Using Armory WITHOUT EVER GOING online ? Is it SAFE ??

[BlueTopaz]

I am looking to get some very DEEP COLD storage solution.

I have installed Armory 0.92.3 on a Offline computer with Win XP.

This system was never online in the past & will never go online in future. I want to create the wallet in this offline computer
& generate receiving addresses. Will then send all my BTCs to these addresses for the eternity.

I don't intend to spend them in near future. Will then export the private keys & take a paper back up.

But here's the problem: As soon as I hit "Receive Bitcoin",

Armory shows a warning message:

Armory is not online yet, and will eventually need to be online to access any funds sent to your wallet.
Please do not receive Bitcoins to your Armory wallets until you have successfully gotten online
at least one time.
        

Here is the Screenshot:


      https://i.imgur.com/SwVWKl5.png?1



Is it safe to use these addresses generated on the offline computer WITHOUT EVER GOING ONLINE ?

[goatpig]

What this means is that to spend your coins you need to get a version of Armory online. This is actually meaningful, you should get Armory online before you send coins to it. Some people get stuck at that step when they come to spend their coins a few months down the road. Obviously, you shouldn't do this with your offline machine. Use a different machine to install Armory on, give it your watching only wallets then get it online.

[BlueTopaz]

Thanks goatpig.

I don't intend to use the Online Armory ever to spend these coins.

I will be using a different client to spend these coins (will export the private keys & use them)

I just want to use the addresses generated by the Offline Armory, to transfer all my BTC savings to.


Since, the WARNING clearly says:

"Please do not receive Bitcoins to your Armory wallets until you have successfully gotten online at least one time."

I am a bit skeptical. I am still not sure, if I should use these addresses, despite the WARNING!

[goatpig]

It's a bad idea to expose private keys from your chain. That could reveal your entire private chain. You should use an offline signing process, whether it is with Armory or not. To keep coins in cold storage then expose a private from your chain to the network is a breach of the cold storage protocol. I hope this isn't what you are planning to do.

As for the warning, if you are willing to trust your interpretation of some generic warning message over the explanation of a developer, I doubt anything else I'll say can change your mind.

[picobit]

It's a bad idea to expose private keys from your chain.

Indeed, a very bad idea.  Armory is designed so the use of a watch-only wallet is safe.  It is **not** designed so that exposure of private keys is safe.  If a hacker has access to your Armory cold storage wallet, he can watch your coins.  If a hacker gains access to two of your private keys that you exported to another wallet, he *might* get access to all your funds.

DO NOT TRANSFER MONEY TO ANY WALLET UNLESS YOU HAVE VERIFIED THAT YOU CAN GET THEM SAFELY OUT.

Exporting private keys from a deterministic wallet is probably not safe.

[Newar]

Something like this might be easier / better for your use case.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=361092.0

Or use bitaddress.org html on the offline computer.

[LeMiner]

I'd install Ubuntu on that machine and then wouldn't worry about sending anything there.

Problem with XP is that it'd be easy to get infected through USB the moment you plug it in to actually install Armory. Create a watch-only wallet on an online computer so you can see if your coins arrived 'safely' (test with a small amount before you send any large amount if you don't have too much experience!).

Once you see all your coins are safely on your cold wallet using your watch-only computer, you can remove armory on the online PC.

Make sure you always create appropriate (paper) backups.