Bitcoin Forum

 (just a curiosity)
Technology is always updated day by day.
Will it be possible to store crypto between pen drives and memory cards in the near future?

The thing is your cryptocurrency let me cut it down to Bitcoin is not stored on any device rather it is stored on blockchain, what the device holds is the seed phrase or private key that gives you access to the coins on the blockchain. If you have either of this things then you have ownership of the coins on their addresses

Now can the seedphrase or private key be stored on pen drives and memory cards, yes they can but it is mostly not advisable though. You can also store a wallet entire file on them

Just like @Zaguru12 mentioned, let me explain further. Your Bitcoins aren't actually stored in your wallet, but on the Blockchain. The wallet is simply a software or hardware tool that helps you manage your keys and connect to the Blockchain. It allows you to send or receive Bitcoin using your public key. When you check your wallet balance, you're seeing the total amount of Bitcoin assigned to the addresses linked to your private keys on the blockchain. So, owning a wallet means you have a tool to view and manage your Bitcoin holdings.

Regarding storing Bitcoin on flash drives or memory cards, as Zaguru12 also pointed out, you can only store your keys or wallet data files there. However, it's risky because these devices can get damaged, and if your keys are lost, they may be unrecoverable.

So for that we need to create blockchain supported pen drive or memory card first or need another more things ?

The real question you wanted to ask is not whether you can store bitcoin on a USB flash drive, but whether you can run a node from it. Don't forget that the blockchain is quite big and it will always get bigger. So, your first obstacle is storage. Compared to SSDs, USB flash drives have slower read and write speeds. It's going to become a nightmare to download, store, and verify blocks on a USB stick. I don't think pen drives could handle that load. The load will also increase the chances that the USB flash drive breaks or causes the data on it to become corrupted.

I would advice against it.

Bitcoin is data and that data can go on anything that it is run on at the time. As technology advances we can get chips that go on our finger tips, and yes, your blockchain data can go on it and you can access your keys using them. Drives and memory cards were always used as means of accessing the blockchain, but there are easier and safer ways to do that now.

You have the freedom to use your bitcoin as you like.

A pen drive or a flash drive has a limited storage. Just as Pmalek stated, if you're going to create a blockchain for supporting that pen drive you like to have, the storage that it has got won't be enough to store the entire thing there. So, probably you're confused about seed phrases, private keys or seeds being stored on them whether as a file or simply in a notepad. Soon, pendrives are going to be a thing in the past, we're now even seeing external hard drives only for back ups that are serving the same as flash drives. But I remember, if you go just want to run a bitcoin wallet on a pen drive then it's possible as long as the wallet is lite just like Electrum. I haven't done it though about the launcher of there being saved but sure you can save the installer on a pen drive or memory card as long as it has enough storage.

Since you mentioned Electrum, this software wallet has a portable version that you can put on a USB flash drive and run it from there or move it across various devices with that USB. But that's again different from what OP is asking about. Being an SPV client, Electrum doesn't require that you download the entire blockchain, which significantly shortens the sync times before you can use it.

USB flash drives generally don't have good lifetime unless they are industry graded, so I would not trust them as only backup option for storing bitcoin keys.

There is one interesting new drive Blaustahl USB, that is based on FRAM (Ferroelectric RAM) that could last up to 200 years, but it can only store 8kb of data, that means only text files.
It is expected that future firmware updates are going to include encryption for better security.

https://www.cnx-software.com/2024/05/15/blaustahl-usb-storage-device-8kb-fram-200-years-data-retention/
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/usb-flash-drives/this-usb-flash-drive-can-only-store-8kb-of-data-but-will-last-you-200-years

Price for Blaustahl USB is €29.95:
https://machdyne.com/product/blaustahl-storage-device/

You can install an operating system (Tails (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5485634)) including Electrum wallet on a pendrive.

I'm not sure why the OP isn't considering USB external hard drives for backup purposes, because HDDs have a much better lifespan than the flash that you can find in a USB pen drive.

I know it may sound overkill based on the storage size, but you can easily bring the price down by buying like a 128GB drive. Or maybe even 64GB drives. They seem to be available on Amazon when I checked it.

This will also fit a Tails installation easily as well.

But in terms of lifespan, M-Disc would be better option as it claims can last 1000 years with bigger storage. Although you need to encrypt the file manually and certain DVD writer which also support M-Disc writing.


You're overthinking. Have you seen OP's feedback or post history?

Probably true, unless they are made by some unknown manufacturer with cheap components.
However, if you want to leave something for your children or grandchildren I would still choose physical backup of seed words on stainless steel.
There is a good chance most drives will become obsolete in future, in same way like VHS and CD drives are now.

I never in my life saw M-disc and you would probably have hard time finding and playing it in future, but yeah they will survive longer, unless someone scratches them :P

Aside from scratch, finding device to read/play it shouldn't be hard since you could use any DVD/BD reader. I expect few company will continue to make DVD/BD reader in the future.

Probably the price. He is trying to find the cheapest possible solution. The problem is that if you want to save money on cheap hardware, you'll pay for it elsewhere.

CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays will suffer the same fate as cassette tapes. They will become obsolete. Modern laptops are already sold without such optical media. So, in the future, you'll have to buy a separate device just to run the discs. Compared to that, USB ports are much more represented and used for all kinds of things (at least for now).

The memory is characterized by high write speed and extremely high write retention, capable of withstanding one million billion read/write cycles. It seems to me that with a full flash drive capacity of 8kb, ultra-high write speeds will not be needed at all. :) And also, you won’t rewrite the seed phrase one million billion times (x10²¹). :)

Blaustahl USB really looks very interesting for storing seed phrases, considering that the device has a built-in text editor, accessible via PuTTY и Tera Term, the memory capacity is enough for this, and the device has a long resource for reliability and durability.

I am confused by the stated service life of the device of 200 years. About CD also claimed that data on them could be stored for up to 60 years, but as practice has shown, after a couple of years the data became unreadable. Even if the creators of Blaustahl USB made a 10-fold mistake, the device’s service life will still be an impressive 20 years. By then, technology will surely advance and more advanced devices will appear.

Not the cheapest alternative to flash drives for ~€30, but the declared reliability is captivating (together with encryption).

3.5 "HDDs have low write / read speeds, which is reflected in their “slowness”. And also, HDDs are inferior in overall dimensions, in other words, it bulky compared to flash drives. And don’t forget about the HDD’s sensitivity to shaking (due to the small gap between the physical disk and the read head), not to mention shocks and falls.

You're right, although i don't think it'll be obsolete that soon when bluray is still somewhat popular.


Such claim is only true if you buy ones which meant for long-term storage and you handle it very properly. Although i recall many of my CD lasts longer than 2 years.

These mediums of storage still have their uses, of course, but they aren't as important as they once were. 10 or 15 years ago, people probably thought it would be impossible to have some cheap type of cloud storage. Now, you get 15GB for free on Google Drive with every account you create, and that's just one provider. We can have negative opinions about anything Google is doing, but it's still a fact. Internet speeds are getting faster and faster, making it easier to upload and download from clouds, and that's what most people prefer.

Nobody is making devices like that anymore, except maybe in North Korea, they are probably still making VHS players also.  :P
You can't find cd players on computers, laptops, in cars and I don't remember the last time I, or someone else I know, used a CD disc for anything.
In theory they can work in future, same as gramophones work to play music.

I wouldn't use it for that purpose until they add encryption, but users can do manual encryption if they want.
Not sure about their 200 year service life warranty but it sounds interesting.
Stainless steel will probably survive longer as a physical backup.

It's true almost all devices doesn't include DVD player. But there are some company make and sell external DVD reader. Amazon even claim one of the DVD reader sold over 1 thousand in past month.

https://i.ibb.co/Zmqxb59/c.png (https://ibb.co/fvjHTfJ)

In my opinion, I find it quite stupid to store a crypto wallet inside removable media. First of all, it can easily be lost. Second, it will be found by customs if you are traveling. Third, USB media is more brittle than a HDD hard disk and can be corrupted more easily, thereby making it more susceptible to failure and so on so forth.

I don't know why people like to portray cryptocurrency on a pen drive in movies. Or why rich people even bother to give USB sticks with bitcoin wallets in them when they could just broadcast a P2P transaction. It is not logical at all.

Blockchain doesn't  exist in the thin air. It's kind of database which must be stored somewhere, in RAMs, HDD, SSD, any media which allows to store digital data. My copy of blockchain which feeds my node is stored for instance on 1TB SSD by Samsung. (In fact my node support two copies, the second one ( as a backup) is on 2TB SSD.  ;)


Depends on the media and the way which protects it. You may find how I protect mine (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5494771.msg64012050#msg64012050).

The hardware wallet is designed for long-term security in balance, so we still have 100% control over our assets over our private keys.
The software wallet is good to use if you often make transactions or hide small cryptographic assets that you also have 100% control over.

While using flash drives, it is not designed to store cryptocurrency, and its cons are that it is also easily corrupted, and it is also easy to copy or lose our data.

I can also find a bunch of sellers on Amazon selling VCR and VHS players, but that doesn't mean it's good idea to use VHS tapes and expect them to keep your videos safe in future.
And with strong enough magnets you can easily destroy any information stored on CD, DVD and hard drives.

There are some exceptions, for example Sandisk ExtremePro that is super fast USB stick that is in fact SSD drive, and they also have microSD format.

Yes, that's true, but at any time Google and other cloud storage companies could change their mind and offer less GB space, but I think that's unlikely at least for now., I've used the drive a lot as a backup for encrypted data.

Physical backups in steel will always be better due to their durability and resistance against the elements of nature, but I'd not exclude digital backups from my list, as you can encrypt them and be easier to access physically, which we cannot. depending on is just one form of backup.
Tips for exporting encrypted backups from a standard BIP39 or Electrum wallet here. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5490701)

As for the OP, I found the question a bit vague, storing crypto on pen drives has always been possible, before BIP39 and to this day in some wallets such as bitcoin core, the form of backup is through keystore files encrypted with a password, this file contains the keys, descriptors to move the funds. There are thousands of ways to store this safely on digital media.

Now if the OP's question is to run full nodes on pen drives, although it has 2tb pen drives, it'd be more worthwhile to use an SSD, they are not as durable as an HDD, but they are more resistant than them as they do not have mechanical parts.

I also use Google Cloud Services to store some important files and encrypted data, with a 15GB limit on a normal or free account that is not enough for me,
because there are other files stored. Every month I always subscribe to get a larger capacity.

Using an M2 NVMe SSD may be the best solution, because it is faster and smaller physically.
But the price is indeed more expensive than ordinary SSDs.

This is my imagination, there is some kind of Flash drive that is powerful and resistant enough to record Bitcoin Core Node processing.

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/06/09/cERuG.jpeg
Images created by AI

Powerful large Flash drives like SanDisk 1TB Extreme PRO Aluminum exist, but ordinary SSDs are cheaper, faster and more durable.