🔐 The Best Bitcoin Multisig [2024]

Since my 2021 Casa vs Unchained video, the collaborative custody space has become much more robust.

Today, there are three leading players: Casa, Unchained Capital, and a new entrant, Nunchuk.

Since 2021, Casa and Unchained Capital have grown in completely different directions, and Nunchuk entering the space has added even more complexity to this decision.

Back then, you could get by with either Casa or Unchained.

The services were so similar.

But today, the services are more mature, and depending on what you're looking for, one service could be much better for you than another.

So, let's compare these three solutions, features, privacy, and pricing, to determine the best option for you.

Features [What's the Same?]

These three core product offerings are very similar.

No matter what company you choose, you're getting a 2 of 3 collaborative custody multisig where you hold two of the three hardware wallets, and the company you're working with holds a third key.

This core product offering is the same, but upgrade tiers within the three businesses allow you to optionally expand to a 2 of 4, a 3 of 5, or an even larger multisig.

In 2024, all three of these products have a mobile app, which is a big difference from 2021

All three of these products offer an inheritance option to help you and your loved ones with estate planning.

Features [What's Different?]

Where these companies have grown apart is the auxiliary services that they offer around that core collaborative custody offering.

With Casa, you can hold Ethereum, Tether, and USDC in the same subscription.

With Unchained Capital, you can access more financial services like an IRA product and business loans.

With Nunchuk, you'll also get interesting quality-of-life features like spending limits, co-signing delays, and scheduled payments.

These products also differ in what hardware wallets they are compatible with (this will lower your cost of getting started if you already have hardware wallets).

As of this writing, Unchained's supported devices are the most restrictive, supporting only Ledger, Trezor, and COLDCARD hardware wallets.

Casa's supported devices are the next most restrictive: Ledger, Trezor, COLDCARD, and adding Foundation Passport and Keystone.

Finally, Nunchuk's supported devices are the most permissive, allowing Ledger, Trezor, COLDCARD, Foundation Passport, Keystone, TAPSIGNER, Blockstream Jade, SeedSigner, and Bitbox02.

Now that we understand what's similar and different about these product features let's move on to privacy.

Privacy

Privacy is a big concern with Bitcoin, and that ethos has carried over into many companies in the space.

However, companies need to comply with local laws and regulations to operate financial institutions in the United States.

Casa's approach doesn't require them to comply with KYC/AML (because they don't have custody of your funds), and they have a robust video verification process if you want to remain anonymous.

Unchained's approach is slightly different. Because Unchained is a regulated financial institution (something we covered earlier as a difference in the direction of the company), they are required to comply with KYC/AML laws

As such, they need to collect a lot more information from you when you create an account.

Finally, Nunchuk's approach is most similar to Casa's approach.

Not only does Nunchuk not require KYC/AML but it also gives you the ability to pair your wallet with your own full node.

You could probably do full node pairing with a Casa or an Unchained wallet, but it's not a native feature of either of those offerings.

Nunchuk's inheritance planning features are also built in a way that they believe maximizes privacy.

I don't want to dive too deep into the weeds on inheritance planning differences, but Nunchuk did a blog post comparing their approach to Casa's

Notably, because they are a financial institution, only Unchained's inheritance planning covers both your legal title and possession of your Bitcoin whereas the other two only cover possession.

Both seem great; Nunchuk's seems more flexible but also more complex, which is a theme we'll discuss later.

Overall, Nunchuk is the privacy winner here, with Casa coming in a close second.

Pricing

Finally, let's talk price - it will drive most customers' decision-making here.

Price is even more important because these companies have gone in entirely different directions with how they make money.

Nunchuk and Casa are subscription models, while Unchained is a regulated financial institution.

Because Unchained is a financial services firm, they can offer free collaborative custody multisigs with video verification.

You only pay $20 when you need their key to sign.

This is incredible value because:

1. Since this is your long-term savings, you should rarely need to move this Bitcoin
2. When you do need to move this Bitcoin, you shouldn't need Unchained's key unless you've lost one of yours

Later, we'll compare this to Casa and Nunchuk, and you'll see the massive value of this model from Unchained.

Unchained offers auxiliary services that you do need to pay for, like business accounts, premium support, and inheritance - but that allows them to keep this core offering free.

Casa and Nunchuk follow a much more traditional subscription model.

At the Casa Free Tier, you get a single key on a mobile wallet - it's a great beginner wallet for anyone using Bitcoin or ETH but nothing to write home about

At the Nunchuk free tier, you're getting a full DIY multisig without collaborative custody, which is a great offering for more technical users and people who want to learn how this technology works behind the scenes.

For $250, Casa's Standard Tier offers a 2 of 3 multisig, with email support and inheritance planning. Notably, this tier does not include video verification for signing with the Casa key.

For $120 a year, Nunchuk's Iron Hand Tier offers a service similar to Casa's standard tier - a 2 of 3 multisig with email and chat support and some bells and whistles.

Notably, there is no inheritance planning in this tier of Nunchuk.

For $2100 a year, Casa's Premium Tier allows you to create a 3 of 5 multisig, which includes video verification for signing with the Casa key and a welcome package with three hardware wallets.

Notably, this tier allows you to share your account with a loved one and is aimed at families.

For $480 a year, Nunchuk's Honey Badger tier adds inheritance planning, seedless backup options, and scheduled payments.

Something interesting about all of Nunchuk's options is that you can try them all for free on their testnet—a cool tech-forward feature that hopefully more companies adopt in the future.

Finally, for $5000+ a year, Casa and Unchained both offer white glove advisory services to high-net-worth individuals and teams

Best for You

So that was a ton of information - but which option is best for you?

If you're just getting into multisig, Casa's Standard Tier is the most user-friendly, but you'll have to decide if it's worth the money when Unchained's option is basically free.

And if you're interested in storing Ethereum or (more importantly given the looming US banking issues) Stablecoins - Casa is your only option.

If you're privacy-minded and okay with giving up the user experience benefits of Casa and Unchained, you should go with Nunchuk.

Although it's harder to use, it gives more technical users a lot of flexibility that they'll enjoy.

Personally, I use Unchained Capital.

I'm comfortable using multisig wallets, I only need to custody Bitcoin, and like that I can expand my multisig using their free open source Caravan tool.

You also can't beat the value they offer with their pricing model.

Unchained offers $750 concierge onboarding for anyone who is having a hard time getting started.

But before you spend almost $1000 on setting up your vault - go watch my video tutorial.

If you still need clarification after watching that, you should opt for concierge onboarding.

DM me on Twitter or join the Discord if you have any questions

See you guys next week.