Best wallet for cold storage

[PenguinFire]

Memorize 15-20 random words from a large dictionary. Take up to a week to memorize them, ensuring that you can recollect them even if someone woke you in the middle of the night.

Use a well known hash function to converts those words to a (sequence of) large integer(s). This is (are) your private key(s). This needs to be done carefully as the wrong way could render your system insecure. I would suggest

seed = SHA256(word1 || SHA256(word2) || SHA256(word3)... ) as the starting seed
and then use

SHA256(seed || i) to get the ith private key.

You have a (decently) unbreakable wallet now. Of course you need some coding skills to do this.

....yeah that works.  or you could just use electrum.

This. Electrum will fill the job.  It is very, very safe and like most other cold wallets.

 I am not up for remembering 16 words.  What if people did that for bank accounts?  At a point, it gets silly unless you have like 2 million USD invested into bitcoin.  Some people act like their security is worth going beyond everything for 500 USD worth of bitcoin.  lol  Would you do expect all this for a bank account that has 500 USD in?

[bornil267645]

I think Trezor wallet has the best options among the recent bunch.

https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-trezor-review-promo-code/

[LFC_Bitcoin]

ive heard great things about trezor wallets, id say its worth looking into them.
https://www.bitcointrezor.com/

http://www.coindesk.com/review-bitcoin-vault-trezor-lives-name/

+1

@OP

I can highly recommend investing in a Trezor if you plan to store substantial amounts of bitcoin securely. Even if you lose or break your Trezor then your funds are still recoverable with a generated seed which obviously you must keep safe.

For secure long term saving/storage I recommend Trezor, Bitcoin Core & paper wallets. Don't take any risks, keep your bitcoins safe.

[GenTarkin]

Trezor is pretty awesome. Can have any number of wallets hidden behind not only the PIN but also behind passwords. A different password used is a different wallet(collection of addresses) tree. All derived from the same backup seed. Also, from what Ive read, using electrum-ltc you can generate an LTC(seperate seed/wallets w/ passwords) wallet in trezor alongside ur BTC wallet.

[pereira4]

Trezor is pretty awesome. Can have any number of wallets hidden behind not only the PIN but also behind passwords. A different password used is a different wallet(collection of addresses) tree. All derived from the same backup seed. Also, from what Ive read, using electrum-ltc you can generate an LTC(seperate seed/wallets w/ passwords) wallet in trezor alongside ur BTC wallet.

But it's prone to failure. A pass protected piece of paper wrapped in fireproof material will survive floods, fires and any other external factors, that's something trezor is missing.

[bitbaby]

Hi,
I'm going to save some Bitcoins for the future. Which is the safest way to store them?
I was thinking about a wallet on a usb flash drive. Which wallet should I choose?

Thank you

It depends on how many Bitcoins you're planning on saving. If they're upto 10 then I think Offline electrum wallet with it's seed stored somewhere safe will do or laminated Paper wallets and keys put on encrypted pen drives for extra security would be ok but if you're planning to store more than that then a Hardware wallet like Trezor might be best for you.

[GenTarkin]

Trezor is pretty awesome. Can have any number of wallets hidden behind not only the PIN but also behind passwords. A different password used is a different wallet(collection of addresses) tree. All derived from the same backup seed. Also, from what Ive read, using electrum-ltc you can generate an LTC(seperate seed/wallets w/ passwords) wallet in trezor alongside ur BTC wallet.

But it's prone to failure. A pass protected piece of paper wrapped in fireproof material will survive floods, fires and any other external factors, that's something trezor is missing.

Nope, the trezor is backed up by a single (1 for btc wallets, 1 additional for LTC wallets Im guessing) BIP standard HD mnemonic seed. Write that down on paper and store the way you mentioned. You pretty much have a highly functional cold storage / hot storage setup.
Even if the HD seed is compromised, they would still have to know ur password to the wallets ur actually using =)

[jonald_fyookball]

Hi,
I'm going to save some Bitcoins for the future. Which is the safest way to store them?
I was thinking about a wallet on a usb flash drive. Which wallet should I choose?

Thank you

It depends on how many Bitcoins you're planning on saving. If they're upto 10 then I think Offline electrum wallet with it's seed stored somewhere safe will do or laminated Paper wallets and keys put on encrypted pen drives for extra security would be ok but if you're planning to store more than that then a Hardware wallet like Trezor might be best for you.

not sure why a trezor would be higher security than offline electrum.

[OROBTC]

...

LiteCoinGuy's thread on hardware is excellent re keeping up with hardware wallets.

I only have used Ledger Nano and Trezor.  Both have worked just fine.  The Ledger "seems" more physically sturdy. 

The Ledger is also fairly cheap.  If price matters, Ledger Nano. 

Ledger Nano (once you have set it up on a clean -- no malware -- computer) allows you to then use it on any connected computer (even if laden with viruses, etc.).

*   *   *

I am looking forward to a new product apparently coming soon from Switzerland: https://digitalbitbox.com/

[GenTarkin]

Hi,
I'm going to save some Bitcoins for the future. Which is the safest way to store them?
I was thinking about a wallet on a usb flash drive. Which wallet should I choose?

Thank you

It depends on how many Bitcoins you're planning on saving. If they're upto 10 then I think Offline electrum wallet with it's seed stored somewhere safe will do or laminated Paper wallets and keys put on encrypted pen drives for extra security would be ok but if you're planning to store more than that then a Hardware wallet like Trezor might be best for you.

not sure why a trezor would be higher security than offline electrum.

The security is probably close to the same, the advantage w/ the trezor is you can use it as a hot wallet but have the security of a cold wallet. Heck, I use my trezor w/ mycelium on android phone. Theres nothing like being able to spend on the go w/ the security of a cold storage wallet =)

[GenTarkin]

...

LiteCoinGuy's thread on hardware is excellent re keeping up with hardware wallets.

I only have used Ledger Nano and Trezor.  Both have worked just fine.  The Ledger "seems" more physically sturdy. 

The Ledger is also fairly cheap.  If price matters, Ledger Nano. 

Ledger Nano (once you have set it up on a clean -- no malware -- computer) allows you to then use it on any connected computer (even if laden with viruses, etc.).

*   *   *

I am looking forward to a new product apparently coming soon from Switzerland: https://digitalbitbox.com/

Ledger is crap, I have the open source version of it: HW.1, I wouldnt trust any BTC to the device. Has very little software wallet support(greenaddress) which is a piece of shit. Sure, ledger has their own wallet but its online and closed source last I heard. Also the device firmware itself is closed source. Also, if u forget the PIN just 3 times it wipes itself, thats not cool. Has nowhere near the features of trezor.
Lets just say after testing both trezor & HW.1, I trust the trezor WAAAAAY more.
The multiple wallets(yes multiple wallets, not just addresses) behind as many passwords as you can think of on trezor, all backed up by one seed is what I absolutely love about it.
Trezors way of anti keyboard sniffer hacking the PIN is also ingenious, that security is impossible to do w/ a ledger.

[OROBTC]

[...]
Lets just say after testing both trezor & HW.1, I trust the trezor WAAAAAY more.
[...]

Thank you, GenTarkin, for your review, you have clearly tested both Ledger Nano and Trezor more than I have, and have a better understanding than I do.

But, I have not had any problems with the Ledger.  Yes, owners do have to be careful to not enter a wrong password.

Trezor does have one issue I do not like however.  Should someone STEAL it, they can see your transactions and balances, Trezor asks for a password when you send BTC.  Ledger makes you enter the password before peeking to see what's inside...



EDIT: Yes, I like Trezor's 2FA better than Ledger's.

[funkenstein]

Why would you use some " wallet " ?   You only want to store a private key!!!

For cold storage, you don't need a "wallet", you need paper or a usb key or something like that. 

Perhaps the question should be what wallet do you use for importing a cold storage private key for signing transactions offline? 



 

[GenTarkin]

Why would you use some " wallet " ?   You only want to store a private key!!!

For cold storage, you don't need a "wallet", you need paper or a usb key or something like that.  

Perhaps the question should be what wallet do you use for importing a cold storage private key for signing transactions offline?  



  

The whole point is, what if you could have a hot wallet that has the security of a cold storage single priv key?
Thats what trezor offers =)
Trezor allows you to have as many unknown wallets as passwords you can remember in your head. Better yet, a single mnemonic seed backs up all of those wallets. That seed would be the trezor's "cold storage" =) ... But unlike traditional cold storage, that single seed restores all of ur keys in all the wallets u created w/ trezor. Additionally, because trezor's seed is based on a BIP, its restorable via any wallet that correctly supports that BIP(in the case you dont have another trezor).

[errornone]

breadwallet in an old iphone you don't use anymore.

[mooseCavalry]

Take a strip of metal and carve your (unencrypted) private key into it and bury it somewhere.
You can also take a piece of polished granite to carve your private key, this way it will not be detectable by a metal detector.

Recommend using a non-ferromagnetic material with good corrosion resistance, like aluminum or high-quality stainless steel.  If you believe hand carving to be intimidating or too time consuming, you can buy a metal punch kit to make the impressions (with a hammer of sorts).

Once complete, add clear coat for some initial resistance to the elements. Real paranoia would be doing this with 2/3 key multisig in 3 different plots of land, or with backup copies, etc.

[madonnino]

to keep my bitcoin on the long term I created of paper wallet from an offline computer, and I put them in the bank, I feel comfortable whit this solution

[Amph]

Why would you use some " wallet " ?   You only want to store a private key!!!

For cold storage, you don't need a "wallet", you need paper or a usb key or something like that.  

Perhaps the question should be what wallet do you use for importing a cold storage private key for signing transactions offline?  



  

The whole point is, what if you could have a hot wallet that has the security of a cold storage single priv key?
Thats what trezor offers =)
Trezor allows you to have as many unknown wallets as passwords you can remember in your head. Better yet, a single mnemonic seed backs up all of those wallets. That seed would be the trezor's "cold storage" =) ... But unlike traditional cold storage, that single seed restores all of ur keys in all the wallets u created w/ trezor. Additionally, because trezor's seed is based on a BIP, its restorable via any wallet that correctly supports that BIP(in the case you dont have another trezor).

what if you can replicate this with another computer separated from your network, thus in a isolated enviroment but still connected to the internet, where you only do transaction of bitcoin and nothing else, so no browsing no DLing anything no clicking random link ecc...?

i firmly believe that with the right tools you can have an hot wallet that is secure like a cold walelt

[Pursuer]

Hi,
I'm going to save some Bitcoins for the future. Which is the safest way to store them?
I was thinking about a wallet on a usb flash drive. Which wallet should I choose?

Thank you

I think the best wallet to use for cold storage is using a Paper wallet.
but if you don't have a printer like me you might encounter some problems .

I hear Electrum is nice and easy to use offline.

[Somekindabitcoin]

Best hardware wallet should be Trezor, you can find it here: https://www.bitcointrezor.com/
Paper wallets are not as safe as you think, just do a small research and you will know