Bitcoin Forum

If so, how long do you use it, is it zero problems, and why did you count on them in the first place?

Thanks!

Blockchain.info, as the privatekeys are not seen by the server and therefore they cannot hack you. Been using that for a couple of months now, and so far problem-free.

Thanks a lot John!
And I forgot to ask, how friendly and easy to use is it?

It's very easy to use. 

https://blockchain.info/wallet

Start there.  Good Luck!

+1 for blockchain.info/wallet for relatively small amounts - should be safe for day to day amounts.  I highly recommend cold/offline/paper/brain storage for any amount of btc that would effect one's quality of life if lost.

Blockchain is the only way to go.

+1

https://blockchain.info/wallet is the only one I use and the only one I trust, because it is the only one I know of where you retain control of your private keys.

Make sure you get a wallet backup file from them anytime you create a new address.  That way if they ever disappear for any reason, you can still access your bitcoins.

I use the online wallet from MT Gox. I prefer to keep it simple and handle both trading and hoarding BTC in the same place.

So far, I have not had any problems.

And until you have a problem, you won't.  That's sort of the way problems happen, isn't it?

Yes, piping in with the others:
https://blockchain.info/wallet/
Love their interface and functionality, plus iPhone app. Never had any issues with sending or receiving. They also have a nice mixer for anonymisation of your outgoing transactions.

Have you had any problems with Mt Gox. ?

Its blockchain.info for me. 

Nope.  I haven't died yet either, but I don't think it would be wise to use that as evidence that I'll never die.

blockchain for sure!

The only thing that people miss mentioning when they recommend using blockchain.info is to download their private keys and keep them encrypted and safe.

If blockchain.info disappeared, they wouldn't have your money, but if you didn't save your wallet, your coins would essentially be lost. So yes, the online wallet recomendation is blockchain.info, but make sure and back up your wallet offline!

I've heard good things about blockchain, it still hasn't convienced me to have an online wallet. With bitcoin I just learnt the hard way I can't trust anyone with my bitcoins, it's a sad truth.

If you however opt for an online wallet, blockchain is probably a safe bet, due to how their system works.

I'm going to have to recommend blockchain.info wallet as the way to go.  Easy to get started, secure (you are the only one with access to the private keys to spend), and convenient backup up options like email, dropbox and google drive.

Check again . . .

I knew that. Just checking to see if YOU knew that. lol

Anyway, that part is bolded now :D

Blockchain.info/wallet is a hybrid EWallet.  This can mean different things but with Blockchain.info this means that the private keys are kept locally in your browser but an encrypted copy of your wallet is stored on Blockchain.info's network (technically, also backed up on Amazon S3). 

But to use the service, they need to be operational.  There were a couple periods of extended downtime last month -- in which nearly a full day passed where access to the service was not possible.

Those with a copy of their wallet backup could easily load the file into either Multibit (or Electrum too I think) and continue to use the wallet.  But many people didn't have their Blockchain.info/wallet accounts configured so that backups get sent after each change to the wallet occurs.  So they couldn't do anything when the service was down.

The other type of EWallet is a hosted (shared) EWallet.  This is what Mt. Gox offers, as does Coinbase, Instawallet, Paytunia, bitZino, etc, .    With a service like this, you are 100% dependent on the EWallet provider remaining operational. 

Just like you don't carry all your physical cash in your wallet in back pocket (you keep some in the bank, some maybe in a safe or hidden "under the mattress"), the same goes with bitcoin. For long term storage, a cold wallet (paper wallet even, created offline) for savings, then a web and mobile app (e.g., Blockchain for Android) for spending, and maybe a hosted (shared) EWallet so that you have some coins accessible as an alternative should blockchain.info/wallet be undergoing maintenance, for example.

I started out with coinbase because it is easy to use with a bank account but there does not seem to be a method offline backup (besides theirs). I then discovered the blockchain.info which seems much more secure. I am using coinbase to buy BTC and then transferring to the blockchain wallet.

Thanks a lot for the important tip!

I'm a https://blockchain.info/wallet fan personally.

blockchain.info is great