Is it a good idea to store paper wallet digitally?

[Answerme2]

Say i put ubuntu on usb and boot from it and now generate 1 paper wallet using bitaddress.org gitup file locally and then instead of printing this i ssved it as pdf and then after booting back to windows i put this pdf in .rar file with secure password protection and save this file in mutliple places.Then even if i use the internet i won't be at risk right?
is bitaddress.org paper wallet generation really random?
and last question if i have say 7 bitcoins on this digitally stored paper wallet and i want to spend 2 bitcoins from it and want to have 5 bitcoins in it.Can i do so? because i have read somewhere that we need to sweep the paper wallet and why's that?Can't i just spend directly the amount i wish to spend?

P.S i don't want to print a paper wallet because i am too paranoid i may lose the paper or damage it

[defined]

Say i put ubuntu on usb and boot from it and now generate 1 paper wallet using bitaddress.org gitup file locally and then instead of printing this i ssved it as pdf and then after booting back to windows i put this pdf in .rar file with secure password protection and save this file in mutliple places.Then even if i use the internet i won't be at risk right?

This can work, if your password is strong and you do not forget it.

is bitaddress.org paper wallet generation really random?

It should be.

and last question if i have say 7 bitcoins on this digitally stored paper wallet and i want to spend 2 bitcoins from it and want to have 5 bitcoins in it.Can i do so? because i have read somewhere that we need to sweep the paper wallet and why's that?Can't i just spend directly the amount i wish to spend?

Where does the 5 bitcoins change go? The risk is you lose it if you do not swipe the whole paper wallet in one go. You can make 7 paper wallets, each holding 1 bitcoin.

P.S i don't want to print a paper wallet because i am too paranoid i may lose the paper or damage it

Print it 5 times

[shorena]

Say i put ubuntu on usb and boot from it and now generate 1 paper wallet using bitaddress.org gitup file locally and then instead of printing this i ssved it as pdf and then after booting back to windows i put this pdf in .rar file with secure password protection and save this file in mutliple places.Then even if i use the internet i won't be at risk right?

Why not encrypt it on your throw away USB stick OS? If you move the PDF unencrypted to a different machine it make no sense to set up the USB stick OS in the first place as it offers you no additional security.

is bitaddress.org paper wallet generation really random?

Yes, even on low entropy systems (e.g. new OS on SSD/USB stick). The mouse movements required at the start provide enough entropy to make the key generation random.

and last question if i have say 7 bitcoins on this digitally stored paper wallet and i want to spend 2 bitcoins from it and want to have 5 bitcoins in it.Can i do so?

Yes, if you are careful. More below.

because i have read somewhere that we need to sweep the paper wallet and why's that?Can't i just spend directly the amount i wish to spend?

P.S i don't want to print a paper wallet because i am too paranoid i may lose the paper or damage it

The "problem" with spending paper wallet funds are the software you use to do so. If you have 7 bitcoins received to a paperwallet, these 7 bitcoins are considered one or more inputs you can spend. Lets assume for simplicity you have only one input. You can think of it like a 7BTC bill or a lump of gold (I will go with the gold for this example). If you want to spend the 7 BTC lump you have to melt it down and create pieces of lesser value. Different wallets do this differently. Some would send the 5 BTC you want to keep (assuming no fee for simplicity) back to the address you previously had the 7 BTC on. Some would create an entirely new address for this. Its best that you prepare another paperwallet and manually send the lump you want to keep to it.

E.g. you have 7 BTC and want to send 2 BTC to Alice while keeping the remaining 5 BTC. You use the funds from your old paper wallet to create a TX that sends 2 BTC to 1ALICEvanity and 4.9998 BTC to 1myNEWpaperWALLET the remaining 0.0002 is used as fee.

[ranochigo]

Say i put ubuntu on usb and boot from it and now generate 1 paper wallet using bitaddress.org gitup file locally and then instead of printing this i ssved it as pdf and then after booting back to windows i put this pdf in .rar file with secure password protection and save this file in mutliple places.Then even if i use the internet i won't be at risk right?

Secure your paper wallet with BIP38 password first before placing it into Windows.

is bitaddress.org paper wallet generation really random?

AFAIK, yes.

and last question if i have say 7 bitcoins on this digitally stored paper wallet and i want to spend 2 bitcoins from it and want to have 5 bitcoins in it.Can i do so? because i have read somewhere that we need to sweep the paper wallet and why's that?Can't i just spend directly the amount i wish to spend?

In Bitcoin, the condition, Input=output must be fulfilled. If you have an output or multiple outputs that total up to be 2 Bitcoins, you can spend them and leave the remaining UXTOs untouched. You can also send the change back into the paper wallet. However, this is not recommended since the paper wallet is unsafe after touching the internet. Sending the change to another newly created paper wallet is much safer.

[1Referee]

I already do this on my windows computer. I simply have several paper wallets stored in a zip file and with very strong encryption. Passphrase is a combination of 50 characters, which I find to be strong enough. And all this sits in my USB drives offline together with my wallet.dat backups.

[DimensionZ]

You could save the pdf file on a cheap USB stick or onto a microSD for safe keeping. Why would you want to save it to your Windows system and bother to encrypt/decrypt it all the time. Yes I think bitaddress.org wallet generation is completely random. Also there are special features within Bitcoin wallets that allow you to spend from Cold Storage. If you explicitly run that option the change will be returned to the original address so your remaining coins won't be lost after completing the transaction.

[Mike8]

P.S i don't want to print a paper wallet because i am too paranoid i may lose the paper or damage it

If you put it in a drawer, paper may survive longer than USB, statistically.
And checking or xeroxing paper has less security issues than reading or duplicating an USB stick. This is an operation you may have to do from time to tims.

[Answerme2]

Say i put ubuntu on usb and boot from it and now generate 1 paper wallet using bitaddress.org gitup file locally and then instead of printing this i ssved it as pdf and then after booting back to windows i put this pdf in .rar file with secure password protection and save this file in mutliple places.Then even if i use the internet i won't be at risk right?

Why not encrypt it on your throw away USB stick OS? If you move the PDF unencrypted to a different machine it make no sense to set up the USB stick OS in the first place as it offers you no additional security.

is bitaddress.org paper wallet generation really random?

Yes, even on low entropy systems (e.g. new OS on SSD/USB stick). The mouse movements required at the start provide enough entropy to make the key generation random.

and last question if i have say 7 bitcoins on this digitally stored paper wallet and i want to spend 2 bitcoins from it and want to have 5 bitcoins in it.Can i do so?

Yes, if you are careful. More below.

because i have read somewhere that we need to sweep the paper wallet and why's that?Can't i just spend directly the amount i wish to spend?

P.S i don't want to print a paper wallet because i am too paranoid i may lose the paper or damage it

The "problem" with spending paper wallet funds are the software you use to do so. If you have 7 bitcoins received to a paperwallet, these 7 bitcoins are considered one or more inputs you can spend. Lets assume for simplicity you have only one input. You can think of it like a 7BTC bill or a lump of gold (I will go with the gold for this example). If you want to spend the 7 BTC lump you have to melt it down and create pieces of lesser value. Different wallets do this differently. Some would send the 5 BTC you want to keep (assuming no fee for simplicity) back to the address you previously had the 7 BTC on. Some would create an entirely new address for this. Its best that you prepare another paperwallet and manually send the lump you want to keep to it.

E.g. you have 7 BTC and want to send 2 BTC to Alice while keeping the remaining 5 BTC. You use the funds from your old paper wallet to create a TX that sends 2 BTC to 1ALICEvanity and 4.9998 BTC to 1myNEWpaperWALLET the remaining 0.0002 is used as fee.

Ok i have read that mycellium bitcoin wallet alows spending from cold storage so if use it to spend 2  bitcoins from paper wallet will the remaining 5 btc goes back to my paper wallet?and why the new 5 btc that comes back to the same address do not show as new transaction?
And yes how do i encrypt the pdf on throw away ubuntu system that i used to create the wallet?
And what if i use Electrum instead of bitaddress.org to generate the address as i think electum will be much safer.right?

[bitkilo]

Unless it has changed from what I remember is that Mycelium has a "sweep paper wallet" feature.
Using this feature is an easy and safe way to move the btc from your paper wallet.
Just sweep the lot, make the transaction you want using the Mycelium wallet and then send the change back to a new paper wallet you have created.

[Kprawn]

Just split up your coins my friend. Let's say you will possibly use some { 3 for instance } in the near future.. then keep them online on different wallets and keep the rest in cold storage on paper wallets. You

can even keep these {let's call them "spending money" } on a hardware wallet like a Trezor and keep the other { Long term storage} on paper wallets. Separate those coins {the remaining 4} on 4

different paper wallets and sweep them as you need them. Does that make any sense to you? { My split is 30% useable coins online & 70% cold storage }

[bitkilo]

Just split up your coins my friend. Let's say you will possibly use some { 3 for instance } in the near future.. then keep them online on different wallets and keep the rest in cold storage on paper wallets. You

can even keep these {let's call them "spending money" } on a hardware wallet like a Trezor and keep the other { Long term storage} on paper wallets. Separate those coins {the remaining 4} on 4

different paper wallets and sweep them as you need them. Does that make any sense to you? { My split is 30% useable coins online & 70% cold storage }

Splitting the btc into different wallets and addresses is a good idea but 30% online would be too much for me.
Its so easy to access cold storage now that I would never keep more that 5-10% online, why even give hackers a chance, you will regret it later.

[lumeire]

I already do this on my windows computer. I simply have several paper wallets stored in a zip file and with very strong encryption. Passphrase is a combination of 50 characters, which I find to be strong enough. And all this sits in my USB drives offline together with my wallet.dat backups.

There should also be a backup paper copy of all these, laminated then stored in a safe container/fire-proof box. Just a suggestion because as for me I don't entirely trust a couple of USBs, they break down eventually.

[poupatudo]

If it's in an offline storage, such as a pendrive or such, I don't see any problem.

[Divinespark]

I have two physical copies of each paper wallet stored in different places
And as insurance, I have it on a pen drive stored in a third location

[Wendigo]

It's not a bad idea to print out a paper wallet in addition to saving the pdf file of your private keys in a safe location just in case. You can laminate the paper to make it withstand water and moisture and you never know you may one day need it to recover your funds if you lose your other copies because any electronic equipment may fail and paper if taken proper care of can last a very long time.

[quentincole32]

I already do this on my windows computer. I simply have several paper wallets stored in a zip file and with very strong encryption. Passphrase is a combination of 50 characters, which I find to be strong enough. And all this sits in my USB drives offline together with my wallet.dat backups.

papper wallet is already safe storage,and of course if we store it on zip file and with very strong encryption,it might the safest way to store your bitcoin,i just wondering why are people like you so afraid with bitcoin security?do you ever lost your bitcoin?os you store so many amount of bitcoin,then you think you must do this all security.

[Red-Apple]

i have printed once but i moved the coins (spent) and now i am doing something similar only because i don't have a printer and i don't want to use a public one.

the problem here is that all the electronic devices can fail, there are a lot of reasons for that like device malfunction or bad sectors than can make the file inaccessible.

so i am keeping it in multiple places until i find a better solution!

[defined]

I have two physical copies of each paper wallet stored in different places
And as insurance, I have it on a pen drive stored in a third location

Do you use password protection on the paper wallet? I want paper wallets for long term, and I want my kids to be able to access them in 50 years if necessary. A password means I am the only one who can use it, while no password means an intruder can use it.

[ranochigo]

Ok i have read that mycellium bitcoin wallet alows spending from cold storage so if use it to spend 2  bitcoins from paper wallet will the remaining 5 btc goes back to my paper wallet?and why the new 5 btc that comes back to the same address do not show as new transaction?

It is how most clients/chain explorers display the transaction. Since the ~5BTC is obviously the change, there is no need for the client/explorer to display it as a new transaction that was sent to the address.

And yes how do i encrypt the pdf on throw away ubuntu system that i used to create the wallet?

I am not particularly sure. I believe PDFtk[1] can help.

And what if i use Electrum instead of bitaddress.org to generate the address as i think electum will be much safer.right?

I'm not sure about how safe it is. However, it is a better choice to use Electrum as a offline wallet generally.[2]

[1] https://www.pdflabs.com/docs/pdftk-man-page/
[2] http://docs.electrum.org/en/latest/coldstorage.html

[calkob]

I do this very thing, i have paper wallets which i also have stored on a usb pen drive which i keep in a safe.  This drive never gets used on a computer which can access the internet.