Do not use USB sticks for long term storage! Its not safe!

[Quantus]

 
Just a reminder

Its not safe to use USB sticks or SSDs for long term storage they lose data over time if they are not powered!

You can't just stick your private keys on a few USB sticks or SSD and box them up for 4 - 8 years you will lose all your coins.

For long term storage have at least 3 backups paper wallets or HDDs. You can even use something like DropBox But be sure to encrypt your wallet and change the name.

You can even hide your wallet inside a image file.

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[zottejos]

Just a reminder

Its not safe to use USB sticks or SSDs for long term storage they lose data over time if they are not powered!

You can't just stick your private keys on a few USB sticks or SSD and box them up for 4 - 8 years you will lose all your coins.

For long term storage have at least 3 backups paper wallets or HDDs. You can even use something like DropBox But be sure to encrypt your wallet and change the name.

You can even hide your wallet inside a image file.

Thanks for the advice... I never tought about an usb stick losing it's data.
How about hardware wallet tough? Most of them have seed words to restore your wallet, but i'm pretty sure the device itself won't last forever either, so you might want to add them to your list?

[Quantus]

yeah hardware wallets are just USB sticks with some extra logic bits right? So if they lost power for more then a few years they could become corrupted to. I wouldn't trust them, just more crap that could break.

[Genius Einstein]

Just a reminder

Its not safe to use USB sticks or SSDs for long term storage they lose data over time if they are not powered!

You can't just stick your private keys on a few USB sticks or SSD and box them up for 4 - 8 years you will lose all your coins.

For long term storage have at least 3 backups paper wallets or HDDs. You can even use something like DropBox But be sure to encrypt your wallet and change the name.

You can even hide your wallet inside a image file.

How does that help us if we already know this. Could you enlist some more ideal information

[NeuroticFish]

Just a reminder
Its not safe to use USB sticks or SSDs for long term storage they lose data over time if they are not powered!
You can't just stick your private keys on a few USB sticks or SSD and box them up for 4 - 8 years you will lose all your coins.
For long term storage have at least 3 backups paper wallets or HDDs. You can even use something like DropBox But be sure to encrypt your wallet and change the name.
You can even hide your wallet inside a image file.

I've said this a few times, but not this clear, so I'd add a well done here.

My usual advice is to keep the private keys in (laminated) paper wallets. This would be the safest copy, the primary copy.
For commodity you can still keep a secondary copy on USB sticks, just after some 1-2 years you should move the data on another stick, else you can lose it.

Since dropbox also came into discussion, I'd advise for tresorit.com or similar cloud storage providers: the ones that offer end-to-end encryption, which (at least on paper) means that whoever reads their server cannot see your data plainly (like in the case of dropbox).

[Herbert2020]

yeah hardware wallets are just USB sticks with some extra logic bits right? So if they lost power for more then a few years they could become corrupted to. I wouldn't trust them, just more crap that could break.

interesting, i did not know this, especially this part about the hardware wallets. although i am already using USB sticks for my cold storage i am also keeping a paper backup printed too.

[Rizky Aditya]

yeah hardware wallets are just USB sticks with some extra logic bits right? So if they lost power for more then a few years they could become corrupted to. I wouldn't trust them, just more crap that could break.

Oh wow I really had no idea that that would happen over time. I use a ledger wallet which is pretty much a USB with add ons. Now I'm going to consider moving to a paper wallet. Thanks.

[Wapinter]

Just a reminder

Its not safe to use USB sticks or SSDs for long term storage they lose data over time if they are not powered!

You can't just stick your private keys on a few USB sticks or SSD and box them up for 4 - 8 years you will lose all your coins.

For long term storage have at least 3 backups paper wallets or HDDs. You can even use something like DropBox But be sure to encrypt your wallet and change the name.

You can even hide your wallet inside a image file.

How does that help us if we already know this. Could you enlist some more ideal information

I didn't know that.Its news to me thanks op for sharing.Btw can we back up same wallet in 2-3 different ways like dropbox and usb both? in case one get corrupted or we lost one,other could be used?

[Quantus]

I can't speak for all Bitcoin clients but its my understanding that if you tell your Bitcoin client to print a paper wallet it won't move any coins. Your wallet.dat file will still have all the keys.

You can copy/paste your wallet.dat file as many times as you like. You can copy/paste it to CDs/DVDs/USB sticks/micro usb cards, each one will work.

Even if someone sends you coins after you put your wallet in cold storage you will have the keys for all the new coins that come in.

Plz someone correct me if I'm wrong but the wallet.dat file also includes 100 new address (adjustable) so even if you continue to use your client with the same wallet and generate new addresses (up to 100) your backup will already include the keys to these new receiving addresses.

[ObscureBean]

Well that's certainly good to know and I imagine it's the same with micro sd cards as well? So I guess it's paper wallets and maybe encrypted DVD's then. Fortunately I don't have that problem, all of my coins are with Coinbase (for better or for worse)

[Quantus]

yeah any solid state memory.
But if your storing your coins with a company you don't really own them. If that company goes under you lose everything. Your coins are not ensured or protected by any law.
That company could be hacked or even shut down by the government for breaking the law and seize all the coins with no obligation to return any of them.

[LiteCoinGuy]

The general consenses is about 10 years until you start to get I/O write errors. Mounting and reading from the devices will last until entropic decay transpires.

Drive manufacturer Flashbay has said that data retention could theoretically be in the region of 60 to 80 years, if stored in a perfect environment. In reality, it is far lower, but at least 10 years if you buy a quality USB stick. But there is nothing wrong with a paper wallet or a CD of course.

When you upload it to DropBox is has additional risks, i would not recommend that.

Paper Wallets have their risks too. Nothing is risk-free.

[DashCoinDark]

Just a reminder

Its not safe to use USB sticks or SSDs for long term storage they lose data over time if they are not powered!

You can't just stick your private keys on a few USB sticks or SSD and box them up for 4 - 8 years you will lose all your coins.

For long term storage have at least 3 backups paper wallets or HDDs. You can even use something like DropBox But be sure to encrypt your wallet and change the name.

You can even hide your wallet inside a image file.

Thanks for the advice... I never tought about an usb stick losing it's data.
How about hardware wallet tough? Most of them have seed words to restore your wallet, but i'm pretty sure the device itself won't last forever either, so you might want to add them to your list?

Yeah this is great advise to get because I did not think that that could actually happen. I will now definitely change my wise my ways of storing my Bitcoin data.
Glad to hear something talking about this.

[Quantus]

The general consenses is about 10 years until you start to get I/O write errors. Mounting and reading from the devices will last until entropic decay transpires.

Drive manufacturer Flashbay has said that data retention could theoretically be in the region of 60 to 80 years, if stored in a perfect environment. In reality, it is far lower, but at least 10 years if you buy a quality USB stick. But there is nothing wrong with a paper wallet or a CD of course.

When you upload it to DropBox is has additional risks, i would not recommend that.

Paper Wallets have their risks too. Nothing is risk-free.

Sorry no the life span of a memory stick is about 10 years if you power it but without power you will start to see significant data corruption after just 4 years.

If you encrypt your wallet and change the name and file extension its pretty dam safe to store your wallet on DropBox. Even if a attacker found your file and knew what it was they couldn't crack it.

[twister]

What if you keep plugging them in every now and then, say after 6 months periodically? Will then they be safe, I have some keys which are not part of my electrum wallet(its seed is written somewhere safe, so not worried about that) and I have their keys on couple of USB sticks.

yeah hardware wallets are just USB sticks with some extra logic bits right? So if they lost power for more then a few years they could become corrupted to. I wouldn't trust them, just more crap that could break.

Oh wow I really had no idea that that would happen over time. I use a ledger wallet which is pretty much a USB with add ons. Now I'm going to consider moving to a paper wallet. Thanks.

Ledger wallet coins are backed by the seed and as long as you have the recovery sheet and/or have noted it down somewhere safe then your coins are safe as well because they can be recovered using another ledger wallet/mycelium/multibit hd.

[Rizky Aditya]

What if you keep plugging them in every now and then, say after 6 months periodically? Will then they be safe, I have some keys which are not part of my electrum wallet(its seed is written somewhere safe, so not worried about that) and I have their keys on couple of USB sticks.

yeah hardware wallets are just USB sticks with some extra logic bits right? So if they lost power for more then a few years they could become corrupted to. I wouldn't trust them, just more crap that could break.

Oh wow I really had no idea that that would happen over time. I use a ledger wallet which is pretty much a USB with add ons. Now I'm going to consider moving to a paper wallet. Thanks.

Ledger wallet coins are backed by the seed and as long as you have the recovery sheet and/or have noted it down somewhere safe then your coins are safe as well because they can be recovered using another ledger wallet/mycelium/multibit hd.

Yeah that is true. And the company say that the ledger wallets last for around 30 years, I would have sold my Bitcoins a long time before that. I guess that I am quite safe then.

[Quantus]

I have issues with hardware wallets because they have so many other things that could break like a leaking battery.
But If you insist on using a USB stick you must be willing to baby sit them, they should be safe you just need to power them up every few months and have multiple copies of your wallet on each stick.

[tiggytomb]

I didn't realise the lifespan would be as short as ten years.  I did read about some kind of DNA storage being looked into, I would imagine this would have quite a long lifespan, until then I suppose old school paper is the way to go!

[Petersen]

The general consenses is about 10 years until you start to get I/O write errors. Mounting and reading from the devices will last until entropic decay transpires.

Drive manufacturer Flashbay has said that data retention could theoretically be in the region of 60 to 80 years, if stored in a perfect environment. In reality, it is far lower, but at least 10 years if you buy a quality USB stick. But there is nothing wrong with a paper wallet or a CD of course.

When you upload it to DropBox is has additional risks, i would not recommend that.

Paper Wallets have their risks too. Nothing is risk-free.

I agree. What about archival DVDs? Maybe if stored in a proper environment, without light and humidity they could last for decades?

[Quantus]

According to the US National Archives, CDs and DVDs have very similar lifespans. Generally, unrecorded (blank) CDs and DVDs have a shelf-life of five to ten years. The experiential life expectancy of recorded CDs and DVDs is between two and five years, though based on manufacturer claims, ten to twenty five years, or even longer, isn’t unprecedented. In any case, using very conservative numbers will reduce the risk of losing data.

These numbers also depend on environmental factors and how often the disc is used. Any optical media is extremely susceptible to damage because there is little protection on the readable surface—just think about how many CDs of yours have been scratched through regular use, it happens to all of us.