The best Bitcoin cold storage?

[jparsley]

Looks safe, u should also have another backup

[MUFC]

I like to just keep offline wallet.dat files on a usb stick and a cd-r.

[Richy_T]

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!

Type? Maybe if you're one of those fancy big-city fellers.

[Baitty]

I just have a paper wallet which is kept in a fire proof safe I think that's enough to be honest unless they manage to steal the safe and happen to know how to use a Bitcoin wallet.

[Harley997]

Also, the passphrase for a direct SHA256 output needs to be *very* secure, as there are already many automated brainwallet harvester out there. I don't want to imagine how much hashingpower they are throwing at this. Your brainwallet is attacked since the instant it exists.

Really? If I transfer 100 BTC to a new brainwallet, how does anyone know that the address is a brainwallet that is worth attacking? Are people attacking every address that has significant funds?
[/quote]It isn't that people are targeting specific bitcoin addresses but are rather searching the public addresses of many possible brain wallets to check for bitcoin and if there is any they will send the bitcoin to an address that they control.

With a brain wallet there is little risk that you are targeted directly, but rather have the risk that an attacker will guess your password and steal your coins.

[williamj2543]

If I did own a lot of bitcoins I would just use xapo.com. I'm not trying to advertise or anything but they are fully insured, so it is simply not possible to lose your bitcoins. Also I could easily lose the private key, paper wallet, or wherever I stored it. My house could burn down, someone could steal it, too much risk.

[Trader Steve]

If I did own a lot of bitcoins I would just use xapo.com. I'm not trying to advertise or anything but they are fully insured, so it is simply not possible to lose your bitcoins. Also I could easily lose the private key, paper wallet, or wherever I stored it. My house could burn down, someone could steal it, too much risk.

If you don't have possession of the private keys then all you hold is a promissory note. Here is a tool I've created for myself and my clients:

http://coinkee.com

You can create something like this for yourself. Download the bitaddress.org files from the source and save them directly to a new flash drive and create a ubuntu LiveCD to boot up with before accessing the USB/bitaddress files. Don't connect to the internet and print your paper wallets using a printer cable to your printer (not wifi). Use the LiveCD and the USB for creating wallets only and for no other purpose.

Create BIP38 encrypted paper wallets with multiple copies (backups) and store them in geographically diverse locations (house, office, relative's home). Do this and you should be good to go. You can "cash" the paper wallets using wallets like Mycelium or Blockchain.info.

EDIT: You can create a custom Ubuntu LiveCD/USB with bitaddress.org pre-installed so you don't have to have a separate flash drive to hold the bitaddress files.

[deadmousehat]

i just use an old usb flashdisk and little dirty 
who wants to pick it up

[runam0k]

I just have a paper wallet which is kept in a fire proof safe I think that's enough to be honest unless they manage to steal the safe and happen to know how to use a Bitcoin wallet.

Whether they know how to use a Bitcoin wallet is not important.  If they steal the safe, your bitcoins are gone.  That's the important bit.

I think it's easier and perfectly safe to hide an Electrum wallet seed, say in two parts, in pictures or documents, for example.  That way you can copy it to several places, including online storage or email.  No one will know they contain the seed, unless you do something daft like tag them with "Electrum" or "wallet".

[dreamspark]

i just use an old usb flashdisk and little dirty 
who wants to pick it up

Just make sure you have more backups than that as USB sticks have known to stop working over a significant period of time.

[Gabe]

I saw an interesting guide on mining bitcoins that also covers the security elements and cold storage. There is a special USB that is being developed that hold's your private signature and cannot be hacked. If you are also new to mining it is also worth a read, Mining Digital Currencies Ultimate Guide

[InwardContour]

To store my btc savings I used the classic ubuntu live cd method.
While disconnected from internet you have to generate a wallet.dat and put it on various usb supports.
Then save your public addresses on a text file and send your btc on the cold wallet,
finally check from a block explorer if the transaction was successful.

[Gabe]

To store my btc savings I used the classic ubuntu live cd method.
While disconnected from internet you have to generate a wallet.dat and put it on various usb supports.
Then save your public addresses on a text file and send your btc on the cold wallet,
finally check from a block explorer if the transaction was successful.

In the link I posted it covers TREZOR, it will be released soon, I think all preorders are booked.

[minerpumpkin]

Oh I guess a few days ago there's been a post on reddit (I guess) about some water/fire(?)-proof paper that's supposed to be perfect for paperwallets!

[Ente]

Oh I guess a few days ago there's been a post on reddit (I guess) about some water/fire(?)-proof paper that's supposed to be perfect for paperwallets!

Yes, I saw that too.
If you rely on the paper being robust against water or mold or other things, you might be doing it wrong.
Have several copies. At some different physical locations. Don't use the same medium for all of them, and have at least one "plain" paper/metal/qr one.

While at it, solve the "what happens when I'm not able to retrieve them because of injury or memory loss or worse" problem too. :-)

Ente

[minerpumpkin]

Oh I guess a few days ago there's been a post on reddit (I guess) about some water/fire(?)-proof paper that's supposed to be perfect for paperwallets!

If you rely on the paper being robust against water or mold or other things, you might be doing it wrong.
Have several copies. At some different physical locations. Don't use the same medium for all of them, and have at least one "plain" paper/metal/qr one.

Exactly. Also consider splitting the key into multiple pieces (n-pieces) where you need at least a certain number (e.g. 1/2 * n) of those pieces to retrieve the key.

[BitcoinMillionaire]

I think it needs a bit more bling-bling. To be honest, I carry around my dollars in an adequately fat purse. Why would I keep my Bitcoin in a sub-standard keychain?

[BillyBobJoe]

- You can seal them with some varnish and know when they were tampered with.

I recently saw a suggestion to use sparkle/glitter nail polish to seal something. Each dab drys unique. You can tell if it has been tampered with or even take a picture to see if it is the original dab.

[BitcoinMillionaire]

- You can seal them with some varnish and know when they were tampered with.

I recently saw a suggestion to use sparkle/glitter nail polish to seal something. Each dab drys unique. You can tell if it has been tampered with or even take a picture to see if it is the original dab.

Awesome! That way we even had more bling-bling in the Bitcoin world! I like that idea A LOT!

[Beliathon]

#3 paper wallet stored in safety deposit box
#2 crypto cards
#1 Brain Wallet*

*But not if you're a moron