Bitcoin Forum

Just want to ask which wallet is the safest to store my BTC on? :)

Any suggestions, please.

All of them are only as safe as you are essentially. It depends on what features you're looking for. Give us some more details of your requirements and we can tailor suggestions.

if you want a safe cold storage wallet that is easy and secure, consider electrum.. i found it to be the most user friendly. it can be kind of buggy though, at least the versions that i had.

Well I dont know if I really need any special requirements, I just want to store my BTC :)

Coldstoarge is always the safeest if you are talking about safest online wallet it would probably be blockchain.info wallet.

Then get any of the main ones: bitcoin qt, electrum, mycelium etc or even an online blockchain.info one. Just make sure you set up all the security features ie 2-factor auth and second password etc.

I would suggest paper wallets if you are not planning to transfer anything out in the immediate future its the safest option.

Mt gox

(Someone had to say it)

i have some coins on blockchain but i don't like putting my fate in someone else's hands.

i never really liked paper wallets either, since it's easy to lose and someone else can stumble upon it.

You're not. You're in control of your coins if you've got a back up. Even if the site died or went offline for whatever reasons you would still have your bitcoins.

I favor electrum.  And you can use it in cold storage mode.

It's been confirmed that paper wallets are the SAFEST way to store Bitcoin anything which connects to the web is a direct threat to viruses and other such things. paper wallets are not easily found it you know how to store them encrypt them so only you know.

Armory is probably the safest if you use the offline wallet

You want to store of you want to buy and perhaps you will want to send them to pay someone of for something?

If you want just to keep them safe - cold storage. You will find many tutorials around on how to make one.

If you want to operate with your coins more often you should choose the one that will make you feel good with using it.

In my opinion - if you want to download 20GB of a blockchain you should use  Bitcoin Core
If you don't want to keep blockchain data you can choose Electrum.

If you want to keep your coins on a mobile device which is a way I like to do (as I don't keep any savings there, just earn and spend) - I prefer Bitcoin Wallet (for Android).

Those wallets are very good in my opinion.

You can choose on-line wallet too - like blochchain.info - but remember that keeping money on an online service like online wallet or an exchange is not recommended because it isn't so safe.

Regards.

They can still withdraw from all of our accounts blockchain isn't the safest option far from it but its the most trusted out of the online bitcoin wallets. theres been a few accusations against bitcoin which never got sorted.

Depends how you make them. If you use a dodgy online generator or your comp is infected when you create them they're not that safe. Plus they can become easily smudged/damaged and therefore unreadable, and for that reason I prefer just to have a usb/cd-r back up of my wallet.dat files.


How can they withdraw them? Anyone who thinks they stole their coins was probably just sloppy on security their own side.

How can the owner of blockchain withdraw from our wallets? they send us backups of the wallets meaning they already have them stored in a database of some sort. they have root access to the site so they could change our email information or directly access our bitcoin and take it for themselves.

This isn't very good answer because MtGox was an online exchange and people are putting their money in risk if they keep their saving on any on-line service.

Isn't that right?

Your sarcasm detector appears to have malfunctioned.

They're encrypted browser side. They only have access to the encrypted wallets.

https://blockchain.info/wallet

I think any wallet on the pc is probably safe.
They are all protected with the sha algorithm.
So if you make a password it should be hard to crack any wallet at all right?
And the best option is to store your wallet on a offline pc so its not hackable at all.
But if you dont want to cold storage them you could try multibit, that's what im using for a while now and no problems at all.

only cold storage, best would be generate offline, encrypt by trucrypt (old version before 7.2) generated address inside multibit and stash it on couple devices

No, not any wallet is safe if you got a virus.
And if you use a weak password it will not be hard to crack.

You are right that the best option is offline pc (cold storage)

I feel any wallet is unsafe!
            Please take good care of your private key

If you are worried about hacking, use an offline wallet or paper wallet.
If you are worried about machine failure, make multiple backups to your wallet file.

For my completely offline SAVINGS ONLY paper wallet I went with the following (all done with no internet connection):

1. Used liveCD linux on USB with bitaddress.org code downloaded from GitHub to generate a private key and receiving address.
2. Saved PDF of paper wallet to two USB drives and printed two copies (then deleted cache of print spool).
3. Put one USB drive and paper wallet in safe at home, other in safety deposit box.
4. Use receiving address to deposit coin.
 

I know some would not like to have a complete paper wallet unencrypted in a bank vault, but this satisfies my concern for security while also allowing family to get at my coin if I get eaten by a bear.

Well I guess it's either Blockchain or Multibit in the end

Go to https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet (https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet) and check out, I use https://greenaddress.it/ (https://greenaddress.it/)

Your bitcoin will be gone, when you got a keylogger on your machine.
Such loss could be prevented with offline wallet (cold storage) :)

Is Multibit still a good option for a hot wallet?

I use it and have never had any problems.

For hot wallets, IMO, multibit is a good choice (thin client, easy to use) :)

I am working on getting together a list of all BIP32, BIP39 and BIP44 compliant deterministic wallets that are totally compatible with each other.

So far I have found the Trezor hardware "Bitcoin safe":

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=122438.0

and the android application called wallet32:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bonsai.wallet32

I have tested these two wallets and they are totally compatible with each other:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=122438.msg7183991#msg7183991

Next I tried the web based carbonwallet:

http://carbonwallet.com/app/app.html

But it appears to be out of date and does not accept the word list that was accepted by both Trezor and wallet32.  Does anyone know of any plans to update this wallet?

Does anyone work on or know of any other BIP32, BIP39 and BIP44 compliant deterministic wallets?

BTW I checked out this one:

https://www.btc-banker.com/

and it is a very obvious scam.  Analysis of their source code, which is a modified version of the carbonwallet code, shows that they POST the passphrase value back to themselves.  This gives them the ability to recreate the entire private key sequence which will allow them to "be hacked" at some future date and steal all the BTC from every one of their customers.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=610197.msg7151016#msg7151016

Looking for honest BIP32, BIP39 and BIP44 compliant deterministic wallets.

Lol. Those guys have so many spelling and grammar mistakes.  Amateur scam operation.

I`d recommend what the wallet is for... so storage wise I`d use desktop wallets.

For gambling and other micro transactions I would do light weight wallets: multibit, or electrum. (preference of choice)

Then lets say if you had won lots of bitcoin, going to store that in a cold wallet - like paperwallets.

Off line is the safest by far.   ;D

Jerry

Paper Wallet is the best bet in my opinion...

What I do is to leave a small amount in my wallet gui, and always to create several paperwallets to leave the most part of my BTC in cold storage: I divide the total balance to be kept in cold storage in several separate paperwallets, and whenever I want to spend some, I import only one of these paperwallets to my wallet gui, avoiding problems with change addresses ;)

If your wallet is offline, they are all quite safe. If your wallet is online, then your bitcoins could possibly be stolen. Electrum is a bit less private due to its unique system of nodes, but private keys are encrypted.

Electrum is not really less private and the servers never sees your keys.  You could argue the server operator could see your wallet balance but that's about it.

IMO the safest wallet would be Blockchain.info.

With that being said, in order for blockchian to be the best wallet, you must first understand how Bitcoin works and implement all of the security features that they offer.

The best way to store bitcoin for a newer/less tech savvy person would be coinbase. They are generally considered secure and offer security features that are easy to understand. Although having your coins hosted at a 3rd party is against the general concept of Bitcoin.

I use electrum for my main one cause it's small in size and portable and for a spending wallet i just use block chain.

Do you think I can make a safe cold storage using a virtual machine like VirtualBox inside an infected Windows OS?

Just spread the coins, you use daily, into 3 or more online wallet providers. That way you spread the risk, of losing all of them, in one hack.

Keep the coins, you plan on saving in paper wallets. {Laminate them, before you store them away}

Remember fish moth eat paper.  ;D

Lock it away in a safe, and some in a bank.

Chance is small, for you, to be robbed on all fronts.  

Offline wallets and paper wallets are the the safest wallet, as it is safe from all hacking and malware.
But be careful of forgetting bitcoin and throw away your HDD or paper.

Old news, but still worth reading if you haven't read it before. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-25134289

your safest bet is local client wallet on your pc, transfer everything there, then back it up on usb stick, and delete wallet from your pc.
place usb drive somewhere safe. no online wallet is 100% safe.
eventualy use some large exchange for trading, but dont have large amounts of money there.

cheers

Online wallets are not safe, no matter, what people say.

http://altcoinpress.com/2014/03/bitcoin-bank-flexcoin-closes-after-hacker-toys-with-weak-code/

Hmmmmm

sounds like a happy day for that hacker.

I don't recommend online wallets, some get hacked once in a while. I don't recommend mobile wallets either, simply because many of the mobile apps contain spyware.
There are these desktop wallets:

Bitcoin Core
Multibit
Hive OS X
Hive
Armory
Electrum

You could pick based on your operating system. Full list here: https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet (https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet)

You need to understand blockchain.info is not the offical blockchain. It's just another company. They are just as safe/unsafe as other online wallet services. I would recommend a paper wallet as the safest option.

I have been playing with my Trezor "Bitcoin Safe":

http://www.bitcointrezor.com/

and so far it looks like a very safe way to store your BTC.  I am adding more and more BTC to it as I get more comfortable with it.  I think they will be on sale to the general public in a few months (once all the preorders from the people who jump started the company are filled).

Obiously the safest is cold storage but I've been using blockchain.info as a hot wallet all this time and never had any problems.

I guess you can remove Mulitbit from your list:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=562181.0

It seems the thread you linked talks about Multibut. Did you mean Multibit instead?

Fixed.

Only pay with your hardware wallet, like this.  :D

http://imgur.com/r/Bitcoin/8uxiRNV

Just a pity, it's not fitting in my pocket.

set 2 factory st up . wil protect

Cold wallet, bitcoin armory is as safe as one could go.

this (http://woodwallets.io)  

Crosspost from  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=638832.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=638832.0)

You can also create cold storage accounts using the blockchain.info wallet, works great.

Those look pretty darn nice.  Thanks!  I had not seen those yet.  It is so hard to keep up with all things Bitcoin...

Definitely, I just ordered one myself. I should be receiving it any day now.

This is purely fancy in my opinion. Bitcoin addresses generated through blockchain.info and saved as paper wallet provide enough security.

I rather have a nice piece of wood than a piece of paper on my desk.

Why would u have a piece of wood on your desk ? That is insecured to protect your private key. Someone may get a glimpse of it through webcam, someone may just take it away. Have it on a paper and keep it in your wallet/shelf. At least it is hidden unlike being open on the desk.

#1 it's BIP38 Encrypted
#2 there's no difference between what's on my paper wallet and what's going to be on the wood.

Well, actually, the private key on the paper is probably not encrypted whereas the private key on the very nice piece of wood is encrypted by design - you would never want to give the person carving the wood your private key, right?  So, they only accept encrypted private keys.

Nice to see people discussing woodwallets ;)  There is no a single answer, paper is fine too.  Aluminium also is beautiful.
If you ever do paper wallets, please laminate them...

I'll tell you a secret : the reason why I started making woodwallets is because I lost coins (not much, but still) that were on a paper wallet. I was using it daily (bring around, pay at the bar, show it to people, use it for workshop) and the paper degraded to a point where the QR didn't scan.  I didn't had a backup copy of it (shame on me).

And that's how we got those fancy pieces of wood to the market :D

Really great to know your story... but this is the worst part of Bitcoin security...

I didn't had a backup copy of it

For my cold wallets, I try to have digital copies of the same print stored at different offline locations. Wood/Aluminium or whatever hard wallet u use is fine as a showpiece. But for real use, I believe, they are just fancy. For example, my pet has left his sign on almost all the wooden furnitures at home. I'm sure, if I get a wooden wallet, he'll make it his toy at my absense :D

The private keys on each paper wallet I create are encrypted (: I use this, https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org. It has the built in area where you can input a encryption passphrase. Which is also the same code I used to create my encrypted private keys for the wood wallet

SO, u need to remember a password to decrypt the wooden wallet ...is not it ?

Exactly, I consider it a 2FA of sorts. I have different decryption pass-phrases for each of my wallets. (Especially wallets for my escrow service)

Blockchain.info is great for beginners as you dont have to download the entire blockchain which is annoying at first.

131FGdZrboKxRr3q6z77fNnX2vEBbBj21i

If I had to use a Web Wallet that's the one I'd use. However, if you're going to use it make sure you backup your private keys somewhere in case their site goes "poof".

This is true for every single wallet of every type (including paper, wood, etc.),  BACKUPS!

I would not recommend blockchain for newbies. They would likely not understand the importance of strong passwords. As if you try to login three or four times to your yahoo account you will be forced to use captsha before you try again, slowing you down, and after enough attempts you will be locked out for x amount of time. With blockchain passwords you can try an unlimited number of times without limit and can try a password without a connection to the internet.

Multibit and/or coinbase are better options for newbies as they offer a better amount of security for someone with the above amount of knowledge   

Bitcoin QT, Electrum and Multi Bit are all quite secure. I would recommend any of them, depending on your needs. As always, the key to keeping your coins safe is cold storage.

you are the weakest link in using a wallet

You guys should get out of the browser for doing encryption stuff. A browser is weak and has several failure points.
 try bippy (http://bippy.org), offline, fast, python, multi-currency, open source, etc .


Install Kivy (http://kivy.org/#download) (required for the UI), clone and run from github :

Disconnect from the internet and make sure you are using a clean machine (better a Live DVD) and execute the tool

The problem with Coinbase is that you have no control of the private keys (and hence the bitcoin).
Of course you must be thinking that Coinbase is a huge company and you could trust it.
Well, mtgox was the biggest and most sucessful bitcoin exchange, once upon a time...

If someone is choosing CoinBase, ultimately he/she is getting himself into the banking shackle. So it is better for him to stick to FIAT. Bitcoin is not yet matured enough to meet him/her or he/she is not matured enough to meet bitcoin !!!

+1 You want control over your private keys, because they are used to transfer money. That is why a desktop wallet is much much better, you are in control of your bitcoins.

download virtualbox or vmware.
Install linux.
Install bitcoin-qt or any client.

do not download any email attachments that randomly say you have been given or won XX bitcoins.

??

profit

Cold storage / offline wallet which are the best to store but if you are saying online wallet every one use blockchain

They don store you private key and you can set a lot security on the wallet .

And one day you wake up with your empty wallet  :)
Don't use internet in the same pc/virtual machine in which you have the btc wallet if you want to be safer.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_set_up_a_secure_offline_savings_wallet

Offline Electrum is my favorite.

Not sure if here is the place to ask, but i am using multibit and i think it is safe enough .. Is there any disadvantages if using such wallet? It is password protected and easy to use, i never used different wallet before. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
BR
Gondel

Whatever you do, don't conflate 3rd party "wallets" like Coinbase with real bitcoin wallets. If you aren't the sole owner of those private keys -- you don't control the bitcoins.

There is some evidence that coinbase is financially sound.

Unless you fall from a phishing attack you will likely not have your coins stolen from coinbase.

Once a user gets more comfortable with the concept of bitcoin and how "bitcoin passwords" work then they might want to "upgrade" to a wallet where they control their keys.

You could think of holding your coins at coinbase as using bitcoin with training wheels.

Safest wallet is that wallet which not communicate with web, so offline wallet.

If you've much quantities of Bitcoin, use paper wallet, protect your bitcoin  ;D

Bitcoin-qt is the safest wallet but the biggest wallet.

As I know and was advised the paper wallet is the safest way to keep your coins. Althought I am using Multibit and for now i dont have big problems with it. I got some unconfirmed transactions with it, but nothing lost for now. Ensure yourself with very strong password!
BR
Gondel

I really like blocklchain.info. It seems to be the safest and easiest for newbs.

Yeah, no. To anyone reading this the primary source of lost coins in the past has been people who have stored them in online sites and services that have subsequently stolen them from users. While Blockchain seems to be a good idea with its released source you have no means of ensuring that the source is the same as that of what they implement or that no one has hijacked the site. Please look at cold storage if you want a safe solution.

There is nothing called "safest".

Any wallet can still be hacked or cracked, it depends on how vulnerable your mind is.

There is almost always a phishing site on google adwords pretending to be the blockchain.info website.

Still, some are more vulnerable than the others.
For example, blockchain.info is better than coinbase, as you don't need to worry about the site vanishing.
Similarly, offline wallets (created correctly) are better than online wallets, as you don't need to worry about keylogger and hacking.

i would recommend you Electrum or Multybit

Web wallets are only better then others in one specific person's eyes. They have different risks but they all have risks.

Offline wallet isn't 100% foolproof. Yes, they are more secure than any other method. But, if the device that generated the offline wallet have problems with the RNG like what happened to android last time, you can also be hacked. It may not happen but you still have to pay attention to the bitcoin news and move your bitcoin if your wallet had vulnerabilities.

Yes, and so I have emphasized the offline wallets need to be created correctly.

Regarding the safety, a paper wallet generated with internet connection would be completely different from a paper wallet generated without internet connection.

But how can you predict if the device have problem with RNG? Also, you aren't fully correct on your last statement. If there is a malware on the computer and you turn of the computer's internet connection only during your wallet creation time, the malware can easily store your private key and send when there is a internet connection.

If you don't have enough trust in PRNG, you can use TRNG.

An offline wallet should be created and maintained in a completely offline machine, and you should only use it to sign (but not push) your bitcoin transaction.

When you spend bitcoin on your paper wallet, you should create a new one (again correctly) instead of re-using it.
Not only because you have already imported the pirvate key in another machine, but also because your public key is known to the world.

I stick with Electrum. My favorite desktop wallet. I'm not sure about the implications of its node system, though, I'm still trying to figure it out.

BLOCKCHAIN!!!!

its the best and fastest btc wallet online !! :)

I think that Electrum is the best one.

The only downside I'm aware of is that you're not contributing to the network because you're not running a full node.

Never called the safest thing to develop a sense of safety is the most important. Use linux system and set a strong password is recommended.

You can still get infected by a malware which can collect your blockchain.info password, best is to use an offline cold storage.

They are all safe as long as you follow safety guidelines such as using 2factorauth on a phone and keeping it offline and using a strong encryption.

It is a good idea to have 2FA if you are using hosted wallets (eg. coinbase and bitstamp), but you won't be able to keep it offline nor make backups.

Still, there's still some risk, it is possible for the exchange to run away with your funds or get hacked. If that happens, you cannot get back your funds.

Run multibit on computer without WiFi and dont connect it to internet ever. Send your BTC from computer with internet to your offline computer. 100% safety

Electrum.

If you're moving around and need access to your wallets on your phones and tablets, I suggest using Blockchain!

yes but this mobile wallets are not so much safe

everybody "in the know" seems to keep telling me to run my own bitcoin-qt wallet if my system can handle it

I've only used the main bitcoin qt and electrum, as far as I know they are the safest though I'm no expert.

All popular wallets (Multibit, Bitcoin-QT, Electrum) are safe if you store your BTC in cold storage.

If you consider them as hot wallet, small amounts, then probably yes if you don't install any virus. If not, cold storage is the safest, generate it on a offline LINUX computer.

It is one way to do it but you can have a paper wallet and send money to it

now when coinbase is not so safe, i need to find better wallet..

which one would u guys recommend?

The best wallet I have found so far, for a variety of reasons, is the Trezor hardware wallet.  The "best" will cost you though - $120.

I suggest you to register at blockchain.info
you will get user name and password, i think it most safety wallet to store bitcoin
hopefully you will satisfied ...

Thanks for the info, but is Trezor hardware wallet trusted?

Anything couldn't be considered safe in this constantly growing technical era,while you are thinking of safety someone in the other corner is thinking of a way to exploit it.So rather be a beggar on your own mind rather to be a king on others.Seeing an example of BTC anything could stumble upon at any time.

It cannot be considered safe. Username and password authentication is probably one of those which can be easily exploited by attackers. Since it is a online service, anyone who have your username and password can steal your coins. Hackers can easily obtain your username and passwords by malware or keyloggers.

Yes, the hardware and firmware are open source.  They are doing everything in their power to be trusted and safe.  I trust them with a large chunk of my BTC.

I recommend Trezor for small amounts of Bitcoin.
Soon you can use the Seed at Electum, I cannot wait for the update.

Safest wallet? It has to be a paper wallet, an offline wallet or a hardware wallet (Trezor), as you won't lose your bitcoin for hacking at all.

coinbase is excellent brokerage. however, online wallets are inferior.

You need to learn the difference between a wallet and and account.

If you personally hold the private keys needed to spend the BTC then it is a wallet and you own the BTC.

If someone else holds the private keys then it is an account, you do not own the BTC, in fact you have lent your BTC to the person/entity that has the private keys.  They have given you an "IOU" in place of your BTC and you have to trust that when it comes time to spend the BTC they will honor the IOU and give your BTC back to you.

Now given these definitions is coinbase a wallet or an account?  I am not familiar with coinbase, have never used it and I am curious.

under your definition it is not a wallet. You don't have private keys.

Cool.  Back to the topic at hand then.

what's interesting though, is that coinbase calls itself a digital wallet.

Those lying bastards!  Well that is just my personal terminology to express the distinction.  I wish it was widely accepted but it is not.  However, it is the very first distinction I explain to any noob I meet.  It is actually very eye opening to some of them and gets them to thinking about the difference between having cash in their pocket and loaning their money to a bank.

Haha laughed my ass off at that first remark. Well technically it is a wallet, but they are in control of your keys and they never show them to you.  It's not an exchange either since you can't place orders for trading.  It would be closest to an online account with eTrade or CapitolOne where Coinbase is the custodian for your coins.

Having said that it is safeest for people who would be prone to forget their password since you could find other ways to prove your identity to Coinbase.  If you can commit a decent password to memory or are willing to use a paper wallet or hard wallet like Trezor that would be a better option.

Safest wallet is bitcoin-qt, just don't get keylogged and you would be fine.

Bitcoin QT for sure.

IMO, an Armory offline n-of-m wallet is the safest wallet.

Bitcoin QT can be safe enough for general use, but it's surely not the safest one

And Bitcoin QT requires to download the whole blockchain, so I'd rather use the Android wallet instead since it's just equally safe as Bitcoin QT

Thus far I have used blockchain.info and till now safe
If you want to be more secure again try offline wallet
I recommend trying Electrum, feels light on my pc

If you would like offline wallet but have ability to broadcast transactions online then check out my guide: http://www.btcguys.us/blog/how-to-create-offline-wallet-with-electrum-bitcoin-client-and-broadcast-transactions

the down side is as I heard: if someone knows one of your private key and your public master key then they can figure out your seed.
alternatively, you can import private key into Electrum and still use it as offline wallet  ;)

Also, I have a paper wallet tutorial: http://www.btcguys.us/blog/how-to-create-bitcoin-paper-wallet-tutorial
just make sure not to put all your eggs in one basket..

I guess safest wallet is not physical or electronic device, paper wallets or dozen of passwords. The one and oly thing you need to store your coins is simply common sense. If your are stupid safest wallet can't help you.

Nothing can be assured about the wallet you are using. At any time Blockchain CAN scam everyone and take millions of bitcoins. Nobody knows.

Coinbase can do the same. It's also about hackers. If the best hacker in the world were hired to steal your bitcoins, which wallet would be the best and most safely stored?

Blockchain.com is the safest, unless you know how to secure your own wallet well..

A paper wallet is the safest. But I suggest you do some reading on the net (bitcoin.org), youtube is also great to get info.
Getting into Bitcoin is a process, it takes time and enery.

PaperWallet tutorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0EztixGwBk

Two words: cold storage.

Bitcoin Core

bc.i wallet may be the easiest to use wallet, but definitely not the safest one.
Offline wallet, paper wallet and Trezor are much better in terms of safety.

Also, it is indeed not that hard to learn how to keep your bitcoin safe. :)

the safest "wallet" is the one between the keyboard and the chair

What kind of wallet you want to use? Do you want to use online wallet or offline wallet. I think offline wallet is more secure than online wallet. So it would be better to use an offline wallet.