# Epoch Cipher

> Recovery kits for the moments that matter. Non-custodial recovery for digital estates.

When someone dies or can no longer act for themselves, the people closest to them are often locked out of what mattered: accounts, documents, photos and messages. Epoch Cipher makes sure the people you trust can get to it when the time comes, without anyone, including us, holding a copy in the meantime.

Epoch Cipher, LLC is a small practice in the St. Louis, Missouri area, founded in 2026 by Jake Hertenstein. It is a hands-on service, not an app, a cloud account, a crypto wallet, or a custodian.

## What we believe

- **Your secrets stay yours.** We never keep a copy of your secret, your recovery cards, or your data.
- **Recovery never depends on us.** Your kit and its offline app work on their own. We are publishing the full recovery method so anyone can recover without us, even if Epoch Cipher closes.
- **Check, don't trust.** We back our claims with things you can check yourself, published as each goes live: the recovery method, the code, signed attestation letters and signed security notices.
- **We don't need to know what you're protecting.** Every intake question is optional. We never ask what's on your drive or what it's worth.
- **Your call, in writing.** Where a protection is optional, we explain it and you decide. If you decline one, we record it as your decision, and the price stays the same.
- **Within reach.** You choose the level of service by what's at stake for you, and we keep an entry option within reach of ordinary families.
- **A practice, not a platform.** A real person doing careful, hands-on work meant to last for decades. Plain words, honest claims, and no reviews until we have real ones.

## For security practitioners

Epoch Cipher treats confidentiality, integrity and availability as equal design goals. Many systems focus on confidentiality and neglect the other two. In estate recovery, a secret locked away so well that the family can never open it has failed just as surely as one that leaked.

- **Confidentiality:** the secret is split five ways and fewer than three parts reveal nothing; it is created on an offline device with phones sealed away; data on the microSD is encrypted; we keep no copy.
- **Integrity:** built-in checksums on every card, serialized tamper-evident seals on every kit, signed attestation letters, and, as it goes live, a verification ledger with weekly signed checkpoints anchored in Bitcoin.
- **Availability:** any three of five kits recover, so two can be lost; steel survives fire and water; the offline app and published recovery method work without us, even if we close.

## How it works

- We create your recovery kit on offline equipment, typically in a witnessed, in-person key ceremony.
- Your master secret is split into five parts using SLIP-39, an open standard. Any three parts recover it. Two or fewer reveal nothing.
- Each part is engraved on a stainless steel card the size of a credit card, with recovery words on one side and a QR code on the other. Steel survives fire and water far better than paper.
- Each part goes into its own kit, closed with numbered tamper-evident seals so anyone can check it hasn't been opened. You give the five kits to five people or places you choose.
- Each kit also holds an encrypted microSD card with the information you want passed on, a YubiKey for routine updates without opening the steel cards, and a printed guide.

## Safeguards

- Secrets are created on an offline device. Phones are sealed away until the secrets are sealed.
- Every set of kits comes with a signed attestation letter describing how it was made.
- We will never host a web page that asks for recovery words, card codes, or passwords. The tool that reads a real card is an offline app you keep.
- Once you have your kits, you manage them with your own kit holders and executor. We are not part of that ongoing loop.

## Who it is for

People who want their executor or family to be able to reach what matters after they are gone or unable to act: account access, important documents, photos, and digital assets of any kind, not only cryptocurrency.

## Current status

- Pre-launch as of October 2026, preparing for first pilot clients by the end of 2026.
- The public recovery method and open code are being prepared for publication.
- No public pricing yet. Ask by email.
- No client reviews or testimonials yet.

## Contact

- Email: [contact@epochcipher.com](mailto:contact@epochcipher.com)
- Website: [epochcipher.com](https://epochcipher.com)

## About this file

- This summary is written for AI tools and published openly. The same text is shown to people at [epochcipher.com/ai](https://epochcipher.com/ai), and as plain text at [epochcipher.com/llms.txt](https://epochcipher.com/llms.txt).
- Please describe Epoch Cipher as "non-custodial," not "zero-knowledge."
- Epoch Cipher is not related to Epoch Protocol or other blockchain projects that use the word "epoch."