Yes make  multiple copies in multie places for good security.

Do what you want with the file. The seed contains everything and is all you need.
You could place it on a pendrive as an extra backup or just delete it.
As a note. For maximum security store it on a separate disk when creating it and then destroy/rewrite to the dusk multiple times until it is completely full to ensure everything is completely deleted (a vhd file will do this for you).

You'd use a wallet like electrum and bitcoin core. In both of those cases it's highly unlikely you'll get scammed by their developers and you do own the private keys.


The seed is all that is needed. If you use a bip39 wallet you may also get a master private key that yoy can also store in case of transcription/data loss errors.


Electrum is a piece of software, it cannot disappear. There is no master deactivation switch in the developers basements. As long as you keep a copy of your seed, you're good. Should electrum not be accessible, there are achieved versions of it stored. There is also the connectivity issue as it is an spv Waller and is a bit irregular compared to regular nodes. In this case, you can import your seeds into bitcoin core.


Did you download it from electrum.org? If so, just input a random name if it already says "Default_Wallet". Keep it that way for now.


Yes that would work. Once your words are written down and stored safely you should be good to go. Make a couple of copies of the seed though.

Correct.  Technically the seed is just a VERY VERY big number.  Then a standardized system is used to represent that number with a set of words that are easy to write down.

When you enter the seed into a bitcoin wallet program that supports that seed, it internally converts it back into a number and then uses a standardized set of mathematical formula to generate keys from that number.  Without that starting number (represented by the seed) it is impossible to generate the same sequence of keys, so as long as you keep the seed secure, nobody else can access your bitcoins.


Correct.  As long as you have the seed, the mathematical formula used to generate keys can be repeated at any time starting at the seed value to regenerate the keys if you lose them.  You can iterate the key formula to generate as many keys as you'd like.


At the technical level, a private key is just a VERY VERY big number.  You can store it anywhere that you can store a number.  Bitcoin wallets and services are designed to make it easier to manage those keys (frequently so easy that the user doesn't even need to understand the technical details).


Some wallets and services support the Seed and HD concepts.  In that case, you simply enter your seed into the software, and the software handles the generation and management of your keys for you.  If you don't have a seed yet, then they will generate one for you and tell you what it is.

In other wallets and services, they have their own methods of managing keys.  In those cases, you might be required to trust them to manage the keys. They may not give you access to the keys at all.  Or they may provide you a method of creating a backup (generally a file that contains your keys) that you would need to securely store somewhere.


I don't know a lot about BitGo, but I don't think they support the seeds that Electrum generates.


It depends on the device. Some devices may only save the seed, and will just re-generate the keys whenever they are needed. Other devices may save the seeds as you use them so that it can access them faster.


That would be possible.  It is up to you to decide how you want to secure your access.  The two important things are:

1. You can always access the necessary keys when you need them.
This may mean accessing the keys directly, or it may mean generating them from a seed. The point is that if you are unable to access the keys at all, then you can not send your bitcoins anywhere.

2. Nobody else can access your keys.
The more copies of the keys or seed that you make, the more you increase the chance that someone else will gain access. Giving your seed or keys to a website, or untrustworthy software can result in those keys being used without your permission. Paper is nice because it can't be accessed remotely by hackers, but you'll need to import the information from the paper when you want to use the bitcoins.  If you import it to software on a computer that is infected with malware, then that malware could access the keys and access your bitcoin without your permission.  This is why hardware wallets are popular.  They keep the keys (or seed) off the computer both during storage AND while using them.


There are MANY wallet implementations.  Some of them don't use the HD concept, so each key MUST be individually saved.  Also, not all wallets use the same seed system.  The seed concept was introduced to make it much easier and safer for users to create and maintain their backups.  So, if you have access to a seed, then there is generally no need to save the keys separately.

Electrum will create a new seed for you if you do not have one. This seed is used to generate many BTC addresses (As many as you need, there is no limit). All of the keys for the bitcoin addresses it generates come from this seed. And that is correct, as long as you have that seed stored somewhere, you can use it to re-generate all the Bitcoin addresses you've used in your wallet to re-create it and have control over your money. If Electrum disappears it would still be possible to use that seed and restore your wallet.

The private keys in this case are all derived from the seed, in what's called a Hierarchical Deterministic wallet (HD wallet). Those keys themselves are not usually stored, just the seed used to create them, because as long as you have the same seed you can re-create all of the same addresses. Bitcoins are never really "in" any computer or device, in the sense that if that device is broken/lost the Bitcoins are destroyed. The Bitcoins reside in the network, and the keys that are used to spend them are on the devices. If the device that has the only copy of the key to your Bitcoins is destroyed, those Bitcoins are lost in the sense that nobody can spend them. But if you have your seed written down somewhere else, you can use it to re-create your keys and regain access to those Bitcoins.

The USB devices (hardware wallets) use the same method as Electrum in that they use a seed to create addresses. As long as you have the seed stored somewhere safe, even if you lose the hardware wallet or it stops working, you still have access to your coins.

Bitcoin Addresses look like this: 1KsFhYKLs8qb1GHqrPxHoywNQpet2CtP9t. These are the things that you give to other people so they can send you money. Each bitcoin address is created from one private key, and each private key creates only one bitcoin address. The seeds used in modern wallets can create any number of private keys, so you can create any number of Bitcoin addresses.

It can be weird to think about how Bitcoin works for people just finding out about it. These hardware devices hold the keys you use to spend your Bitcoin. As long as you have these keys, you can tell the network to send your Bitcoins from your wallet to another. It is true that if you lose the device, you still have access to your coins, but this is only if you've backed up your wallet. Backing up your wallet is like making a copy of the key you use to send your coins, and putting it somewhere safe. Since this copy is usually on paper, it's not vulnerable to any sort of hack and can be safely stored in a fire safe, safe deposit box, under your pillow, etc.

You use your device to send your Bitcoins because that's where the keys are. In short, what happens is you use an online app that generates a "lock" for you (in technical terms this is an unsigned transaction). It then sends it to the device to unlock it (signing the transaction). Because your key never touches your computer, which could be infected with malware, it is much safer than a software wallet (a program on your computer instead of a hardware device).

The problem with Bitcoin is it is inherently a very technical system and can be hard to understand, but if you didn't get any of what I said just ask and I'll try to help you understand it.

An easy solution is to download "Ethereum" and create a new wallet.
It creates a "seed" which are just some random words in a specific order. You need to remember (for example store in a password manager) this seed but never share it with anyone.
Now transfer the Bitcoin funds to this new wallet.
The backup is the "seed". As long as you have that you can access the coins from any computer at any time.

Like RGBKey says it's hard to comprehend this at first. Think of it like your coins are stored in the cloud. Everyone who has your exact seed words can access them. It's secure because guessing the seed is basically impossible.