How safe is it to store your bitcoins on a mobile phone?

[goldflake]

If I backup the keys onto my phone's sdcard, don't other apps have temporary access to that file before I delete it? I'm using a Micromax phone and I'm concerned that the phone contains pre-installed malware.

Is it better to just move the money to a wallet on my PC?

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[BestWebCreator]

If I backup the keys onto my phone's sdcard, don't other apps have temporary access to that file before I delete it? I'm using a Micromax phone and I'm concerned that the phone contains pre-installed malware.

Is it better to just move the money to a wallet on my PC?

It deoends on what apps u have installed and what kind of permissions the apps have. If you want to store btc, I would create a bitcoin wallet on a brand new computer and then print out the private key and the passphrase a several times and secure them into a safe location. Do not store something on usb sticks, they will get corrupted after some time and your private key will be gone.

[Holliday]

I don't know how much money you are talking about, but I wouldn't feel secure until the majority of my coins were permanently stored offline (from address creation forward).

[Lauda]

If I backup the keys onto my phone's sdcard, don't other apps have temporary access to that file before I delete it?

Only if you give them permission to do so (Android 6.x).

I'm using a Micromax phone and I'm concerned that the phone contains pre-installed malware.

If you are concerned with pre-installed malware then it might be best to avoid using Bitcoin on that phone.

Is it better to just move the money to a wallet on my PC?

Yes. In general it is best to use Desktop wallets (in comparison to mobile and online wallets).

[thejaytiesto]

It's not safe to be honest. You carry your phone daily, so it's a daily possibility that you can forget where did you put your Bitcoins at.
If you have good encryption, then they should be safe even if you lose the phone, but of course, you lose the Bitcoins that are inside the phone. In general im too paranoid to carry Bitcoins in my phone.

[bitbite111]

What if you lose your phone, which happens...

I'd rather store it on a web wallet and upload the private keys to gmail.

[Chris!]

I use my phone exclusively to store Bitcoins. Well that's only the half truth. I watch all of my Bitcoin addresses on Mycelium but 99% of my Bitcoins are on paper wallets I generated on an Ubuntu Live USB. I don't really use a computer this day and age, other than if I want to create some new vanity wallets or a new paper wallet.

So depending on how your setup is, smartphones can be a very safe way to 'watch', and to a lesser extent actually store Bitcoins. You'll always need a hot wallet anyways it might as well be on you at all times with a few mBTC ready to be spent.

[Denker]

To store the coins on your phone is not that good.
Either a PC without internet connection (or which you rarely use for that) or get some hardware wallet for instance.Keepkey and Trezor are good to go.Another option is to print the keys on paper and store them safe somewhere no one else knows about it.

[geopolisch]

To store the coins on your phone is not that good.
Either a PC without internet connection (or which you rarely use for that) or get some hardware wallet for instance.Keepkey and Trezor are good to go.Another option is to print the keys on paper and store them safe somewhere no one else knows about it.

If you use Iphone and bread wallet, its fully secured. The Security of Iphone is the best and you will never lose your coins

[Master_dandosha]

i never recommend to store bitcoin in any phone system (android or iso) , it is very easy to lost your phone because it is more attractive than old desktop using linux system secure &offline.

[Hazir]

If I backup the keys onto my phone's sdcard, don't other apps have temporary access to that file before I delete it? I'm using a Micromax phone and I'm concerned that the phone contains pre-installed malware.

Is it better to just move the money to a wallet on my PC?

Generally speaking if you machine is linked to the internet and you are using it in your daily activities - there is always risk of infection.
But again, from what I noticed mobile wallets tend to be easier pray than desktop wallets. Most of my friends have very liberal way of handling security of their mobile devices.
They link to every WiFi they can find, they don't check apps before installing it and don't have antivirus and anti malware installed on their mobile device.

If you can maintain healthy security - I am sure that your coins will be relatively safe on your phone.

But again - don't use phone as your main wallet, ever. And never keep in your mobile wallet 100% of your coins.

[fenican]

Fine for small amounts needed for transactions but keep any large balances in cold storage or on a very well secured computer

[GreenBits]

Fine for small amounts needed for transactions but keep any large balances in cold storage or on a very well secured computer

Besides the risks of connectivity (a phone is designed to be connected to the network), you can have the device stolen. Just fine for small amounts, but I'd only use apps that have web redundancies/web interface so that in the event of device seizure or destruction, you can recover you coins. Save the keys on something OTHER than your phone 

[traderbit]

If I backup the keys onto my phone's sdcard, don't other apps have temporary access to that file before I delete it? I'm using a Micromax phone and I'm concerned that the phone contains pre-installed malware.

Is it better to just move the money to a wallet on my PC?

The cheaper android phones i have read that have pre-installed malware and if they are chinese they should know about bitcoin and can steal them, i would suggest to go with a hardware wallet if you can't afford a desktop wallet.

[BitcoinNewsMagazine]

To store the coins on your phone is not that good.
Either a PC without internet connection (or which you rarely use for that) or get some hardware wallet for instance.Keepkey and Trezor are good to go.Another option is to print the keys on paper and store them safe somewhere no one else knows about it.

If you use Iphone and bread wallet, its fully secured. The Security of Iphone is the best and you will never lose your coins

Nothing on a run of the mill phone is fully secured. Breadwallet is a decent wallet for iPhone but you should never store more than you can afford to lose on a phone wallet on either Android or iPhone.

If you really need to use bitcoin securely from a phone the only way is to use a phone wallet that works in conjunction with a hardware wallet like Trezor or Ledger. That way your private keys are stored off the phone safe from malware or hijackers.

Right now the only hardware wallet you can buy that works with iPhone is BitLox. For Android you have a lot to choose from. Breadwallet does not support any of the hardware wallets at present.

[lister storm]

Fine for small amounts needed for transactions but keep any large balances in cold storage or on a very well secured computer

well yeah, i guess if you dont use a lot of bitcoins then you dont need anything special for holding your bitcoins and you can use a variety of online wallets or mobile bitcoin wallets

i think that it is not safe for big amounts of money, for that i use a hardware wallet called trezor as i can do transactions with it and it is really safe to be honest

[knowhow]

Dont save the wallets at your phone isnt safe,if the cellphone get into the water it will make you loose all,there is
malwares easy gets into the phone as well.Use online wallets or create an wallet at your computer that are the most safe way to protect yours coins.

[yayayo]

I don't know how much money you are talking about, but I wouldn't feel secure until the majority of my coins were permanently stored offline (from address creation forward).

That is the only correct answer! For any significant amount of coins, offline storage is a must.

Generally I would use online wallets (PC or phone) only to store funds that are likely to be spend soon. In addition to security vulnerabilities a phone could easily get lost. You should think of it as a traditional wallet. If you loose it, the money is most likely gone. So never carry more Bitcoin with you than you are ready to loose.

Of course it's also possible to use paper wallets for in-person payments if the payee can import the private keys...

ya.ya.yo!

[btcjoin14]

I mainly use mycellium to store my btc and.so far it's all right and good for me. But I it's not as safe as having a cold/hardware wallet.

[Wendigo]

I have used Mycelium wallet on all of my Android devices and I haven't had any problems with it. I think it's safe to keep some coins on a mobile device but not all of your stash. I don't recommend backing up your private keys on your phone though as it may get stolen and the thieves will have access to your Bitcoins on top of that. Also it's best to password protect your mobile Bitcoin wallet just in case. You can export the private keys to a couple of thumb drives or write them onto a CD or whatever else method you feel safe using. Personally I have them encrypted in a password manager for quick assess if needed.