Online Wallets

[nevertoolate]

Hi,
As a newbie, I was wondering what you guys think of online wallets in general.
Services like coinjar which keep your private keys.

When you trade bitcoins, I assume you will need these services.
Should you then transfer the coins to your offline wallet?

[1715059355]

1715059355

[1715059355]

1715059355

[1715059355]

1715059355

[1715059355]

1715059355

[mocacinno]

Hi,
As a newbie, I was wondering what you guys think of online wallets in general.
Services like coinjar which keep your private keys.

When you trade bitcoins, I assume you will need these services.
Should you then transfer the coins to your offline wallet?

I had never heared about coinjar, but after looking them up, it looks like they act both as an exchange and an online wallet.
Offcourse, if you want to exchange FIAT to BTC, you'll have to accept that you'll need an account on an exchange somewhere... But my recommandation would be to withdraw your BTC to either a desktop wallet (for reasonably small amounts) or a hardware wallet/paper wallet/airgapped pc as soon as possible.

A rule of thumb: if you're not the (only) one in controll of your private keys, you're not the (only) one in controll of your funds.

[aoluain]

Hi,
As a newbie, I was wondering what you guys think of online wallets in general.
Services like coinjar which keep your private keys.

When you trade bitcoins, I assume you will need these services.
Should you then transfer the coins to your offline wallet?

I had never heared about coinjar, but after looking them up, it looks like they act both as an exchange and an online wallet.
Offcourse, if you want to exchange FIAT to BTC, you'll have to accept that you'll need an account on an exchange somewhere... But my recommandation would be to withdraw your BTC to either a desktop wallet (for reasonably small amounts) or a hardware wallet/paper wallet/airgapped pc as soon as possible.

A rule of thumb: if you're not the (only) one in controll of your private keys, you're not the (only) one in controll of your funds.

I second this for sure!
Online wallets are fine if you are going to use them temporarily for trading or everyday spending etc.
Bur for long term holding of currency you really want full control of your wallet.

There are a few  you could check out:

Coinomi
Multibit HD
Exodus
Electrum

You can also download the dedicated wallet for each Currency, thats an option.

[nevertoolate]

Hi,
As a newbie, I was wondering what you guys think of online wallets in general.
Services like coinjar which keep your private keys.

When you trade bitcoins, I assume you will need these services.
Should you then transfer the coins to your offline wallet?

I had never heared about coinjar, but after looking them up, it looks like they act both as an exchange and an online wallet.
Offcourse, if you want to exchange FIAT to BTC, you'll have to accept that you'll need an account on an exchange somewhere... But my recommandation would be to withdraw your BTC to either a desktop wallet (for reasonably small amounts) or a hardware wallet/paper wallet/airgapped pc as soon as possible.

A rule of thumb: if you're not the (only) one in controll of your private keys, you're not the (only) one in controll of your funds.

Thank you.

I will look in to those options.

[lenoli]

for trading online wallets are good, but for keeping high amount of btc is too risky, because they arenot as safe as desktop wallets, so while choosing online wallets, be carefully. for small amounts, i am using coinbase and its perfect for me

good luck...

[nevertoolate]

for trading online wallets are good, but for keeping high amount of btc is too risky, because they arenot as safe as desktop wallets, so while choosing online wallets, be carefully. for small amounts, i am using coinbase and its perfect for me

good luck...

Isn't the desktop wallet is pretty much similar to hardware wallet?
Both "hardware" can fail.
What happens if your desktop wallet fails?

[mocacinno]

for trading online wallets are good, but for keeping high amount of btc is too risky, because they arenot as safe as desktop wallets, so while choosing online wallets, be carefully. for small amounts, i am using coinbase and its perfect for me

good luck...

Isn't the desktop wallet is pretty much similar to hardware wallet?
Both "hardware" can fail.
What happens if your desktop wallet fails?

A desktop wallet is basically a software wallet that keeps the (encrypted) private keys right on your disk. There are several disaster-recovery scenario's, based on which desktop wallet you chose (ranging from making daily backups off your wallet file to writing down a recovery seed phrase).

A hardware wallet is a physical hardware devices that makes sure your private key is never to be found on your desktop's harddrive nor memory. A hardware wallet receives an unsigned transaction from a connected device, signs transaction right on the hardware wallet without exposing any private keys and send the signed transaction back to your desktop to be broadcasted. Using a hardware wallet is considered to be more secure than using a desktop wallet, since even using an infected or a public PC wouldn't be a problem.

[nevertoolate]

How would you use hardware wallets with your phone then?
Can you plug them into your phone just like you can to your computer?

[ralle14]

How would you use hardware wallets with your phone then?
Can you plug them into your phone just like you can to your computer?

You can if you have a dongle for phones but the hardware wallet should have an app for smartphones so there's no need to plug it on a phone. It also depends on which hardware wallet you'll choose as there are different types like some have buttons and screens.

[HCP]

How would you use hardware wallets with your phone then?
Can you plug them into your phone just like you can to your computer?

Your phone needs to support "USB Host" mode and you'll need to have a USB OTG ("On-The-Go") cable to connect to the micro-USB port on your phone.

Most modern (mid-range+) smartphones *should* support OTG... but some of the cheaper, low end models may not (ie. Samsung Galaxy J1 does NOT). If you google "SmartPhoneModel OTG" you should be able to find out if it supports OTG or not.

[nevertoolate]

So the hardware dongle will work with their mobile app?
If the mobile application is managing the keys, what is the difference between the online wallet and the mobile app wallet?
I might as well just use the online wallet as they worry about securing my keys.

I thought the whole point of having the hardware wallet is to eliminate your keys being stored/accessed anywhere else but that particular hardware.
If that application has access to my keys via that hardware, then it is no good?

How would you use hardware wallets with your phone then?
Can you plug them into your phone just like you can to your computer?

You can if you have a dongle for phones but the hardware wallet should have an app for smartphones so there's no need to plug it on a phone. It also depends on which hardware wallet you'll choose as there are different types like some have buttons and screens.

I do have a phone which supports USB Host mode.
Do you guys know and use similar hardware wallets that you recommend?
I would like to have a look and find out.
Thanks so much.

How would you use hardware wallets with your phone then?
Can you plug them into your phone just like you can to your computer?

Your phone needs to support "USB Host" mode and you'll need to have a USB OTG ("On-The-Go") cable to connect to the micro-USB port on your phone.

Most modern (mid-range+) smartphones *should* support OTG... but some of the cheaper, low end models may not (ie. Samsung Galaxy J1 does NOT). If you google "SmartPhoneModel OTG" you should be able to find out if it supports OTG or not.

[HCP]

The "hardware dongle" is just a USB OTG cable/adapter.

No, the mobile app doesn't manage your keys. The mobile app will create a transaction and "send" it to the hardware wallet to sign. The hardware wallet signs the transaction and sends it back to the mobile app to broadcast to the network.

That is the beauty of the hardware wallet... the private keys exist only within the hardware wallet and are never exposed to computers, smartphones or the internet etc. This is why even you can even use a hardware wallet on a public PC in an internet cafe... your keys are never exposed.

Also, you don't necessarily need to use the hardware wallet manufacturer's mobile app either. A lot of the mobile wallets like Mycelium (Android) have builtin support for the Trezor and Ledger wallets.

You might want to go and search up some of the videos on youtube regarding using hardware wallets with mobile phones like these two:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5lwtqsMoAI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=640fg8jdc8c

[amacar2]

Coinbase, xapo = centralized bitcoin wallet, they store your private keys in their server ( Don't know about coinjar wallet that you have mentioned)
Blockchain.info and electrum doesn't store your private keys in their server and your wallet will be encrypted in your side with password of your choice. So I suggest you to use electrum for daily transactions while paper wallet or trezor to store bitcoin for longer term.

[SONG GEET]

Hi,
As a newbie, I was wondering what you guys think of online wallets in general.

No any online wallets or exchange platforms are safer to store your bitcoins. Either use paper wallet or trezor like hardware wallet to be the only one who have access to your bitcoins.

[Taki]

Private key is such function which allows you to enter to your founds from every wallet. Nice, right? I don't use this function and use ordinary exchanger's wallet, because I cash out bitcoins weekly, no matter for the price. I just can't do another way, cause of I am unemployed currently.

[mrjoy15]

Private key is such function which allows you to enter to your founds from every wallet. Nice, right? I don't use this function and use ordinary exchanger's wallet, because I cash out bitcoins weekly, no matter for the price. I just can't do another way, cause of I am unemployed currently.

Only this makes sense. Otherwise, It's not a good idea to store bitcoins in popular online wallets like Blockchain.info no longer gives control over your private keys, if you made the regular transaction than no matter how safe the online wallet is. But it is good practice to store only a small part of our funds in very secure Bitcoin wallet.