Bitcoin Forum

Hi,

So I have been using Blockchain as my wallet and Coinbase to buy some btc. I sent btc back and forth for payments etc. I have been out of bitcoin for a little while now. Are there any other real/trusted/reputable wallets?

Thanks!

fixed that for you ;)

I don't consider either blockchain.info nor coinbase to be trustable... If you're not the one in controll of your private keys, you're not the one in controll of your bitcoins!!! I would suggest you to stay away from online wallets.

If you want a trustworthy wallet, i'd suggest you pick a desktop wallet from here:
https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

Personally, i'm a fan of the core wallet, but it takes a long time to sync and uses a lot of diskspace if you dont use prune mode.
Electrum or multibit HD are great to, they're deterministic SPV wallets, they only download the block headers, making them small and fast to sync, while still keeping your private keys on your desktop pc (so in your controll)

Thanks :) I wasn't aware of those desktop wallets. How about loosing your pc, hard disk or even hacking the pc?

Coinbase seemed pretty secure right? so is blockchain.. other than you don't control the keys. But otherwise a good cloud solution?

That is why you make backups of your wallet (encrypted of course) and store them in other, safe locations.

"Secure". Web wallets are not advised. If the service one day shuts down, then your Bitcoin is going with them. They control your private keys (well blockchain.info claims they don't, but it is impossible to know) and could in theory steal your Bitcoin. Or, if they are hacked, then the hackers can steal your Bitcoin.

Furthermore, the customer support for Coinbase and Blockchain.info are known to be rather crappy. Coinbase is also known to have closed down people's accounts (supposedly because they were gambling) and prevented them from accessing their money.

With desktop wallets, most don't have actual customer support, but there are typically large communities using those wallets and those users are always helpful. This doesn't work for Coinbase or bc.i because people can't do anything with their servers.

Ok, so basically the best method is a desktop wallet. Then make copies of your wallet (encrypted) and saved them on your email, or your cloud.

Technically this encrytpted wallet could be floating around right? because it cannot be decrypted.

So maybe this is the way to go.

Thanks!

Yes. Desktop wallets are one of the best wallets. Even more secure options (but slightly less convenient) are paper wallets (which should only be used for long-term cold storage) and hardware wallets.

Well, maybe not there. Even with encryption, it still isn't the greatest idea to store sensitive information online. It would probably be better to put a copy onto a couple flash drives and CDs and then store those somewhere. Maybe one in your home and one in a safety deposit box.

Not necessarily. Not all encryption methods are foolproof. And if you do not use a very strong password, the encryption does not really help. You could keep a copy online, but make sure that you are really the only person who can truly access it. Don't have it "floating around" because people will find your wallet and attempt to decrypt it.

Oh I see hehe

I have this image of my writing down the encryption password on a wall stud around the house haha

OK, yes, I guess i went too far regarding having copies of the wallet anywhere but I do get the point.

Thanks!

Althought people say that online wallets aren't safe, I use it. Blockchain.info is a trusted wallet, many people are using it and with high BTC volums. There is some risk for sure, because it's online, but for a small amount of money there is no problem.

But if you have a big amount and fear to use online services try the desktop wallet. Risk anyway, is everywhere, safest way would be to have the BTCs in your own hands on real world, but it's not possible...

They are both trusted wallets but it is not safe to use a web wallet where you do not complete access to your private key. You may want to consider backing the privateky of your wallet because web wallets can go down sometimes and you may not be able to access your wallet so that you can import the privatekey to a differet wallet like electrum.
Do not keep big amounts of bitcoins in wallets like that. Consider a desktop wallet or a paper wallet or a ledger.

Mtgox was the most used exchange and had the highest Bitcoin volume. Bitcoin services have evolved a lot since then, but it's still supposed to be a trustless peer-to-peer system.

You are far better off by using a wallet where you and nobody else controls the private keys.

As other  members said here  ,  they would  not suggest  online wallets  because  of the risk regarding on your bitcoins but  for me  if you do store  only small amounts  of bitcoin then  web wallets would be  quite comfortable  on easy access and  transferring  but  if you  hold  huge amounts of bitcoin then its the time  you   would  use either   hardware or desktop wallets.

lol , there are no other wallet which are more trusted than blockchain because the blockchain wallet is main wallet of bitcoin and it is the official and first wallet of bitcoin and it is also much safe wallet than other because i am.using this wallet from 2 years and facing no problem .

How can anyone steal it from me then? I keep all my informations safe and there is security levels also on wallet, there is no way to someone know about my personal info.

No one could able to  steal  it  from you  unless if you  gave them your  private keys and other  important    informations related  in to your account. THe risk on  web wallets is that  you dont have  the possesion on your  private keys which is  somehow risky when you do store  large amounts of bitcoin.

Hmm, can you you recommend me a good wallet so? Maybe Bitcoin Core - Wallet?

I never used another kind of wallet, just Blockchain.info, so I don't know much about another wallet systems.

Agree 100%.
Never trust any online wallet, always be in controll of your funds. Exchanges/online wallets get hacked all the time, its only matter of time when your funds will be lost forever.

If you have an Android phone use mycelium (I don't know what to use on iOS), if you want a option for PC I suggest electrum. Electrum is nice because it does not download the whole block chain. So it does not need a lot of storage.

I use mycelium as my main wallet because it means I have access to the private keys and have full control over my wallet. I occasionally use xapo if I need to send alot of small transactions as they cover the fees however I wouldn't recommend storing large amounts in wallets like xapo. I have also used vanitygen to generate a few addresses, just make sure you don't use a website to generate them for you.

Are you kidding??
First of all blockchain.info is not the official wallet nor the main or first wallet of bitcoin like you've just said.
It must be Bitcoin Core which is created by Satoshi Nakamoto. But to be honest there is no such thing as an official bitcoin wallet due to the bitcoin is open source and there's no such a bitcoin company in bitcoin world, so no one can't declare any wallet to be official in my opinion. About is blockchain safe? well this has been discused so many time before, in multiple threads that online wallet is not safe anymore as we can see there was DNS attack last week and the site go offline for few hours, well what if the site is offline forever? or if they are hacked?
I hope you get my point, no offense or something.

You'll find a LOT of people on here telling you how unsafe online wallets are but really it's like saying it's better to walk than to fly in plane because walking is not as risky   ::) Sure there are some risks associated with having your coins in an online wallet but in my opinion the advantages far outweigh the risks. I'm one of the few on here who use Coinbase exclusively, I've been with them for over 2 years and have never had any issue. I don't have to carry a local wallet/private key with me, I can access my coins from any computer anywhere in the world. My coins at Coinbase are insured, I can store them offline plus I never pay transaction fees when sending from my Coinbase account.
I would suggest that you don't let people scare you into anything, read up, ask questions, assess the risks for yourself and see what works best for you.

Paper Wallet* - End of discussion

*private keys and paper wallet must be generated on your own secure system using properly vetted opensource code from a trusted developer and you might want to destroy the printer when you're done: http://www.pcworld.com/article/254518/your_printer_could_be_a_security_sore_spot.html

this is just my opinion, for me the safe wallet is where we can acces to privekey, and where we can backup and restore our wallet with easy step, at this case for me mycellium, jaxx wallet, electrum wallet is some of the safe wallet, im use it whituout any issue, if i can't acces to my wallet, i just put the privekey to other wallet, then send it quickly.

blockchain is good online wallet
you can backup use pharsa pneumonic , private key and paper wallet

Keeping your bitcoin in an online wallet is not a problem but if the amount of bitcoin you have is very big, it is advisable that you keep some in your desktop wallet in the event the online wallet hacked or goes offline, you can be sure you will not loose everything. Online wallets are good for being used as hot wallet with small amount of bitcoins for daily use.

Very true, online wallets are good  only if you only store  small amounts of bitcoin  only because  its somehow risky when you  tend to  put  huge volumes of bitcoin same as  you said  if they would go  offline  or getting  hacked you would surely lose  up all your money  in an instant thats why  its better to use  desktop or hardware wallets  though.

yes the point is better not to put too large amount in one wallet. it is good to keep in wallet online and offline.
but so far I was very safe to use blockchain.info for 4 years. just add security 2FA to be more safe.

The addition of 2FA does make your account more secure, but that is not the concern with online wallets. The concern is not that someone would hack into your wallet, the concern is that someone hacks into the system and steals all the private keys of all the wallets. Your 2FA would not help in that situation.

Well I don't know about blockchain.info but on Coinbase your Bitcoins are insured against hacks and thefts. Of course they don't cover negligence on your part, it's up to the user to make sure his/her login details are not compromised through keyloggers etc. So 2FA does help in this regard. Plus it is also possible for you to keep your Bitcoins offline on Coinbase.

Quote from Coinbase support:

"Coinbase is insured against theft and electronic compromise in an amount that exceeds the average value of bitcoin and ether it holds online at any given time. Specifically, Coinbase's insurance policy would respond to losses resulting from a breach of our physical security, cyber security, or as a result of employee theft."

People say paper wallets are quite safe, i never used any myself though, but if you think online wallets can get hacked or disappear maybe, and desktop or hardware wallets may get damaged if hard disk or pc get destroyed, then you should check paper wallet as that you can keep any place you think is the safest.

I did not know that. I guess I never really looked into it. Thanks for the info.  :)
I do use Coinbase for conversion between fiat and BTC.

This thread topic is covered in the "Bitcoin Wallets - Which, what, why?" General thread pinned to the top of this sub-forum.

As such, it can now be locked, and any sig ad that posts in this thread after this should probably be perma-banned.

Thread has been reported to moderator.