Sorry if this is an amazingly dumb question, but.
Is it safe to sweep an encrypted paper wallet? I know that tthe issue with this is that the private key is shared when doing this, but in this situation wouldn't the key you are sharing then only be available to others if they had the password?
For example, if I did this with my JAX app, what are the odds that this would jeopardize my paper wallet in the future?
When a transaction is formed, it contains a signature that obfuscates your privatekey.
That is the basis behind public key cryptography. So, your private key is not literally
publicly shared, but can be publicly provable through your signature.
With an encrypted paper wallet, if you tell your wallet to sweep the contents and it
requests that you type the password for that encrypted paper wallet, all that likely
occurs is that your client will attempt to decode the encryption itself, client-side.
When it is decoded, your wallet would sweep the coins like a normal transaction.
The only exposure you might have, is the password you used would be revealed
on your computer from your typing it (malware, pw stealers, etc.)
Encryption on a paper wallet only protects those coins from someone stealing your
physical paper wallet. Otherwise the encrypted paper wallet password has no other
impacts with the Bitcoin network directly.
Paper wallets were really intended to be longer term storage.
Paper wallets should only be used once when transfer funds out, and the remaining
sent to another new paper wallet.