Bitcoin Forum

If a wallet is made properly, the fees should depend mostly on the current state of the network/mempool.

As for security, there is no better option then hardware wallets, you might want to grab a Trezor or Ledger nano S while the Black Friday deals are still on.

Web wallets/online are not suggested and as for desktop wallets, it's only safe If your computer is clean.

As @OmegaStarScream said, Hardware wallets are the safest as far as security of your tokens is concerned. However make sure you don't buy it from Third party sellers as there have been reports of fake hardware wallets in circulation posing as genuine Trezor wallets.

If you opt for web wallets or apps , make sure you use wallets that have been around for sometime and have a wider user base. Avoid recently introduced wallets and while at it of course:
- Keep the computer clean, Discard all shady apps,
- Don't download shady browser extensions,
- Don't download shady documents from the web
- Update your computer/phone regularly
- Always generate, copy and store your private keys and mnemonic phrases offline. Don't screenshoot them

The security of your wallet depends on the whole system architecture.

For example: A completely unencrypted desktop wallet on a linux system is way more secure than an encrypted wallet on a windows machine.


For high security, your goal should be to have the private keys in an offline environment.
Either by using a dedicated device only for storing the private keys, using a paper wallet or (the most convenient one) using a hardware wallet.

Paper wallets and airgapped storages are quite tricky to spend coins from. A hardware wallet can easily be plugged in into your computer (even if infected) without losing your coins.

However, if you don't want to buy a hardware wallet, but still want convenient storage, a desktop wallet can(!) also be secure. But this depends on the way you are using your system.
Since more than 97% of all malware is coded for windows, i would NOT regard a desktop wallet on windows as safe enough to store higher amounts of BTC on it.
On a linux system on the other side, it might be safe enough.


Also, one should never forget the most important thing: Common sense.

Having your wallet secured is good, yes. But it is worthless if you get tricked by a scammer to send him your BTC by yourself.

Hey agreed there're many wallets out there and I only recommend two which one you should choose depends on your amount of bitcoins you intend to hodl. I would suggest Electrum wallet, it's highly secured, easy to operate has a desktop version and a mobile application. My second suggestion is to buy a Trezor wallet if you plan to hold a huge amount of money in bitcoins, you should act quickly and take advantage of Black Friday deals.

It is true that there are so many wallet out there but I highly recommend hardware wallet. Most of bitcoiners suggest this, I think you should consider.

I wouldnt trust any software wallet again. Just take a look at the bugs electrum had in the span of a year, almost any of those bugs could have led to losing your coins.

If you really want to store your coins safely you will have to buy a hardware wallet.

Bugs(plural)? ??? I'm aware of precisely one major vulnerability that Electrum had recently... no-one noticed it for a long time. Once found and advised, the Electrum Devs fixed it immediately.
https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum-docs/blob/master/cve.rst

To be exploited, you needed to be running the insecure version, have the wallet actually open and running AND visit a webpage that exploited the vulnerability.


You do realise that hardware wallets like Trezor and Ledger have had security vulnerabilities too, right?

https://blog.trezor.io/details-about-the-security-updates-in-trezor-one-firmware-1-6-2-a3b25b668e98
https://www.ledger.fr/2018/03/20/firmware-1-4-deep-dive-security-fixes/


That isn't to say they aren't one of the safer options, along with paper wallets... people just need to be aware that nothing is 100% secure.

many more peoples are asking , ''go for hardware wallet and what are the main advantages of it ???
and what is the difference between hardware wallet and other wallets ???

Well these hardware wallets built their reputation and has proven to be trustworthy so your money is worth taking any of them. What other wallets you are saying? web wallets? its likely that your funds can be gone if something goes wrong with them.

Choose a wallet that you hold the private keys, have you tried paper wallets for long term keeps?

You should never ever have your desktop wallet unencrypted. Don't get fooled that linux is much safer than windows.

which one is very safe ( high secured) linux or windows ..?

For sure, software wallet has never been in my list. It is not good, you had better use hardware wallet.

It is also worth mentioning that some people choose to have a backup of their hardware wallet device (i.e. two Ledger Nano S with the same cloned information), in case there is a mechanical failure or else. While this is not strictly necessary, (one still has the 24 word recovery paper sheet to restore on any other hardware or software wallet that is compatible with the pertinent BIP standards), it does give peace of mind in a way.

Ledger Nano S is protected by a Pin code that you set at your discretion. You need to be wary not to forget it though, since three invalid Pin attempts causes the device to reset factory settings, erasing the private keys (again, the 24 word recovery sheet lets you re-establish these on to the device).

I never said that one should have his private keys stored unencrypted.

Linux is - by definition - safer than windows in daily usage.

In a targeted attack, it doesn't make any difference. That's correct.
But why would any commercial malware creator (its all about money - that's always commercial) target linux user (who by default have more knowledge regarding security) if the market share of windows is 95%+ and linux less than 2% ? This wouldn't make any sense.

The majority of malware IS coded for windows. When using your computer like any standard user does, the chances of getting infected on a linux machine is WAY lower than on a windows machine.


So, while linux per se is not more secure than windows, the risk of getting malware onto your computer is way lower. This makes linux machines safer in daily usage.

Buddy mind it transaction fees don't require for wallet safety. To make secure our assets and private keys we need the best-secured wallet. There are so many wallets in the market but I would like to suggest buying a hardware wallet this is the best-secured wallet in the crypto world.

Mainly because the storage solution is off the net which means that the only time it is online is when you connect it to a computer with the internet. This means that you will be less vulnerable to hacks and malwares when it stays disconnected to your computer. This is ideal for people who are looking for mainly storing cryptocurrencies as investment and not using their cryptos as a form of payment.

Hardware wallets and offline wallets like paper wallets are typically secured.  But you also need to take personal responsibility to safeguard your wallets. 

how can i take personal responsibilty ?? how can i secure my wallet ???

That is generally a matter of exercising "crypto common sense":

- If you have a hardware wallet... write the seed mnemonic (12/24 words) down on paper and store it safely and securely OFFLINE... consider fireproof safe etc (or use something like cryptosteel (https://cryptosteel.com/) to protect it from water/fire).
- NEVER put your Hardware Wallet seed mnemonic into any computer or other wallet unless you are attempting a wallet recovery after hardware device has been lost/stolen/destroyed etc.
- NEVER give private keys or seed mnemonics to ANYONE... EVER.
- If you have paper wallet, consider using special paper/ink to protect from fading, water damage... and again, fireproof safe to protect.
- Make sure any paper wallets are generated "properly", that is to say "securely"... on offline computer using proper "random number generators" (dice method or proven offline paper wallet generator etc).
- Learn to use paper wallets properly... practice with small amounts until you are comfortable with creating and spending them. (ie. how to deal with "change", and sweeping/importing them into other wallets etc)
- If using desktop wallets, ensure computer is used properly (avoid dodgy websites, don't download pirated software/porn etc, use antivirus/antimalware, don't install random software etc)...
- Don't use web wallets/exchanges for "long term storage"... remember, no control/access of private keys... no control of coins.

yeah i agree with you, there are many wallets for securing coins but i recommended guys use hardware wallets they are very secure for sure.

well it's very good information...!! very helpfull

The wallet is basically useless to me. Unless I want to transfer money or buy items in cryptocurrency, I think it would be safer to deposit money into the exchange. Large exchanges are very safe, so the use of wallets is only for whales. Ordinary investors have little demand for wallets.

You mean.. what crytocurrencies (especially bitcoin) initially were made for (before all the money-grab scams existed) ?




You are wrong.

Trusting 3rd parties to secure your coins is the WORST you can do security-wise.




Wrong again.

Even large exchanges have vulnerabilities (already proven extremely often).

If you want to trust a 3rd party your coins (which can do whatever they want with it) AND want to pass on the security of your coins, go for storing them on an exchange.

For everyone else (who wants to have his/her coins secured AND wants to keep full control over the coins), real wallets are the only way to go.

Not really. Exchanges are safe until they are not: MtGox, BitFloor, Polinex, Bitstamp, Bitfinex, Coincheck, Bitgrail, Coinrail, Bithumb, Bancor, etc. All these has a hack at some point that caused important loses or even the exchange to close down. The truth is, if you do not control your private keys (in your own wallet), you do not have complete control over your assets.  

Of course one could argue that he is not good at keeping things safe, and trusts exchanges for this matter, and more often than not the exchange will be safe enough.. but not infallible.

In addition, some operational actions cannot be performed typically from your accounts on an exchange, such as participating in ICO. Also exchanges can at some point be intervened by law, placing your assets under scrutiny and being locked for the time being.

Thank you for your suggestion. I just think that the wallet is not convenient and it is more convenient to store the coins on the exchange.
I will try to use the wallet instead of the exchange address, thank you!

how can you stay without wallet in crypto world ?? i can't understand your words ??? :(

"The Wallet" -- ?

What wallet have you used that was so inconvenient? I'm guessing it was Bitcoin Core? If so why exactly? Long download times? If that's the case, maybe use an SPV such as Electrum. https://electrum.org/#home

I can't really think of a scenario nowadays where an exchange would be more convenient than a wallet such as Electrum.
You're simply missing so many features and are so dependant on the exchange in comparison. (RBF, height of fees, change adresses, et al)

how can we say that ''exchange would be more convient than a wallet such as electrum.

Prevention is better than cure
The basic rule of cryptocurrency is to transfer trust from platforms to you, you are the guarantor of coins and not the accounts on those platforms.
Therefore, you should move your coins from these platforms as soon as possible and use an open-source/trusted wallets.
All you have to do is protect your computer and use hardware wallets.

"Bro... do you even Crypto?" ::)

"Likes crypto because he doesn't have to trust banks and traditional financial institutions with his money... gives all his money to completely unknown/mostly anonymous crypto exchanges who operate with pretty much zero regulatory oversight" ::)

Remember, the catchphrase for cryptocurrency? "Be your own bank"... you can't do that if someone else has control of all your coins! :P

what are the benefits of electrum wallet and blockchain wallet ??

About the only benefit that blockchain.com wallet has... is that it is "easy" and requires very little thought or responsibility. ::) Personally, I would not recommend it. They've had a history of being very buggy. They have an "in wallet" coin exchange... albeit at very poor rates.

Electrum is a lightweight, "SPV" (Simple Payment Verification) wallet... as such, it is quick... doesn't require downloading the entire blockchain, so on disk storage requirements are very low. It offers a 12 word seed mnemonic based backup system (NOT BIP39 compatiable, but similar... it can restore a BIP39 compatible seed)... it has an active dev team that are always seeking to improve the app... it supports some of the more popular hardware wallets like Ledger and Trezor... it offers MultiSig functionality... it can be used in an offline/online (aka "airgapped") cold storage setup... it's multi platform (Windows, Linux, OSX and Android)... it supports pretty much every wallet address type... Legacy, P2SH SegWit and Native SegWit (bech32)... it offers a lot of flexibility and customisation of transaction fees, "coin control" features etc.

On the downside, you potentially give up some privacy as you have to connect to Electrum servers to request transaction info... also, the non BIP39 compatible backup could be problematic if you decide you want to use another app... AFAIK, no other wallets are compatible with Electrum seeds.

If you want my recommendation... Electrum.

both systems can be hacked if you use them unwisely. If you click on a spam link or install a javascript in your browser, it doesnt matter if you have linux or windows or osx (mac). Historically Mac's has been the most secure operating systems but to be true secure use a cold storage wallet like Nano Ledger or create a paper wallet.

Cryptocurrency is like real money, if you loose it, its very hard to claim it back.

if we unfortunately clicked on a spam link , what will happens ???

Several things can theoretically happen

1) A keylogger can be installed and read all your keypresses
2) A javascript can be launched, which might steal your login credentials
3) A malicious software can be ran in background and wait for you to send cryptocurrency, it will try to change the receiver address
4) You can initiate a ransomware virus which will encrypt your drive and extort money from you

SO, just dont click on any link you have no idea where its from (even on telegram)

/KX

well , thanks for the information..

if we clicked a link in any one social media , is there will be any chances to hack our wallet ??

Depends on your wallet.

Hardware wallet: No.
Software wallet: Yes.
Web wallet: Yes.


Clicking on unknown links can be quite dangerous. Especially if you don't run the latest version of your browser/OS/AV etc..

The most dangerous thing which can happen is that visiting the site initiates a drive-by-download. This will compromise your system.
And if your system is compromised, any software running on it is compromised.

The only way a wallet would not be compromised is either (1) its a hardware wallet or (2) your wallet file is encrypted (e.g. electrum/core password) AND you don't open the wallet while your PC is compromised.

The probability of your web wallet being compromised is very high by visiting a malicious website.

If you click on a clipboard virus or scam code, it will change your destination address when you send funds. So it doesnt matter if you send from a hardware/software wallet, you still will need to enter a destination address which the code can change.

the worst clipboard hijacker controls over 2 million addys.

You can read more here:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/clipboard-hijacker-malware-monitors-23-million-bitcoin-addresses/

/KX

I agree with you. hardware wallets are small computers or smartcards built with the sole purpose of generating bitcoin private keys offline. Hardware wallet securely signs transactions in the same offline environment. However, There are three main brands that are very popular among crypto owners. These are Ledger, Trezor, Keep key.

Well, in fact, this is a very important question for all crypto users. First of all bro transaction fees doesn't require for wallet security second of all there is the various type of wallets in the market but I would love to suggest you hardware wallet this is wonderful to provide the best security so collect this for higher security.

I also recommend hardware wallet, if you have some money and need to protect it then a hardware wallet will be best choice in my opinion. I have one ledger nano s and i not have any problem in 10 months after i start using it.

any transaction fee in hardware wallet ??

Everytime you send a transaction you have to pay transaction fees. It doesn't matter if it's a hardware, web or desktop wallet. If it's moving from an address to another, there will be fees.

Transaction fees are always accountable if you do send crypto currency.

Some wallets have a predefinied cost, some ask you the speed in which you want the receiver to have their funds.

You can also see current satoshi costs and mempool size here:
https://bitcoinfees.earn.com/

/KX

For your kind attention transaction fees doesn't depend on wallets. There are so many wallets in the crypto market the most secured wallet so far I know that is none other than hardware wallet. For the best security, you can buy Ledger nano s or trezor both is good but a little bit costly.

thanks for your information and well suggestions.......

Hi there! I'm using Coinomi multi-wallet for years now, great & secure solution to store crypto. BTC

if we ignore our precautions that "i have a secured wallet" then we can lose our coins too we must be careful with secured wallets also