Wallets with providers

[czechkid]

Im still new to bitcoin services and I have this question...

If I have all my bitcoins at any wallet provider like Xapo, Coinbase etc...web or app...and they for whatever reason shut down. My bitcoins are lost correct?

Thank you

[jonnybravo0311]

Im still new to bitcoin services and I have this question...

If I have all my bitcoins at any wallet provider like Xapo, Coinbase etc...web or app...and they for whatever reason shut down. My bitcoins are lost correct?

Thank you

Pretty much, unless you have control over the private keys for those wallets.  This is why you don't want to keep your coin on any online service.

[Amph]

they does offer some kind of insurance, against fraud or other things, like circle does, otherwise it would be pointless to keep your coin on their cold wallet

it's true that the whole point of bitcoin is to have full control of your money, but apparently not many can do this work, right, and they still need a central activity to do their work for them

[czechkid]

well i keep my bitcoin on  computer program therefore im good right?
Its interesting these services work...imagine...coinbase wants to shut down today...how rich they would be

[ikydesu]

well i keep my bitcoin on  computer program therefore im good right?
Its interesting these services work...imagine...coinbase wants to shut down today...how rich they would be

That's why don't stored your coins on exchanger.
better to use cold wallet(you can save your private key).


~iki

[tyz]

Yes, if you are able to export the private key you probably can restore your Bitcoins when the service did not scammed you. But usually your Bitcoins are completely lost.

[Nowi]

Yes your bitcoins will be lost. But they are not save anywhere except paper wallet. But low ammouts are good on your own pc's wallet. Good is MultiBit.

[Brewins]

Im still new to bitcoin services and I have this question...

If I have all my bitcoins at any wallet provider like Xapo, Coinbase etc...web or app...and they for whatever reason shut down. My bitcoins are lost correct?

Thank you

Yes, unless they give your bitcoins back to your for some reason, or warn you before they shut down

[Lorenzo]

No mention of Blockchain.info?

They are one of the few online wallet providers that give users access to their own private keys. This means that even if they were to shut down, you would still be able to recover your bitcoins.

Someone posted another thread a few weeks ago asking if there were any other online wallet providers which offered a similar type of service and so far, Blockchain.info seems to be unique in this regard. It also explains why they are so popular:

http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1076837

There should also be a distinction between what is meant by the term "online wallet" vs. "offline wallet". On one end of the extreme, you could choose to store your coins on a shady exchange's online wallet which could shut down and disappear with your coins at any moment. Then there are the more "legitimate" online wallet services like Circle and Xapo which claim to insure your deposits in case something goes wrong. However, insurance is a legal matter and not a technical one. Insured Bitcoin wallet services are still a very new thing and it's not known whether or not they will actually pay out in the event of a massive loss. Personally, I wouldn't put much trust into these services.

Then you have Blockchain.info and multi-sig online wallets where you actually have some actual control over your coins on a technical level since you own the private key to your addresses. This is safer than the above and are probably suitable for storing medium amounts of BTC.

Moving onto offline wallets, there are lightweight wallets like Electrum and MultiBit which communicate with and depend on external servers to send and receive transactions and the default Bitcoin-Qt wallet which requires you to download the entire blockchain and be a full node. Finally, on the other extreme end of the spectrum, there are offline paper wallets. Compared with all the other options, paper wallets that have been generated in a secure manner using an offline computer are supposed to be the safest storage method and are recommended for storing larger amounts.

[Muhammed Zakir]

No mention of Blockchain.info?

They are one of the few online wallet providers that give users access to their own private keys. This means that even if they were to shut down, you would still be able to recover your bitcoins.

Someone posted another thread a few weeks ago asking if there were any other online wallet providers which offered a similar type of service and so far, Blockchain.info seems to be unique in this regard. It also explains why they are so popular:

http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1076837

 -snip-

Then you have Blockchain.info and multi-sig online wallets where you actually have some actual control over your coins on a technical level since you own the private key to your addresses. This is safer than the above and are probably suitable for storing medium amounts of BTC.

 -snip-

Blockchain.info is not at all a secure wallet. Stop recommending it to users. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1085983.0

[DevOfDev]

Im still new to bitcoin services and I have this question...

If I have all my bitcoins at any wallet provider like Xapo, Coinbase etc...web or app...and they for whatever reason shut down. My bitcoins are lost correct?

Thank you

Why you not try use Bitcoin Core ?
we can back up wallet key (private key) than u save on external hardisk, MMC, Flashdisk, or like that
and your coin now safe

[notlist3d]

There are a lot to be said or USB drives and paper wallets.  You control every aspect of the wallet this way.

But there is a need for hot wallets.   For these use small amounts in hot wallets.   This way if anything bad happens your majority is stored offline.  With it being online there is always a risk.   But in some cases a needed risk.

[JamesCB]

Im still new to bitcoin services and I have this question...

If I have all my bitcoins at any wallet provider like Xapo, Coinbase etc...web or app...and they for whatever reason shut down. My bitcoins are lost correct?

Thank you

Use multibit or mycelium in mobile so you have control in your private keys

[edric]

I think the best way will be to store your coins offline. Only get them out when needed, otherwise keep it safe in a cold-storage. Why to risk your coins by keeping all of them at one online platform.

[JarvisTechnology]

If you need bitcoin wallet in your phone, don't choose online wallet. You better choose mycelium where you can get the private key
But, if you really need online wallet. Make sure you give strong password & enable 2FA

Hey can you please tell what is mycelium? Is it a mobile app for keeping coins offline? I am looking for a reliable mobile app which I can keep offline and always accessible to me. Does mycelium have the same functionality?

[twister]

If you need bitcoin wallet in your phone, don't choose online wallet. You better choose mycelium where you can get the private key
But, if you really need online wallet. Make sure you give strong password & enable 2FA

Hey can you please tell what is mycelium? Is it a mobile app for keeping coins offline? I am looking for a reliable mobile app which I can keep offline and always accessible to me. Does mycelium have the same functionality?

Mycelium is BTC Android wallet, it is pretty reliable, what you can do is if you want to keep your coins offline, put them on paper wallets and Mycelium has an import wallet feature so you can import the address which contains the offline funds, use them and send the rest to another offline/paper wallet to use later.

[Scamalert]

Never store all your funds at one place, every sollution have each of its advantages.
Storing all your bitcoins at one place is the same as cashing out your life safeing and keep it in you bag or under the bed. Spread out, store you bitcoins on different types of medias.

[Herbert2020]

Im still new to bitcoin services and I have this question...

If I have all my bitcoins at any wallet provider like Xapo, Coinbase etc...web or app...and they for whatever reason shut down. My bitcoins are lost correct?

Thank you

check out bitcoin.org the page on choose your wallet. you can see almost every wallet that is created for bitcoin and understand the pros and cons of any of them.
wallets like XAPO and coinbase don't give you your private keys so if you lose access to the website, you lose access to your coins.

[ikydesu]

If you need bitcoin wallet in your phone, don't choose online wallet. You better choose mycelium where you can get the private key
But, if you really need online wallet. Make sure you give strong password & enable 2FA

Hey can you please tell what is mycelium? Is it a mobile app for keeping coins offline? I am looking for a reliable mobile app which I can keep offline and always accessible to me. Does mycelium have the same functionality?

Mycelium is the best wallet mobile app i think, never get any problem since first time i used.
also you can find here details: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=814907.0


~iki

[ranochigo]

I think the best way will be to store your coins offline. Only get them out when needed, otherwise keep it safe in a cold-storage. Why to risk your coins by keeping all of them at one online platform.

It is a huge hassle to spend any of the coins if you are looking to store everything offline. If you want, you can store a majority of them offline. You can still store them on your mobile phone or desktop computer. Sure they may not be as safe as cold storage but if you do take security precautions, you can easily make it as secure as any offline cold storage.