I need a better cheap solution to a paper wallet

[cpfreeplz]

How would I make my own hardware wallet sort of thing without shelling out $100? Is there any way to use an old piece of tech to somehow have cold storage and send transactions without it ever becoming a hot wallet?

If there is such a way to do this, is there a dumbed down guide that the technically inept like myself can read through step by step to set it up?

So basically I want a paper wallet that's always secure because the private key is never online but I want to be able to spend it easier than with a paper wallet. They're really a pain in the ass.

[longbob72]

How would I make my own hardware wallet sort of thing without shelling out $100? Is there any way to use an old piece of tech to somehow have cold storage and send transactions without it ever becoming a hot wallet?

Well you can always create an offline wallet for signing purposes only. Using a watching-only wallet or some other way to create the unsigned transaction and broadcast the signed transaction.

So basically I want a paper wallet that's always secure because the private key is never online but I want to be able to spend it easier than with a paper wallet. They're really a pain in the ass.

Which part do you think is a pain?

[cpfreeplz]

How would I make my own hardware wallet sort of thing without shelling out $100? Is there any way to use an old piece of tech to somehow have cold storage and send transactions without it ever becoming a hot wallet?

Well you can always create an offline wallet for signing purposes only. Using a watching-only wallet or some other way to create the unsigned transaction and broadcast the signed transaction.

So basically I want a paper wallet that's always secure because the private key is never online but I want to be able to spend it easier than with a paper wallet. They're really a pain in the ass.

Which part do you think is a pain?

Having to actually have it on you if you want to spend it and then needing to take everything out, put it in a hot wallet, spend part of it and put the rest into a new Paper wallet is a high pain. I was always told that you need to take everything out then spend it because for some reason it's more safe. I guess because it's not really a paper wallet after you spend some of the bitcoins because it's online at that point.

How do I create an offline wallet for signing purposes only? And would I have to use bitcoin core to do that?

[longbob72]

How would I make my own hardware wallet sort of thing without shelling out $100? Is there any way to use an old piece of tech to somehow have cold storage and send transactions without it ever becoming a hot wallet?

Well you can always create an offline wallet for signing purposes only. Using a watching-only wallet or some other way to create the unsigned transaction and broadcast the signed transaction.

So basically I want a paper wallet that's always secure because the private key is never online but I want to be able to spend it easier than with a paper wallet. They're really a pain in the ass.

Which part do you think is a pain?

Having to actually have it on you if you want to spend it and then needing to take everything out, put it in a hot wallet, spend part of it and put the rest into a new Paper wallet is a high pain. I was always told that you need to take everything out then spend it because for some reason it's more safe. I guess because it's not really a paper wallet after you spend some of the bitcoins because it's online at that point.

How do I create an offline wallet for signing purposes only? And would I have to use bitcoin core to do that?

No you don't need bitcoin core to do it. Electrum offers the simplest way to do it. There's a guide here. You can use armory too but I don't know much about armory. For bitcoin core you'll have to enter everything manually unless you have synced.

[cpfreeplz]

How would I make my own hardware wallet sort of thing without shelling out $100? Is there any way to use an old piece of tech to somehow have cold storage and send transactions without it ever becoming a hot wallet?

Well you can always create an offline wallet for signing purposes only. Using a watching-only wallet or some other way to create the unsigned transaction and broadcast the signed transaction.

So basically I want a paper wallet that's always secure because the private key is never online but I want to be able to spend it easier than with a paper wallet. They're really a pain in the ass.

Which part do you think is a pain?

Having to actually have it on you if you want to spend it and then needing to take everything out, put it in a hot wallet, spend part of it and put the rest into a new Paper wallet is a high pain. I was always told that you need to take everything out then spend it because for some reason it's more safe. I guess because it's not really a paper wallet after you spend some of the bitcoins because it's online at that point.

How do I create an offline wallet for signing purposes only? And would I have to use bitcoin core to do that?

No you don't need bitcoin core to do it. Electrum offers the simplest way to do it. There's a guide here. You can use armory too but I don't know much about armory. For bitcoin core you'll have to enter everything manually unless you have synced.

Thanks. I'll have to have a look through this once I'm at my PC to see if I can get it up and running. Maybe this next time I take money out of a paper wallet will be the last haha.

[Coding Enthusiast]

If you are fine with using linux do the following:
1. Download a linux distro (you can go with Ubuntu)
2. Download Electrum or any wallet of your liking
3. Buy a USB stick (at least 2GB, but 4 and up is suggested)
4. Put the linux ISO on the USB stick and add persistant
5. Turn your router off and disable network inside that linux OS
6. Install the wallet on your linux
7. Now you have a cold storage that you can spend from

I can make a detailed tutorial with screenshots if there is enough interest in it but it will take time

[adaseb]

What about this method? Is it still safe?


https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_set_up_a_secure_offline_savings_wallet

Sign up for a few different cloud drive accounts such as Dropbox or Google drive.
Create a strong and unique passphrase offline (manually). This passphrase should be TRUELY random. Diceware is a good way of generating the passphrase. It should be at least 12 words long.
Never use this passphrase elsewhere, especially not on the web.
Do not forget this passphrase. Recite it several times a day. It is easy to overestimate your ability to remember a passphrase several months in the future. To be on the safe side, write it down and store the piece of paper in a safe deposit box.
Download Bitcoin-Core Linux binary and save it on a USB drive.
Verify the software's release signatures from an alternative device and internet connection (eg. your smartphone). This makes sure you are not using a malicious program that poses as the bona fide bitcoin-core client.
Shut down your computer, and boot Ubuntu (or Linux distribution of you choice) from a liveCD. This will not affect your current operating system.
Disconnect machine from the internet. Unplug any network cables and disable wireless. Verify that wireless is disabled in the icon on the upper right corner (Ubuntu). Double check that machine is disconnected by opening the web browser.
Run bitcoin while disconnected to the internet. The client will show 0 connections and 0 blocks, but it will still generate a wallet.dat file and a bitcoin address.
Encrypt your wallet using the strong and unique password from step 2 above. (Bitcoin Client > Settings > Encrypt wallet)
Copy wallet.dat (found in hidden folder .bitcoin in your home directory) to USB drive.
Save bitcoin address to a text file and copy it to USB drive.
Shut down system and turn off computer. Before switching your computer on again, remove all power sources for about 1 minute. Physically remove battery from laptop.
Backup encrypted wallet.dat file in several places:
Send it to your 5 best friends by email attachment and ask them to save it for you.
Save it on your cloud drive accounts created in step 1.
Save it on several USB drives and CDs and store them in different geographic locations.
Send bitcoins to the address saved on the USB drive. Double check in the block explorer that they have been sent or you can add Watch Bitcoin Address in BlockChain Wallet.

How to Retrieve Funds
Boot from Ubuntu liveCD, as in step 5 above.
Insert USB drive.
Run bitcoin client and close it again.
Replace wallet.dat in ~/.bitcoin directory with wallet.dat from USB drive.
Connect to the internet.
Restart bitcoin client.
Wait for blocks to download (optional).
Send bitcoins.

[cpfreeplz]

If you are fine with using linux do the following:
1. Download a linux distro (you can go with Ubuntu)
2. Download Electrum or any wallet of your liking
3. Buy a USB stick (at least 2GB, but 4 and up is suggested)
4. Put the linux ISO on the USB stick and add persistant
5. Turn your router off and disable network inside that linux OS
6. Install the wallet on your linux
7. Now you have a cold storage that you can spend from

I can make a detailed tutorial with screenshots if there is enough interest in it but it will take time

I've bonded where I got lost. I can't figure out what that means let alone how to do it. Thanks for the guide though. If you're able to show me more steps that would be amazing.

What about this method? Is it still safe?


https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_set_up_a_secure_offline_savings_wallet

Sign up for a few different cloud drive accounts such as Dropbox or Google drive.
Create a strong and unique passphrase offline (manually). This passphrase should be TRUELY random. Diceware is a good way of generating the passphrase. It should be at least 12 words long.
Never use this passphrase elsewhere, especially not on the web.
Do not forget this passphrase. Recite it several times a day. It is easy to overestimate your ability to remember a passphrase several months in the future. To be on the safe side, write it down and store the piece of paper in a safe deposit box.
Download Bitcoin-Core Linux binary and save it on a USB drive.
Verify the software's release signatures from an alternative device and internet connection (eg. your smartphone). This makes sure you are not using a malicious program that poses as the bona fide bitcoin-core client.
Shut down your computer, and boot Ubuntu (or Linux distribution of you choice) from a liveCD. This will not affect your current operating system.
Disconnect machine from the internet. Unplug any network cables and disable wireless. Verify that wireless is disabled in the icon on the upper right corner (Ubuntu). Double check that machine is disconnected by opening the web browser.
Run bitcoin while disconnected to the internet. The client will show 0 connections and 0 blocks, but it will still generate a wallet.dat file and a bitcoin address.
Encrypt your wallet using the strong and unique password from step 2 above. (Bitcoin Client > Settings > Encrypt wallet)
Copy wallet.dat (found in hidden folder .bitcoin in your home directory) to USB drive.
Save bitcoin address to a text file and copy it to USB drive.
Shut down system and turn off computer. Before switching your computer on again, remove all power sources for about 1 minute. Physically remove battery from laptop.
Backup encrypted wallet.dat file in several places:
Send it to your 5 best friends by email attachment and ask them to save it for you.
Save it on your cloud drive accounts created in step 1.
Save it on several USB drives and CDs and store them in different geographic locations.
Send bitcoins to the address saved on the USB drive. Double check in the block explorer that they have been sent or you can add Watch Bitcoin Address in BlockChain Wallet.

How to Retrieve Funds
Boot from Ubuntu liveCD, as in step 5 above.
Insert USB drive.
Run bitcoin client and close it again.
Replace wallet.dat in ~/.bitcoin directory with wallet.dat from USB drive.
Connect to the internet.
Restart bitcoin client.
Wait for blocks to download (optional).
Send bitcoins.

I saw this while researching and just can't wrap my head around it. There are too many steps that I don't even begin to understand. Thanks for posting it though.

[pooya87]

if you want to "Do It Yourself" then you have to put in the time and effort to learn all these things. and good thing about linux is that you can find everything online.
just search for this: how to make a live linux with persistance

https://askubuntu.com/questions/397481/how-to-make-a-persistent-live-ubuntu-usb-with-more-than-4gb
there is also a website since you are on windows: https://www.pendrivelinux.com/linux-live-usb-creator/
i used unetbootin-windows and there are other things like Universal-USB-Installer,... test and see which one is better

[unamis76]

adaseb: yes, that's still a safe method, although a bit too much for my taste.

To the OP: you can have your own hardware wallet without spending a dime on hardware. If you want to have new hardware you can also buy some kind of cheap ARM computer such as a Raspberry. Tutorials have been listed above (the one from Electrum is quite good), but you can do it anyway you want it (and any way that suits your preferences better), you simply have to avoid connecting your offline wallet to the network.

[charmingfreddie]

How would I make my own hardware wallet sort of thing without shelling out $100? Is there any way to use an old piece of tech to somehow have cold storage and send transactions without it ever becoming a hot wallet?

Well you can always create an offline wallet for signing purposes only. Using a watching-only wallet or some other way to create the unsigned transaction and broadcast the signed transaction.

So basically I want a paper wallet that's always secure because the private key is never online but I want to be able to spend it easier than with a paper wallet. They're really a pain in the ass.

Which part do you think is a pain?

Having to actually have it on you if you want to spend it and then needing to take everything out, put it in a hot wallet, spend part of it and put the rest into a new Paper wallet is a high pain. I was always told that you need to take everything out then spend it because for some reason it's more safe. I guess because it's not really a paper wallet after you spend some of the bitcoins because it's online at that point.

How do I create an offline wallet for signing purposes only? And would I have to use bitcoin core to do that?

No you don't need bitcoin core to do it. Electrum offers the simplest way to do it. There's a guide here. You can use armory too but I don't know much about armory. For bitcoin core you'll have to enter everything manually unless you have synced.

I second this post, because I too suffered from Wallet Paranoia.
Then I was introduced by FrilledShark ( Great Guy ) to Electrum.
Coins are not stored in a central database so no chance of having your coins stolen.
If you (or anyone reading this) has not checked out Electrum then I suggest I suggest you download it now to your PC and / or mobile phone.

I dont even know why anybody still uses the old wallets. Electrum all the way.

[BuySomeBitcoins]

what do you want to accomplish ? a secure wallet that can not be hacked even if your computer is infected and monitored ?

[BitcoinNewsMagazine]

If you have a spare laptop you are not using and do not mind leaving it offline from now on use Electrum cold storage. You sign transactions on the offline computer, take to the online computer with a USB drive then broadcast. For $65 you can buy a Ledger Nano S which is a heckuva lot more convenient. If you don't own enough bitcoin to justify $65 for really secure storage you may as well use Breadwallet on your phone.