Bitcoin : Lifespan of storage media - What will you choose?

[Kakmakr]

We regularly see people posting about storing bitcoins on different digital media, but have we considered what the lifespan of these media are?

Media    Estimated Lifespan
Magnetic data (tapes)    10-20 years
Nintendo cartridge    Up to 10 years
Floppy disk    10-20 years
CDs and DVDs    5-10 unrecorded, 2-5 recorded
Blu-Ray    Not certain, probably over 2-5 recorded
M-Disc    1,000 years (theoretically)
Hard disk    3-5 years
Flash storage    5-10 years or more (depends on write cycles)

Source : http://www.storagecraft.com/blog/data-storage-lifespan/

Then, let's compare it with paper or laminated paper {plastic} under different conditions. https://www.quora.com/Archives-and-Archiving/How-long-will-paper-documents-last

Archivists have discovered the hard way that using ordinary lamination plastic for old documents, newspapers, photos, etc., does not preserve them.  The best way to preserve them is to store them in a dark place after placing in acid-free Mylar film (not laminated).  Ordinary lamination material still permits light rays to pass through it and to cause a chemical reaction to the acid that most modern paper and modern dyes contain, and that ALL old documents photos contain.  This causes deterioration of paper and fading of the paper and print.  The heat and pressure of most lamination processes also damages documents.

Source : http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~george/preserving_photos.html

Let's see what we can come up, after a little research was done on the topic. [ Lifespan of different material eg. plastic / ink / metals / Stone ..... ] and then we find the best media to store our Bitcoin address and private key. ^Smile^

edited

[CryptoYeti]

I would suggest multiple methods. If this is truly for long-term you may not have immediate access to some of those technologies in 20 years time, magnetic tape for instance. The best solution may be to store multiple copies and then if technology changes, copy them over to a new format ever 10 years or so.

For example, if you still have some important files on a floppy from 20 years ago, you would probably want to move that to a new medium such as a USB drive. Again, making multiple copies in case one would fail. You could even spread it out to a few different technologies if you really wanted to be safe. The in 10-20 years (or sooner), when USB drives are beginning to become uncommon, you would again transfer to the prevalent storage medium of the time.

Also, whether it is laminated paper or usb drives, your best bet is to store them away in a dark, cool, dry environment, such as in a safe or safe deposit box. This not only secures against theft, but helps preserve the medium as you mentioned above.

[Mickeyb]

If you want to preserve them somehow yes, but you can just have your private key remembered by heart or copy it on one device and 'routinely' copying the private key on another

[Mickeyb]

How about paper wallet? If you print your paper wallet on good media, take care of it carefully & put in safe or deposit box, it could survive very long.
Or we can copy our wallet every few years before the media run out of expected lifespan, you just have to remember to do it every few years.

Personally, i would use paper wallet, m-disc, slc ssd or sandisk memory vault.

How bout wrapping it in plastic, with little to no air bubbles getting in, that way the paper would decay/be damaged right? Several of those copies should do the trick if one of them gets lost or something

[SFR10]

There are a lot more ways if someone is really serious and wants to go the extra mile into ensuring the safety. Some go with engraving on stone and then storing it in a tight or no air space. Another simple way would be to put the private key on a clout but with some trick that even if someone finds it, it won't work like tweak the code, separate it in equal and then change the 1st part with lets say 3rd part (Just thought of this and might actually work).

[fred930]

Maybe Satoshi's storage media deteriorated beyond repair and he lost all his bitcoins. If he had them on a flash drive it might have broken, the silver surface on his cds/dvds might have peeled off, or the ink on his paper wallets might have faded away. We should back up our keys every year to be safe.

[Kprawn]

Maybe Satoshi's storage media deteriorated beyond repair and he lost all his bitcoins. If he had them on a flash drive it might have broken, the silver surface on his cds/dvds might have peeled off, or the ink on his paper wallets might have faded away. We should back up our keys every year to be safe.

I doubt that, but it could be... The problem I have with moving your information from one storage media to another as the technology change, would

be the exposure to new security risks. I create all my paper wallets on computer equipment I destroyed. If I have to re-scan and re-print them... let's

say... when it fades, then I have to make sure I duplicate the same process offline or I will increase the risk of losing those coins. I reckon laminated

paper will not fade within 5 years... and if they do, you would pick it up early enough and replace it. I still have document without lamination from 9

years ago, and it hardly fades at all.

[southafricadude]

Paper wallet is the way to go imo, or one of the ways to go....better to have a few different methods with some btc in each

[pereira4]

I have my wallet.dat file copied over several hard disk and a couple of USB flash drives, for now that's all, I have considered moving all my main funds to a paper wallet but im actually scared that i would end up lossing the paper and not being able to find it, or someone stealing it or something (even tho I would hide it at home). Im too paranoid to move my funds from Bitcoin Core at this point so I will be making backups every X months to new usb flash drives, I think its impossible that I lose all of my backups at once so I will always have one to make new ones.

[ekoice]

I do agree with this to have our own wallet.dat file to be copied and saved over hard disk or external drive but only thing that stresses out is that if it might lose then no choice remains with us so better save it permanent.