I want to secure my bitcoins

[jack102938]

Hi - firstly sorry if this is in the wrong section!

I'm going away for a month and would like to know where the safest place I can leave my bitcoins would be? They are currently on mybitcoin.com but something tells me there are better places to keep them... is there?

Thanks for any help!

[1713565328]

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[1713565328]

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[1713565328]

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[jack102938]

http://falkvinge.net/2011/05/29/why-im-putting-all-my-savings-into-bitcoin/ wow

[someguy123]

Put them in a truecrypt container on an m-SD card, and keep that sdcard hidden behind your lightswitch, that way you won't lose them.

[rezin777]

http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=5194.0

[rebuilder]

As with anything important, keep several backups. I prefer to store my wallet.dat in an encrypted container stored on Dropbox. Whenever I close the container I also make a local copy of it. Others prefer more copies, but for my purposes I feel this is enough, and I don't have to worry about keeping off-site backups up-to-date.

[jack102938]

Thanks for the help! They were safe upon my return 

[jack102938]

Thanks for the help! They were safe upon my return 

haha just re-read this thread - i was LUCKY

[coinbuyer]

am learning a lot here.
thanks people. so happy.

[Meuh6879]

1) buy 5 usb key
2) install bitcoin-core
3) use a new wallet every 2-5 BTC stored on
4) save like a picture ... from the bitcoin-core "file" menu

5) 2-3 years after
6) install bitcoin-core
7) rename the saves with wallet.dat
8 ) replace the wallet.dat by your wallet saved
9) spend BTC or move sum to an other bitcoin adress (wallet in smartphone for example)

only the way that i have tested succesfuly.
wallet in other way and from an other software (android, other windows soft) don't work ... they change the wallet.dat file every 6 months ...

[keithers]

Put them in a truecrypt container on an m-SD card, and keep that sdcard hidden behind your lightswitch, that way you won't lose them.

If you are doing this, then obviously keep more than one copy.   You probably want to put one where it is safe from natural disasters (such as fires or floods).

[djangocoin]

You need stick it on a memstick, then buy a rubber, pop the memstick inside, tie it in a knot, then stick it where the sun don't shine... nice and safe, just can't take a crap is all :]

[bitbaby]

Print a cpl of paper wallets on an "offline" computer that never goes online, make several paper copies of keys and save it on 2-3 encrypted usbs and also print them on paper and put them in your safe, that should keep them safe.

[Ron~Popeil]

Do you guys consider multiple sd cards a good option? I am going to be traveling next month and was planning to store an SD card in the owners closet of our condo. 

[DeathAndTaxes]

Do you guys consider multiple sd cards a good option? I am going to be traveling next month and was planning to store an SD card in the owners closet of our condo.  

SD cards can fail without warning but it is rare.  Personally I prefer paper but storing on multiple SD Cards should be secure enough.  Multiple copies exponentially reduces the chance of all copies being lost due to medium failure.  For peace of mind I like the backups to be in independent locations, to prevent all your backups being destroyed in one event (house fire destroys all three copies).  One copy in fireproof* safe at home, the other copy in safety deposit box.  A lot depends on how much you are securely storing. The precautions I would take for 100 BTC are a lot more than what I would take for 1 BTC.

* Keep in mind most "fireproof" safes are only designed to keep the interior of the safe below 350F when exposed to outside temperatures of 1500F for the rated period of time (usually 1 or 2 hours).  This is sufficient to keep paper from combusting in a normal house or light business structure fire.  Most electronic devices (including SD cards) will be destroyed if exposed to 350F for even a brief period of time.  So this is just one reason I like paper.  They do make media safes and media chests (designed to go inside a normal fireproof safe) which will keep the internal temperature much lower (usually around 125F) but one shouldn't assume they have a safe rated for media storage.

[Ron~Popeil]

Do you guys consider multiple sd cards a good option? I am going to be traveling next month and was planning to store an SD card in the owners closet of our condo.  

SD cards can fail without warning but it is rare.  Personally I prefer paper but storing on multiple SD Cards should be secure enough.  Multiple copies exponentially reduces the chance of all copies being lost due to medium failure.  For peace of mind I like the backups to be in independent locations, to prevent all your backups being destroyed in one event (house fire destroys all three copies).  One copy in fireproof* safe at home, the other copy in safety deposit box.  A lot depends on how much you are securely storing. The precautions I would take for 100 BTC are a lot more than what I would take for 1 BTC.

* Keep in mind most "fireproof" safes are only designed to keep the interior of the safe below 350F when exposed to outside temperatures of 1500F for the rated period of time (usually 1 or 2 hours).  This is sufficient to keep paper from combusting in a normal house or light business structure fire.  Most electronic devices (including SD cards) will be destroyed if exposed to 350F for even a brief period of time.  So this is just one reason I like paper.  They do make media safes and media chests (designed to go inside a normal fireproof safe) which will keep the internal temperature much lower (usually around 125F) but one shouldn't assume they have a safe rated for media storage.

Thanks for the information. I visit family in two states and our condo in Florida. I was thinking 2 in each location and two at home for redundancy.

If I encrypt the wallet before backing up the .dat files the copies will be encrypted as well. Is that correct? 

[LiteCoinGuy]

maybe:

https://xapo.com/home/



alot better than mylocalbtc i suppose...

[InwardContour]

Just secure them using a live Ubuntu cd in a cold storage bitcoin-qt wallet stored in several different usb keys / dvds.
Be sure to disconnect the pc from internet before doing this and you should be fine for years.

[Harley997]

Put them in a truecrypt container on an m-SD card, and keep that sdcard hidden behind your lightswitch, that way you won't lose them.

If you are doing this, then obviously keep more than one copy.   You probably want to put one where it is safe from natural disasters (such as fires or floods).

Most fire safes are designed to keep the interior of the safe at a low enough temperature so that paper will not burn, but at temperatures that could damage media (SD cards, DVDs, hard drives, ect.). If you are going to put any kind of data storage device in a fire safe you will need to make sure that it is rated to keep media protected. These safes are much more expensive then other fire safes so plan accordingly.

[williamj2543]

If I were doing long term storage, I would definitely go with xapo.com. They are actually insured, so if someone steals them they will cover it completely. They also charge an extremely low rate per year.

[Trader Steve]

Paper wallets (3 copies, each stored in a different location) created in a secure environment with the private key encrypted using BIP38. Here is a tool I created for myself and my clients:

http://coinkee.com

TraderSteve