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Title: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: btcton on June 01, 2014, 04:37:21 PM So, I am kind of at a loss of what cold storage method to use. I've noticed each one has its own pros and cons. For example, a paper wallet requires no memorizing and works completely offline, but if somebody finds it or if you lose it, you're screwed. With brain wallets, if you forget it, you're screwed. USBs and SD cards are essentially the same as paper wallets except electronic. I would like to know what are some good cold storage methods people have come up with and why they work better than other alternatives.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: jimhsu on June 01, 2014, 04:44:44 PM Two-factor (BIP38) paper wallets. Simple(ish) passphrase.
The point is that we're pretty good at physical security (because it's what we had for thousands of years), and the likely attack vectors to nab your paper wallet and your passphrase are most likely very different. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Baitty on June 01, 2014, 04:45:15 PM Paper wallets. The best god dam cold storage there is.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Mitchell on June 01, 2014, 04:47:47 PM I use my Wallet Card (from Bit-Card (http://www.bit-card.de/)) as my Cold Storage Wallet.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Newar on June 01, 2014, 04:53:01 PM Paper wallets can be password protected. As mentioned BIP38.
They also can be cut in parts and stored in different locations. Or generate a split wallet (bitaddress,org) to begin with. Also, paper wallets don't need to be printed, they can be stored as PDFs. You also can store your keys on several USB media and store in several locations. Plenty of options. The "best" solution depends on your situation and circumstances. Think outside the box, but also think about how your family would get access to your coins in case you get hit by a bus. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: aeternum.in on June 01, 2014, 05:03:26 PM Paper wallets can be password protected. As mentioned BIP38. They also can be cut in parts and stored in different locations. Or generate a split wallet (bitaddress,org) to begin with. Also, paper wallets don't need to be printed, they can be stored as PDFs. You also can store your keys on several USB media and store in several locations. Plenty of options. The "best" solution depends on your situation and circumstances. Think outside the box, but also think about how your family would get access to your coins in case you get hit by a bus. With that in mind, I've been designing this: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=566626.msg6173252#msg6173252 NFC enabled, secure, easy to recover your data from, and multi-sig (multiple devices) meaning you can plan for loss, destruction, theft, etc... We are on the 6th and hopefully final prototype. It's designed to work with Hardware wallets, Armory, etc... https://i.imgur.com/0Hz6QIn.jpg Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: jonald_fyookball on June 01, 2014, 05:26:25 PM Electrum. Simple and secure. Works for me.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Quibbler28 on June 01, 2014, 06:14:29 PM Does a online wallet count as cold storage??
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Unpopped on June 01, 2014, 06:22:21 PM I use good ol' blockchain.info
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: jonald_fyookball on June 01, 2014, 06:27:35 PM Does a online wallet count as cold storage?? No! Cold storage means on a system that is not online. (Offline computer, brain wallet, or paper wallet). Blockchain.info definitely doesn't count. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: eid on June 01, 2014, 06:33:24 PM I use good ol' blockchain.info Hmm... I'm not sure that qualifies.. I use Armory offline. Just wish I had the BTC to make the hassle worthwhile. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: odolvlobo on June 01, 2014, 06:35:29 PM Your poll is broken. There is no such thing as "Online Wallet (Electrum, Armory...)" cold storage because storage is "cold" when it is offline, by definition.
I guess you could consider using hosted cold storage as cold storage, but I don't like it because it is held by someone else. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Meuh6879 on June 01, 2014, 06:37:41 PM 1) 1x usb key
2) 1x usb key 3) email backup 4) usb hard drive 5) phone backup ::) a life of economy ... Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: zimmah on June 01, 2014, 09:47:26 PM offline wallet (armory)
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: DolanDuck on June 01, 2014, 10:00:53 PM Paper wallet secured in a safe place + offline wallets stored in usb flashcards and external hard disks
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Light on June 02, 2014, 12:48:38 AM Separate air gapped computer running Electrum so that I can sign txs offline and simply watch my address on my online computer. Have a couple of BIP38 encrypted versions of those addresses stored on paper wallets in various locations should anything happen to my computer.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Ron~Popeil on June 02, 2014, 12:53:42 AM Multiple SD cards. One in each of three states I frequent.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: beetcoin on June 02, 2014, 01:25:22 AM i use cold storage/electrum, though i could just delete it since i remember my code.. should probably delete some one of my two copies.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Beliathon on June 02, 2014, 03:12:39 AM I don't like it because it is held by someone else. You are right not to like it. If you are not the sole holder of your private key, you don't own any bitcoin.Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: aeternum.in on June 02, 2014, 07:51:52 AM Multiple SD cards. One in each of three states I frequent. The problem with this though, which I'm trying to solve is that you can't tell if someone has accessed your SD cards without your knowledge. Sure they could be well hidden, but then if you need to get your BTC in the event of some accident, where you're in a coma it's going to be hard to communicate to someone else where they are. Maybe this isn't your situation, but I was storing mine on USB sticks till I got paranoid over the idea that I can't really tell if a bank employe has been in my vault or if someone has popped the USB stick into their computer to make a copy and then slowly pulled a long con on me to gradually figure out what the decryption code might be. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: bryant.coleman on June 02, 2014, 08:17:53 AM Right now I am using USB offline storage. I am seriously considering shifting to paper wallet. But the problem is that I don't have a printer. So I will have to depend upon third party, which increases the risk. >:(
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Light on June 02, 2014, 10:02:51 AM Right now I am using USB offline storage. I am seriously considering shifting to paper wallet. But the problem is that I don't have a printer. So I will have to depend upon third party, which increases the risk. >:( I would advise against that unless those paper wallets are BIP38 encrypted that you do not give them to someone else to print out. Unless it's your family/most trusted friend that your willing to trust your money with I would just be content with a USB stored version. If you have a pen and paper you could also just write it down the old fashioned way - sure it doesn't look so fancy but it really comes to the same thing. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: johnyj on June 02, 2014, 10:33:09 AM My current solution is electrum offline wallet installed on an Aegis secure key (Ubuntu as OS), so it is both physically and password protected and can do offline transactions when using the usb key to boot any computer with the network unplugged
And I'm researching the most fundamentally secure way: Generate a private key using dice. This can ensure the security for most critical step - key generation. If you generate a key using a program, it is very difficult to examine the process to make sure it is back-door free (For example that program only generate 1 million different addresses, or generate same address due to a weakness in some of the library it calls.) The problem with a dice-generated hex private key is that you need to convert it to WIF format to be imported into wallet, and that involves some kind of calculation which is not straightforward and can not be done by a simple bash script without calling other external functions like SHA256 hashing http://www.swansontec.com/bitcoin-dice.html Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Parazyd on June 02, 2014, 10:35:52 AM Paper wallets. The private keys are encrypted with a simple passphrase too :)
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: bryant.coleman on June 02, 2014, 10:43:34 AM I would advise against that unless those paper wallets are BIP38 encrypted that you do not give them to someone else to print out. Unless it's your family/most trusted friend that your willing to trust your money with I would just be content with a USB stored version. If you have a pen and paper you could also just write it down the old fashioned way - sure it doesn't look so fancy but it really comes to the same thing. Well... thought about it for a bit... and I have decided to hold on to my USB wallets. Everything is fine as of now, and I don't want to change the equilibrium. So, for now, it is going to be 100% USB wallets for me. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: ranochigo on June 02, 2014, 02:41:20 PM 7 paper wallets, encrypted in a 14 Alphanumeric password stored inside a safe at 7 different locations.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: jonald_fyookball on June 02, 2014, 03:24:19 PM 7 paper wallets, encrypted in a 14 Alphanumeric password stored inside a safe at 7 different locations. You told me you didn't have any bitcoins. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: jonald_fyookball on June 02, 2014, 03:26:15 PM The problem with a dice-generated hex private key is that you need to convert it to WIF format to be imported into wallet, and that involves some kind of calculation which is not straightforward and can not be done by a simple bash script without calling other external functions like SHA256. So you call an external function. Why is that a problem? Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: keithers on June 02, 2014, 04:13:39 PM Blockchain.info and Coinbase.com don't really qualify as cold storage options, no?
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: cryobit.co on June 02, 2014, 04:46:54 PM https://i.imgur.com/enP4jbnl.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/MP15o2Al.jpg
Fire-proof, Flood-proof, Scratch-proof, BIP0038 protected stainless steel cold storage wallets from CryoBit. Generate new on our site (through bitaddress.org) or supply your own encrypted key/public address pair. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=610540.0 https://www.cryobit.co Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: zetaray on June 02, 2014, 04:54:03 PM I do not need a cold storage address yet. I do not own enough to worry about that. If I do, I think I will use electrum. I like the predetermined addresses and the ease of recovery.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: johnyj on June 03, 2014, 10:50:52 AM The problem with a dice-generated hex private key is that you need to convert it to WIF format to be imported into wallet, and that involves some kind of calculation which is not straightforward and can not be done by a simple bash script without calling other external functions like SHA256. So you call an external function. Why is that a problem? An external function might be planted with some back door, so that the WIF format key generated only have limited numbers, like millions of keys maximum, so even if you don't generate the same key twice, the hacker can easily scan those millions of keys and see if someone has put bitcoins in them Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: patricktim on June 03, 2014, 10:56:34 AM I use a USB key with a fresh Linux install + electrum, used online only to setup.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: bryant.coleman on June 03, 2014, 11:51:32 AM You told me you didn't have any bitcoins. Lol.. that is the best thing to do here. Once I posted here that I was having some 4-5 coins with me. My inbox was flooded with emails from beggers very soon. So better keep silent about your stash. ;D Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: jonald_fyookball on June 03, 2014, 12:31:52 PM The problem with a dice-generated hex private key is that you need to convert it to WIF format to be imported into wallet, and that involves some kind of calculation which is not straightforward and can not be done by a simple bash script without calling other external functions like SHA256. So you call an external function. Why is that a problem? An external function might be planted with some back door, so that the WIF format key generated only have limited numbers, like millions of keys maximum, so even if you don't generate the same key twice, the hacker can easily scan those millions of keys and see if someone has put bitcoins in them It's not that easy to hide a backdoor in something as a simple as a cryptographic hash function script. There are already public implementations of this and should be peer reviewed. But more importantly, you can easily verify it using a few random inputs and compare against a separate implementation! If the code looks normal and verifies successfully the hash outputs against other SHA-256 implementations, then it would be extremely unlikely a backdoor would be possible. If you are familiar with the avalanche effect where changing one character in the input changes the entire output completely, the same thing would happen if you tried to manipulate the output so your verification tests would fail. That's the beauty of the hash function. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: johnyj on June 03, 2014, 02:57:22 PM The problem with a dice-generated hex private key is that you need to convert it to WIF format to be imported into wallet, and that involves some kind of calculation which is not straightforward and can not be done by a simple bash script without calling other external functions like SHA256. So you call an external function. Why is that a problem? An external function might be planted with some back door, so that the WIF format key generated only have limited numbers, like millions of keys maximum, so even if you don't generate the same key twice, the hacker can easily scan those millions of keys and see if someone has put bitcoins in them It's not that easy to hide a backdoor in something as a simple as a cryptographic hash function script. There are already public implementations of this and should be peer reviewed. But more importantly, you can easily verify it using a few random inputs and compare against a separate implementation! If the code looks normal and verifies successfully the hash outputs against other SHA-256 implementations, then it would be extremely unlikely a backdoor would be possible. If you are familiar with the avalanche effect where changing one character in the input changes the entire output completely, the same thing would happen if you tried to manipulate the output so your verification tests would fail. That's the beauty of the hash function. Thanks, that is a very good point! If I can verify it gives a correct output for a defined input like other conversion tools, I can even rely on an offline webpage to do the conversion Adding this verification step will complete the whole process: Dice generate the key and script convert to WIF format, then import into any wallet to get address to send coin to Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Parazyd on June 03, 2014, 03:01:07 PM Ordered a few crypto-cards yesterday. They seem cool!
http://crypto-cards.com/ Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: El Cabron on June 03, 2014, 03:01:44 PM i gave mine to satoshi, if he cant be trusted, who can?
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Parazyd on June 03, 2014, 03:03:37 PM i gave mine to satoshi, if he cant be trusted, who can? I can be trusted. Or maybe pirate ;D Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Clegg on June 03, 2014, 04:22:49 PM I like to keep mine backed up to a few USBs. I dont really trust paper wallets.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Parazyd on June 03, 2014, 04:23:59 PM I like to keep mine backed up to a few USBs. I dont really trust paper wallets. Why? A USB drive will break down far faster than a piece of paper. EDIT: If you have backups, then don't mind this :D Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: thecoindoctor on June 03, 2014, 06:37:25 PM definitely paper wallets
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: btcton on June 05, 2014, 02:03:09 AM Doesn't saving a paper wallet in a computer defeat its purpose, though?
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Musent on June 05, 2014, 02:09:29 AM Paper wallets are the only way to go.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: jonald_fyookball on June 05, 2014, 03:09:59 AM Paper wallets are the only way to go. But where do you keep it? Your house could burn down and get robbed. And of it's at the bank you are trusting bank personnel and authorities. It's not like safe deposit boxes have never been drilled. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Sydboy on June 05, 2014, 03:12:42 AM drilling safe deposit boxs ?
I think I saw that in a movie last week. Any solution you can say what about this, what about that. just spend them if you are so clever :) Paper wallets are the only way to go. But where do you keep it? Your house could burn down and get robbed. And of it's at the bank you are trusting bank personnel and authorities. It's not like safe deposit boxes have never been drilled. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: jonald_fyookball on June 05, 2014, 03:25:26 AM drilling safe deposit boxs ? I think I saw that in a movie last week. Any solution you can say what about this, what about that. just spend them if you are so clever :) Paper wallets are the only way to go. But where do you keep it? Your house could burn down and get robbed. And of it's at the bank you are trusting bank personnel and authorities. It's not like safe deposit boxes have never been drilled. You're right: there is no perfect system...they all have trade offs. But i felt the need to say something because poster said Paper wallet is "only" way to go. Anyway there's other issues with paper wallet in safe deposit box. bank could Get robbed, have a fire...plus you couldn't access your coins if you are travelling, etc. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Parazyd on June 05, 2014, 06:08:00 AM Paper wallets are the only way to go. But where do you keep it? Your house could burn down and get robbed. And of it's at the bank you are trusting bank personnel and authorities. It's not like safe deposit boxes have never been drilled. If you're that paranoid, why not just encrypt the private keys on the paper wallets? A passphrase you have in your head. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Ron~Popeil on June 05, 2014, 06:43:58 AM drilling safe deposit boxs ? I think I saw that in a movie last week. Any solution you can say what about this, what about that. just spend them if you are so clever :) Paper wallets are the only way to go. But where do you keep it? Your house could burn down and get robbed. And of it's at the bank you are trusting bank personnel and authorities. It's not like safe deposit boxes have never been drilled. You're right: there is no perfect system...they all have trade offs. But i felt the need to say something because poster said Paper wallet is "only" way to go. Anyway there's other issues with paper wallet in safe deposit box. bank could Get robbed, have a fire...plus you couldn't access your coins if you are travelling, etc. I keep my SD cards in strategic places that I travel to frequently. Multiple copies of any cold wallet helps. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Musent on June 05, 2014, 12:35:01 PM Paper wallets are the only way to go. But where do you keep it? Your house could burn down and get robbed. And of it's at the bank you are trusting bank personnel and authorities. It's not like safe deposit boxes have never been drilled. Anything can be done to any of the cold storage. There is no 'perfect' system, just great systems. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Parazyd on June 05, 2014, 12:36:19 PM Paper wallets are the only way to go. But where do you keep it? Your house could burn down and get robbed. And of it's at the bank you are trusting bank personnel and authorities. It's not like safe deposit boxes have never been drilled. Anything can be done to any of the cold storage. There is no 'perfect' system, just great systems. Chances of someone hacking a BIP38 key are minimal. So, pretty much perfect :P Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: jonald_fyookball on June 05, 2014, 12:37:12 PM Paper wallets are the only way to go. But where do you keep it? Your house could burn down and get robbed. And of it's at the bank you are trusting bank personnel and authorities. It's not like safe deposit boxes have never been drilled. Anything can be done to any of the cold storage. There is no 'perfect' system, just great systems. Chances of someone hacking a BIP38 key are minimal. So, pretty much perfect :P Still the limitation of proximity. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Parazyd on June 05, 2014, 12:38:00 PM Backups.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: ReserviorHunt on June 05, 2014, 12:42:41 PM Newbie question:
If I made copies of my wallet.dat, cut/paste into a usb, wrote the pass phrase on a piece of paper, and stored both the paper and usb in a safe box, would that be considered 'cold storage'? Also is using this method safe when wallet versions are updated in the future as I would merely be copy/pasting the wallet'dat and using the passphrase to open my wallet? How vulnerable electronically speaking is this, aside from physical vulneralbilities? Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Parazyd on June 05, 2014, 12:46:15 PM Newbie question: If I made copies of my wallet.dat, cut/paste into a usb, wrote the pass phrase on a piece of paper, and stored both the paper and usb in a safe box, would that be considered 'cold storage'? Also is using this method safe when wallet versions are updated in the future as I would merely be copy/pasting the wallet'dat and using the passphrase to open my wallet? How vulnerable electronically speaking is this, aside from physical vulneralbilities? It's ok. I'd store the compatible client for that wallet on the USB too, just jin case. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: ReserviorHunt on June 05, 2014, 12:58:44 PM Newbie question: If I made copies of my wallet.dat, cut/paste into a usb, wrote the pass phrase on a piece of paper, and stored both the paper and usb in a safe box, would that be considered 'cold storage'? Also is using this method safe when wallet versions are updated in the future as I would merely be copy/pasting the wallet'dat and using the passphrase to open my wallet? How vulnerable electronically speaking is this, aside from physical vulneralbilities? It's ok. I'd store the compatible client for that wallet on the USB too, just jin case. So it should be ok but keep a setup file for that wallet version on the usb just in case... If it is this simple in making a cold storage, I do not see the elaborate need for paper wallets and other methods. Copy/paste + text with password. Another question: when updating your wallet verison, you would simply back up your wallet dat by copy/pasting and erasing everything else, installing the new version, than copy/pasting your wallet dat, correct? Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Parazyd on June 05, 2014, 01:00:57 PM Newbie question: If I made copies of my wallet.dat, cut/paste into a usb, wrote the pass phrase on a piece of paper, and stored both the paper and usb in a safe box, would that be considered 'cold storage'? Also is using this method safe when wallet versions are updated in the future as I would merely be copy/pasting the wallet'dat and using the passphrase to open my wallet? How vulnerable electronically speaking is this, aside from physical vulneralbilities? It's ok. I'd store the compatible client for that wallet on the USB too, just jin case. So it should be ok but keep a setup file for that wallet version on the usb just in case... If it is this simple in making a cold storage, I do not see the elaborate need for paper wallets and other methods. Copy/paste + text with password. Another question: when updating your wallet verison, you would simply back up your wallet dat by copy/pasting and erasing everything else, installing the new version, than copy/pasting your wallet dat, correct? USB keys can die. Paper can't. And yes, correct. You can also import private keys into the new version. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: ReserviorHunt on June 05, 2014, 01:07:20 PM Newbie question: If I made copies of my wallet.dat, cut/paste into a usb, wrote the pass phrase on a piece of paper, and stored both the paper and usb in a safe box, would that be considered 'cold storage'? Also is using this method safe when wallet versions are updated in the future as I would merely be copy/pasting the wallet'dat and using the passphrase to open my wallet? How vulnerable electronically speaking is this, aside from physical vulneralbilities? It's ok. I'd store the compatible client for that wallet on the USB too, just jin case. So it should be ok but keep a setup file for that wallet version on the usb just in case... If it is this simple in making a cold storage, I do not see the elaborate need for paper wallets and other methods. Copy/paste + text with password. Another question: when updating your wallet verison, you would simply back up your wallet dat by copy/pasting and erasing everything else, installing the new version, than copy/pasting your wallet dat, correct? USB keys can die. Paper can't. And yes, correct. You can also import private keys into the new version. What do you mean usb keys can 'die'? as in, physically malfunction/decay or corrode/erode due to ppor conditons overtime? I do plan on basically drawing it out every 6 months or so and updating wallet version/replacing it with new usb drive. I dooappreciate you answers but english is not my first language. Thanks again. Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Parazyd on June 05, 2014, 01:42:10 PM Newbie question: If I made copies of my wallet.dat, cut/paste into a usb, wrote the pass phrase on a piece of paper, and stored both the paper and usb in a safe box, would that be considered 'cold storage'? Also is using this method safe when wallet versions are updated in the future as I would merely be copy/pasting the wallet'dat and using the passphrase to open my wallet? How vulnerable electronically speaking is this, aside from physical vulneralbilities? It's ok. I'd store the compatible client for that wallet on the USB too, just jin case. So it should be ok but keep a setup file for that wallet version on the usb just in case... If it is this simple in making a cold storage, I do not see the elaborate need for paper wallets and other methods. Copy/paste + text with password. Another question: when updating your wallet verison, you would simply back up your wallet dat by copy/pasting and erasing everything else, installing the new version, than copy/pasting your wallet dat, correct? USB keys can die. Paper can't. And yes, correct. You can also import private keys into the new version. What do you mean usb keys can 'die'? as in, physically malfunction/decay or corrode/erode due to ppor conditons overtime? I do plan on basically drawing it out every 6 months or so and updating wallet version/replacing it with new usb drive. I dooappreciate you answers but english is not my first language. Thanks again. Yeah, the fact that there is a possibility for them to malfunction, although it rarely happens, but still... Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: CryptoKilla on June 05, 2014, 01:58:30 PM My favorite is a paper wallet that is pass protected, then divided up in pieces and stored in several different safety deposit boxes spread across several different banks. It's even better if they are spread across the country you live in.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Meuh6879 on June 05, 2014, 02:04:38 PM method to store WALLET.DAT ...
1) save with bitcoin-core with menu (like usual) 2) make a 7-zip backup of this file 3) close bitcoin-core 4) make a 7-zip backup of the wallet.dat in the blockchain folder 5) copy the wallet.dat 6) make a whole 7-zip backup of all previous files 7) store in many USB key and Hard drive (magnetic !) and microSD card that ... it's a cold storage ! Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: 888 on June 05, 2014, 02:55:20 PM I like to keep mine backed up to a few USBs.
Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: Cred on June 05, 2014, 06:46:37 PM The risk of you forgetting a pass phrase, losing a piece paper or having a USB die is probably higher than you getting hacked.
Personally I'd go for an encrypted copy of a key on USBs or paper in at least two locations. If you have a significant amount then you need to think about the risk of you getting hit by a bus. For this a 5 part key where 3 out of the 5 will produce the main key could work well. Maybe keep 2 at home, 2 with your next of kin and one with a solicitor or bank manager? Title: Re: What kind of cold storage do you use? Post by: RUEHL on June 05, 2014, 07:03:05 PM Electrum portable & addresses generated from offline cached copy of bitaddress.org.
Both of the above are PGP encrypted then the files are encapsulated within an encrypted TrueCrypt volume. All of the above on a bootable Linux usb drive. I keep copies in at least 3 different locations. Like mentioned by earlier contributors, I don't trust paper wallets especially in a bank safe deposit box that can be seized. Or my house burns down. Yes I have a fire safe but water damage is also a big problem in case of a fire. Encrypted digital is so much easier. |
