paper wallet

[56Dev2]

 
   Hello. I've been testing paper wallets created on bitaddress.org.
   The problem is when I use BIP38 Encrypt, Then try adding the Private Key to blockchain.com I get the error adding address message.
   This happens with the proper BIP38 Passphrase. When I don't use BIP38 Encrypt all works as it should.
   This is tests with only the minimum bitcoin sent from coinbase.
   When I test with no bitcoin on the paper wallet the same thing happens.
   Anyone know what the problem is? Also are paper wallets safe in 2021?

[btcsmlcmnr]

 
   Hello. I've been testing paper wallets created on bitaddress.org.
   The problem is when I use BIP38 Encrypt, Then try adding the Private Key to blockchain.com I get the error adding address message.
   This happens with the proper BIP38 Passphrase. When I don't use BIP38 Encrypt all works as it should.
   This is tests with only the minimum bitcoin sent from coinbase.
   When I test with no bitcoin on the paper wallet the same thing happens.
   Anyone know what the problem is? Also are paper wallets safe in 2021?

Blockchain.com wallet allows to import Paper wallet but I don't use that wallet very long time. I don't know how this process goes. The  guide from them: https://support.blockchain.com/hc/en-us/articles/207746403-Wallets-Addresses

You can try with the alternative, import it to Electrum wallet.

Let's try.
https://electrum.org/#download
File , New / Restore, Name wallet file, Import Bitcoin address or private key.
Copy and paste your private key from bitaddress.org
Create your wallet password.
You will import the same wallet you create from bitaddress.org.

Electrum dont' support BIP38 encrypted wallet created on bitaddress.org. This tutorial can only be used if you don't choose BIP38 encrypt.

You have to decrypt BIP38 and import decrypted private key (starts with 6P) into Electrum.
After you create one wallet from bitaddress.org, with BIP38 encrypt, click on View details:

Paste your private key
Enter your BIP38 passphrase
Click View details.

You will get a page with a pubic address and a private key WIF.
Copy the private key WIF and import in the same process above into Electrum. You will get a same bitcoin public address.

You can double check with https://iancoleman.io/bitcoin-key-compression/
- Enter Private Key WIF or Private Key WIF compressed
- Enter a BIP38 password
- Wait a few second for this tool to check them.

[nc50lc]

Anyone know what the problem is? Also are paper wallets safe in 2021?

The problem is most wallets don't support BIP38 encrypted private key, you'll need to decrypt the private into WIF first before importing them to any wallet,
you can use an offline version of bitaddress to decrypt it, paste the BIP38 private key in "Wallet Details->Enter Private Key", click "View Details";
Then a new line with "Enter BIP38 Passphrase" below will be displayed, type your password there and click "Decrypt BIP38".
After that, your 'WIF Private key' that can be imported to those wallet will be displayed below, copy 'compressed' or 'uncompressed' depending on the address that you've funded.

For the next query, there are no difference when it comes with paper wallet safety, be it 2013 or 2021,
it's still based on how you handle and the private key and how you generated it.

[pooya87]

Also are paper wallets safe in 2021?

Safety of a paper wallet hasn't changed during years and it won't change in the future either and it completely depends on how YOU create it. If they are created in a an insecure manner then they are obviously not safe to use.
But if you take all the precautions such as using a trusted open source software that is well tested to create your private key, and do all of that on an air-gap computer then encrypt it properly using a strong encryption algorithm such as BIP38 and using a strong passphrase and finally if you keep proper backup (multiple and on a durable medium) then it becomes safe.

[DireWolfM14]

Blockchain.com is a custodial wallet, and a web wallet.  If they eve get hacked your keys are at risk of being compromised.  Like other have mentioned, I recommend you don't use their service for long term storage.  Electrum is a much better option, but don't forget to verify its authenticity.

Also are paper wallets safe in 2021?

Many will argue (and I among them) that a "paper wallet" is the safest, for all time.  By definition the term implies that the secret key or backup mnemonic phrase is only stored on paper, or other archival media, and not any digital device.  This makes it absolutely impervious to hacks.  As long as the backup is stored safely and securely, your funds are equally safe and secure.

[Oshosondy]

Many will argue (and I among them) that a "paper wallet" is the safest, for all time.  By definition the term implies that the secret key or backup mnemonic phrase is only stored on paper, or other archival media, and not any digital device.  This makes it absolutely impervious to hacks.  As long as the backup is stored safely and securely, your funds are equally safe and secure.

How about using the broad term, airgapped wallet, paper wallet is just one of the safest while some users can have an airgapped device, if 100% airgapped, it is also as safe as paper wallet. Also one wallet as cold storage and the other as watch only like cold electrum wallet is also one of the safest which is also most convenient airgapped to use. It depends on the wallet, not only paper wallets are safest.

[pooya87]

Thanks to everyone for the reply. my reason for asking are paper wallets safe in 2021 is because. bitaddress.org is on v3.3.0 since 2016-12-23.
 Also any paper wallet tutorial on youtube are years old.

That's because nothing has changed in that regard. You can even flip a coin and come up with a private key since keys are just numbers that you have to choose between 1 and a little less than 2²⁵⁶, and essentially that's what these tools are doing they are selecting a number at random in that range.

The only thing that has changed is the address types that can derive from that key. Unfortunately bitaddress.org hasn't been updated to support new address types.
In this case I would recommend using an actual wallet to create the private key. Any trustworthy wallet run offline (air-gap) would do. Like bitcoin core or electrum. Just create a new wallet and export a single private key.

While you're at it you might want to think about generating a deterministic paper wallet, in simple terms use the mnemonic as what you write on paper instead of a single key. For example you can run Electrum offline, generate a new wallet with seed, select any wallet type (recommended is SegWit P2WPKH type) then write down that seed phrase (without needing printer).
This way you can generate as many keys as you like and whenever you use your paper wallet the change goes to the same wallet but a different key instead of you having to create a new paper wallet.

[DireWolfM14]

While you're at it you might want to think about generating a deterministic paper wallet, in simple terms use the mnemonic as what you write on paper instead of a single key. For example you can run Electrum offline, generate a new wallet with seed, select any wallet type (recommended is SegWit P2WPKH type) then write down that seed phrase (without needing printer).

@OP; Pooya87's suggestion above is my favorite method for generating cold wallets.  Once the "paper" wallet has been backed up you can import the master public key into a watch-only wallet.  This comes in very handy for sending coins to your cold storage while maintaining privacy.  Since only the public keys are available in a watch only wallet the wallet is incapable of spending the coins.

However, Electrum has an additional checksum built into the seeds it generates, which helps Electrum determine the type of wallet it represents.  This means that wallets created by an Electrum seed have to be restored in Electrum.  For this reason I prefer to use Bip39 seeds for cold storage.  You can use a variety of desktop clients (including Electrum,) or a hardware wallet to restore your wallets from the seed phrase.

I recommend the Ian Coleman tool, you can download it an use it off-line for security: https://iancoleman.io/bip39/

[HCP]

Hello. I've been testing paper wallets created on bitaddress.org.
The problem is when I use BIP38 Encrypt, Then try adding the Private Key to blockchain.com I get the error adding address message.
This happens with the proper BIP38 Passphrase. When I don't use BIP38 Encrypt all works as it should.

If you have an Android device, you can try using Mycelium app... it supports BIP38 encrypted paper wallets.

[pooya87]

For this reason I prefer to use Bip39 seeds for cold storage.  You can use a variety of desktop clients (including Electrum,) or a hardware wallet to restore your wallets from the seed phrase.

I recommend the Ian Coleman tool, you can download it an use it off-line for security: https://iancoleman.io/bip39/

The problem is creating BIP39 seed phrase, as far as I can tell Electrum doesn't have a method to "generate" a BIP39 seed it can only recover them. That means you have to find and use another tool and I wouldn't recommend using anything that runs on your browser for entropy generation.

[DireWolfM14]

I wouldn't recommend using anything that runs on your browser for entropy generation.

Can you please elaborate on why?

[pooya87]

I wouldn't recommend using anything that runs on your browser for entropy generation.

Can you please elaborate on why?

It is my personal opinion and it is because JavaScript and browsers are notorious for being easy to exploit, and when a code is running in your browser it already has a lot of dependencies and those usually have their own dependencies. It is not possible to check all of these libraries and make sure there isn't any weaknesses to exploit. Of course running offline significantly reduces this risk but I still don't like it.