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

[pooya87]

Engrave your private keys in a block of tungsten, basically indestructible.

why tungsten? there are better metals/alloys to use which are way cheaper than tungsten and also easier to acquire. you can buy stainless steel or aluminum anywhere and also cheaper. and also don't forget that engraving on steel is easier than tungsten.

worth mentioning this project here: Cryptosteel

[27QVUTZj8rgZP1]

I do not use cloud or online backup because I was not so doubt with them.

Why not!? What is the reason?

I wish I could backup my data online, but in my case that is only practical for small files because my upload rate is slow (100kB/s). For this reason, only critical files are uploaded online (in addition to local backups).

[Doms]

Didn't know until now that USB sticks could become useless altogether after years on inactivity. Is this also applicable to the sticks which are produced in the last few years? I have yet to back up my wallet in any USBs so this is a great piece of advice that I just came across with, for future reference.

[27QVUTZj8rgZP1]

Is this also applicable to the sticks which are produced in the last few years?

Yes.

Additionally, flash drives which are working fine today can become useless next time you use it. They usually do not show signs of failure.

Then, if you are counting important data in 1 device. You may face loss of data soon.

[Kakmakr]

Didn't know until now that USB sticks could become useless altogether after years on inactivity. Is this also applicable to the sticks which are produced in the last few years? I have yet to back up my wallet in any USBs so this is a great piece of advice that I just came across with, for future reference.

Magnetism wear off after a while and the media it is stored on also deteriorate after a few years. If you plug it in and leave it for a while, the magnetism will increase and it will last longer. Just use a offline computer when you doing this, or your data stored on the device could become infected or even collected by a hacker.

In any way, this is how it was explained to me. I hope the guy was not pulling this out of his ass. ^smile^

[Jasad]

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.

do you create this thread inspired from other thread?i see poeple post on thread that he have plan to burried his USB stick contained some bitcoin,and forget it until 20 years. its really that use USB sticks or SSDs for long term storage they lose data over time if they are not powered? if that true,i think people who have plan to burried his USB stick must be read this.

[Wendigo]

Paper wallet is the best cold storage for me because it's plain old paper that can easily outlast all the fancy new hardware wallets and other storage devices like memory cards and thumb drives. And as an added protection you could laminate your paper wallet and put it in a safe deposit box and that will certainly last forever. Hardware is not reliable and it can break down at unexpected times. Heck I have bought HDD's and SSD's before that had bad sectors or became unusable in a matter of days after the purchase. I suggest using at least 1 paper wallet along with your hardware devices to store your private keys on.

[SilverPunk]

Thank you for this info. I usually use USB sticks for storing files , i've been doing this for about 2 years .luckily my USB is still safe and not yet been formated or loose corrupted files .

So what's safe to use?

[tiffyroman]

Thank you for this info. I usually use USB sticks for storing files , i've been doing this for about 2 years .luckily my USB is still safe and not yet been formated or loose corrupted files .

So what's safe to use?

Wow I admire you that you have continuous use of your usb for 2 years. I can't use my usb for that long because my usb is always infected when I plug it in from a friend's pc to get some files 

[Cyaren]

Well, yes, they probably can lose data over time, as everything does.

Paper wallets are probably the safest since they are stored completely offline, but they are a nuisance when you want to access them again.

But Dropbox isn't a good idea... The company can close anytime, and there might be a hack in the system. Who knows?

[Amph]

Engrave your private keys in a block of tungsten, basically indestructible.

the key is exposed too much in this way, not only because it is there well put on show, but because that thing is also heavy to carry around and big....

[Adrayrd]

Is this thing true how can my files just disappear that's unbelievable. Why would somebody
don't use his/her usb stick for 4-8 years if there are privacy stuff on it. Don't think all your files
will disappear.

[TookDk]

Engrave your private keys in a block of tungsten, basically indestructible.

the key is exposed too much in this way, not only because it is there well put on show, but because that thing is also heavy to carry around and big....

I think you are missing the point, if you are making a long term storage of your private key then is it properly not a good idea to either "put them on display" or carry them around.

[lastuser]

Didn't know until now that USB sticks could become useless altogether after years on inactivity. Is this also applicable to the sticks which are produced in the last few years? I have yet to back up my wallet in any USBs so this is a great piece of advice that I just came across with, for future reference.

Magnetism wear off after a while and the media it is stored on also deteriorate after a few years. If you plug it in and leave it for a while, the magnetism will increase and it will last longer. Just use a offline computer when you doing this, or your data stored on the device could become infected or even collected by a hacker.

In any way, this is how it was explained to me. I hope the guy was not pulling this out of his ass. ^smile^

Data in USBs and SSDs are not stored using magnetism, they are rather, stored in tiny computer chips. This is also the main reason why most of them are very durable. However, a potential problem about USB and SSD is the limited read and write life which isn't an issue with low usage. The quality of the SSD or USB is important as it is directly related to the data retention of the media.

[Amph]

Engrave your private keys in a block of tungsten, basically indestructible.

the key is exposed too much in this way, not only because it is there well put on show, but because that thing is also heavy to carry around and big....

I think you are missing the point, if you are making a long term storage of your private key then is it properly not a good idea to either "put them on display" or carry them around.

there may be the need to move that thing at some point, maybe because you need those coins desperately, maybe because you are changing your appartement, that what i mean

do not take everything for granted, little problems always arise, and thus problem lead to a big problem some times

[CoinsRoyal]

Is this thing true how can my files just disappear that's unbelievable. Why would somebody
don't use his/her usb stick for 4-8 years if there are privacy stuff on it. Don't think all your files
will disappear.

Yeah it just doesn't make very much sense, so the files just disappear out of nowhere from your usb that is very strange indeed. I just do not believe and I am going to try this out.

[1Referee]

I am using USB sticks since very early 2013 when I bought my first coins at around $20-$25 and everything is working fine. Currently I have my wallet.dat files stored on 8 USB sticks and 3 HDD's. Each device holds all my wallet files, so if 1 USB stick for whatever reason stops working I still have 7 USB sticks and 3 HDD's where my wallet files are stored.

[DimensionZ]

I think paper wallets are the golden standard when it comes to long-term cold storage of Bitcoins. If they are laminated they pretty much will be indestructible unless there is a fire but I don't think hardware wallets can withstand fire either. By the way it would be cool if we could get a business card sized piece of metal and etch the private keys on it. It would be very easy to move this card around when needed and you can literally store it in your wallet.

[Supercrypt]

Thank you for this info. I usually use USB sticks for storing files , i've been doing this for about 2 years .luckily my USB is still safe and not yet been formated or loose corrupted files .

So what's safe to use?

Wow I admire you that you have continuous use of your usb for 2 years. I can't use my usb for that long because my usb is always infected when I plug it in from a friend's pc to get some files 

There are multiple ways that you could have prevented your flash drive. I feel that you kind of ignored the fact that most flash drives are vulnerable to attacks and you just recklessly plugged yours in random PCs.
Do a little research and you'll see there are a lot of ways like maybe Panda USB Vaccine or ClamWin or any portable antivirus that you can install for your flash drive.

[Pursuer]

Engrave your private keys in a block of tungsten, basically indestructible.

[I m g ]http://we.lovebitco.in/img/tungsten.jpg[/img]

the key is exposed too much in this way, not only because it is there well put on show, but because that thing is also heavy to carry around and big....

I think you are missing the point, if you are making a long term storage of your private key then is it properly not a good idea to either "put them on display" or carry them around.

there may be the need to move that thing at some point, maybe because you need those coins desperately, maybe because you are changing your appartement, that what i mean

do not take everything for granted, little problems always arise, and thus problem lead to a big problem some times

well that thing in the picture looks more like a Joke to me. because who in his right mind would purchase a block of tungsten to engrave with private keys, you can use a lot lighter metals and as a plate not a big ass block.
there is actually a reply on top of yours saying explaining this.
so you can use an stainless steel plate for this purpose and encrypt the private keys before engraving them.