TL;DR
Multisig is worth it when losing your bitcoin would really hurt and you’re willing to spend a weekend setting it up and an hour a year checking it. For small amounts or daily spending, one good hardware wallet is enough.
Multisig makes sense if
- Losing the amount would change your life, or at least your year
- You plan to hold for years rather than trade
- You can store three backups in three places that won’t burn down together
- You’re willing to follow instructions carefully and test them
Stick with one hardware wallet if
- The amount is small enough that losing it would be annoying, not a disaster.
- You spend from it every week. Multisig spending takes two devices and a few extra minutes.
- You don’t have three separate places for backups. A multisig with two seeds in one drawer is worse than a well-kept single seed.
The honest costs
- Three hardware wallets instead of one, roughly $300 to $450 in total.
- A weekend to set up, mostly spent on metal backups and testing.
- More to keep track of: three seeds, one wallet descriptor, and a note for your family.
Many people end up with both: a single hardware wallet for spending money and a multisig vault for savings. That works well.
What about a custody service?
Companies such as Unchained or Casa sell assisted multisig, where they hold one of the three keys and help you recover. That’s a reasonable choice if you’d rather pay than learn. This site covers doing it yourself, with nobody else holding a key.
Ready? Start with step 1 of the setup guide.