Writing a Bitcoin Recovery Plan
Writing a Recovery Plan Others Can Follow
This memo is published by CustodyStress, an independent Bitcoin custody stress test that produces reference documents for individuals, families, and professionals.
What Writing Attempts
A holder attempts to write a bitcoin recovery plan from existing knowledge. The holder believes recovery is already possible. The holder wants to put that knowledge into written form. The holder is present and calm. No emergency exists.
This analysis covers what happens when a holder tries to write bitcoin recovery plan documentation. It also describes how writing exposes gaps in system understanding.
What Writing Attempts
When a holder decides to write bitcoin recovery plan documentation, the holder attempts to convert tacit knowledge into explicit language. Tacit knowledge is what the holder knows but has not said. Explicit language is what others can read.
The holder tries to describe what exists. The holder tries to explain where things are. The holder tries to name who is involved and what they need to know.
Bitcoin recovery plan writing is an attempt to make private knowledge visible. The writing process tests whether that knowledge can be made explicit.
What Writing Reveals
When a holder tries to write bitcoin recovery plan documentation, the writing process reveals certain things. The holder discovers what is easy to explain. The holder discovers what is hard to explain.
Details that seem obvious to the holder may be difficult to write down. Steps that seem simple to the holder may be hard to describe. The act of writing forces assumptions to become visible.
Write recovery plan bitcoin exercises often expose gaps where knowledge exists only in memory. Writing makes these gaps visible to the holder.
The Holder Writes a Plan
The system in a scenario involves a holder who tries to write bitcoin recovery plan documentation. The holder attempts to describe recovery under conditions where prior knowledge is already present.
The plan reflects holder-present understanding. The holder knows what each section means. The holder knows what each reference points to. No confusion is observed while writing.
A designated heir reading the same plan would start from a different position. The heir does not know what terms mean. The heir does not know what references point to. Recovery in a scenario where the heir follows the plan would differ from the holder's experience writing it.
A Plan Is Not Recovery
A bitcoin recovery plan describes what to do. It does not do it. The plan may say "retrieve seed phrase from safe deposit box." The plan does not open the box.
The plan is a coordination document. It tells others what steps exist. It does not provide keys, passwords, or authority. It does not replace custody mechanisms.
Bitcoin recovery documentation may help others know what to attempt. It does not give them the ability to succeed.
Hidden Dependencies
The system in a scenario involves a holder who tries to write bitcoin recovery plan documentation. The plan says "access wallet using hardware device." The holder knows which device. The holder knows where it is stored. The holder knows what software to use.
The plan does not reveal these hidden dependencies. Each step assumes other knowledge. Each instruction depends on context the holder has but did not write down.
Without the holder's context, the dependencies remain hidden. "Access wallet using hardware device" does not say which device. It does not say where. It does not say how. The plan did not test whether others can follow it alone.
Clarity to the Writer
A bitcoin recovery plan often feels clear to the holder. The holder reads what they wrote. The holder understands every section. The holder sees no problems.
This clarity reflects the holder's position. The holder wrote the plan. The holder knows the context. The holder can fill in what the words leave out.
An heir reading the same words would have different clarity. Different starting knowledge produces different understanding.
Stress Changes Interpretation
A plan is written under calm conditions. The holder has time. The holder can think clearly. The holder can choose words carefully.
A plan is read under different conditions. An heir may be grieving. An heir may be confused. An heir may be under time pressure. Stress changes how words are understood.
Bitcoin recovery plan writing done in calm may be read in crisis. The same words carry different meaning under different conditions.
Time and the Plan
A plan is written at a specific moment. The holder remembers everything at that moment. Details are fresh. The system is current.
Time changes these conditions. The holder may change custody arrangements. The holder may move things. The holder may change software or devices. The plan captures a moment. It does not update itself.
A write recovery plan bitcoin effort completed today may not match reality years from now. The plan did not change. The system did.
What Others Would Experience
The holder writes and sees a clear plan. An heir would see something different. Steps that seem obvious to the holder may confuse an heir. Terms that seem clear to the holder may puzzle an executor.
An heir following the plan would start from a different position. They would not know terminology. They would not know what steps assume. They would not know which parts are still current.
The holder's experience writing a plan does not predict an heir's experience following it.
Writing as Diagnostic
The act of trying to write bitcoin recovery plan documentation functions as a diagnostic. Writing reveals what the holder can make explicit. It reveals what depends on memory. It reveals what assumes context.
Writing exposes gaps. It shows where knowledge has not been transferred. It shows where steps depend on unstated information.
Bitcoin recovery documentation is a lens for seeing the custody system. It is not a solution for fixing it.
The Confidence Gap
Trying to write bitcoin recovery plan documentation often produces confidence. The holder has written something. The holder has described the steps. The outcome is interpreted as sufficient by the holder.
This confidence reflects what the holder observed. It does not reflect what remains unobserved. The holder wrote using holder knowledge. The holder did not test using heir confusion or executor unfamiliarity.
A write bitcoin recovery plan effort by the holder reveals what the holder can articulate. It does not reveal what others will understand or accomplish.
Assessment
When a holder tries to write bitcoin recovery plan documentation, the writing process attempts to convert tacit knowledge into explicit language. The act of writing forces assumptions to become visible. The holder discovers what is easy and hard to explain.
A plan often feels clear to the holder because context already exists. Others reading the same plan would start from a different position. The plan does not provide recovery by itself.
The result of bitcoin recovery plan writing reflects what the holder can articulate at the time of writing. It does not show what others will understand later. Writing is a diagnostic lens that reveals gaps, not a guarantee that gaps are closed.
System Context
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