diff --git a/docs/comparison.md b/docs/comparison.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..07161ba --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/comparison.md @@ -0,0 +1,135 @@ +# How BAL compares + +!!! danger "Draft — needs review before publishing" + This page describes other projects (Nunchuk, Liana) whose features and prices + change over time. Everything below was compiled from public sources in **mid-2026** + and has **not** been validated by those projects or by the BAL developers. Verify + current details on each project's own site before treating any claim as authoritative. + Tone rule for this page: **factual, no disparagement** — these are design trade-offs, + not mistakes. + +Bitcoin After Life is not the only way to plan Bitcoin inheritance. Nunchuk and Liana are +two well-known, respected projects that solve the same problem differently. This page compares +them across the dimensions that tend to matter over a multi-year time horizon — decentralization, +long-term cost, the wallet each one builds on, distribution, and exposure to a single company +being shut down — and it states plainly where each approach, BAL included, is weaker. + +## At a glance + +
+ +| | **Bitcoin After Life** | **Liana** (Wizardsardine) | **Nunchuk** (Honey Badger) | +|---|---|---|---| +| Mechanism | Pre-signed transaction, absolute `nLockTime`, held by Will-Executors | Script wallet (Miniscript), relative timelocks in the script | Collaborative-custody multisig (2-of-4) with a timelocked inheritance key | +| Who holds keys | **Only you.** Will-Executors hold no keys | **Only you** (and any recovery keyholders you choose) | You hold 3 keys; **Nunchuk holds 1 platform key** on its servers | +| Base wallet | Runs inside **Electrum** (in use since 2011) | Own codebase (Miniscript / Bitcoin Core) | Own app | +| Recurring cost | **None** | **None** for the wallet, but timelocks need periodic coin rotation → network fees over time | **Subscription** ~$120–$480/yr | +| When you pay | **Only at execution**, from the inheritance transaction, in bitcoin | Network fees on each rotation | Yearly subscription + network fees | +| Distribution | Desktop plugin (`.zip`) — no app store | Desktop + mobile | Primarily mobile app (App Store / Google Play) + desktop | +| Single-company shutdown risk | **No company to shut down** | Wallet survives; hosted backend optional | Assisted flow depends on the company; on-chain failsafe as backup | +| Heir's effort | None — the network broadcasts automatically | Heir signs a recovery transaction after the timelock | Guided beneficiary flow; on-chain failsafe via timelock | +| Open source | Yes | Yes | Yes (app); platform key is a hosted service | + +
+ +## Decentralization + +**BAL** is the most decentralized in day-to-day operation: a network of independent +Will-Executors, with no coordination between them and no company in the middle. In fairness, +it does depend on Will-Executors continuing to operate, and it uses the [WeList](will-executors/welist.md) +as a discovery directory — a mild point of centralization you can bypass by adding servers +manually. + +**Liana** is strongly decentralized on the keys — full self-custody, no company key — and its +recovery path is enforced by the Bitcoin **script itself**, i.e. by consensus rules rather than +any service. Its convenient hosted backend (Liana Connect) is optional; you can run your own node. + +**Nunchuk**'s inheritance plans use *collaborative custody*: the company holds one multisig key +on its servers. Nunchuk 2.0 (November 2025) added an on-chain autonomous failsafe using timelocks +and Miniscript, which reduces that dependency — but the platform key remains part of the assisted +setup. + +## No cost that recurs over the years + +**BAL** costs nothing until the inheritance is actually executed. There is no subscription and no +forced periodic action: the only Will-Executor fee is taken from the time-locked transaction +itself, in bitcoin, and only if a Will-Executor broadcasts it. Keeping the plan current means +[renewing the will](user-guide/updating.md) yourself — no payment involved. + +**Liana**'s wallet is free, but its *relative* timelocks have to be reset periodically by moving +coins to a fresh address (a Bitcoin consensus constraint, not a wallet flaw). That means paying +network fees over time and fits cold storage that is never touched poorly. + +**Nunchuk**'s inheritance features live behind a yearly subscription (roughly $120–$480 depending +on the plan). It is a real recurring cost, and the plan lapses if it stops being paid. + +## A single, battle-tested wallet: Electrum + +**BAL** does not build a new wallet. It runs as a plugin **inside Electrum**, which has been in +use since 2011 and is among the most heavily reviewed and tested Bitcoin wallets in existence. +Electrum performs the signing; BAL never signs on your behalf. Electrum is open source and does +not depend on any single company to keep existing, which matters for a plan meant to work decades +from now. + +The honest counterpoint: BAL *is* a plugin, so it depends on the plugin being maintained and on +Electrum's plugin interface staying stable. (Note the correct wording: BAL is **listed in +Electrum's third-party plugin directory** — not "approved by Electrum".) + +**Liana** and **Nunchuk** ship their own, newer codebases. Both come from competent teams, but +neither has Electrum's number of years in the field. + +## No dependency on an app store + +**BAL** is a desktop plugin installed from a `.zip` file. It never passes through the Apple App +Store or Google Play, so it cannot be pulled from a store or blocked by a platform's policy — a +recurring problem for crypto apps in some jurisdictions. + +**Nunchuk** is primarily a mobile app distributed through the App Store and Google Play (a desktop +version also exists), which makes store availability a real dependency. **Liana** is distributed +from its own site for desktop, with mobile options, so it is less exposed than a mobile-first app. + +## Resistance to a company being shut down + +This is where an inheritance plan's time horizon really bites: a plan may need to work in ten or +twenty years, across changes in law. + +**BAL** has **no company operating a custody service** — so there is no single entity a government +can shut down to break the plan. Will-Executors are independent, can be located anywhere, and at +least one operates Tor-only. If new anti-Bitcoin rules appear in one country (as has been discussed +in places like Russia), there is no headquarters to close and no license to revoke. + +**Liana** is made by a company (Wizardsardine), but the wallet is self-custodial and open source: +if the company disappeared, existing scripts keep working on-chain because the recovery path is +enforced by the script, not the company. Only the optional hosted backend would stop, and you can +switch to your own node. + +**Nunchuk** runs a collaborative-custody service with a platform key, which makes the company a +regulatory target — a hostile jurisdiction could force it to relocate, and closure is at least as +likely as relocation. To their credit, Nunchuk engineered the on-chain timelock failsafe precisely +so beneficiaries can still recover **without** the company; but the *assisted* experience does +depend on the company continuing to operate. + +## Where the other approaches are stronger + +Fairness requires stating this plainly — BAL is not the best choice on every axis: + +- **Liana** gives you a cancellation window by design and needs no external network to broadcast; + the recovery path is enforced by the script itself. If you keep coins consolidated, its model is + very clean. +- **Nunchuk** offers a guided, supported experience with a beneficiary flow and a company standing + behind it — valuable for users who want assistance rather than a self-run plan, and who are + comfortable with one key in collaborative custody. +- **BAL**'s own trade-offs: it is **desktop-only** (Electrum), it has **no built-in cancellation + window** (so it asks the owner for renewal discipline — see [Keeping the will up to date](user-guide/updating.md)), + and it relies on Will-Executors continuing to operate (mitigated by redundancy and the + [offline backup transaction](user-guide/backup-transaction.md)). + +There is no single best choice — only the one that matches how much you want to self-manage, +whether you accept a third-party key or an app store or a company in the loop, and whether you +want a plan that costs nothing and depends on nothing but Bitcoin. + +--- + +!!! question "Still have a question?" + The [FAQ](faq.md) answers the most common ones — costs, hardware wallets, + privacy, and what happens if a Will-Executor disappears. diff --git a/docs/stylesheets/extra.css b/docs/stylesheets/extra.css index 9734736..ec1f27c 100644 --- a/docs/stylesheets/extra.css +++ b/docs/stylesheets/extra.css @@ -401,3 +401,10 @@ img.diagram + em { padding-right: calc(100% - 16.1rem); } } + +/* -------- Compact table (wide comparison tables) -------------------------- */ +/* Default table body is .78rem; 66% ≈ .515rem so a 4-column comparison fits + without horizontal scroll. Header cells scale down proportionally too. */ +.md-typeset .compact-table table:not([class]) { font-size: .515rem; } +.md-typeset .compact-table table:not([class]) th { font-size: .46rem; } +.md-typeset .compact-table code { font-size: .9em; } diff --git a/internal/source-notes.md b/internal/source-notes.md index 3bf0890..7c133e8 100644 --- a/internal/source-notes.md +++ b/internal/source-notes.md @@ -52,6 +52,15 @@ Compiled July 2026. Keep this updated whenever the manual is revised. 5. **Fee range currently charged** by Will-Executors on the network (for the recruitment article). 6. **Minimum system requirements** for a Will-Executor node, stated concretely. 7. **BIP 128 critique** — see `design-choices-DRAFT.md`. The single most exposed point. +9. **`docs/comparison.md` (new, 2026-07-28) — competitor comparison, needs review.** Facts on + Nunchuk (Iron Hand ~$120/yr, Honey Badger ~$480/yr, no-KYC/email only, accepts BTC or card, + collaborative custody = 1 platform key; Nunchuk 2.0 added on-chain timelock+Miniscript + inheritance, Nov 2025) and Liana (free/open-source, Miniscript relative timelocks, self-hosted + or Liana Connect hosted backend) were pulled from public web sources mid-2026. **Prices change.** + Corrected the user's original premise: Nunchuk is NOT KYC — the honest BAL differentiator is + "no recurring subscription + no third-party-held key", not "no credit card". Cross-check with + `design-choices-DRAFT.md` editorial rules (no "investment/yield", no disparagement) before + publishing. Page carries a draft warning. 8. **`docs/examples.md` (new, 2026-07-28) — needs a full accuracy pass.** Written from `updating.md`/`delivery-time.md` rather than tested behaviour; user flagged it as containing "parecchie imprecisioni" without specifying which. Marked with a draft warning on the page diff --git a/mkdocs.yml b/mkdocs.yml index 7ed80ca..21d47e9 100644 --- a/mkdocs.yml +++ b/mkdocs.yml @@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ theme: extra_css: # The ?v= suffix defeats browser caching of the stylesheet. Bump the number # whenever you change extra.css and the browser keeps showing the old style. - - stylesheets/extra.css?v=13 + - stylesheets/extra.css?v=14 nav: - Home: index.md @@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ nav: - Protocol: - How it works: protocol/how-it-works.md - REAL EXAMPLE: examples.md + - How BAL compares: comparison.md - Security & Privacy: security-privacy.md plugins: