Bitcoin Forum

Hi all, are online wallets safe to use?   maybe on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most safe

My vote would be a strong 1.

I don't see how you, and only you could have the private key for an address. And if anyone else than you knows the private key, it's not safe.

Ok I get that, but that is what coinbase is and they have tons of online wallets people set up

But others are doing it is never a good argument. But it always depends on the amount and how much security you want.

Personally, I don't even feel comfortable holding more than a few bitcoins worth on any exchanges.

They're safe to use as long as you know how to keep them safe.It's not really wallets fault if someone hacks your computers and steals your password.If the hacker gets access to their database then it's a completely different scenario.Blockchain.info seems to be the best one around,don't use anything else.

I currently use blockchain.info as my wallet. However I want to get into trading so I'll be storing a couple of hundreds of dollars worth of bitcoin in my wallet. Would it be wise to keep using blockchain.info or should I use something else. What would you recommend? I don't think I would have a full bitcoin stored yet.

If you're trading on a particular exchange site,you rather use that website's online wallet with amounts needed for trade and not your entire savings.Don't trust any website with 100's of dollars.Use a desktop wallet.Use bitcoin-core or simply electrum.For daily basis usage,just keep refilling your blockchain.info wallet with coins through electrum.

Can you send any type of coin you get to blockchain.info?   I have lots of coins from smaller startups

Blockchain.info is far more secure than any other exchange site, but it's not ideal.  They do give you access to your private keys and I don't think they have the right in terms and conditions to suspend your Bitcoin like Coinbase does.  You can also get their browser extension.  Still, you should never be comfortable storing more than ~1btc in an online wallet at any one time in case the service collapses because you're always reliant on a third party.

my vote is 3

because, i am using online wallet very often, for little and fast transactions, but for keep some btc i use desktop wallets, so  i advice you to use online wallet only for low amount.

good luck...

They are safe as long as they are operating, sounds ironic isn't it? lol. Anyways, for much wiser way to deal on any bitcoin web wallets while using them, just use their features or services that can give you comfortability when doing a transaction and NOT as your main storage to store your lovely bitcoins.

No doubt that most of the bitcoin web wallets have unique characteristics that can their user a hassle free transactions whether to buy and to sell bitcoin. If by any case that you only have to use an online wallet to store your bitcoin, sort out all web wallets you known and research if they are a registered company. Not an assurance that it was a safe one but it's more wiser if you will use a service of a registered one that doesn't have an anonymous owners and staffs.

Thanks for the heads up! I will download electrum tomorrow. I will use my online wallet to receive my profits from my trading and then if needed store them in my electrum account. However I'm not sure if that would be the best option because maybe transaction fees will nibble on my profits. I'll be using poloniex.

Use such wallets only at your own peril and risk.
It is best to keep coins on the desktop wallet client.

online wallets are always a risk because you are not the owner of private key and technically you are not the owner of your bitcoin.

I use Coinbase for transactions and such, and I have never had any issue at all. Some of the desktop wallets go crazy on fees, sometimes. But, of course, Online wallets are risky, if you treated them carelessly. For me, anything under 1 BTC is good for online wallets to hold.

Maybe a 3 or a 4. Online wallets are only useful for short time transactions, such as going to an ATM near you, depositing money and quickly sending it to someone else like paying something online. For storage, use paper wallets. If you need the money it takes seconds to import the wallet on Blockchain from your phone.

Online wallets aren't safe. You never know what the admin plans to do, what things are hidden from us. Maybe they own all the private addresses and want to run with the money. Paper is easy to hide and the most secure.

if you are the type that does not give your password out to friends or anybody, except you alone then it is safe with online wallet, but if you have little or no privacy at all then don't try keeping an online wallet...

you want dissucion about bitcoin online wallet or altcoin online wallet
if discission about bitcoin online wallet you can visit in web wallet section

if altcoin wallet is i think safe if use official wallet, every altcoin is good quality ussualy open service online wallet too
if dogecoin iam use online wallet my.dogechain.info, same company blockchain,info

 BlockchainInfo not recommend

can you explain why? i think blokchain.info and coinbase.com is on of the best and most trusted online wallets. i am often using them for small transactions

I suggest if you have a lot of save in Desktop Bitcoin Wallet and if it has a little Bitcoin should be stored in an online wallet

Not really in my opinion because on the online wallets naked to keep your own private keys and therefore your funds are not 100% secured you are trusting the site operator which can be scammers in some cases to keep your coins in a nice secure manner and not run with it themselves.

I'll just leave they are very convenient so I suggest you keep only a portion of your savings on online Wallace and the rest and cold storage

Could you explain why you think blockchain isn't recommended?

There may be many other online wallets which are considered good and secure but the only one wallet i have been using since my first visit to the internet is "XAPO". I never had any issues with this wallet that's why i can recommend this to you.

Vote for 2.

Note: I think this thread should move to web wallet board.


There are pretty much problem with their service in the past, even recently. Also their wallet service has been removed from list bitcoin wallet (https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet).
Here some thread complaint about their wallet service:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1744327.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1361326.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1112219.0
You can googling more.

They are safe to use if you are using them with small amount of bitcoin transactions. But if you've got a lot of it to store, then simply don't rely on them. But there are also online wallets that are building their trust and reputation to their customers, although still don't be confident because anything can happen to them, like being attacked or collapsing.

Of course, many people are using different online wallet like a block chain, coin payment, XAPO, Coin base, etc. But for me, I am using blockchain only because now they are providing lot security features, so you can comfortably secure your wallet without any problem.

You don't need to scare of bitcoin online wallet nowadays, technology is advanced and they are (online wallet Developer) very considerate with security issues. Email confirmation, sms confirmation, and google authenticator is strong enough to make users comfortable to use online wallet.
The best you have if you use bitcoin online wallet is everything is instant and simple. You'll not worries your wallet will be lose accidentally like install mobile wallet on your smartphone.

Well if you are looking for online wallet of bitcoin the most safe based​on my experience,
I have used mycelium for bitcoin wallet and jaxx.io for bitcoin and altcoins wallet (ETH, ETC,
augur, litecoin, dashcoin, zcash) they are good for put our bitcoin and altcoins and never
find the problem when use their service.