Bitcoin Forum

Hi Everyone. I was wondering about your thoughts on which wallet you think can be suggested to newbies that can ensure a high level of safety. Armory is already considered but I would like to know everyones thoughts about any other wallet services...offline or online? Thanks.

Blockchain for online wallet, use only for small spends
I like Electrum, think it's pretty intuitive to use

Bitcoin-qt

I should add that the wallet must have a way to safeguard people against computer failures. Bitcoin-qt should not be suggested to a newbie however easy it might be to use. The idea is to suggest a newbie and easy and an automatically safe wallet.

Armory is not newbie-friendly, and neither is Bitcoin Core (Qt). I recommend Mycelium for Android, Electrum for PC/Mac/Linux, and Blockchain.info for IOS.

Blockchain.info has the advantage of the ability to access the same wallet from different devices, but has the disadvantage of needing the site to be available in order to use it.

Don't use a site that doesn't give you full control of the private keys (e.g. Coinbase and any of the exchanges).

Bitcoin-qt

Very true about Armory. Armory for newbie would mean newbie to bitcoin world but now a newbie to computers.

Everyone seems to be suggesting blockchain here. We actually need to put a couple of suggestions on our site and thats why was wondering.

I saw a new one or maybe an old one, its called ecash.io. Any review/report on this? Was just wondering it might be better than blockchain if legit...considering its based on armory.

Further to the above, I also feel electrum actually is perfect. Wish it had a better UI. If nothing else, I would suggest Electrum but I dont want to suggest an online provider.

There I fixed it.

Ya that was stupid of me. Anyways, thanks. So I guess Electrum and Armory it is unless someone suggests something better. Thanks for help. This was quick.

bitcoin-qt and blockchain

The two I would recommend for a newbie is Electrum and blockchain.info. These are the two that are better for newbies to work with over the others. I personally would not suggest bitcoin-qt as I don't feel myself it's as newbie friendly as the others I stated.

I would say the Blockchain.info. Online, easy to use and safe IMO.  ;)

exactly what i am using.

blockchain.info > hot wallet to buy stuff
bitcoin-qt > long term holding

As a newbie i used bitcoin-qt & as a long term holder i still use bitcoin-qt.

U might like to check this link for your answer => https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=468095.0

I am going play devil's advocate and suggest Coinbase  :D

While you do not have control over the private keys, it really is very newbie-friendly.  The chances of Coinbase turning out to be a scam is a lot lower than a newbie making some kind of mistake and losing their coins

I like Electrum easy-to-use style, as well as blockchain wallet. not good for heavy storage  IMO but good for beginners.

I'm fond of Hive Wallet, but bitcoin-qt is just fine for most. Coinbase is another option if you're from the USA.

I hear a lot of good things about Electrum and Armory but have never used either myself.

I think newbie should use online wallet because it's very easy to use
I recommended blockchain.info, hive, green address & bitgo

Or you can choose wallet here https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

qt+password+zip+online backup

There is no 100% security on any wallet unless you keep your system safe from the buggers.Many available wallets like blockchain,bitcoin core ,multi bit are the one people use the most

Bitgo and Hive look like another good options. Very easy to use. Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm pretty sure that Coinbase is not a scam, so that is not a risk. Also, their deposits are insured against theft, so that is not a risk.

However, there is a relatively high risk that Coinbase will go out out of business and you will lose your money. It's a start-up, and start-ups go bust all the time.

There is also a relatively high risk that someone will steal your password and drain your account. It happens frequently, and their insurance doesn't cover it.

Blockchain.info , enable the two step authentication and limit login to specific IPs only.

I think Coinbase.com is the most natural fit for a newbie. There you can get comfortable with buying, selling, and holding BTC. After you get comfortable, you will probably realize that you want to be managing your own private keys, and will end up moving the majority of the coins to a different wallet. Coinbase is pretty much fool proof, so IMO it is the best place to start.

Trying to learn how to buy directly from an exchange, while having to do things to maintain your wallet separately can be overwhelming to someone new. You have to crawl before you ball.

I've used blockchain for ~2 years and no complaints with it. Works well, easy to use, excellent up time.

if you are a truely good friend you dont suggest a wallet. you tell him to get out now before he lose all his money!

Yes, all this is true.   While new people hear the word "insurance" and think that everything is protected, it is Coinbase itself that is protected.   The one way that most people lose their coins (a compromised log in), is the one thing that is not covered.

I would suggest Blockchain for the simplicity and ease of use. Of course I would recommend the use of two factor authentication as well.

Bitcoin-qt, blockchain.info and btc-e are some of the good ones. All of them offer A class security so you don't have to worry about hacker getting in and hacking database or your account being hijacked easily, unless your computer has virus.

The problem is that newbies dont understand the importance of wallets and then they loose their money due to some negligence and then blame the tech i.e. Bitcoin. Thus, Bitcoin-qt is out considering there is no way to retrieve the wallet if you loose your computer.

Blockchain.info and Bitgo looks good as a webwallet . Although Blockchain is older, bitgo provides more security. Hive and electrum both are good as a desktop wallet. Lastly, Armory is probably the best but requires some computer knowledge to make it work in the most secure way. Thus, I feel this should be good enough to recommend to newbies. Now just need some good explanatory videos about each, and we should good.

Multibit, quick and easy. I don't like having to download all of the blockchain and multibit solves this. I like the look of electrum but I've never tried it.

I'm newbi in crypto, and I use blockchain and bitcoin.co.id :)
I think blockchain and bitcoin.co.id safe enough :)
But this my opinion :)

I think that the original btc wallet is as safe as it gets, Armory is hardcore stuff. If you want an easy interface use Electrum as others have suggested, but do not forget to  consider the options of paper wallets and brain wallet as well. These are the easiest and at least as secure as Armory.

Just my 2 satoshis worth.

I have been using BTC for awhile, and Armory is still intimidating for me. A newbie should be able to use a trezor as well. I just said coinbase because you can do it all in one spot. With other wallets, you still need to buy the coins elsewhere.

Coinbase does offer many ways to protect your account (mainly 2FA) and warnings to users when their account is not employing a recommended level of security. They also offer a "vault" service that gives an additional level of security.

If they are a true n00b then they should start by downloading the block chain with bitcoin- q, it will give them time to look into how the whole system works and an idea of how big it is.
If they must get in right away, download multibit. Get block chain wallet too. I always suggest they get as many wallets as they can. Then they can try them out and send btc around to themselves between the various clients. They are going to want to practice backing up and uploading private keys with small amounts of btc to get comfortable with it. When they can confidently move around btc and retrieve wallets from private keys they should go the armoury route. It is a little bit advanced but offers the most secure storage when done properly. Of course they will need the bitcoin-q first to instal armoury so hopefully they already did that.

Basically I compare it to learning to drive. You can drive automatic all your life, but it's better and safer to learn standard. Then you have more choice.

I'm a newbie and i didn't choose my wallet too. Just download a bitcoin core client but that's all

Interesting discussion.  I surprised that Coinbase are getting away with saying 'Coinbase insures all bitcoin held in online storage' on their homepage.  It is quite misleading when the main risk factors are not insured...

Bitcoin-qt

Electrum. It's ugly, but does the job well. It doesn't require users to download the entire blockchain (which is why I wouldn't recommend Armory). Electrum is also deterministic, so as long as you have the backup seed written down and stored safely, you can easily restore your funds if your computer crashes.
For iOS, breadwallet.

I'm using Electrum and it's not ugly :D
The seed recover is really useful, I feel more tranquil knowing that I can't lose my (few) coins.

Mycelium. New bitcoiners might want to check out "Getting Started With Bitcoins" at http://ccwvslaw.org/item/1814, especially section "2.3 Send/spend".

Can you give us some screenshots?

I'm going to suggest the same site I was suggested when I asked the same question, Blockchain.info is worth atleast checking out.  I'd also think about using bitcoin.qt

I like Electrum easy to use , as well as blockchain wallet. not good for heavy storage and perfect for beginners.

If you are talking about online wallet then I suggest Coinbase wallet. Other than a newbie can use bitcoin-qt.

I hope you are kidding about this. You do realize that you are asking this person to show you can essentially steal his coins, right?

Are people really advocating bitcoin-qt for noobs? Noobs will not backup their wallet after every transaction so I consider this to be a bad idea. Why is armory so hard for noobs is beyond me. The armory client has 3 versions of UI and I find it to be pretty intuitive regarding back-up and transfers and wallet management.

Instead of making the noobs learn their way through Armory you would prefer to have them make a back-up after each spend they make? Maybe I am missing something. Did the bitcoin-qt client changed regarding the back-up and I am not aware of this?

This is what I am not understanding. I have to be missing something. In the new Armory, we dont even need to run the Bitcoin QT separately. Although, if you want to setup a cold storage, the process gets a little complicated considering you need a couple of computers, but even as is, Armory is way superior rather most superior with the kind of backup and restore they provide. Bitcoin QT does not provide any such feature.

Of course Electrum is faster and little easier considering no downloads and the benefits you loose out in comparison to Armory would probably not matter to a newbie.

I agree. I think it is really not a good idea for a newbie to use QT, especially considering how common it is for people (including newbies) to invest large amounts in bitcoin.

Several years ago this would have been different when it was easy to mine bitcoin (difficulty low when compared to the electric cost of mining), and people would generally only buy/have small amounts of bitcoin when measured in terms of dollars.

Does any of these wallets discussed here provides send to many feature by reading a CSV doc, e.g. Excel ?

I think newbies can also use Circle with 2fa(which is mandatory with setup). I believe circle stated that withdrawing funds also required 2fa by default, but i was able to withdraw coins without 2fa

Sure go for Electrum, but not bitcoin qt! Also I think that newbies don't need cold storage and if they have big amounts invested in bitcoin they can surely take the time to learn about the whole process or at least have someone teach them how to do it.

PC: Trezor or Armory with offline wallet (cold storage)
Android: Mycelium (only for small amounts)

People - stay away from online wallets ! Even if they are as bulletproof as some of you claim - like blockchain or coinbase. I would not store a satoshi in there unless it is for a short term period - and by this I mean hours, not even days.

Do not get burned like many did before (me included - lost 5 btc by InstaWallet scam back in early 2013). Store your coins in a proper wallet, this is not a child's play - it's real assets that we are talking about here.

I think this is something that is very dangerous for a newbie to try to do. Especially when it is not in a not public environment (via PM or at your house for example) as no one will be able to look at the advice being given and can say the advice is good/bad. I would personally almost assume that someone giving advice in private is going to tell a newbie to do something that would make it easy for the person giving advice to easily steal the bitcoin being put in cold storage.

Well as a service provider, we have to give some advice to the newbies signing up for our service and thus the advice wont be private. But yes, we do plan to put some informational video on the site so that they can make an informed decision and the videos will be there to assist them setup with whatever wallet they choose.

Our whole platform is designed to make it easy for the people to transact in bitcoins but we are not a wallet service. Thus it will be advised to them to save their funds in the wallet of their choice and only deposit money with us what they intend to spend. However, we are not going to be politically correct and say all wallets are equal but do give an opinion attached based on the security atleast along with a disclaimer.

I have not tried Trezor but I will surely check it out.

Electrum

But what are the chance of coinbase.com going haywire

I'd reccomend regular blockchain wallet? Is there anything wrong with it.

There is very low chance of Coinbase or blockchain going haywire but you have to understand one basic premise that one should have, not to trust your money in someone else's pocket. Thus its best if you store your money locally so that the threat is mitigated. The same argument is not applicable in fiat because there are banks which are guaranteed/insured by the governments, but its not the case with bitcoins/cryptocoins.

We are also going to be providing an online service but we will always advise people to only put the money with us that they intend to spend online or offline in very near future.

Also, do VC investments make people view a company as infallible? Something to think about. Startups always have VC's.

I think offline wallet is more secure than online wallet. But for online wallet I think Blockchain is more secure than others. As a newbie I also use Blockchain.

Depends on the device being used but anything with a backup seed (Electrum) will be better than dealing with private keys for a newbie.

Blockchain for online wallet, use only for small spends I like Electrum, think it's pretty intuitive to use

Check out cryptocards.co

Strongly agree. And I say that as someone who has played around with all of the available iOS wallets. Deterministic plus beautiful and incredibly easy to use interface.

Without any doubt electrum, my daughter use it and she is only 14 years old.

Does breadwallet have an address book?

I am using bitcoin-qt and feels good so far, the only problem I am facing is it is eating up a lot of space.

I'm also using breadwallet.

I like the beautiful design very much.

It is really easy to use and is very suitable for newbies.

most newbies use online wallet
i think blockchain and coinbase is good , but i prefer blockchain
if you consider using offline wallet > bitcoin-qt

Use blockchain with Two-factor authentication, So many hacks these days.

For web wallets, blockchain.info is much better than any exchange wallets for 2 reasons.
1. You have the private keys. You won't lose your bitcoin when the site goes belly up if you have made a wallet backup.
2. Your wallet file is encrypted on the client side, so your bitcoin won't be lost when the site is hacked.

Who knows?
Sure, Coinbase looks huge an seems it could be trusted now, but so was Mtgox before disclosing the hack and bitcoin loss.

Considering the history of Bitcoin-based businesses -- it is a certainty.
Considering that Coinbase is a start-up and probably still requires investor funding to stay afloat -- it is likely.
Considering an optimistic (but realistic) outlook -- it is still very possible.

Coinbase has had it's reserves audited and I believe it has been shown that they have ample reserves to cover all of their customer deposits. I think that at the time this audit was done, their security procedures were checked and it was determined that the security was appropriate for what they were doing (was very good).

well i think more people (including myself) use online wallet & it is Blockchain.info  :)

Blockchain.info as a online wallet because it's one of the most secure and has 2FA, and I would recommend Electrum as an offline wallet.

You didn't get it. Having someone teach you how to setup a cold wallet isn't the equivalent of actually using those wallets. It means that the newbie can learn and he can do it by himself at home. If you are recommending an wallet, you can also tell him to protect his future private keys/wallet like real money. Once the newbies knows all the process of setting up a cold wallet he can do it for an infinite times.

Address books sort of encourage address reuse don't they? I'll be adding support for stealth addresses in future. There needs to be something along those lines to meet the fixed address use case in a way that doesn't actually re-use bitcoin addresses.

How would a newbie know that he needs to set up their own cold wallet on their own? Wouldn't you think it would be a lot easier to simply use the wallet that the person who is helping you sets up with you? It would be a lot easier but it would be less secure this way, but the newbie would not know it is necessary to set up the cold wallet independently unless he was told so, but if the person helping is going to try to scam/steal then he would not tell him as such. 

I agree. Even if you start off with an online wallet like Coinbase or Circle, you should still be learning the ins and outs of cold storage and managing your own private keys. Even if you dont have that much invested, you still are just as likely to have the stolen.  Additionally, what is worth very little now, could be worth a lot more in the future.

  Blockchain.info is easy for the newbie to use.
    I'm a newbie and that's what I use.
  The support is good too if you fuck something up,like I did. :-[  (thank you Mandrik)
 

Blockchain.info all the way, it's an online wallet though.

These two are suitable for newbies
blockchain.info
bitcoin-qt

I find blockchain.info to be easiest for newbies before they learn to secure their computers from malware thus being able to use installable wallets like multibit

bitcoin-qt is pretty easy to use.
Also it has all you need.

yes I think so ,
my first wallet it's blockchain, and really easy for newbie  ;D

Yah, fast and easy.  :D

Electrum is more secure than any online wallets if you don't use cracked softwares.

Every wallet have its pros and cons but some are more suited to newbies and others to experienced users.
I would recommen online wallets to the less tech savvy ones and the offline wallets to people who know how to secure their computers.

Electrum and MultiBit are rather easy to use, if you're on Windows, Linux, or OS X. I like both of them quite a lot. I think the regular BitcoinQT client is too heavy, has to download the whole blockchain and looks very dull or even poorly made. Of course this doesn't say anything about the core of Bitcoin, but it's just a bad impression on people new to it.

Bitcoin Armory for long storage. For day to day use, Multibit or Electrum are perfectly fine and easy to use. Using web-based wallets like blockchain.info might not always be a good idea, it's better to be the only one who has the actual private key to your coins!