Storing Bitcoin using Core and prune

[K1lo]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking about how to create a kind of cold store for my bitcoins. I keep circling back to having a raspberry pi running a locked down imagine with Bitcoin Core and the -prune=x option to prevent the blockchain getting too large to store on the SD card.

Ideally I want something simply and lightweight that I have confidence I can just power on, update the block chain, verify my balance, send money, shutdown as and when I need to.

I know there are other options like paper wallets, but honestly I have a hard time feeling comfortable about keeping my bitcoin saving that way.

Apologies as I'm sure this has been asked many times, my specific question relates to using Core and the prune option. Are there any disadvantages to this approach?

[altcoinhosting]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking about how to create a kind of cold store for my bitcoins. I keep circling back to having a raspberry pi running a locked down imagine with Bitcoin Core and the -prune=x option to prevent the blockchain getting too large to store on the SD card.

Ideally I want something simply and lightweight that I have confidence I can just power on, update the block chain, verify my balance, send money, shutdown as and when I need to.

I know there are other options like paper wallets, but honestly I have a hard time feeling comfortable about keeping my bitcoin saving that way.

Apologies as I'm sure this has been asked many times, my specific question relates to using Core and the prune option. Are there any disadvantages to this approach?

excuse me if i'm wrong, but if you sync your wallet (even with the -trim option), it'll never be cold storage again. If i'm not mistaking, the main point of cold storage is to have a machine that has never been connected to the internet (or at least, was disconnected before the wallet was run for the first time).

This can be achieved in many ways, a simple tutorial could be found here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_set_up_a_secure_offline_savings_wallet

you can do the same thing by using electrum or armory... Or like you said: by using paper wallets (altough it's a hassle, since paper wallets should be discarded when they were swept using an online machine)

[K1lo]

excuse me if i'm wrong, but if you sync your wallet (even with the -trim option), it'll never be cold storage again. If i'm not mistaking, the main point of cold storage is to have a machine that has never been connected to the internet (or at least, was disconnected before the wallet was run for the first time).

This can be achieved in many ways, a simple tutorial could be found here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_set_up_a_secure_offline_savings_wallet

you can do the same thing by using electrum or armory... Or like you said: by using paper wallets (altough it's a hassle, since paper wallets should be discarded when they were swept using an online machine)

Yeah maybe I'm being a bit loose with the term cold storage. But simply syncing the blockchain to a secure environment isn't a risk I don't think.

I know in practice I could just create a new wallet with the machine offline, use the address to send my bitcoin to, verify the balance of that address using, say, blockchain.info .. but then in the future how would I simply send the coins somewhere else if I wanted to?

I like the idea of paper wallets, however the idea of potentially losing coins in change addresses if I send a little in the future concerns me. I'd like to feel like I have complete control over my wallet - this is the same reason I'd prefer not to use an online wallet like electrum.

[altcoinhosting]

Yeah maybe I'm being a bit loose with the term cold storage. But simply syncing the blockchain to a secure environment isn't a risk I don't think.

I know in practice I could just create a new wallet with the machine offline, use the address to send my bitcoin to, verify the balance of that address using, say, blockchain.info .. but then in the future how would I simply send the coins somewhere else if I wanted to?

I like the idea of paper wallets, however the idea of potentially losing coins in change addresses if I send a little in the future concerns me. I'd like to feel like I have complete control over my wallet - this is the same reason I'd prefer not to use an online wallet like electrum.

just one thing: electrum is not an online wallet... your private keys are stored on your pc and your pc alone, it's a desktop wallet that only syncs the block headers and makes use of electrum servers without ever sharing the private key.

I'm also security oriented, but i do use electrum on a daily basis.

[calkob]

Nice idea however i find that paper wallets stored in more than 1 place and bip38 protected are really secure and if you use them with something like breadwallet when spending you nver have to worry about change going missing.

I also have to agree Electrum is very good i have only been using it since the start of this year but have had no problem

[7788bitcoin]

Nice idea however i find that paper wallets stored in more than 1 place and bip38 protected are really secure and if you use them with something like breadwallet when spending you nver have to worry about change going missing.

I also have to agree Electrum is very good i have only been using it since the start of this year but have had no problem

I incline to agree that paper wallet is still the best. All electronic devices have their life spent (durability and compatibility with current system). Imagine I setup a great piece of software in a floopy disk, in 10 years time it will most likely not working or I can't even find the drive to read it.

[K1lo]

I incline to agree that paper wallet is still the best. All electronic devices have their life spent (durability and compatibility with current system). Imagine I setup a great piece of software in a floopy disk, in 10 years time it will most likely not working or I can't even find the drive to read it.

That is a very valid point, the only way to address that is redundancy in approach.

For backing up digital assets the common rule is 3-2-1 (three copies in two different media formats, one of which should be at a different location). I see no reason why a paper wallet couldn't be a part of that.

So - to take my example, having a cold-ish raspberry pi with the address in the wallet backed up by an encrypted paper wallet.

Of course the issue then could be if I sent the funds in the wallet anywhere the paper wallet might no longer be sufficient to cover all the funds i.e. if change addresses are created... hmm. I guess the solution would always be to rationalise remaining balance after a transaction back to the single original address?

[Lauda]

I incline to agree that paper wallet is still the best. All electronic devices have their life spent (durability and compatibility with current system).

False. Paper is prone to degradation and all sorts of damage which makes it more reliable than hard disks for instance. Talking about 'all electronic devices' as a storage option is not a good idea as the durability greatly varies depending on what you plan on using.

Imagine I setup a great piece of software in a floopy disk, in 10 years time it will most likely not working or I can't even find the drive to read it.

Why would you store a piece of software on already outdated technology? If you store it now on a SATA HDD, there is zero reason to believe that you will not be able to plug it in somewhere in 10-20 years. That said, there are some factors that need to be considered (e.g. magnetic field breakdown). I'd recommend revisiting the backup at least once every two years.

For backing up digital assets the common rule is 3-2-1 (three copies in two different media formats, one of which should be at a different location). I see no reason why a paper wallet couldn't be a part of that.

3 encrypted devices: 1 USB, 2 HDDs from different manufacturers and different sizes (all tested prior to usage).

[ranochigo]

it's a desktop wallet that only syncs the block headers and makes use of electrum servers without ever sharing the private key.

I'm also security oriented, but i do use electrum on a daily basis.

The server will know about the address that is used by the peer that is connected to it
SD cards are really not the medium that you would really want to have a program that as a high I/O using it. Electrum makes it simple for you. If my memory doesn't fail me, there is a feature which the user can generate a raw transaction, transfer it to the offline computer and transfer it back to the online computer to broadcast it. It can be done with Bitcoin Core too but the UI makes it a lot simpler.


*I can't verify this since my Electrum doesn't open anymore but I am nearly certain that I am right.

[thejaytiesto]

A lot of people use the term "cold storage" to refer to "long term storage", as in "have the money/assets/whatever stored and basically forget about it" type of mentality.

For paper wallet if you go that route, buy some plastic seals on ebay or something and put the paper inside. I think a paper sealed on plastic will last for 100+ years.

If you are going the wallet.dat route, keep it on different devices, hard disk, sdd, usb, cdrom, cloud storage (on an encrypted zip file)... it's impossible that you will lose all of them.