The best Bitcoin cold storage?

[QuestionAuthority]

I will be offering Bitcoin Private keys laser engraved in diamonds pretty soon. It's a little bit more complicated then originally expected so there are a few things to work out still, but my service is coming. :-)

Sounds like a James Bond movie "Diamonds Are Forever Your Bitcoins".

[TheButterZone]

Instead of the "forever" echo in the theme song, it would be "diamonds are forever... (your bitcoins, your bitcoins)". LOL

[marcus_of_augustus]

I will be offering Bitcoin Private keys laser engraved in diamonds pretty soon. It's a little bit more complicated then originally expected so there are a few things to work out still, but my service is coming. :-)

Short of killing the engraver (or data entry person) ... how have you got around the security leak of sharing private keys with the engraver?

[Dabs]

I will be offering Bitcoin Private keys laser engraved in diamonds pretty soon. It's a little bit more complicated then originally expected so there are a few things to work out still, but my service is coming. :-)

Short of killing the engraver (or data entry person) ... how have you got around the security leak of sharing private keys with the engraver?

I'll make a guess. Completely computerized, disconnected from the internet, automatic engraving machine. For absolute security, the client will go to the location to pick up his or her choice of diamond (or bring your own), and engrave the private key on the spot, with only the client knowing the private key.

The engraving machine then engraves the key, much like a printer prints on paper.

Then it clears it's memory and resets, and you can verify that the machine no longer has your private key. Or reasonably sure it is securely deleted.

[Richy_T]

Diamonds will burn at about 1562°F (850°C). House fires and jewelers’ torches can reach that temperature.

It seems that house fires are unlikely to get that hot usually but something to bear in mind.

[DaFockBro]

I'm planning on getting one of these:

http://www.jazebra.com/images/product-shots/pill-fob/magnum-01-175x134.jpg

The ones offered on this website are supposedly survival-proof, airtight and also a tad expensive.
http://www.jazebra.com/pill-fob.html

You can get them from Deal Extreme for $1.5 (dunno about the quality) and I've also found this one on amazon (also airtight) for $5
http://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Airtight-Pill-Holder-Keychain/dp/B0012NL9BI?SubscriptionId=AKIAI3W5KMBCWAZXJLTA&tag=surgeagur-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0012NL9BI

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31eu9WVKFKL._AA300_.jpg

I could generate a key on an offline computer/secure computer and then keep the private key locked in there:

Pros:

- They are airtight and waterproof
- I suppose they would resist a fire if they're good quality
- The paper with the would not deteriorate
- They are small and can be carried around or hidden.
- You can seal them with some varnish and know when they were tampered with.

What do you think?

Are you supposed to put that in your butt?

[ManeBjorn]

I used two methods.
The first I put one copy of my wallet in my gun safe.
It's fireproof to a huge temp.  I printed it and laminated it.  I also put in on a metal plate in the safe.
The 2nd is backed up to 4 flash drives one in a safe deposit at the bank one is hidden in the house.  Another in a family members safe and the last at my best friends house in his safe.  Each USB drive is encrypted and passcoded.
I went nuts I just don't want to lose access the the tiny amount I have.

[dissident]

Make a paper wallet using the link in my signature. If you are paranoid print your paper wallets using "hiren's boot CD" disconnected from the internet with the print spooler turned off.  Buy a cheap laminator and the credit card sized laminating pads from wally-fart. Print your wallet and private key and follow the directions. The private key cannot be exposed unless the lamination is cut open and the cold storage is now fairly weatherproof and you can make multiple copies of a single wallet for a safe deposit box or whatever.

It would be fairly difficult to break open the lamination without anyone noticing, or adding personal identification or watermarks underneath, so it might be useful for selling... can only be returned if lamination is intact, etc. I'd use a UV marker to the underside of the lamination before laminating then you can detect of the lamination is your original lamination.. all sorts of ideas along those lines.

I love laminating things. What self respecting male doesn't love playing with fire, or heat and melting things?

[ManeBjorn]

Laminating is fun.
For quite a while years ago I laminated tons of stuff just to do it like a dork.  My girlfriend at the time (now Wife) thought I was goofy.  Joke was on her when we had moved and a couple boxes got wet.  She was so happy I had laminated a couple of her certifications.  She did not lose them.

Make a paper wallet using the link in my signature. If you are paranoid print your paper wallets using "hiren's boot CD" disconnected from the internet with the print spooler turned off.  Buy a cheap laminator and the credit card sized laminating pads from wally-fart. Print your wallet and private key and follow the directions. The private key cannot be exposed unless the lamination is cut open and the cold storage is now fairly weatherproof and you can make multiple copies of a single wallet for a safe deposit box or whatever.

I love laminating things. What self respecting male doesn't love playing with fire, or heat and melting things?

[dissident]

Laminating is fun.
For quite a while years ago I laminated tons of stuff just to do it like a dork.  My girlfriend at the time (now Wife) thought I was goofy.  Joke was on her when we had moved and a couple boxes got wet.  She was so happy I had laminated a couple of her certifications.  She did not lose them.

Make a paper wallet using the link in my signature. If you are paranoid print your paper wallets using "hiren's boot CD" disconnected from the internet with the print spooler turned off.  Buy a cheap laminator and the credit card sized laminating pads from wally-fart. Print your wallet and private key and follow the directions. The private key cannot be exposed unless the lamination is cut open and the cold storage is now fairly weatherproof and you can make multiple copies of a single wallet for a safe deposit box or whatever.

I love laminating things. What self respecting male doesn't love playing with fire, or heat and melting things?

nice. My newest thing is storing all my account passwords on "lastpass" .. all of them are now random gibberish passwords generated from password generators... the master password to lastpass is a random password I have laminated into a QR code stored in my physical wallet and safe deposit box. The password to the main google account associated with all my important accounts including lastpass has it's own random  password that is also laminated as a QR code.. this password is not stored on lastpass. Both are protected by google 2 factor authentication. As secure as I can make it and no longer have to remember passwords. I have an "MS-1690" 2D USB barcode scanner I bought on ebay recently to scan these barcodes if I'm not using a phone (which I don't and have the mobile bypass feature turned off)

"I just scored 97.4% on the LastPass Security Challenge ranking 1678th overall. It securely analyzes the strength of your passwords, alerts you if you have any duplicate or weak passwords, and tells you how to make them more secure."

https://i.imgur.com/WUtFKdU.png

I also made and laminated a series of barcodes for work since we use barcode scanners as part of the job and have to change passwords and remember usernames and sometimes relogin to buggy java software that freezes every hour or two, the barcodes come in handy.

This brings up another little thing I enjoy doing.. making complex 2D barcodes of various types and with various texts.. I don't know why barcodes fascinate me... I can't imagine before the days of bar codes and self checkout having to wait behind a line of old farmer joes as they manually type in the price of everything by hand.. I'd go crazy!

[ManeBjorn]

Now that is some work that comes in handy.
Even barcodes that is cool.
I have not gotten that creative yet but you have given me ideas. 

Laminating is fun.
For quite a while years ago I laminated tons of stuff just to do it like a dork.  My girlfriend at the time (now Wife) thought I was goofy.  Joke was on her when we had moved and a couple boxes got wet.  She was so happy I had laminated a couple of her certifications.  She did not lose them.

Make a paper wallet using the link in my signature. If you are paranoid print your paper wallets using "hiren's boot CD" disconnected from the internet with the print spooler turned off.  Buy a cheap laminator and the credit card sized laminating pads from wally-fart. Print your wallet and private key and follow the directions. The private key cannot be exposed unless the lamination is cut open and the cold storage is now fairly weatherproof and you can make multiple copies of a single wallet for a safe deposit box or whatever.

I love laminating things. What self respecting male doesn't love playing with fire, or heat and melting things?

nice. My newest thing is storing all my account passwords on "lastpass" .. all of them are now random gibberish passwords generated from password generators... the master password to lastpass is a random password I have laminated into a QR code stored in my physical wallet and safe deposit box. The password to the main google account associated with all my important accounts including lastpass has it's own random  password that is also laminated as a QR code.. this password is not stored on lastpass. Both are protected by google 2 factor authentication. As secure as I can make it and no longer have to remember passwords. I have an "MS-1690" 2D USB barcode scanner I bought on ebay recently to scan these barcodes if I'm not using a phone (which I don't and have the mobile bypass feature turned off)

"I just scored 97.4% on the LastPass Security Challenge ranking 1678th overall. It securely analyzes the strength of your passwords, alerts you if you have any duplicate or weak passwords, and tells you how to make them more secure."

I also made and laminated a series of barcodes for work since we use barcode scanners as part of the job and have to change passwords and remember usernames and sometimes relogin to buggy java software that freezes every hour or two, the barcodes come in handy.

This brings up another little thing I enjoy doing.. making complex 2D barcodes of various types and with various texts.. I don't know why barcodes fascinate me... I can't imagine before the days of bar codes and self checkout having to wait behind a line of old farmer joes as they manually type in the price of everything by hand.. I'd go crazy!

[Autobansux]

Armory paper wallet packup, with a 2-of-3 recovery option, or 3-of-5 or whatever.

As long as you're the only one who knows the location of ALL 2 (or 3) pieces needed to restore, it doesn't matter if one of the pieces burns.

[dissident]

Armory paper wallet packup, with a 2-of-3 recovery option, or 3-of-5 or whatever.

As long as you're the only one who knows the location of ALL 2 (or 3) pieces needed to restore, it doesn't matter if one of the pieces burns.

very sweet.

[Sheldor333]

Just thought I'd introduce you to new little stainless steel bitcoin cold storage wallets that are laser etched and fireproof, almost indestructible. We think the pricing is on point and hopefully you love them as much as I do! Feedback (and orders) is appreciated.
https://ColdCoins.co

Someone recommended the following method to me and it is really an outstanding way to secure your wallet AND add redundancy. My friend compared it to the horcruxes in Harry Potter.
-First, You'll want to boot into linux (you can do this on a flash drive, if you don't know how to do this, comment here and I will be happy to help you out) and do not connect to the internet at all.
-Second, you should already have the java applets www.bitaddress.org and www.passguardian.com saved on a flash drive. You'll need to access these files (they'll open in the internet browser.
-Third, the bitaddress applet will generate a public key (bitcoin address) and a private key (the password you need to extract your bitcoins). Save the public key somewhere (perhaps the flash drive) so that you can send BTC into that BTC address.
-Fourth, copy the private key and open the passguardian applet. You will want to select split a secret. Here you will paste the private key into the box that says "secret to share".
-Next, you select the number of shares (i usually pick 7) and threshold (i usually pick 4). This means that you will receive 7 different passcodes and in order to recover your "secret" you need to have any 4 of the 7 shares.
So passing it out to 7 shares to 7 people that you could trust, parents get one, sister, friends, etc. But shit happens. People lose stuff, houses burn down, people get robbed. If you set it up this way, you only have to rely on 4 out of 7 people to actually keep that share.

[YourFriendlyNig]

Just thought I'd introduce you to new little stainless steel bitcoin cold storage wallets that are laser etched and fireproof, almost indestructible. We think the pricing is on point and hopefully you love them as much as I do! Feedback (and orders) is appreciated.
https://ColdCoins.co

Someone recommended the following method to me and it is really an outstanding way to secure your wallet AND add redundancy. My friend compared it to the horcruxes in Harry Potter.
-First, You'll want to boot into linux (you can do this on a flash drive, if you don't know how to do this, comment here and I will be happy to help you out) and do not connect to the internet at all.
-Second, you should already have the java applets www.bitaddress.org and www.passguardian.com saved on a flash drive. You'll need to access these files (they'll open in the internet browser.
-Third, the bitaddress applet will generate a public key (bitcoin address) and a private key (the password you need to extract your bitcoins). Save the public key somewhere (perhaps the flash drive) so that you can send BTC into that BTC address.
-Fourth, copy the private key and open the passguardian applet. You will want to select split a secret. Here you will paste the private key into the box that says "secret to share".
-Next, you select the number of shares (i usually pick 7) and threshold (i usually pick 4). This means that you will receive 7 different passcodes and in order to recover your "secret" you need to have any 4 of the 7 shares.
So passing it out to 7 shares to 7 people that you could trust, parents get one, sister, friends, etc. But shit happens. People lose stuff, houses burn down, people get robbed. If you set it up this way, you only have to rely on 4 out of 7 people to actually keep that share.

Copy and paste from Reddit? Also, whenever I try to get to ColdCoins in doesn't load the page:(

[chessnut]

Guys, what do you think about buying an android phone with the sole purpose of keeping bitcoins? would that be safe?
One could encrypt the backup folder onto a USB stick or your computer, and keep the phone in cold storage - never mind having a sim card or anything.

would the bitcoin app for Android phones be secure to do this? you could also set a key to unlock your phone.

[Cassius]

Guys, what do you think about buying an android phone with the sole purpose of keeping bitcoins? would that be safe?
One could encrypt the backup folder onto a USB stick or your computer, and keep the phone in cold storage - never mind having a sim card or anything.

would the bitcoin app for Android phones be secure to do this? you could also set a key to unlock your phone.

Android is bad news for malware. Cold storage should be just that: totally offline.
I've experimented with the punches. I modified a python script on mini private keys (google it for the original) to use only caps and numbers. You still get 145 bits of entropy, which is stronger than the original Casascius coins and should do the job fine.
I'd been playing with the idea of coin rings for my wife's Christmas present, so I banged an all-caps mini private key into a 50 eurocent coin (Nordic gold, thick, malleable, hypoallergenic...) and turned it into a ring using a mandrel and hammer. Nice, chunky, manly ring with the code faintly visible on the inside (especially after being given the fire treatment like in Lord of the Rings). The one problem is that anyone who knew that's what it was could steal your coins, but 1) that's true of any form of cold storage, 2) they'd have to know about it, and 3) they'd have to get it off my finger first, and then get to a computer faster than me (I memorised the code for good measure).

I'd love to make these for other people, but haven't figured out a straightforward way of doing it without trust. Unlike Casascius, I'm not prepared to give out my home address in the interests of transparency.

If I ever own enough btc to make it worthwhile, I'll probably experiment with saline etching of stainless steel and bang some more keys into aluminium blocks, like little metal bricks. Reckon you could hide them in stud walls, under floor boards, or wherever - varnish or oil them to make sure there would be no corrosion first if they came into contact with damp.

[Cassius]

Guys, what do you think about buying an android phone with the sole purpose of keeping bitcoins? would that be safe?
One could encrypt the backup folder onto a USB stick or your computer, and keep the phone in cold storage - never mind having a sim card or anything.

would the bitcoin app for Android phones be secure to do this? you could also set a key to unlock your phone.

Oops, missed the bit about not having a sim card!
Still not sure I'd trust something like a phone. But writing them to the sim card itself might be a cool option.

[chessnut]

Guys, what do you think about buying an android phone with the sole purpose of keeping bitcoins? would that be safe?
One could encrypt the backup folder onto a USB stick or your computer, and keep the phone in cold storage - never mind having a sim card or anything.

would the bitcoin app for Android phones be secure to do this? you could also set a key to unlock your phone.

Oops, missed the bit about not having a sim card!
Still not sure I'd trust something like a phone. But writing them to the sim card itself might be a cool option.

Yeah, what one would have to know is how the private key is protected from google apps - if google apps be the problem.

If I can find the courage/reason to trust basic default google apps on my phone, then I think it would be a pretty cool solution to cold storage. I could connect it to wifi whenever needed, easy to use, and keep it in cold storage for the rest of the time. most android phones have a pin option to unlock the phone also.

I think the android phone will be the model for hand held bitcoin wallets to come.

[eafdeafd]

Everyone knows Mt Gox is the perfect Bitcoin cold storage solution.