Question about saving a large amount of coins

[mrlegoface]

what is the safest way to save a large amount of coins, is it paper ? if so can paper coins be transferred to any wallet?

also web wallets what are some of the most respected ones, is blockchain.info a good wallet, if it goes down can i redeem my bitcoins on another site?

also with blockchain do i have to re backup my coins every time i spend some?

[jacee]

also web wallets what are some of the most respected ones, is blockchain.info a good wallet, if it goes down can i redeem my bitcoins on another site?

I will not recommend use o web wallets for high amount of coins.
Yes. You can access the coins freely using another wallet provider if you have access to the privatekey from your blockchain wallet. It's always best to create backups.

[achow101]

what is the safest way to save a large amount of coins, is it paper ? if so can paper coins be transferred to any wallet?

To store coins long term (i.e. cold storage), paper wallets are usually the recommended method. This is only if you don't plan on spending those coins.

also web wallets what are some of the most respected ones, is blockchain.info a good wallet, if it goes down can i redeem my bitcoins on another site?

Blockchain.info is not really a good web wallet. In fact, basically every single web wallet is pretty bad. Most of them don't allow you to access the private keys, so if they do go down, then there is no way for you to recover your Bitcoin.

also with blockchain do i have to re backup my coins every time i spend some?

With their new wallets which are BIP32 HD wallets, no you will only need to backup once.


I highly recommend that you use a desktop wallet such as Electrum or Bitcoin Core, especially if you are dealing with a lot of coins.

[mrlegoface]

what is the safest way to save a large amount of coins, is it paper ? if so can paper coins be transferred to any wallet?

To store coins long term (i.e. cold storage), paper wallets are usually the recommended method. This is only if you don't plan on spending those coins.

also web wallets what are some of the most respected ones, is blockchain.info a good wallet, if it goes down can i redeem my bitcoins on another site?

Blockchain.info is not really a good web wallet. In fact, basically every single web wallet is pretty bad. Most of them don't allow you to access the private keys, so if they do go down, then there is no way for you to recover your Bitcoin.

also with blockchain do i have to re backup my coins every time i spend some?

With their new wallets which are BIP32 HD wallets, no you will only need to backup once.


I highly recommend that you use a desktop wallet such as Electrum or Bitcoin Core, especially if you are dealing with a lot of coins.

Ok thanks for the reply, with paper wallets if the site i made the wallet from goes down will i lose my bitcoins? the same for bitcoin core.
with paper wallets is the private key the thing to take the money off? could i just write down the private key on a peace of paper or do i need that qr code?

im planning on buy a new laptop to store my coins. how easy is it to spend bitcoins with bitcoin core? also i had trouble finding a website for bitcoin core could you link it to me?

one more thing with a desktop wallet if i leave it for years will i still always be able to get my coins from my wallet?

[achow101]

Ok thanks for the reply, with paper wallets if the site i made the wallet from goes down will i lose my bitcoins? the same for bitcoin core.

No, you will not lose your Bitcoin. Neither of those rely on a centralized service. Once a private key for an address is generated and known, it only relies the persons possessing the key. The issue with web wallets is that most of them don't give you the private keys whereas with a paper wallet the key is printed on paper (thus in your possession) and with desktop wallets, the private keys are stored on your computer (thus in your possession). Desktop wallets generally will still function even if they are no longer actively developed.

with paper wallets is the private key the thing to take the money off? could i just write down the private key on a peace of paper or do i need that qr code?

All you need is the Private key. That is what allows you to spend Bitcoin. The QR code just makes it easier to import the key into a wallet so that you can spend the Bitcoin.

im planning on buy a new laptop to store my coins. how easy is it to spend bitcoins with bitcoin core? also i had trouble finding a website for bitcoin core could you link it to me?

It is very easy. It's just that syncing Bitcoin Core can take a very long time as it needs to download the entire blockchain (~80 GB). There is a tab for sending, you just enter an address and an amount and it does everything for you. Also, you should encrypt your wallet as it doesn't prompt you to encrypt the wallet when you start the program.

Bitcoin Core's official website is https://bitcoincore.org/ but the downloads are hosted at https://bitcoin.org/en/download

[Sylon]

As it was advised above, I would recommend using cold storage.

Another alternative could be Ledger hardware wallets, that's a good choice if you have the opportunity to invest money in securing your coins.
It has a function that allows you to recover your coins if you lost your hardware wallets by using a recovery card QR code.

[mrlegoface]

Ok thanks for the reply, with paper wallets if the site i made the wallet from goes down will i lose my bitcoins? the same for bitcoin core.

No, you will not lose your Bitcoin. Neither of those rely on a centralized service. Once a private key for an address is generated and known, it only relies the persons possessing the key. The issue with web wallets is that most of them don't give you the private keys whereas with a paper wallet the key is printed on paper (thus in your possession) and with desktop wallets, the private keys are stored on your computer (thus in your possession). Desktop wallets generally will still function even if they are no longer actively developed.

with paper wallets is the private key the thing to take the money off? could i just write down the private key on a peace of paper or do i need that qr code?

All you need is the Private key. That is what allows you to spend Bitcoin. The QR code just makes it easier to import the key into a wallet so that you can spend the Bitcoin.

im planning on buy a new laptop to store my coins. how easy is it to spend bitcoins with bitcoin core? also i had trouble finding a website for bitcoin core could you link it to me?

It is very easy. It's just that syncing Bitcoin Core can take a very long time as it needs to download the entire blockchain (~80 GB). There is a tab for sending, you just enter an address and an amount and it does everything for you. Also, you should encrypt your wallet as it doesn't prompt you to encrypt the wallet when you start the program.

Bitcoin Core's official website is https://bitcoincore.org/ but the downloads are hosted at https://bitcoin.org/en/download

Thanks for all the info, so when i use bitcoincore, before putting my bitcoins on it i will need to sync the blockchain? will i need to sync it every time i use it?. also with bitcoincore can i use it from another computer if the one it is stored on breaks or gets lost.

[Coin-Keeper]

Sylon, you beat me by a minute or so.  Great minds think alike!  [smile]


I also like the idea of using a cheap hardware wallet for storage.  My Trezor is nice but I use it alot.  If you are pretty much going to have coins be "static" in storage, a basic Ledger would do the trick for you.  Using a Ledger no computer will have ever seen your private keys.  Safety is nice, plus you can recover your entire wallet even if the device gets run over by a car!  By the way many use a Ledger daily too.  I never intended to "dis" the Ledger at all.  You had mentioned you have a "large amount of coins", which of course is a relative term and I am not trying to invade your privacy.  A 20 dollar ledger to safely store significant coins would seem quite reasonable to me.  Hardware wallets work with pretty many software programs so you get lots of flexibility and are not painted into a corner either!!

[achow101]

Thanks for all the info, so when i use bitcoincore, before putting my bitcoins on it i will need to sync the blockchain? will i need to sync it every time i use it?. also with bitcoincore can i use it from another computer if the one it is stored on breaks or gets lost.

If you are receiving, you don't need to have it synced, it's just that you won't actually see the Bitcoin show up (not that it really matters, all that matters is the private key). However, if you want to send, you will need to sync the blockchain beforehand otherwise it won't know which outputs to spend from.

If your computer breaks, you can import the wallet onto another computer and use it from there.

[smho_16]

For the price of Ledger HW.1 when you are dealing with a lot of coins its extremely highly recommended that you get one. It cost only 0.025 BTC with the bitcoin price of now and it can be shipped worldwide. Its just a USB which keeps your coins secure. You can use it even when your computer is infected from viruses or keyloggers as it does all in the USB chip.

[mrlegoface]

Thanks for all the info, so when i use bitcoincore, before putting my bitcoins on it i will need to sync the blockchain? will i need to sync it every time i use it?. also with bitcoincore can i use it from another computer if the one it is stored on breaks or gets lost.

If you are receiving, you don't need to have it synced, it's just that you won't actually see the Bitcoin show up (not that it really matters, all that matters is the private key). However, if you want to send, you will need to sync the blockchain beforehand otherwise it won't know which outputs to spend from.

If your computer breaks, you can import the wallet onto another computer and use it from there.

so the coins are connected to the private key so if my computer breaks they are not stored on it, they are on a private key? the wallets are just so i can see how much is on it and mange it?

[achow101]

Thanks for all the info, so when i use bitcoincore, before putting my bitcoins on it i will need to sync the blockchain? will i need to sync it every time i use it?. also with bitcoincore can i use it from another computer if the one it is stored on breaks or gets lost.

If you are receiving, you don't need to have it synced, it's just that you won't actually see the Bitcoin show up (not that it really matters, all that matters is the private key). However, if you want to send, you will need to sync the blockchain beforehand otherwise it won't know which outputs to spend from.

If your computer breaks, you can import the wallet onto another computer and use it from there.

so the coins are connected to the private key so if my computer breaks they are not stored on it, they are on a private key? the wallets are just so i can see how much is on it and mange it?

Well no, technically there are no objects as "Bitcoins". It's just scripts. The most common script requires a cryptographic signature which is related to a specific public key (your address). Only you can create that signature because you control the private key.

Wallets allow you figure out which output scripts belong to you so that you can create the correct signatures.

[mrlegoface]

Thanks for all the info, so when i use bitcoincore, before putting my bitcoins on it i will need to sync the blockchain? will i need to sync it every time i use it?. also with bitcoincore can i use it from another computer if the one it is stored on breaks or gets lost.

If you are receiving, you don't need to have it synced, it's just that you won't actually see the Bitcoin show up (not that it really matters, all that matters is the private key). However, if you want to send, you will need to sync the blockchain beforehand otherwise it won't know which outputs to spend from.

If your computer breaks, you can import the wallet onto another computer and use it from there.

so the coins are connected to the private key so if my computer breaks they are not stored on it, they are on a private key? the wallets are just so i can see how much is on it and mange it?

Well no, technically there are no objects as "Bitcoins". It's just scripts. The most common script requires a cryptographic signature which is related to a specific public key (your address). Only you can create that signature because you control the private key.

Wallets allow you figure out which output scripts belong to you so that you can create the correct signatures.

ok so aslong as i write down my private key some were i wont lose my bitcoins?

[achow101]

ok so aslong as i write down my private key some were i wont lose my bitcoins?

Yes. But you also can't be spending from the address associated with that private key.

[mrlegoface]

ok so aslong as i write down my private key some were i wont lose my bitcoins?

Yes. But you also can't be spending from the address associated with that private key.

You will then have to put it into a thing like bitcoincore? and i can use it to transfer the coins to a wallet?

is armory good to use? i

[Kakmakr]

This question can be answered in the best manner, if you share with us, how you want to use these coins. We mostly use paper wallets for long term storage, and because cold storage is one of the safest options, if you are creating these paper wallets in the correct manner. < Air-gapped computer or a offline computer >

If you want to dive into your coins regularly, I would invest in a Trezor hardware wallet, and keep some of the coins stored onto that device. Notice, I am saying some of the coins, and not all of them. I prefer to split my coins into smaller groups onto different paper wallets, to give me the flexibility to sweep smaller amounts of coins when needed, and not all the coins, every time I need to use some. ^smile^

[hakanbalta577]

Yes blockchain.info is one of the most trustable and oldest web wallet and probably the best web wallet around but still for holding very large amount of money you can use paper wallet to be more secure.But if you want to regularily spent your bitcoins,i would still consider blockchain.info wallet,you must enable all security features like 2fa.

[achow101]

You will then have to put it into a thing like bitcoincore? and i can use it to transfer the coins to a wallet?

Bitcoin Core is a wallet. You have to import the private key into a wallet (not necessarily Bitcoin Core) in order to spend the Bitcoin associated with it.

is armory good to use? i

Yes. There is some confusion about Armory due to the change in leadership. The official website is https://btcarmory.com

[Noctis Connor]

what is the safest way to save a large amount of coins, is it paper ? if so can paper coins be transferred to any wallet?

also web wallets what are some of the most respected ones, is blockchain.info a good wallet, if it goes down can i redeem my bitcoins on another site?

also with blockchain do i have to re backup my coins every time i spend some?

If you really want to save large amount of coins , try to trade it into another crypto currency it will help you out while you are trading your coins are going bigger and bigger until you gonna sell it for high price real cash don't really help us to save money it helps us to spend it.

[utkarshm]

what is the safest way to save a large amount of coins, is it paper ? if so can paper coins be transferred to any wallet?

also web wallets what are some of the most respected ones, is blockchain.info a good wallet, if it goes down can i redeem my bitcoins on another site?

also with blockchain do i have to re backup my coins every time i spend some?

If you really want to save large amount of coins , try to trade it into another crypto currency it will help you out while you are trading your coins are going bigger and bigger until you gonna sell it for high price real cash don't really help us to save money it helps us to spend it.

This is a way but honestly i do not trust any of the altcoins and its a risky holding other coins than bitcoin for a long term because there is no surety of them,their price can be doubled  but also their price can be halfed or even become really low so can face a large loss because of that,try to hold in a paper wallet will be best and safest.