don’t have a concrete call to action before I finish, it would go against my advocacy of “learning through practice” (習學). Unlike six years ago, there are now many mature and easy-to-use tools for “opening an off-the-grid account in five minutes.” During the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2024, I introduced Muun Wallet and Proton Wallet. Last year, I introduced using an account at 3ook.com as an off-the-grid account, and at the beginning of this year, I introduced Fluidkey. To avoid repeating the same old tune, this time I am recommending Ether.fi, which I have been using since 2024.
Ether.fi can be used in browsers and on mobile phones, supporting logins via email, passkey, Google, and Apple, allowing people to easily self-custody a cryptocurrency wallet in under five minutes. More importantly, Ether.fi provides a VISA Card that can be added to Apple Pay or Google Pay. Merchants do not need to know about Ethereum or stablecoins; as long as they accept VISA, you can pay with Ether.fi. The counterparty receives fiat currency, but what you pay is cryptocurrency; there is no need for manual conversion during the process.
web3 and traditional finance have connected. This kind of crypto card is becoming increasingly common, and Ether.fi is just one of them. However, a particularly attractive point about Ether.fi is the high cashback of up to 3% (there is a cap; for example, the Luxe card I use gives 3% back on the first $10,000 per month). It is very attractive. I don’t know how long this offer can be maintained; I can only say that since it was launched in 2024, except for adding a cap, it has maintained the 3% cashback.
If you are interested in trying Ether.fi, you can use my referral code 1bfe40ff; I will get some kind of rebate or something. Otherwise, you can also use other friends’ referral codes. In any case, as long as you are willing to spend five minutes opening an off-the-grid account and stepping through the gates of cryptocurrency, I will feel comforted.
p.s. My mom’s farewell was held on Sunday. I am doing okay, thank you all for your care and concern.
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