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ilpirata79 (OP)
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June 15, 2013, 05:26:27 PM |
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HI everyone,
do you think mtgox is secure to keep bitcoins?
Regards,
ilpirata79
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PeterB
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June 15, 2013, 05:27:33 PM |
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I see no point in subjecting yourself to that counterparty risk. Also there is much malware designed to empty your Mt. Gox wallet. I would keep them safe in cold storage if I were you.
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ilpirata79 (OP)
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June 15, 2013, 05:30:27 PM |
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Even with a yubikey?
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Lohoris
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June 15, 2013, 05:30:30 PM |
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HI everyone,
do you think mtgox is secure to keep bitcoins?
Regards,
ilpirata79
No. Read here. |
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ranlo
Legendary
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Activity: 1988
Merit: 1007
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June 15, 2013, 06:17:46 PM |
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HI everyone,
do you think mtgox is secure to keep bitcoins?
Regards,
ilpirata79
The general consensus is that you should never use exchanges as storage. Most say to transfer to exchange -> do whatever trading you want to do -> withdraw it. This reduces the risk because then you have full control over all the security protocols. |
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pvtbrutus
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June 15, 2013, 07:24:44 PM |
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Also you cant sign messages with an exchange wallet. Small amounts are safe in online wallets like blockchain.info (with 2F authentication). Big amounts only offline or with hardware wallets.
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llamahats
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June 15, 2013, 07:26:56 PM |
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How much money would you say is safe to keep in a blockchain wallet?
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Lohoris
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June 15, 2013, 07:27:59 PM |
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How much money would you say is safe to keep in a blockchain wallet?
It depends on how much that wallet is secure. |
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llamahats
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June 15, 2013, 07:29:30 PM |
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How much money would you say is safe to keep in a blockchain wallet?
It depends on how much that wallet is secure. Is there a fairly simple way to make it more secure? |
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ranlo
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Merit: 1007
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June 15, 2013, 07:31:35 PM |
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How much money would you say is safe to keep in a blockchain wallet?
"How much is safe" depends on how much you can afford to lose. The principle is the same: if the owner runs or the server is hacked, you can lose everything. For some people 0.01 BTC it too much to lose, for others they can afford to lose thousands of BTC. You're the only one that can answer that question. |
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orymh
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June 15, 2013, 07:32:32 PM |
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How much money would you say is safe to keep in a blockchain wallet?
It depends on how much that wallet is secure. Is there a fairly simple way to make it more secure? Two factor authentication is always better than just a password. That said, the same reasoning still applies with a blockchain.info wallet as with a Mt. Gox account: your BTC are less safe there than they would be in an offline wallet that you control directly. This seems weird to a lot of people, but we're all used to the well-established old-fashioned banking system, where the money in our accounts is insured (at least up to a certain level). With Bitcoin, there's no such insurance. If something happens to your BTC in an online account - whether it's on Mt. Gox or blockchain.info - you're on your own. |
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B. Tazed
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June 15, 2013, 07:40:41 PM |
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The safest place to keep your coins is in your own qt, do not hold coins anywhere else unless your transferring to buy or sell. Plain and simple.
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ranlo
Legendary
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Merit: 1007
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June 15, 2013, 07:44:06 PM |
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Mtgox is a scam i suggest a exchange like btc-e.com
I completely disagree (with the scam accusation). It's just another exchange, and actually it's the most well-known one for non-technical people. |
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llamahats
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June 15, 2013, 07:53:20 PM |
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Two factor authentication is always better than just a password. That said, the same reasoning still applies with a blockchain.info wallet as with a Mt. Gox account: your BTC are less safe there than they would be in an offline wallet that you control directly.
This seems weird to a lot of people, but we're all used to the well-established old-fashioned banking system, where the money in our accounts is insured (at least up to a certain level). With Bitcoin, there's no such insurance. If something happens to your BTC in an online account - whether it's on Mt. Gox or blockchain.info - you're on your own.
So how exactly does an offline wallet work? Excuse my lack of understanding... Do the bitcoins that you keep on your hard drive have some unique identifying information that is kept intact if you want to use them for a transaction? Is it that simple? People seem to be saying that an offline wallet is extremely complicated, but I don't get why. |
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ranlo
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Merit: 1007
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June 15, 2013, 07:55:47 PM |
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Two factor authentication is always better than just a password. That said, the same reasoning still applies with a blockchain.info wallet as with a Mt. Gox account: your BTC are less safe there than they would be in an offline wallet that you control directly.
This seems weird to a lot of people, but we're all used to the well-established old-fashioned banking system, where the money in our accounts is insured (at least up to a certain level). With Bitcoin, there's no such insurance. If something happens to your BTC in an online account - whether it's on Mt. Gox or blockchain.info - you're on your own.
So how exactly does an offline wallet work? Excuse my lack of understanding... Do the bitcoins that you keep on your hard drive have some unique identifying information that is kept intact if you want to use them for a transaction? Is it that simple? People seem to be saying that an offline wallet is extremely complicated, but I don't get why. The best offline wallets are "brain" or "paper" ones. They are wallets where you use them to receive coins, but you have to recreate (at least with paper) the wallet any time you want to send coins. These are safe because the information is stored not in a computer but in a physical/mental location, which means people have to go to your house to extract your private key. |
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Xuesheng
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June 15, 2013, 07:58:07 PM |
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Yes I'm curious also what you mean by an offline wallet? Is this simply something like electrum on your hard drive? But if the computer itself is connected then there is still some level of risk. And qt? not sure what that is?
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llamahats
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June 15, 2013, 07:58:30 PM |
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Interesting... So is it like the bitcoins only exist in a "latent" form in your paper wallet, and have to be so to speak "activated" via some code in order for them to function as currency? Just trying to wrap my head around it.
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orymh
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June 15, 2013, 08:01:22 PM |
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Interesting... So is it like the bitcoins only exist in a "latent" form in your paper wallet, and have to be so to speak "activated" via some code in order for them to function as currency? Just trying to wrap my head around it.
Bitcoins are never stored locally. They're essentially part of the blockchain, attached to blockchain addresses that you own. Your ownership of those addresses is proven by your holding of the private keys that go with those addresses. It's those private keys that are stored in your online wallet, or locally on your computer, or just on paper in a safe somewhere. As long as your private keys are safe, your Bitcoins are safe. |
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ranlo
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June 15, 2013, 08:06:45 PM |
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Interesting... So is it like the bitcoins only exist in a "latent" form in your paper wallet, and have to be so to speak "activated" via some code in order for them to function as currency? Just trying to wrap my head around it.
Bitcoins are never stored locally. They're essentially part of the blockchain, attached to blockchain addresses that you own. Your ownership of those addresses is proven by your holding of the private keys that go with those addresses. It's those private keys that are stored in your online wallet, or locally on your computer, or just on paper in a safe somewhere. As long as your private keys are safe, your Bitcoins are safe. This. A good way to think about it is that the blockchain is our safe. Everyone can see anything that happens inside the safe, whether you're looking at your lockbox or someone else's. Now your public keys are your safe's addresses. Everyone can see in them and can input money to them, but they can NOT withdraw anything from your safe. With your private key, you are able to open the safe. If someone else gets your private key, they have access to your safe as well. So your safe is only as safe as you make it. When you rely on others to protect your safe, you're hoping that they do everything in their power to keep outsiders out. This is a lot like a bank, with the difference being that if something happens at a bank, the FDIC (in the case of the US) will reimburse the lost funds. With BTC, there is no insurance. |
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llamahats
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June 15, 2013, 08:11:22 PM |
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Wow! That was a good explanation. So the difference between an online and offline wallet is the location of your "private keys"? ie, with an online wallet they are stored on a server and you access them via your identifying credentials for that website, and with an offline wallet they are stored on your hard drive or written down somewhere?
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