Hello. Have a newbie question.

[Gerain]

Hi i understand that this might be a stupid question or it was answered before if that is the case can you point me to an answer.

Anyways here is what I would like to know. Is there a way to back up your bitcoin wallet apart from making a back up file on the computer? I mean is there a way to make physical object to help me back up my wallet in case i lose a digital back up?

Cheers.

[streetsmart]

Yes, you just need the private key for the account which you can print onto a paper wallet. There are plenty of tutorials online for this

The private key essentially IS the paperwallet* That's one topic that might be easily misunderstood

[Jaayzz]

I thought there was a company that gave coins (real coins) I dont remember their name. That might be one of the possibilities.

[streetsmart]

I thought there was a company that gave coins (real coins) I dont remember their name. That might be one of the possibilities.

That's always an option, but you would be paying a premium for the coin.

[Gerain]

Hi,
Thanks for the answers.
Did a bit of research and found some useful websites that can make paper wallets to back up my digital one.
Cheers!

[presstab]

I am also a newbie and found this information helpful! Thanks all

[streetsmart]

Just don't forget proper security in making a paperwallet! Be paranoid when you make it

[cl3m]

Buy a USB Key with AES256 protection and store your wallet on it

[niothor]

Buy a USB Key with AES256 protection and store your wallet on it

He wants a physical back up

[xSerendipity]

For anyone else that might stumble upon this thread and want an actual link to go to:

https://blockchain.info/wallet/paper-tutorial

I'm personally a pretty forgetful person and would rather not to carry it around on a paper in fear of losing it; I've just kept mine at home on a USB.

[Equus]

Here is what I do:

I disconnect my internet, reboot, and use vanitygen (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=25804.0) to create a public/private key pair.

I carefully copy the private key in pencil onto two pieces of paper, and then make sure that the papers match.  I then destroy any files made by vanitygen.

I fold the papers with the private key on the inside, and write the public key on the outside.

I put each one in a safe place, in different cities.


There are more colourful ways to make paper wallets, but I like how low-tech this way feels.

Sometimes, I send a small test transaction to the paper wallet's public address and then import the private key into a fresh bitcoin-qt wallet to make sure I copied everything down correctly.  This also gives me an address entry in my main wallet that I can copy when I send my real savings.  Then, I destroy the wallet file bitcoin-qt created for the paper wallet.

[merc84]

hello i need to post a guide for the new t16 linux port of aero clouds xpm miner and  must first make some posts apparently before i can do so.

[Equus]

Hi Merc84.  



I just re-read the OP, and I want to clarify something:

A paper wallet is typically the private key for a single bitcoin address to which you can send coins for offline storage.  It is not a way to back up your entire digital wallet.

Your digital wallet probably controls multiple addresses, so to back it up you would need to record the private keys for all of them.  This could be done on a physical object, but it seems like a pain to get all of the keys with the default client. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=110342.0


If I wanted to backup my wallet on a physical object, I would encrypt it and copy the wallet.dat file onto a CD or usb stick.