Bitcoin Forum

Hi guys

I am going to buy some coins from either Mt.Gox or BitStamp.

Before I do that what steps do I need to take to store the coins or can I just keep the coins in my online account with gox or stamp? Or do I need a wallet?

Thanks.

it depends on the level of security you want.

I would keep backups of all the BTC you own on your own wallet client, and on several usb drives just to be sure. And perhaps a paper wallet just in case those fail.

Risk / benefit trade-off.  Just as you might have $10k in your bank account and $100 in your wallet, I would keep the bulk of my bitwealth in a wallet stored offline and some spending money at an exchange like MtGox. That way you can spend from your smartphone without exposing yourself to much risk.
How much is a tricky question, but I try to keep less available online than the value of the phone. 

It might be overkill, but I have multiple wallets on different machines.  I move the money around between them so if one gets compromised via malware or other hacking attempt, the damage is minimal.  I try not to store much online unless I'm prepared to use it.  Large sums get placed on wallets on machines that I then take offline so they are never sitting up vulnerable.

That said, if you just be careful and pay attention to what you're doing, you'll be ok.  The biggest thefts seem to happen by scammers more than hackers.  Don't be tricked into anything dumb.  Also, if you ever need to send a large amount to someone, I suggest sending a small amount first to make sure the transaction goes through ok.  Then send the rest.  I've been in situations where people have accidently given me the wrong address and the coins end up lost.  So pay attention, play it smart. 

Depends how much you are buying, how much security you need, and how liquid do you need them to be. I'll tell you what i do.

load linux and a copy of bit-address.htm on a flash drive. Boot your pc from the flash drive. Physically connect your computer to your printer with a usb cable. Print out paper wallets. Laminate paper wallets and store in safe.

This is a VERY secure and low tech way to keep your coins safe.

oh and be careful with this advise to store bitcoins on usb. Usb data can erode with time. Probably optical disk would be better if you wanted to save an actual wallet file on a disk and put it in a safety deposit box or something.

i think your method is not overkill so much as it is silly. Use 1 computer that you keep offline all the time with the armory client imo. More secure and easier than your method.

offline wallet and paper backup!

I use Electrum and keep the wallet on my laptop. It generates wallets deterministically using a randomly generated seed, which can be encoded as 12 words, which can and should be memorised. So in theory you could then delete the wallet, and as long as you remember the 12 words you can still access your bitcoins. Maybe print them out and store the paper under a floorboard and mention it to your loved ones.

So once I have my coins in Mt.Gox how do I move them to a wallet?

Just click withdraw and paste in the adress to your vallet, and they should be sent almost imidiately.

If you're investing a significant amount into bitcoin and plan to actively trade on Mt.Gox, get a yubikey (2 factor authentication). There have been an increasing number of stories of hacked accounts (fake or not), so at least protect yourself.

Ok - noob question:  using 'standard' wallet, what file(s) actually hold the coin data?  In other words, what should I back-up/keep off-line to protect it's contents? Can that file(s) be transferred to another wallet (on an different machine, for example) to regain access to it?  Or is there a good thread on 'basic wallet management'?

Thx!

in the standard qt client this data is held in a file called wallet.dat in the roaming section of your appdata directory.

As a newbie, it would be better if you didn't use the "standard" wallet, that is, bitcoin-qt. There are a few wallets that are easier to use.

Basic Wallet Management:

Rule #1: back up your wallet (even if it doesn't have any coins yet)
Rule #2: encrypt your wallet (even if it doesn't have any coins yet)
Rule #3: Do not proceed until you have followed rules #1 and #2.

Sharing wallet data between different wallets is going to cause confusion, and the confusion might cause lost coins.

Thx!

good luck and congrats on getting in relatively early