A titanium disc five centimeters in diameter and three millimeters thick, almost double the size of a two euro coin. It is cold to the touch, weighs 21 grams and resists temperatures above 1,700 degrees. Its creator, Iñaki Zubeldia, describes it as “indestructible”. It is designed to store on its surface, and in encrypted form, the 24 words that make up the seed phrase of a cryptocurrency wallet, the key that gives access to digital funds.
“People are a mess in terms of safety,” says Zubeldia. Passionate about the world of cryptocurrencies, this 43-year-old graphic designer born in Zaragoza has seen how many investors have lost their assets forever for having lost or inadvertently destroyed their seed phrase. He decided to turn that weakness into a business and, in May 2024, launched his particular digital currency safe, the Yoseyomo, on the market. Since then, the startwhich bears the same name and which sells metal discs all over the planet, has achieved a turnover of around 100,000 euros.
The product was born from a paradox: cryptocurrencies promise financial independence and sovereignty – “you are your own bank”, repeat their defenders and Zubeldia himself – but that freedom carries enormous risk. If you lose your passwords, there is no phone number to call or technical service that can save you.
According to cryptocurrency firm Chainalysis, between 2.3 and 3.7 million bitcoins have been permanently lost, representing between 11% and 18% of bitcoin’s fixed maximum supply of 21 million coins. The value of these lost assets is between 220,000 and 354,000 million euros. “The cause is mainly attributable to forgotten or destroyed private keys and seed phrases,” the company itself emphasizes via email.
From Cibeles Palace in Madrid, Zubeldia proudly shows off her Yoseyomo. He designed them, a German company produces them and, together with the company’s co-founder Álvaro Campos, met in a community online From trade— sells the three available models: from 89 euros for the cheapest to 149 euros for the most resistant. In mid-October, the Merge event, which brings together companies and investors from the crypto world, is held in this bright space in the heart of the capital.
Zubeldia has just been announced that his company is among the five finalists of the competition. start-ups. Its application combines small but unbreakable metal discs and a new product it plans to launch in November: Inheritans. It is a digital space that holds the legacy of cryptocurrencies, other assets and even memories. “This service adds a layer of security to Yoseyomo,” says Zubeldia.
The seed words appear in the form of small holes on the surface of the metal disc. And the encryption system that allows you to read these holes is described on the company’s website. This is its main weakness: if someone found or stole the device and accessed the page, they could decipher the keywords. For this reason, Zubeldia recommends leaving the wallet apparently empty and revealing the funds only by entering an additional password, the custody of which is delegated to the Inheritans.
Any security seems insufficient to prevent a repeat of what happened to one of his clients: he lost access to bitcoins whose current value exceeds 45 million euros after accidentally destroying the paper in which he kept his seed phrase. Zubeldia met this man, a 60-year-old welder from Bilbao, through his YouTube channel, where he explains to his 41,000 subscribers the complex, and for many incomprehensible, world of cryptocurrencies. “The man can see how much money he has, but he can’t sign transactions. I told him, ‘Dude, take the app away,'” Zubeldia says.
