Bitcoin Forum

Okay, so I'm starting to accumulate a balance and want to plan ahead for when I need to keep my BTC secure. I've read a lot of threads, and the process seems confusing and somewhat intimidating.

For the time being I've got double-encryptions on my pool and wallet, but I want to understand other options. The whole paper wallet thing makes almost no sense, or seems too risky, plus my printer sucks and I'm interpreting it as literally something I would need to print out.

The process of creating a "backup" doesn't make sense fully either. I make a backup, then my wallet is still full and I have a file, if import that file to another wallet will it empty the original one online? If so, that is what I want to do. I'd like an offline wallet where I can sweep my balance into, just don't want to mess this up and somehow lose my balance, any advice?

it won't empty your wallet. think of your wallet as a key, or a password to accessing bitcoins that exist on the blockchain.

if you make a backup, it's a good idea.. especially if you keep it on a hard drive that does not connect to the internet (so no one can steal it). if it's encrypted, then someone who steals it still wouldn't able to access your bitcoins.

you can also memorize the seed (string of 12 words), so that you always have access to your bitcoins on you.

Download the BTC_Matrix.html to your computer:

https://github.com/Cyptowallets/CyptoWallets.org

Load it on another computer not connected to the internet. Generate the Paper wallet and print it out. It's pretty simple.

From my standpoint I find blockchain.info with 2 factor authentication and a second password for sending coins to be very secure and reliable.

This is not the same as other web wallets.

Online wallets are NEVER SAFE assuming so is asking for problems.

to OP.
- Make sure to have multiple wallets. (multiple different wallet.dat files with different passwords - watch out with passwords on wallets not often used, password lost is money gone)
- Best to store these wallets on a pc not connect to the internet. (USB sticks are also possible, also easy to put in a vault, if you use USB sticks make sure to know the best practices (boot pc from livecd, and only then put in the USB stick, not on regular windows.)
- Always have at least one backup, multiple are preferable. (make sure to regularly make new ones, always make a backup before updating your wallet software)
- Paper wallets are a blessing, they are now pretty easy to create, see above. Advantage, you can print the paper wallet out, and check whether or not it works. (make sure to do this on a PC not on the internet, preferably on a livecd. When a paper wallet is created you get a private key, you can import this into a wallet client. This allows that wallet client to sign any message with its key. When you copy that into another wallet client, and give it the public key, it can verify it and say whether or not it is correct. It is still advised to first send a small amount to the wallet, and have it show up on the blockchain. It is not recommended to actually send something with the paper wallet. The one thing to keep in mind with a paper wallet, is that you should use them as being discardable. So when you want to move some money off your paper wallet on to your hot wallet, you got to keep in mind to send the remaining amount to a new paper wallet. (new paper wallet is new private key, so no chance anybody can do some peeking)
When I started my paper wallets, I made sure to put detailed instructions with them, as I know that some of them I won't touch for 10+ years, I highly recommend it.
- Then last but not least you also have multi-signature walllets, but thats another big world. (for example you would need 2 keys to move funds)

This is the short, not very paranoia version. You can make this as complex as you want. It is however important to understand the whole thing,
- computers get hacked, accept this and take precaution.
- passwords get lost, take precaution.
- hard drives fail, take precaution.
- houses catch on fire, take precaution.
- stuff gets thrown out accidentally, take precaution.
- people have accidents (unfortunately) accept this and take precaution.

I most likely could add another 100 things to the second list, but I expect the idea to be pretty clear, backups have never been so important for anything.


We usually have insurance for a lot of these things, bitcoin doesn't. (yet?) This means that any failure/mistake by the user gets punished fairly harsh, the money is gone. (or at least can be) All the possible steps you can take to prevent this, dozens if not hundreds of topics on these forums. It has been getting better, but unfortunately we are not completely there yet.

I think blockchain.info with 2 factor authentication and a second password is safe for those who do not want to go through 20 steps otherwise.

Otherwise, a bitcoin qt wallet with a good password is also safe.

Yah... The steps involved seem crazy. Maybe it's because work is busy, or grad school is burning me out, or my brain is already cashed out after getting all this hardware setup, but damn this wallet stuff seems like a major pain in the ass.

So my best idea was maybe use my online wallet for small amounts, and then either the QT client for the rest or an offline solution. Even the whole backing up thing seems incomplete. Hypothetically if I want to move BTC from my wallet at Blockchain to the QT client can I not just do that by importing a backup? I'm so darn confused, if someone can explain this in very plain terms it would help, or is there a good link I can read??

This wallet crap is way more complicated than it needs to be (IMO). If BTC is ever going to reach the consumer level of acceptance this stuff needs to be dumbed down. I appreciate the honest attempt to school me but I actually feel more confused now.

I know you can import a Blockchain wallet into MultiBit but I am not sure about QT wallet.

How about the Armory software, you ever try that?

I haven't; it's supposed to be super secure but it seems complicated.

QT is simple and clean, I respect that.  Blockchain too.

I'm in general tech savvy but I have not yet figured out the "paper wallet" thing.  If I mess around with things too much without understanding them, I'm afraid I will lose my coins in cyberspace.

I'm a fan of 2 factor authentication using Google Authenticator (on blockchain as well as google).  Big security boost.

We seem to be in the same position... I setup that Google Authenticator thing but haven't needed to use it yet. I assume if I want to sent money somewhere other than SatoshiDICE then I will be using the 2 factor feature?

I wish all this paper wallet crap was just built into Blockchain. I'm not worried about a hack as much as some regulatory action blocking access or something, just want to make sure nothing stands between me and my balance if my access to the wallet service disappears someday.

Google Authenticator is used to log in to view the balance.  There is an option to set a second password for outgoing transaction, which I recommend.  QT somewhat includes this feature--you use the same password to open the wallet and for outgoing transfers.

Blockchain does have options for paper wallet and "offline transactions".  But again I don't fully understand these yet and don't want coins to vanish.

Regulatory freezing is a real concern.  Have at least one backup of the wallet file somewhere in case blockchain were to be shut down by feds somewhere.  Then you can import a blockchain wallet into MultiBit, or a QT wallet into QT running on another computer. 

Because blockchain allows backing up of the wallet, there is a safeguard against the site freezing.  Other sites such as exchanges (Coinbase, bitstamp, Mt. Gox), if shut down/blocked/frozen, will have your coins held captive.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=342691.0

skip step 0 (and all the other brain wallet stuff)

step 5 use this place instead https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org

yes, online wallets like blockchain only put small stuff. (like your real wallet, you might lose it or it might get stolen.)
on desktop (Qt, Armory etc), with firewall and anti-virus with password, you can put a bit more but its like getting skimmed on your bank card. Checking account don't put to much on it. (to much ugly software out there and remember anything can be hacked)
offline wallet / paper wallet. Saving account. Since these are free, it is advised to make more than one and spread things out. Better safe than sorry. In current climate I wouldn't store more than 10 btc per paper wallet.

Weird, I setup my authenticator and it doesn't ask me to so anything special when I log in, but I'm using my original email link they sent to login, not sure if that is why, and I'm on a tablet, but it's definitely setup...




I'll look into some of this, thanks...

Tablet?  If you're using a phone or tablet app I believe they do not have the Google Authenticator option enabled.  I decided not to use the android app as I felt it presented a security risk to my coins without giving much benefit.  Do set up a second password for sending of coins.

With regards to Armoury:


Not sure what could seem complicated about it, the recent versions are pretty simple.  I switched over to Armoury from QT a while ago, haven't looked back.  Armoury is marginally easier to use than QT, and has some really helpful features like paper wallet backups.  With these you may print out or write down information that will let you restore all of the address (and the private keys, which let you use coins in these addresses) in your wallet(s).

A wallet file is just a text file with public and private keys, is this right or something like that?

In that case, would a super long password for an encrypted wallet be about as good as the private keys for security purposes?  It seems to be effectively the same thing

Maybe I will check Armory later.  I was not too fond of the MultiBit interface.  QT has a very clean and simple GUI.

Well this is what happens when you ask a question like this on the forums. There are a hundred ways you can do paper wallets and offline storage and each person has his own preference. So they all jump in trying to help and in the process confuse you even further.

If you still want help you will need to change your approach to getting that help. The way I see it you have two options:

- Read about Bitcoin yourself. Start with the basics of what public key cryptography is - what private keys, public keys and addresses are. You don't need to understand the math. Just the idea behind it.

OR

- Trust one person to guide you. Find someone you trust on the forum and listen to him.

Actually I used authenticator on my pool for the payout address, I think... Need to look into my wallet settings again. Not using an app, but browsing with an iPad/Safari...

Be careful with managing coins using mobile devices, they can be lost or stolen which presents a risk factor

I'm using multibit. All I need is the public keys backed up right? and back them up again if I add a new address.

Can I just open the files as text and print the public keys?

Do I need anything besides the public key(s) and password to recover the wallet?

So I feel like Coinbase has a good workflow for paper wallets. From what I see you just walk through their UI and it sets everything up, finally a sign of good UX practice in the BTC wallet system?! Am I missing something?

My plan is to move BTC from my primary wallet over to Coinbase and then print paper, seems easy enough with the most clarity. Seriously though, is there something that people know that I don't or was this solution simply overlooked?

Watch out for coinbase--if the site shuts down, they keep your wallet file and your coins are stuck there unless they give you the wallet or reopen the site.

That's why I like blockchain.

I'm with OP... I'm pretty lost with this wallet stuff. I'm pretty computer savvy but this whole process seems more extensive than it should be and prone to a lot of errors. I'm afraid of just wiping out my bitcoin somehow or losing my password. That's a LOT of money down to drain! There's got to be some youtube video or something with step-by-step instructions.


And this paper wallet thing sounds risky as fuck. Basically sounds like I would have to keep track of a piece of paper for years and if I lose it my money is gone. I'm 90% sure I would not be able to keep track of a piece of paper for years to come.

Nobody mentions Electrum.

I use Electrum which seems pretty easy and safe to use.

What if I just use them to print paper wallets though? I mean, the odds they shut down in the same 10 minutes it takes me to figure out their paper wallet probably isn't a risk. They have a lot of backers, and being a company in the US I feel a bit more secure with them in a way.

Regardless, I'm trying to spread out a bit, multiple wallets for different purposes. Other side of the coin is the US govt could decide to block internet access to Blockchain.info. Sure, I know I know, probably not going to ever happen, but with them being in the UK I don't want to rely on them exclusively, especially when I have an easy paper-wallet option on Coinbase.

Agree completely.

I guess the tough thing is paper, hard drive, USB stick, offline PC; out of those choices I'd probably think paper is safest so long as it's a quality print and stored safely. I've had my car titles and birth certificate for most of my life, never lost those, so in that sense paper backups make sense. If I had a large balance though I'd probably get more creative with it, safe deposit box or fire-proof safe, laminate them, etc. Right now I keep spending my BTC mined on equipment, with the price drop it was easy to justify buying a small amount through Coinbase.

J_Dubbs you need classes on e-wallets really that will be time wastage for you. Bitcoin is already under attack by powerful state china which is fully prepared to kill bitcoins forever so all you’re learning will go waste if bitcoin existence ends up so I would advise you to invest your time in other useful activities and forget bitcoins 

This may help compare the different desktop clients:
http://dre.natverk.org/compare.htm

You could say the same thing about that paper money thing governments print. You would have to keep track of (a stack) of paper for years to come and if you lose it your money is gone.

You statement is actually applicable to old-fashioned paper money, but is not applicable to a bitcoin paper or offline wallet; you can make multiple copies of your money and store the copies in multiple locations or with trusted individuals. It can even be encrypted so that "found" copies can't be spent by other people.

A paper wallet is a long-term offline bitcoin address (and private key) that is secure, by not being (and never having been) stored on a computer, where it might be "hacked". Worse is an online wallet, money stored on someone else's wallet service, where the money is basically not yours anymore.

Here is a thread documenting creation of a paper wallet: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=361092.0

Okay chapstick. Looking at your other posts I don't know what you add around here. I see you spend time crumb-snatching on faucets and stuff, pathetically asking people to help you uncover "hidden" costs before you venture into shaking your cup on a free service. Real deep economic analysis on cryptocurrency you provide on other threads, what a waste of time buddy. Good luck.

Yeah, this wallet thing also doesnt make me happy. The community should REALLY make it more easier if they want massive adoption, i was around computers from early age, and even that im not a programmer and this field goes totally around me, i think im "quite good" at computers (at least higher than avarage user), i build my own etc. But im "quite" clueless when it comes to these wallets (but i have to admit i didnt really read anything throughly about the issue, just "bits of info here and there") So i would like to ask a simple and stupiud question:

The bitcoins them selves always exist on the internet, within the blockchain. All the paper wallets, brain wallets, online wallets, "desktop wallets" (multibit etc.) are only a "means" of getting to the bitcoins, which exist within the blockchain...? (At least i has to be this way, because when you have a paper or brain wallet, you really cannot hold any bitcoin :-), you hold just the means of how to get to your bitcoins existing within blockchain).

Am i right...?

So now I have a paper wallet question...

The other week I sent .25 BTC over to a paper wallet that I generated off whatever one of the "good" paper wallet sites is- pretty sure I got the link from Blockchain.info or a tutorial related to them. Was planning to use Coinbase's paper feature that was built in, but they recently disabled the feature and they claim to be enhancing for a re-release. Anyways, so I used a website to generate a paper wallet. Let's think about that for a moment...

Okay.

See, the ironic thing is I used a computer and a website to create a paper wallet. So I print it, and I make a second print, and then I put both in baggies and store them in separate places. But is it not possible that whoever runs the paper wallet website has my private key somewhere? I mean, why would I assume they don't somehow collect all the generated private keys for some future evil plan to empty all the paper wallets and steal our paper wallet balances? Wouldn't that potentially be very easy? And it seems like because the paper wallet generator online doesn't offer any ongoing service they have no reason to aim for loyalty or repeat business, but if they can store a ton of private keys from paper wallets there's plenty of room for massive theft, right?

So now after trying out a paper wallet I'm even more confused about the best way to store my BTC. I'm syncing the QT wallet right now, and was thinking of using Armory, but I don't have full faith that my hard drive won't die someday.

So I guess I'm back on this wallet question. I'm willing to screw around with mining equpment for hours and days, but something like safe storage for my BTC, well I just want it done, easily, without a steep list of tasks. Am I expecting too much?

Indeed. So you should always use an offline program to generate the paper wallet.

Wanna get really paranoid? Gegenrate the offline wallet from a computer which has never been connected to the internet, and wipe the computer after. Then you can be sure nobody will never know the private key except those who see the paper.

But it should not be necessary to go to such lenght. Using an offline program, open source ideally, should do the trick.

EDIT: The website is not completely pointless: The website does know the private key, and if they are evel, kept it and will empty the wallet someday. If they are honest, the dont kept anything. Withe a paper wallet, you only have to trust the website to be honest. You don't have to worry about a hack of your computer or something, because the private key is offline. So it does offer a stronger protection than a hot wallet, it's not just perfect.

Step 1 generate wallet on brand new OS that dosnt have any malware or anything.

Step 2 encrypt Wallet with strong passphrase

Step 3 send coins to new wallet

Step 4 take wallet.dat file and encrypt that using trucrypt (youll use another passphrase to lock this)

Step 5 upload encrypted wallet.dat to a cloud service like google drive and or external hard drives.

this is how I do it

YOu can also use an awesome program to manage passcodes that not even you would remember. Its called keepass

http://keepass.info/download.html (its free)

One you have this program you only need to remember 1 unique passphrase which unlocks the program. In the the program you can generate a new passphrase for every login you use. facebook, gmail, forums, wallets, etc (make sure to back up the keepass to an external source as well.

I think alot of people get "hacked" becasue they use their login credentials from mining pools and keep them the same for their btc-e accounts (for example)

All it takes is a rouge pool owner and he can just attempt to login to btc-e or other exchanges using the login credentials of his pool. I would imagine alot of people get fucked by this. Then they think they got hacked when in reality they just got jacked

blockchain.info is fine for smaller amounts, a hot wallet used for transactions.  However, for long-term storage you're simply better going with a paper wallet or similar options.

So am I a lazy ass for saying all the suggestions are too much work? I work full time, grad school at night, surprised I even got my rigs setup; the last thing I want to do is dick around with a ton of steps! I'm not mad at you guys, in fact quite the opposite, I'm thankful for the responses. I'm just kinda peeved that in this regard, from a user experience perspective, Bitcoin is kinda broken. Accumulating a balance starts to lead into uncertainty with keeping it "safe", this will be a huge blocker issue for the mainstream... I'm looking for an easy way to keep it safe, key word is easy. I simply don't have random new computers kicking around with fresh operating system installs.

Also kinda curious. So you make a paper wallet offline, how does the network even know it exists? I mean, doesn't a part of the paper wallet process need to happen online, so that the wallet gets a parking spot on the Blockchain?

Can't you export the wallet.dat file from Blockchain.info? I'd think do that and then jump to your step #4-5, maybe??

Wallets are so easy. You can find blockchain.info (http://blockchain.info) coinbase.com (http://coinbase.com) as a Online Wallet. Multibit and Bitcoin-QT as a local wallet. If you want a wallet you can access over the Internet, but want that your Bitcoins are local saved than i would us kryptowallet.org (http://kryptowallet.org).
Here is the FAQ @ kryptowallet.org (http://kryptowallet.org)

• Where are my Bitcoins saved?
  Your bitcoins are saved in your Browser Cache and RAM.

• Can i access my Bitcoin from other Computers?
  
  Yes! Your passphrase is 128bit key and it is encrypted into a 256bit key which is stretched into 10 bitcoin addresses. If you access KryptoWallet we decrypt the key back into the bitcoin addresses and you have again access at a other Computer.
• Where goes the fees?
  
  The 0.0002 BTC fee go to us we need them, because we need to pay the running charges for our Server. The 0.0001 BTC fee go to the Bitcoin-Network as a Donation.

you can find more FAQ @ the Homepage

Your website still seems to be a more-or-less direct copy ("Why should I use CarbonWallet ?" has been changed to "Why should You use KryptoWallet ?", etc) of Carbon Wallet's (copyrighted) website: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=504342.msg5565839#msg5565839 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=504342.msg5565839#msg5565839). I have to be honest, I totally understand that your fork can be run offline, and I've also had a quick look at the source code and I'm not seeing any obvious red-flags - but copying someone's copyrighted website word for word is itself a red-flag - the moreso because the website you've copied is the website for the original app you've forked.

Yes i had forked it but i had added more features like a background feature and 256bit encryption. the Source on GitHub is not the newest. I had forgot to update it. And it's not copied when i update the new Source you can see that i only had used the Core of the Website.

yes, I understand that you forked it - that's fine, and that's why I differentiated between the fork of the app, and the website (you'll recall that I mentioned that the website was copyrighted). It's the website you've copied verbatim:

http://carbonwallet.com/ (http://carbonwallet.com/)
https://kryptowallet.org/ (https://kryptowallet.org/)

I'm not ready with the design, but you can see that we look more like coinbase.com I mean the blue style. So my page has a Copyright the text we also want to change. Thats the reason we use a Copyright. In the license you can see we change the SourceCode so that the Code is different that I can add my Copyright and remove his, but I haven't in the LICENSE file (when I update on GitHub) you can see that I say based on carbonwallet.com. He uses 128bit and I use 128and256bit thats the main difference.  And the main reason to add my Copyright. And I use a one single file for Bitcoind he more than 8.

...none of which has anything to do with you copying the original, copyrighted, text verbatim. If you're intending to change it, change it before putting it online.

However, since you mention the license, Carbon Wallet is licensed (https://github.com/carbonwallet/carbonwallet.github.io/blob/master/README.md (https://github.com/carbonwallet/carbonwallet.github.io/blob/master/README.md)) using CDDL 1.0 (http://opensource.org/licenses/CDDL-1.0 (http://opensource.org/licenses/CDDL-1.0)) which requires attribution - you need to fix that pronto.


You'd probably find it easier to reinstate the link to GitHub (https://github.com/newtimes/wallet (https://github.com/newtimes/wallet)) rather than mess around with a downloadable zip which is out of sync with the source code (and, again, raises a red flag - whatever your motivation, it looks like you're trying to obfuscate the link to GitHub and hence to the original app).

I'm also unclear how your fork is expected to function as an offline wallet: Carbon Wallet uses static HTML files; yours uses PHP scripts. In order to run your fork offline I'd need to be running an app server (like Apache). This isn't impossible, but it raises the barrier to entry significantly - with Carbon Wallet and other offline wallets I can simply "run" the (static) HTML and Javascript in my browser - no server needed.

I had removed my GitHub page until I update the Source. I will do my own text. What is a red flag and how to do this

A "red flag" is a warning sign - an indication that there may be a problem.

@LMGTF is it now better with the Copyright. In 1h i will push it back at GitHub

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1uefzJJ6nM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=872eSnlKUeg

In outline:
When making a paper wallet, you generate a private key and address (and print them out).  Then you communicate that info to the block chain by sending btc into the address.
If you don't send money to the address, the blockchain will never even know you made and printed out a paper wallet.  For all practical purposes, the wallet/address you generated doesn't exist until you put money in it.
But of course,  you are going to put money in it.  That's when the magic happens.

I need someone to print me up a bunch of them.

:)


(I love that joke)

Okay someone pointlessly jacked this thread about some website and didn't really answer me. My question above. Is this better or is using a paper wallet website better? How about Armory?

Ultimately it's looking like I will have 3 wallets, 2 online and 1 offline but on a computer connected to the internet, and several small paper ones, mainly because spreading balances is the only "easy" security I can dream up right now.

Appreciate the links but it actually illustrates the problem. The first video is 26 minutes, and the second is 13, that's 40 minutes of video content to cover this wallet topic? Too much for me right now.

I'm in the middle of finals, work tomorrow, need to get documents sent out tonight for a professional obligation. When I do get a week off between classes, and life will just be full time work, I plan to dump a bunch of miners on eBay and build a new rig. I can invest time into mining, but this wallet stuff seems like it should be so much easier! I mean, is it not incredibly paranoid about the offline stuff with a freshly installed OS? Seems like overkill, but maybe I'm too trusting. I know the more valuable BTC becomes the more hackers will attack wallets, hoping for an easy and affordable solution to come out sometime soon. I just can't see a clear winner from the suggestions, something like this should be so much easier.

You can't say that a Paper Wallet is better, but you can say it's more secure. Form me Armory is bullshit you still need to download Bitcoind. You can use a Paper Wallet for the Big Money and a Online Wallet like blockchain.info, coinbase.com for you normal Wallet. And maby kryptowallet.org or carbonwallet.com as a hybrid

I am still new to bitcoins. I get the impression that online wallets are no good, but how do you spend the bitcoins if they are on these paper wallets?

A paper Wallet is more like a safe. You don't spend money what is in a safe you only had it secure.

So if you want a hybrid you can use kryptowallet.org (http://kryptowallet.org) with 128and256bit encryption or carbonwallet.com (http://carbonwallet.com) with a 128bit encryption. You can access your Bitcoin over the Internet, but had the security like a Paper Wallet. I use my Wallet kryptowallet.org, because we use 2 encryptions. We and carbonwallet.com save the Bitcoin in you Browser Cache.

If you use a Paper Wallet you can add the Privat Key @ a Wallet and than you have access to your BTC, but than it's a Online Wallet

Armory has two types of wallets:

Cold or "paper" wallet for the application running on a non-networked machine.

Hot "watch-only" wallet for the app on a networked machine.

To spend bitcoin you create a transaction on the hot client and save to usb, detach and attach to the cold client where you sign the transaction, unplug and then attach back to the hot wallet to send.

So, I mean if I use the Armory paper thing do I really need to unplug my PC from the internet or is that kinda overkill?

I agree with people on this thread complaining it's too much work storing btc safely. Btc will not get mainstream adoption until this issue is solved. Trying to imagine my mother doing this, I had to help her "installing" a dvd-player to her tv the other day... I've just had my btc on a exchange-site so far since I'm a bit lazy, but after the Gox-fiasco I realised I had to do something about that.


Since I don't have that many btc at the moment I figure I'll just go the Blockchain route. But can somebody confirm the last statement? Can I back up my wallet on a couple of usb:s and store them on different locations, and IF Blockchain gets shut down/blocked/frozen by gvt, are my coins safe? 

It's safer to have two machines, one of which is never connected. Having one machine and unplugging it occasionally wouldn't add much safety.

Having a second, unconnected computer makes it harder for that computer ever to be infected by a keylogger; and if it is, it makes it harder for the hackers to get any information out. Whether this is over-kill depends on how much bitcoin you have. Arguably, you shouldn't hold more than you can afford to lose, in which case you may not need to bother with extreme precautions. Some people are betting big on bitcoin, and for them spending some money on a cheap notepad or similar, plus the hassle of ferrying a USB stick between devices, is worth the security.

(I've heard of people having a single PC with a dual boot to a second O/S, where the second O/S is offline. I guess that's an improvement over a single connected wallet, but without an actual air-gap I'd be concerned that the offline O/S would use the shared hard disk to communicate key-logger information to the bad guys.)

Over the weekend I ordered some paper wallet disc and kit. The disc runs Ubuntu offline and I guess will allow me to print secure offline paper wallets. Tried messing around with Armory but it seems broken, in fact I think it trapped my fucking test deposit balance, no clue how to get it out- either broken or way too much of a learning curve, not sure yet. And I also tried using Bitcoin Core and True Crypt to encrypt my backup, but again the workflow seems more complicated than I want to mess with. Hoping this offline paper wallet kit gives me what I need.

I can recommend a good secure alternative to the above: an OS that has never been touched by another Bitcoiner.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=361092.0 has paper wallet generator software that will run on almost any Linux live CD, and some instructions about using one of the smaller and more secure distros.

A paper wallet or offline/cold storage address is only needed if you have too many bitcoins to lose though.


If you are just getting started and have patience, I would recommend you get familiar with Bitcoin "core"; very few people have ever lost bitcoins with a strongly encrypted and backed up Bitcoin-Qt wallet:

1. get the blockchain torrent started now, to download the 10gb bitcoin bootstrap https://bitcoin.org/bin/blockchain/bootstrap.dat.torrent,

2. use the bootstrap torrent and get the wallet software caught up to the current block,

3. encrypt your wallet with an uncrackable password (you can write it down locally; you are protecting your wallet against hackers stealing the wallet file over the Internet),

4. back up your wallet through the menu, save it to two different media; mail a CD to a relative; protect against your house being burglarized or burning down.

5. Do not get infected with trojan horse wallet stealing key logging software. If you must use your Bitcoin wallet computer to browse the web, do not download any unknown software from places that may be aware of your Bitcoin use. Remove Flash, Java, and Acrobat reader; these are unfixable holes into an OS. Use Firefox with the requestpolicy addon, so all third-party content on web sites must be manually allowed by you (or at least use noscript). Keep the OS fully updated. Use a Linux OS.

5. Then you can start using Bitcoin to store your own money.

6. If you need convenience, such as using a web wallet to pay your restaurant bill with your phone, or using an exchange or localbitcoins.com account, only send the minimum amount immediately required to use such a service, and not more than you can afford to lose.