Best way to safely store btc and be able to send/receive small amounts at a time

[spacecakes]

Sorry guys! Stupid question, please help if you feel inclined I hope this is in the right place!

Here is what I want to do:

I would like to have one main wallet - Possibly a paper or USB wallet (I wish I had a computer that I could wipe and install linux on and never connect it online, but the amount of money involved doesn't require this drastic of measures yet)

I am looking to trade small amounts of different altcoins on different exchanges. I don't like putting all my funds on a single exchange, so the idea would be to just send the amount needed for the trade from my main wallet to the exchange in order to set up the trade, and then once the trade is completed, send the BTC back to the main wallet.

I have USB sticks, I've never used Armory before but I am leaning towards that. What is your recommendations for a situation like this?

USB wallet? 2 wallets, one hot and one on USB or Paper (and how do you not compromise the USB wallet by accessing it)

What would be the best way to store my bitcoins in person, so I have complete control, yet I still have ease of access without screwing up my security.

I have 2 laptops, I recently wiped one laptop from windows to Linux mint. It is online though, but I was only going to use this computer for BTC, is that wise or should I be using my brand new windows 8 lappy? I hear everyone talking trash about Windows is why I ask.

Thank you very much for your time

[Possum577]

Hi, I'm slightly unclear if you're looking for a wallet for transactions, a wallet for storage, or a wallet to use with alternative crypto currencies. I suspect it may be a combination of all three.

There's a great site that will help you sort out the options that might best for you, check it out: https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

The only type of wallet it doesn't cover is cold, offline wallets.

Good luck to you!

[alani123]

I think you should be looking towards a downloadable wallet with a locking/encryption mechanism. Most wallets do have something of this fashion. This way, your wallet is password protected so even someone with physical access to your machine doesn't have direct access to your funds without you having entered the password. Having your wallet at a secure machine is also vital however. In general though, you wouldn't want to store large amounts of BTC to the same machine that you use to casually browse the net, download files, install third party programs etc.

I think multibit is a great option for such a thing.

[spacecakes]

Hi, Sorry Possum I should of been clearer. I'm slightly tired this evening.

I want to play with altcoins, but I don't want to store all my funds on an exchange. So I would like to be able to keep the majority of my bitcoin in my possession so I can be sure they are relatively safe, but also be able to send out of that wallet without compromising the funds stored in it.

with the altcoins, I probably would probably temporarily store them on the exchanges. since it'd be a tiny amount of my holdings.

I was thinking along the lines of:
1. I see a trade line up 
2. I transfer 2-4% of my bitcoin holdings to cryptsy and buy the altcoins and store them on crytptsy
3. Once the trade is complete and I decide to trade back to bitcoin, I would then move the BTC from the trade back to the main storage wallet.


I just want to see what the safest way to store a few bitcoin locally instead of with a 3rd party, yet still be able to transfer to and from the wallet at ease. I hope that makes sense. Feel free to ask if it doesn't and I'll try to clarify. I will only be transferring BTC to and from exchanges, possibly LTC too down the line, but for now, just BTC.

[spacecakes]

I think you should be looking towards a downloadable wallet with a locking/encryption mechanism. Most wallets do have something of this fashion. This way, your wallet is password protected so even someone with physical access to your machine doesn't have direct access to your funds without you having entered the password. Having your wallet at a secure machine is also vital however. In general though, you wouldn't want to store large amounts of BTC to the same machine that you use to casually browse the net, download files, install third party programs etc.

I think multibit is a great option for such a thing.

Ok, Thanks man, I truly appreciate the response. I only use my Linux computer for really playing Runescape (lol), never download anything on there, Don't even have messengers or anything on there, since it's all on my windows computer. The computer is basically clean, I was even thinking about wiping it again with Linux mint, since there's literally nothing on there of value. Would you recommend I use this computer with multibit?

Or can I use a USB stick with multibit?

Thank you for your responses, I appreciate it alot.

Also - Just to save time since I will be asking later - How do I make sure I can retreive my bitcoin in the case of a hard drive failure? Is there were a paper wallet back up comes into play? Is that possible with Multibit?

The linux computer isn't exactly stable, but it runs well enough that I don't have many problems with it. I definitely don't trust it enough to store everything on it without a backup.

[notlist3d]

I think you should be looking towards a downloadable wallet with a locking/encryption mechanism. Most wallets do have something of this fashion. This way, your wallet is password protected so even someone with physical access to your machine doesn't have direct access to your funds without you having entered the password. Having your wallet at a secure machine is also vital however. In general though, you wouldn't want to store large amounts of BTC to the same machine that you use to casually browse the net, download files, install third party programs etc.

I think multibit is a great option for such a thing.

Ok, Thanks man, I truly appreciate the response. I only use my Linux computer for really playing Runescape (lol), never download anything on there, Don't even have messengers or anything on there, since it's all on my windows computer. The computer is basically clean, I was even thinking about wiping it again with Linux mint, since there's literally nothing on there of value. Would you recommend I use this computer with multibit?

Or can I use a USB stick with multibit?

Thank you for your responses, I appreciate it alot.

Also - Just to save time since I will be asking later - How do I make sure I can retreive my bitcoin in the case of a hard drive failure? Is there were a paper wallet back up comes into play? Is that possible with Multibit?

The linux computer isn't exactly stable, but it runs well enough that I don't have many problems with it. I definitely don't trust it enough to store everything on it without a backup.

Well use lightweight wallets on the coin's makes it where you don't have to download entire chain.   You can do it on a usb stick and only use a computer you trust and not used for general web browsing.

Or options such as raspberry pi you could have an entire computer there for pretty cheap and lots of power really for the money.  Keep it offline only plug in when needed.  Again backup.

Store backups safely aswell.

[spacecakes]

Ooo that is very smart, I might go with a Rasberry Pi.

I hope multibit will work, I am probably going with that since it was recommended, I'll dl it on my linux comp and use it there since that is my safest computer.

Stupid question but is there such thing as a bitcoin wallet that has 2fa integrated with it? I'm not sure how it'd work since the wallet is stored locally but I always feel safest when I use 2fa.

I'm honestly so confused and rather scared to move my coins out of Local Bitcoins at the moment.

[spacecakes]

What bitcoin wallet has 2 factor Auth?

[Amph]

What bitcoin wallet has 2 factor Auth?

none because there is a passphrase that cover your ass

in regard to your concern about buying a machine dedicated to this issue, you can buy a used laptop for 100 or lower, and change its hard disk or do a secure erase, then you can use this machine for every time you want to spend your coins

[favdesu]

I use electrum for storage. never let me down so far and it's secure.

other than that I can recommend ninkip2p!

[Mickeyb]

Well I have a perfect solution and exactly what you need but I don't know are you ready to invest in it. It costs 0.5 BTC and it's called a Trezor. Trezor does exactly what you want. Moreover you can use it with Electrum and mycelium on your mobile phone for other transactions on the go. Trezor you can plug in in any computer, infected with the malware or not and do transactions safely.

This might be a much better option than buying another old laptop. And with a Trezor, you are set for life!

Good luck!

[alani123]

I think you should be looking towards a downloadable wallet with a locking/encryption mechanism. Most wallets do have something of this fashion. This way, your wallet is password protected so even someone with physical access to your machine doesn't have direct access to your funds without you having entered the password. Having your wallet at a secure machine is also vital however. In general though, you wouldn't want to store large amounts of BTC to the same machine that you use to casually browse the net, download files, install third party programs etc.

I think multibit is a great option for such a thing.

Ok, Thanks man, I truly appreciate the response. I only use my Linux computer for really playing Runescape (lol), never download anything on there, Don't even have messengers or anything on there, since it's all on my windows computer. The computer is basically clean, I was even thinking about wiping it again with Linux mint, since there's literally nothing on there of value. Would you recommend I use this computer with multibit?

Or can I use a USB stick with multibit?

Thank you for your responses, I appreciate it alot.

Also - Just to save time since I will be asking later - How do I make sure I can retreive my bitcoin in the case of a hard drive failure? Is there were a paper wallet back up comes into play? Is that possible with Multibit?

The linux computer isn't exactly stable, but it runs well enough that I don't have many problems with it. I definitely don't trust it enough to store everything on it without a backup.

Linux computer aside of the windows one sounds safe. I wouldn't bother making things more complex with a USB stick, just make sure to make use of the password protection.

[SirChiko]

Well I have a perfect solution and exactly what you need but I don't know are you ready to invest in it. It costs 0.5 BTC and it's called a Trezor. Trezor does exactly what you want. Moreover you can use it with Electrum and mycelium on your mobile phone for other transactions on the go. Trezor you can plug in in any computer, infected with the malware or not and do transactions safely.

This might be a much better option than buying another old laptop. And with a Trezor, you are set for life!

Good luck!

My friend has trezor and i gotta agree with this statement and it's worth the investment but if you are going to work with sub 1 bitcoin summs then it's maybe too big investment.

[ranlo]

If you're actively using BTC and want to send smaller transactions, go with Xapo or Coinbase. Both of these are online wallets that are easy to use and are great for hot wallets. Store your "saving" coins offline, though.

[ranochigo]

Ooo that is very smart, I might go with a Rasberry Pi.

I hope multibit will work, I am probably going with that since it was recommended, I'll dl it on my linux comp and use it there since that is my safest computer.

Stupid question but is there such thing as a bitcoin wallet that has 2fa integrated with it? I'm not sure how it'd work since the wallet is stored locally but I always feel safest when I use 2fa.

I'm honestly so confused and rather scared to move my coins out of Local Bitcoins at the moment.

Multibit would work but I doubt they offer a feature to sign the transaction offline and broadcast it from another computer. For an offline wallet to be truly offline, it should not be touching the internet. Wallets like electrum allows user to download transaction data from the online computer and sign it on the offline computer then broadcast it again on the online computer.

2FA are usually only available for online wallet. Online wallet are not very secure as most of them don't allow you to control your own private keys. However, wallets like greenaddress.it does allow user to enable 2FA before allowing them to access the wallet.

[ikydesu]

What bitcoin wallet has 2 factor Auth?

Electrum 2.0 have 2FA feature and other features like multisig wallet.