Is Electrum a safe wallet to keep bitcoins?

[allankey]

I would like to hear your opinions: I heard electrum is a lightweight and fast wallet to execute BTC transactions. Is the wallet safe to use?

Alternatively, I have to keep a blockchain in my computer that is 50 gigabytes

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[miningdude]

It's most like blockchain, and yes its safe.

[Quartx]

I would like to hear your opinions: I heard electrum is a lightweight and fast wallet to execute BTC transactions. Is the wallet safe to use?

Alternatively, I have to keep a blockchain in my computer that is 50 gigabytes

Electrum is safe, fast and efficient, it uses servers which index blockchain so you do not need to worry about freaking huge blockchain filesizes. You can import private keys to a privatekeys only wallet or create a seed wallet. It allows you to receive and send bitcoins using email addresses too, although I would not recommend it. It also allows alot of different wallet types, multisig, 2fa or hardware based.

However, despite all the benefits..Any wallet is only good if your computer is clean in the first place

[allankey]

Thanks! But if the electrum software gets updated, what will happen to my bitcoins? Do I have to use download the latest electrum to keep my bitcoins?

[altcoinhosting]

Thanks! But if the electrum software gets updated, what will happen to my bitcoins? Do I have to use download the latest electrum to keep my bitcoins?

bitcoins aren't physical things... Basically, a wallet is just a piece of software to manage your private keys, generating transactions, broadcasting.
If electrum updates, nothing happens. You either chose to install the update or not (which usually goes seamingly, and if it goes wrong, you just use the seed words you wrote down when you first installed electrum, and restore your wallet... The worst thing that'll happen is the fact that you lost your labels).
If you chose to run an outdated version, you won't have access to the latest bugfixes, patches and new features, but usually,it's not a real problem.

PS: I'm also a big electrum fan. Core might be a tad bit better, since you synced and verified the full blockchain, but electrum is still good, since your private keys don't leave your computer, and can be encrypted with a strong password and 2fa

[shorena]

Thanks! But if the electrum software gets updated, what will happen to my bitcoins? Do I have to use download the latest electrum to keep my bitcoins?

For most updates altcoinhosting is correct. There have been a few exceptions in the past. They have been due to bitcoin network changes which required a new electrum version. You will usually get some error when something like this happened and you try to send some coins. If you ask in the electrum section[1] you usually get a good and quick answer, esp. when there is a required patch due to network changes.

It's most like blockchain, and yes its safe.

Electrum is nothing like "blockchain". For one what do you mean with "blockchain"? The service blockchain.info? If so, its a service that can go offline and fail you (as it has in the past), whereas electrum is a local wallet. Yes, electrum requires an electrum server. These are run by the community and even if all should fail you, you can still export your private keys into a different wallet.

If you are refering with "blockhain" to the blockchain, the database where all bitcoin TX are stored, electrum is nothing like that either. Its a wallet.

[1] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=98.0

[allankey]

Thanks! But if the electrum software gets updated, what will happen to my bitcoins? Do I have to use download the latest electrum to keep my bitcoins?

bitcoins aren't physical things... Basically, a wallet is just a piece of software to manage your private keys, generating transactions, broadcasting.
If electrum updates, nothing happens. You either chose to install the update or not (which usually goes seamingly, and if it goes wrong, you just use the seed words you wrote down when you first installed electrum, and restore your wallet... The worst thing that'll happen is the fact that you lost your labels).
If you chose to run an outdated version, you won't have access to the latest bugfixes, patches and new features, but usually,it's not a real problem.

PS: I'm also a big electrum fan. Core might be a tad bit better, since you synced and verified the full blockchain, but electrum is still good, since your private keys don't leave your computer, and can be encrypted with a strong password and 2fa

Oh.. okay. So your bitcoins are technically not stored on your computer, but it is virtually in cyber space but you control the private keys to gain access to it and electrum is simply the software that helps you to interact with your bitcoins that are some where in cyber space.

[achow101]

Thanks! But if the electrum software gets updated, what will happen to my bitcoins? Do I have to use download the latest electrum to keep my bitcoins?

bitcoins aren't physical things... Basically, a wallet is just a piece of software to manage your private keys, generating transactions, broadcasting.
If electrum updates, nothing happens. You either chose to install the update or not (which usually goes seamingly, and if it goes wrong, you just use the seed words you wrote down when you first installed electrum, and restore your wallet... The worst thing that'll happen is the fact that you lost your labels).
If you chose to run an outdated version, you won't have access to the latest bugfixes, patches and new features, but usually,it's not a real problem.

PS: I'm also a big electrum fan. Core might be a tad bit better, since you synced and verified the full blockchain, but electrum is still good, since your private keys don't leave your computer, and can be encrypted with a strong password and 2fa

Oh.. okay. So your bitcoins are technically not stored on your computer, but it is virtually in cyber space but you control the private keys to gain access to it and electrum is simply the software that helps you to interact with your bitcoins that are some where in cyber space.

On a technical level, there are actually no such things as a Bitcoin. There are only outputs. The private keys allow you to spend certain types of outputs, pay-to-pubkey and pay-to-pubkey-hash, which are the most commonly used and "standard" output types. There are also no addresses on the technical level.

[BitcoinNewsMagazine]

Thanks! But if the electrum software gets updated, what will happen to my bitcoins? Do I have to use download the latest electrum to keep my bitcoins?

bitcoins aren't physical things... Basically, a wallet is just a piece of software to manage your private keys, generating transactions, broadcasting.
If electrum updates, nothing happens. You either chose to install the update or not (which usually goes seamingly, and if it goes wrong, you just use the seed words you wrote down when you first installed electrum, and restore your wallet... The worst thing that'll happen is the fact that you lost your labels).
If you chose to run an outdated version, you won't have access to the latest bugfixes, patches and new features, but usually,it's not a real problem.

PS: I'm also a big electrum fan. Core might be a tad bit better, since you synced and verified the full blockchain, but electrum is still good, since your private keys don't leave your computer, and can be encrypted with a strong password and 2fa

Electrum is a good desktop wallet, even better when used with a Trezor so your private keys are always kept offline.

[mindrust]

I just installed it. The original wallet takes ages and centuries to load so i decided to give electrum a try. I will use it for loading my paper wallet balance. It looks safe enough, offers 2FA. But right now i don't trust anything which connects to internet when it comes to crypto coins so i think i will transfer my funds back to my paper wallet after i make my purschases.

[allankey]

Thanks! But if the electrum software gets updated, what will happen to my bitcoins? Do I have to use download the latest electrum to keep my bitcoins?

bitcoins aren't physical things... Basically, a wallet is just a piece of software to manage your private keys, generating transactions, broadcasting.
If electrum updates, nothing happens. You either chose to install the update or not (which usually goes seamingly, and if it goes wrong, you just use the seed words you wrote down when you first installed electrum, and restore your wallet... The worst thing that'll happen is the fact that you lost your labels).
If you chose to run an outdated version, you won't have access to the latest bugfixes, patches and new features, but usually,it's not a real problem.

PS: I'm also a big electrum fan. Core might be a tad bit better, since you synced and verified the full blockchain, but electrum is still good, since your private keys don't leave your computer, and can be encrypted with a strong password and 2fa

Electrum is a good desktop wallet, even better when used with a Trezor so your private keys are always kept offline.

I do not know if it is worthwhile to invest in a hardware based Trezor wallet at the moment as I am still exploring how bitcoins work.

[BitcoinNewsMagazine]

Thanks! But if the electrum software gets updated, what will happen to my bitcoins? Do I have to use download the latest electrum to keep my bitcoins?

bitcoins aren't physical things... Basically, a wallet is just a piece of software to manage your private keys, generating transactions, broadcasting.
If electrum updates, nothing happens. You either chose to install the update or not (which usually goes seamingly, and if it goes wrong, you just use the seed words you wrote down when you first installed electrum, and restore your wallet... The worst thing that'll happen is the fact that you lost your labels).
If you chose to run an outdated version, you won't have access to the latest bugfixes, patches and new features, but usually,it's not a real problem.

PS: I'm also a big electrum fan. Core might be a tad bit better, since you synced and verified the full blockchain, but electrum is still good, since your private keys don't leave your computer, and can be encrypted with a strong password and 2fa

Electrum is a good desktop wallet, even better when used with a Trezor so your private keys are always kept offline.

I do not know if it is worthwhile to invest in a hardware based Trezor wallet at the moment as I am still exploring how bitcoins work.

Fair enough. If you have a full bitcoin you need a hardware wallet. Ledgers are less than $30 if Trezor is too spendy for you. Your explorations should include a look at hardware wallets also.

If you have an extra older laptop not being used and you can leave disconnected from the net you can do cold storage the old way using Electrum cold storage. Not used much nowadays since hardware wallets are cheap and more convenient, also work with your phone.

[allankey]

Thanks! But if the electrum software gets updated, what will happen to my bitcoins? Do I have to use download the latest electrum to keep my bitcoins?

bitcoins aren't physical things... Basically, a wallet is just a piece of software to manage your private keys, generating transactions, broadcasting.
If electrum updates, nothing happens. You either chose to install the update or not (which usually goes seamingly, and if it goes wrong, you just use the seed words you wrote down when you first installed electrum, and restore your wallet... The worst thing that'll happen is the fact that you lost your labels).
If you chose to run an outdated version, you won't have access to the latest bugfixes, patches and new features, but usually,it's not a real problem.

PS: I'm also a big electrum fan. Core might be a tad bit better, since you synced and verified the full blockchain, but electrum is still good, since your private keys don't leave your computer, and can be encrypted with a strong password and 2fa

Electrum is a good desktop wallet, even better when used with a Trezor so your private keys are always kept offline.

I do not know if it is worthwhile to invest in a hardware based Trezor wallet at the moment as I am still exploring how bitcoins work.

Fair enough. If you have a full bitcoin you need a hardware wallet. Ledgers are less than $30 if Trezor is too spendy for you. Your explorations should include a look at hardware wallets also.

If you have an extra older laptop not being used and you can leave disconnected from the net you can do cold storage the old way using Electrum cold storage. Not used much nowadays since hardware wallets are cheap and more convenient, also work with your phone.

Does everyone keep a cold wallet? Looks to be a lot of hassle if a person do not store a lot of coins.

[altcoinhosting]

Does everyone keep a cold wallet? Looks to be a lot of hassle if a person do not store a lot of coins.

I can only speak for myself, but i do have both a hardware wallet and paper wallets.
When i had just a very small ammount (like $50-$200 worth of BTC) i only had paper wallets, but after i got around 1BTC, i decided to go for a hardware wallet. It was a great investment. They start at less than 20 bucks for the cheapest one.

btw: a paper wallet isn't that much of a hassle to generate. You do have to follow the correct procedure to generate one safely. If you just open bitaddress.org on an unsecured, online computer where you've installed a lot of cracked software, run the generator while online, create an unencrypted paper wallet, print it over wifi and keep a pdf copy on your pc, you're probably better off installing core, electrum or multibit. If, on the other hand, you follow the correct procedure, paper wallets are really safe, and really cheap to make

[BitcoinSupremo]

Electrum is the safest of all online wallets , its a local desktop wallet which relies on internet connection. However for it to be safe you need a clean PC at first, although I have done a test, installed a new electrum in my work PC which I know is infected, and put some bitcoins in it, they are still there, so a pretty nice wallet out there. As long as you have the seed and you have quite a lot of bitcoins, you can go to Bahamas for vacation and open it from there with the seed . Definitely the best of all online wallets and desktop ones.

[allankey]

Electrum is the safest of all online wallets , its a local desktop wallet which relies on internet connection. However for it to be safe you need a clean PC at first, although I have done a test, installed a new electrum in my work PC which I know is infected, and put some bitcoins in it, they are still there, so a pretty nice wallet out there. As long as you have the seed and you have quite a lot of bitcoins, you can go to Bahamas for vacation and open it from there with the seed . Definitely the best of all online wallets and desktop ones.

I agree that Electrum is easy to use and it is lightweight. Other wallets are confusing and slow. Electrum for me then

Thank you everyone.

[kamalsharma100]

Thanks! But if the electrum software gets updated, what will happen to my bitcoins? Do I have to use download the latest electrum to keep my bitcoins?

bitcoins aren't physical things... Basically, a wallet is just a piece of software to manage your private keys, generating transactions, broadcasting.
If electrum updates, nothing happens. You either chose to install the update or not (which usually goes seamingly, and if it goes wrong, you just use the seed words you wrote down when you first installed electrum, and restore your wallet... The worst thing that'll happen is the fact that you lost your labels).
If you chose to run an outdated version, you won't have access to the latest bugfixes, patches and new features, but usually,it's not a real problem.

PS: I'm also a big electrum fan. Core might be a tad bit better, since you synced and verified the full blockchain, but electrum is still good, since your private keys don't leave your computer, and can be encrypted with a strong password and 2fa

Electrum is a good desktop wallet, even better when used with a Trezor so your private keys are always kept offline.

But how to find out the private keys here.  Is it same as seed?

[wdnj]

I would like to hear your opinions: I heard electrum is a lightweight and fast wallet to execute BTC transactions. Is the wallet safe to use?

Alternatively, I have to keep a blockchain in my computer that is 50 gigabytes

Electrum is just a perfect bitcoin wallet, has a low size and your pc won't keep syncing 50Gb as you mentioned, it is pretty fast and doesn't need any special requirements.
It can be combined with hardware wallets as well like trezor but keep in mind to save the seed, wallet file and password in a safe place.

[shorena]

Thanks! But if the electrum software gets updated, what will happen to my bitcoins? Do I have to use download the latest electrum to keep my bitcoins?

bitcoins aren't physical things... Basically, a wallet is just a piece of software to manage your private keys, generating transactions, broadcasting.
If electrum updates, nothing happens. You either chose to install the update or not (which usually goes seamingly, and if it goes wrong, you just use the seed words you wrote down when you first installed electrum, and restore your wallet... The worst thing that'll happen is the fact that you lost your labels).
If you chose to run an outdated version, you won't have access to the latest bugfixes, patches and new features, but usually,it's not a real problem.

PS: I'm also a big electrum fan. Core might be a tad bit better, since you synced and verified the full blockchain, but electrum is still good, since your private keys don't leave your computer, and can be encrypted with a strong password and 2fa

Electrum is a good desktop wallet, even better when used with a Trezor so your private keys are always kept offline.

But how to find out the private keys here.  Is it same as seed?

No the seed is different from the keys. If you go to the address tab and rightclick on an address you can let the wallet show you its private key.

[kamalsharma100]

Thanks! But if the electrum software gets updated, what will happen to my bitcoins? Do I have to use download the latest electrum to keep my bitcoins?

bitcoins aren't physical things... Basically, a wallet is just a piece of software to manage your private keys, generating transactions, broadcasting.
If electrum updates, nothing happens. You either chose to install the update or not (which usually goes seamingly, and if it goes wrong, you just use the seed words you wrote down when you first installed electrum, and restore your wallet... The worst thing that'll happen is the fact that you lost your labels).
If you chose to run an outdated version, you won't have access to the latest bugfixes, patches and new features, but usually,it's not a real problem.

PS: I'm also a big electrum fan. Core might be a tad bit better, since you synced and verified the full blockchain, but electrum is still good, since your private keys don't leave your computer, and can be encrypted with a strong password and 2fa

Electrum is a good desktop wallet, even better when used with a Trezor so your private keys are always kept offline.

But how to find out the private keys here.  Is it same as seed?

No the seed is different from the keys. If you go to the address tab and rightclick on an address you can let the wallet show you its private key.

Ok.

Is it okay if I just save wallet, seed and password in pendrives in a safe place rather than saving private keys?