Trezor is one of the most well-known brands in the hardware wallet space and has long been built on the idea that if someone owns Bitcoin, they should also understand how to hold it securely. This isn’t just about the device itself, but also about education, error prevention, and explaining the principles that are fundamental to the world of Bitcoin – from private keys to seed phrases to personal responsibility for stored funds.
We spoke with Lucien Bourdon, Bitcoin analyst at Trezor, at the BTC Prague 2026 conference about why he believes Bitcoin is important, how new users should get started, and why self-custody isn’t just a technical detail. In the interview, he explains why people shouldn’t rely solely on exchanges, how to safely try out your first steps with your own wallet, and why a long-term, calm approach to Bitcoin can be more meaningful than watching charts every day.
Almost everyone knows about Bitcoin today, at least by name. However, many people are still not sure why it’s actually important. How would you explain its significance to someone who only knows the basics?
For me, the most important thing about Bitcoin is the ability to truly own your money. You control your private key, and therefore a portion of Bitcoin, which means a certain value. You don’t need permission from a bank, a passport, an ID card, or the entire financial infrastructure we’re used to in the traditional system. You can have a wallet on your phone or a hardware wallet and hold Bitcoin yourself.
This possibility of true ownership is what attracted me most to Bitcoin. At the same time, I see it as a long-term interesting asset. You don’t have to perfectly time the best moment to buy. If you buy Bitcoin gradually over a longer period, it can become an interesting tool for preserving value and a certain form of money. That’s what I see as its main significance.
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When you talk about Bitcoin as a long-term interesting asset, do you primarily mean its price growth? That is, the fact that historically, over a longer horizon, it has strengthened and attracted attention precisely because its value grew?
I think the fact that Bitcoin’s price has grown over the long term is what people notice most. In the Bitcoin community, this is often simplified to “number go up,” meaning the value increases. And even though that may sound simple, this very characteristic attracts a large part of the attention to Bitcoin.
If Bitcoin were at, say, 250 thousand dollars tomorrow, people simply couldn’t ignore it. When they have part of their savings, their business, or their family wealth in it, they have a real stake in it. It’s no longer just a theoretical debate, but personal involvement.
That’s where I see the difference from simply using Bitcoin as a payment method. Today you can pay with basically anything. But when someone holds Bitcoin for years in their own wallet, continues to buy it, and considers it part of their long-term savings or investments, it means something different. That kind of relationship can’t be easily faked.
It’s precisely this long-term holding that I believe strengthens Bitcoin’s market capitalization. Companies and institutions include it in their balance sheets, hold it for longer periods, and don’t sell it with every fluctuation. This moves the entire market forward, attracts more interest, and creates a feedback loop through which Bitcoin continues to grow and gradually fulfills its monetary role.
When someone buys Bitcoin for the first time, they often turn to an exchange or simple app because it’s the fastest and most user-friendly path. What do you think they should know before making their first purchase?
When someone buys Bitcoin for the first time, I usually tell them: if you want to put in, say, 200 dollars, feel free to start, but try to send at least part of it to your own wallet. You don’t have to move everything right away, especially if you’re buying a larger amount through an exchange. The important thing is to start small and practically try out self-custody.
It doesn’t have to be a hardware wallet right away. For your first experience, a wallet on your phone may suffice. The essential thing is to take the first step – buy a small amount of Bitcoin, try managing it off the exchange, and at the same time gradually educate yourself.
However you buy Bitcoin, you should try out what it means to have your own wallet. That’s where the fundamental difference lies. Exchanges are user-friendly and can be convenient to start with, but I would recommend everyone download at least some self-custody wallet, create a backup, meaning a seed phrase, understand what it’s for, and hold at least part of their Bitcoin off the exchange. It doesn’t have to be everything, but it’s good to gradually work your way toward self-custody.
It’s important to go at your own pace. Everyone has different experience with technology, different concerns, and different levels of confidence. Bitcoin is used today by different generations, different cultures, and people with very different backgrounds. There’s no universal advice that works for everyone. The best approach is to start with a small amount and stick with a method of use that you understand and feel safe with.
Some people immediately get a hardware wallet and quickly understand how the whole system works. Younger generations sometimes approach it very naturally. But if you’re not sure, it’s better to slow down. Choose a wallet you understand and really learn how to use it. The best and safest wallet is the one you know how to handle.
At Trezor, we therefore try to simplify the user experience as much as possible. We want people to get exactly the information they need at any given moment and to have tools available that help them without overwhelming them. Part of this is education – explaining what individual steps mean and why they’re important.
We also have a Trezor Expert service that helps people who want to go through the setup individually. These are one-on-one consultations. In addition, we offer educational materials, a knowledge base, a blog, and videos on YouTube.
One of the terms that beginners encounter very quickly, and which you also mentioned, is seed phrase or recovery phrase. How would you simply explain to an ordinary person what it is and why it’s so crucial?
A seed phrase is like a master key to your wallet. Whoever has it has access to your funds. If you gave me your recovery phrase, you would essentially be giving me the ability to access your money.
It’s important to understand that this key cannot be recovered through customer support or any institution. And in reality, it’s good that it can’t be. If someone else could recover it, it would mean that someone else could also access your money. That’s why a seed phrase is something you must protect extremely carefully.
At the same time, you need to be very careful about threats from the internet. This can include phishing, fake apps, or fraudulent websites that ask you to enter your seed phrase or hardware wallet backup. Someone might tell you that you need to type it into your phone or computer for an update, verification, or account recovery. This is exactly the kind of situation you need to be very cautious about.
The basic rule is – don’t enter your seed phrase anywhere. The only time you really need it is when recovering your wallet. Otherwise, it should remain safely stored, offline and out of reach of anyone else. It’s something you must not lose, but that no one else must see.
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In recent years, we’ve witnessed the fall of several major cryptocurrency companies and exchanges, which significantly shook market confidence. Do you think these events have changed the way people think about security and self-custody of cryptocurrencies?
Every time something like that happens, it has an impact on the market. We see that in similar moments, interest in our products grows because people start asking a very simple question – what if next time it’s the exchange where I have my money?
In the traditional financial system, people often have a feeling that someone is protecting them. They’re used to banks, state currencies, and the idea that if something happens, there’s an institution that will fix the situation. Whether it actually works that way always and under all circumstances is a different question, but for many people, that sense of security exists.
With Bitcoin and self-custody of cryptocurrencies, it’s different. You know that the responsibility lies primarily with you. You have to protect your funds yourself. That’s exactly why similar collapses of exchanges or crypto companies lead some people to start thinking differently. They tell themselves: if I don’t want to depend on whether some platform survives, I should learn to hold my funds myself. And I think that always pushes another group of people toward self-custody.
If you had to give an ordinary person a very simple and practical plan for how to start with Bitcoin safely, what would you say are the first three steps?
I would start simply: get a small amount of Bitcoin and a wallet that you understand and that works well for you. It could be a hardware wallet that seems clear and safe to you. Then send a small amount of Bitcoin to it and try what’s called a test wallet recovery.
This means you go through a dry run of the situation where you delete or reset your wallet and then restore it using your backup, i.e., your seed phrase. I think this is a very important experience. You try out a scenario in a safe environment that most people fear the most – for example, losing or damaging your wallet.
If something like that happened to you, you would get a new wallet and use your backup to restore access to your funds. However, when you do it for the first time only when you’re holding a larger amount in your wallet, it can be very stressful. That’s why it’s better to try the whole process right at the beginning, say with five dollars in Bitcoin.
You gain tremendously valuable experience and, most importantly, confidence that you know what to do. It’s similar to learning to drive a car first in a parking lot before you head out into real traffic.
Bitcoin is also known for its price being able to fluctuate significantly. What would you say to someone who wants to hold Bitcoin long-term but is worried about volatility and doesn’t want to watch charts every day?
If someone is trying to trade and constantly watching charts, volatility can be very challenging for them. Bitcoin can move significantly in both directions and short-term swings can be psychologically unpleasant.
However, there is also a different approach – regularly buying smaller amounts over time, known as DCA. A person can treat Bitcoin as a long-term savings tool and put a certain portion of their salary or income into it every month.
This way, they buy during periods when the price is high, but also during periods when it’s low. They don’t try to perfectly time the market, but play a long-term game. Their bitcoin position gradually grows, and thanks to averaging the purchase price, they don’t worry as much about individual fluctuations because they’re spread out over time.
If someone followed this approach long-term, for example over the past six years, they could be doing very well even if the price stagnated or returned to lower levels in some periods. I think this is the most sensible approach for most people: stay calm, buy regularly, and don’t constantly try to hit the perfect moment.
Why should someone who decides to self-custody Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies get specifically a Trezor hardware wallet?
I think it’s very easy to get started with Trezor. You quickly understand how the interface works, how the wallet is used, and what to do in each step. We don’t overwhelm users with unnecessary information, but at the same time, we give them the opportunity to gradually move on to more advanced security methods.
Some users, for example, use more advanced forms of backup or split access into multiple parts. This could be, for instance, a “two of three” setup, where you need two parts out of three to restore the wallet. Such a solution can significantly increase security. What’s important, though, is that we offer these advanced options in an environment that’s relatively easy to enter.
Added to this is education, support, and an overall effort to make the path to self-custody as easy as possible for people. It’s precisely this combination of a simple start and the ability to gradually increase the level of security that I believe is why Trezor makes sense.
Photo: Lucien Bourdon archive
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