Bitcoin Forum

Hi! New to Bitcoin---I am just wondering is Bit Coin safe?? I have seen many things about bitcoin.

Brigitte Grisanti

I answer with this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZloHVKk7DHk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZloHVKk7DHk)

Bitcoin is a safe yes.

Bitcoin is as safe as you make it.
Use a reputable wallet, Multibit, Electrum, coinbase or blockchain.info will be good enough for you to start.

bitcoin is safe
better then payment system like paypal, payza or libertyreserve(hope you remember this)
not a prob like your wallet will banned that we face mostly with other online payment system

Bitcoin is safe, but not user-friendly as apple store. You just need to learn how to use it properly, and your money will be safe like never before.

Bitcoin is safe if you lock it in a safe.

As soon as you amass any amount you're not willing to lose, create these and lock them up!

https://bitcoinpaperwallet.com/

Yes Bitcoin is safe. It's your computer/network that isn't because most users are way to ignorant and have 0 knowledge.
My wallet has been on my laptop for years now and nothing has happened, everything is still there.  :)

+1 or any of the other myriad cold storage options

Brainwallet is my preference, but its not for everyone.

Well, BTC are relatively safe. Trezor I think is a best for BTC wallet  ;D

Is anything "Safe" these days?

Millions of customers info hacked from Target & Home Depot.

Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoins "lost" or stolen from mt gox.

Id say its RELATIVELY safe, but still wouldnt put all my eggs in one basket if you know what I mean!

putting your funds into other people baskets, such as banks, exchanges and online services is not 100% safe, bitcoins main concept is that you are the bank, so use a reputable proper bitcoin program on your computer (not an online service).

online services are only really good for quick spending of small daily amounts. so dont throw everything into an online service (yes its worth me repeating twice)

if you wish to be hyper critical about safe storage then learn how to back up the private keys on paper wallets so the keys are not even on your computer. then you will be sure you cant lose funds due to computer issues

Yes I know how to do that.  Not everyone does it though, and bitcoins are lost/stolen frequently when stored improperly (online).

Basically, its as safe as you want it to be.

Bitcoin is as safe as I am Brigitte. By the way, can I interest you in some free candy?

My first post was on this topic.

I believe that Bitcoin is reasonably secure, but your computer is not. If your want to keep a substantial portion of your savings in Bitcoin (risky for a variety of reasons), I advise you to use "cold storage."

"Cold storage" means that the private keys for your wallet are generated, handled and stored in such a way that they remain isolated from Internet-connected machines. Because there is no "password recovery" such keys need to be stored in more than one physical location as well.

A relatively recent development, multi signature transactions (with m of n keys), can help with securely storing keys in multiple locations. They should also be useful for business or institutional use where the key holders have a healthy amount of mutual distrust. Distrust includes the possibility that at least one key-holder has a compromised machine.

Where do you put your USD? Is it safe? Dunno.

Is it safe?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP-Nlb549J8

not perfect safe.

thanks.

very safe ;D

Bitcoin is safe as long as you know how to protect your computer from malwares, viruses and use 2FA on every site you are dealing with bitcoins. Otherwise it's as risky as your bank account can be.

Its safe if you know how to secure your wallet..

For you sir, what is the best way to secure one's wallet?

OMG Brigitte, you should never use your real name on the internet (just in case you are).

Bitcoin is safe IMO, but it may fall in price, just like a stock.  I think it will.

Generate a offline key from a linux computer that have not touch the internet. If you don't have one, take a old computer, wipe it and get a USB drive with ubuntu and boot from it. You can create a paper wallet using this tool (https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org). Just get the whole zip file and go to your ubuntu computer and generate the private key from there by opening the html file.

I think that is included in the top 5 rules in the internet.

No matter how you try to present it, Bitcoin is still relatively safe. Because the security concern comes into play when you make a misjudgment.

bitcoin is safe as long as your private keys are safe.  That is the weak point in the system that needs to be perfected.  Make sure you have a paper backup wallet with your private keys.   With that said use one of the more reputable online wallets such as coinbase, blockchain, etc and you should be fine, just make sure your using a computer with Norton and Mcafee (or similar software) and be careful what you download(good advise even without bicoin)

With hardware wallet Bitcoin can be safe for anybody, I dont believe antivirus really helps much when the normal user downloads and installs all the shit from internet

But there is a problem with BTC that cannot be solved:  what is somebody steals your private keys?  In the real world, you can sue them for theft.  In the BTC world, your money is gone forever.

You can try to get them in trouble, but it seems like the only people getting in trouble with bitcoin are those irritating governments.  I haven't heard of any person-to-person thefts being prosecuted...yet

In real world when someone steals your pocket wallet, your money is gone forever as well. There is not much police can do in these cases.

But there would be repercussions if caught.  Not so much with bitcoins, even if someone could be "caught"

Obviously your wrong here. If really caught and proved, by stealing anything of substantional value will get you in problems with justice.

The protocol is safe as it gets but if the coins itself are sitting in pc you are the one who makes it secure or insecure.
Just keep them in paper wallets it's as safe as it gets.

Virtual currencies, notably Bitcoin, have recently gained traction in the media as potential investment vehicles. Proponents praise their decentralization, convenience, and transparency. Over the past year, they have transformed from black market currencies to viable alternatives for traditional investments and existing currencies.

+1
I no longer keep any coins on a pc. The wallet is our biggest hurdle right now. I think the stand alone hardware wallet will be the security answer. The trezor is a start, but too complex for the elderly. Mycelium has a hardware wallet comming out that looks promising.

Bitcoin itself is safe. But you need to be careful you dont let someone "use" your computer, since there is your key to access your bitcoin on perfectly safe bitcoin network.

With Bitcoin, Money become yours for the first time in history!
If you are able to protect your wallets and the device you use to access your wallets, well, Bitcoin is the safest currency and the safest payment method you can use nowadays  ;)

Welcome to this exciting world!

Is anything safe? People are so careless with information these days, though generally awareness on personal security has improved in recent years.

Bitcoin is as safe as the protocol allows for, personal storage of bitcoins is as safe as you care to bother.

Safe as a banknote.

Its definitly safe !  8)

What does that mean exactly? Bitcoin as a technology is relatively safe but does have some weaknesses, but your actual bitcoins are only as safe as you are.

Yes this.

I mean why dont we make the same question about fiat?

Bitcoin is as safe as fiat.

depends though.  my cash in a safe in my house is a lot safer than bitcoins stored on an exchange or 3rd party site.  and using bitcoins can sometimes be tricky, you could copy and paste a wrong address, that wouldn't happend with cash

Bitcoin is a ponzi scheme.
Can an investment to a pyramid be safe?

It's never gona end is it? "Bitcoin is a ponzi" is so 2011. Sadly I think it's just the only kind of financial scam people are aware of, so that's what they say over and over. If they just took 60 seconds to google it they would understand that an open source distributed ponzi is not possible. In a ponzi the CENTRAL AUTHORITY benefits from INVESTMENTS INTO WORTHLESS ASSETS by HIDING the real flow of money.
See what's wrong? There is no central authority, it is not an investment for sale, bitcoin has intrinsic value based on utility, and nothing can be hidden in the code. The only person who got money when you bought bitcoin was the seller. (maybe a few pennies for the miners and a cut for the exchange, if you use one.)

Bitcoin is safe as long as you're careful and cautious about security.

The IRS has ruled that bitcoin is property, and thus theft of bitcoins is illegal.


Invalid comparison. Your bitcoins stored in a paper wallet in your safe are just as safe as your cash.

I don't know why you bother either. There is so much information available online about Bitcoin (how it works, how to be safe, where to spend it, where to buy it) that no one needs to come to this forum and ask questions anymore. This forum isn't even on the first page of a Google search for the word Bitcoin now. People saying Ponzi or asking silly questions deserve nothing more than a flip answer and then move along.

Exactly this.

With a little research you can have all the answers.

Bitcoin as idea is safe. But people are trying to corrupt every idea when it can bring them money. So use bitcoin and be aware of scammers. Bitcoin itself can't hurt you. People can.

not safe at all, news are spreading all around the world, BTC is stolen by some hackers or others
some measure should be taken to ensecure it.

Bitcoin is much safer than $$$ in your wallet. It is a great idea that needs time to develop. 5 years of no problem functioning witnesses of it's safety. Companies like Overstock and Paypal incorporating it into their payment options are also showing that is safe.

The only thing where is no safe that is coming to my mind is big volatility that is caused by the damn speculators!!

It is safe if you know how to handle it and secure it.

oh, yeah?
if there isn't any speculator, do u really think it is safe?even our world is at risk
those hackers will attack its platform and black money laundering, illegal trade etc
all these worse thing will surround our life, do you think it is still safe?

I cannot get your point.

I am biased and thnk it is going to be a game changer. You should do your own home work though. Don't take my word for it.

I thought one of the fundamental advantages of cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin) was that it's impossible to create counterfeit coins.

Yes, its safe. ANd its not like people haven't tried, to fuck with btc.

I don't think, bitcoin is safe.

Wrong.

Safe is rather generic.

Are transactions secure?  Yes, it certainly looks like it as in 5 years this still is working flawlessly.
Are your bitcoins safe if you keep your private key secure?  Yes, it looks safe so far.  The public/private key encryption used and other security measures seems to have stood up to 5 years of hacking attempts and still no obvious exploits to steal funds via the network.  There are multiple layers of security that would need to be compromised for the coins to be moveable by the non-owner, each layer in itself has never been broken yet that I'm aware of.
Is the supply really limited to keep the value safe?  Yes, the supply is defined by the protocol which everyone follows so is very predictable.
Are your coins safe on your PC?  Yes and No.  If anyone gets your private key they can take the funds.  The private key is usually held on your PC or on a website if you use an exchange.  Coins held by someone else are not safe as MtGox demonstrated.  Coins on your PC must make sure you don't expose your private key to viruses/malware/etc.. For that reason any 'savings' of bitcoin should probably be moved offline to be very secure the private key is kept secure.
Is the exchange rate safe?  No, not yet, it's volatile and will remain volatile but as the mining rewards decrease and adoption and awareness increases this volatility should reduce. 


So overall, yes Bitcoin itself is safe on the caveat you are careful about your private keys.

I say welcome here. and do not forget to tell your friends.
nothing is really safe for a payment. its the same thing in the real world, in bitcoin is also a thief. but it is also very difficult because bitcoin has good security. I liked is bitcoin transaction very easy and fast. do not need no documents in the verification

Care to elaborate? AFAIK, the only way to create 'counterfeit' coins is to double spend. Risk of double spending can be reduced if you take the appropriate measures. Most merchants require at least one confirmation to confirm the purchase. To successfully double spend a transaction with 6 confirmations, you would need to have at least 51% of the network's hashrate. If any pool goes near 51%, most of the community would start leaving the pool unless the pool takes appropriate measures.

Bitcoin is safe, more than what we have now.

Safe or not safe, it's really a big question!

Actually you are incorrect. Whenever you attempt to spend an input you must sign a transaction with the private keys that is associated with the public hash that the input was last sent to. It is not possible to spend any input that you have not received as if you attempt to do so the transaction will not be accepted by the nodes

It is possible to reorganize main chain by 51% attack.
It is very difficult today.
But it will be cheap and easy tomorrow.

Safer than a waitress taking your credit card to the back room... or Home Depot... Kmart... Target etc.

This is not "counterfeiting" coins.

I would however disagree that it will be easy to launch a 51% attack "tomorrow" as, over time the total block reward should stay the same while the TX fees will increase per block and the block subsidy will decrease per block. This will result in the difficulty decreasing by only small amounts

Very good explanations, thank you!
In reality, I don't think that anything on Internet can be 100 % safe.
We can witness this every day (even banks have security problems online), but at least we can use regularly all possible ways to protect ourselves on Internet, be careful what we do and where we do, and we will be safe 99,99 %.

LD50 of bitcoin in rats is 2000 BTC per kilogram by oral ingestion. No figures for humans, but Karpeles is looking a bit peaky since he swallowed 800,000 ish of them. FDA have certified it as a food additive in proportions of less than 5% dry weight. No toxicological reports have arrived from major hospitals, with the exception of one California man, who may have ingested cheap Chinese bitcoins contaminated with melamine.

So I was wondering what kind of scheme this thread is part of. OP has no ads in sig, doesn't seem to be inflating post count here, but the post has a vague, clickbaity feel to it. A couple of spammers "taking part" in the discussion.

Is that it? create a thread sure to generate low-signal banter, and therefore stay on top of the topic listing. Also due to the high noise level instilled by how the OP is formulated, spambot alts will blend in better than in bona fide threads.

It's the safest payment method you can find around , just make sure to use Offline wallets (I personally use Electrum) . and even if you have a computer failure , you can recover your wallet using a seed that you get first time you install Electrum.

Just stay away from Coinbase,Blockchain.info or anything else online

It really depends on how you use / handle it. It in itself is safe.

HaHa. Classic post!

That's why I mix small doses of Bitcoin with marijuana. That increases the effect of Bitcoin while limiting my exposure.

Because I have not seen the OP respond yet, I suspect classic troll.

-http://www.urban75.com/Mag/troll.html (http://www.urban75.com/Mag/troll.html)

I have some, I wish I had more, like everyone else.” Lee has benefitted, though, in terms of community stature and influence, as he and litecoin have come to exemplify the role of altcoins in strengthening the overall cryptocoin ecosystem So it seems to be absoultely Safe

Buy Litecoin (https://www.crxzone.com/)

Blockchain.info is still relatively safe due to the fact that they send backups to the user's email, don't store unencrypted on their servers and allow the user to have full control over the private key. Without the correct encryption key, no one is able to open your wallet. The 2FA also adds another layer of security over it as the wallet cannot be accessed without the correct 2FA key.

this explanation is awesome

Quindecillions currency !!
That was a massive ultra huge ammount

I'm pretty sure that someone can't hack bitcoin unless they know your private key

I don't think so as many don't recognize BTC and it is not a recognized.  :(

I use it but don't keep BTC in my account and exchange it via PayPal to be on a safe side.

Paypal and Bitcoin don't mix; mkay?

The word "account" worries me too. Hopefully you have cold storage somewhere.

I am not mixing it but when I received BTC, I just convert it into PayPal funds and withdraw the same to my bank account.

BTC value fluctuates a lot and a BTC worth $1 can become $0.05 in no time so it's no use in my POV to keep storing it for a long time.

PayPal and most bank-transfers can be reversed. Bitcoin can not be. Scammers like to exploit this difference for fraud purposes.

Fair enough use of BTC to accept (and make) payments. Nobody is forcing you to hold bitcoins. If enough people used bitcoins as a medium of exchange even without holding just by having bitcoins in circulation will have a positive and stabilizing effect on its price.

Oh, did not know that bank transfers can be reversed  :o Yes. PayPal does reverse the transaction but Bitcoins cannot reverse the transaction. Fraud people make the impossible also possible.

I would say yes it is, unless you are something incredibly ilegal like being a drug cartel lord or whatever.

Yes, bank transfers, like all modern financial systems, have fraud protection built in and can be reversed. Bitcoin has no built in fraud protection. The burden is on the consumer to ensure they are not victims. If you're a seller it's great because no one can screw you by taking the product and doing a charge back. If you're a scammer it's also great for the same reason.

Butterfly Labs is a perfect example. BFL went to all of the Bitcoin conferences and did everything they could to convince people they were an honest seller. Well they weren't honest. The only people that got their money back were the people who paid with PayPal because they used the built in fraud protection. The people that paid with Bitcoin need the Federal Trade Commission to get their money back and that may not even work.

That's the beauty of Bitcoin. It's much more interesting than any other currency.