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Author Topic: Wallets  (Read 1241 times)
flexgroo (OP)
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December 06, 2013, 02:02:04 AM
 #1

Hello everyone, just a few questions

first gratz to the guy the bought the telsa for 59 bitcoins, which leads me to my next questions

how would one make his/her wallet the most secure? i have a wallet at blockchain 13qcDv7PtNsc97zW4hoDoWg6Y2K4gNyyvz, and i here stories about people being hacked? and keyloggers and such... And i here about keeping coins in a cloud, on hard drive, encrypting something, keeping a file in a safe deposit box?

If and when i get my first miner, is there a way i can make it so no withdraws can come from my wallet, unless i do it? or even have a delay on the withdraw, and have a text sent to my phone saying a withdraw is about to happen, and have to put the text "code" on the withdraw order or such?

thanks again for any advice

now i need to find a miner and want to keep price around 5k dollars, something easy i can just plug in and hit start, incase im not home and wife has to restart it or something
theonewhowaskazu
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December 06, 2013, 02:35:11 AM
 #2

First you need to understand what a wallet is. That way you can decide how you'd best like to store it.

A wallet is basically a password & an associated address. That password & address can be generated entirely offline. Imagine some function f(x) such that f(x) is easily calculated from x but x can not be obtained from f(x). In such a case, f(x) would be like your Bitcoin address and x would be your password or private key. In order to have your wallet, you're going to need to save your private key.

Its basically up to you where you store it, but if anybody gets your private key, they will have your Bitcoins. There is no other way for them to get them, so unless you're typing your private key in or something, they will not be able to get your private key with JUST a keylogger, assuming you're using a normal wallet on your computer.

The way Blockchain.info & other good web-wallets work is it stores your private key, encrypted, on their server. When you want to use the key, it passes it to your computer, your computer uses your password to decrypt it, and then you can use the private key as if you had it all along. The upside of this is that you can't lose it if your computer crashes and can access it from any computer, not just one with the key stored on it. The downside is that it renders it easier to hack, since if they get your password, they can ask blockchain.info for your encrypted key and then use your password to decrypt it.

What in my view is the best of both worlds is a deterministic wallet like electrum. In this client, the key is stored on your own computer, and not online. This reduces the risk that somebody can get it. However, the key is derivable from something called a seed, which is basically a group of english words. This means you can get your key(s) from that seed if you remember that seed or write it down, even if your computer is wiped. The only way that a hacker could get your private keys from electrum is if they got a virus on your computer that stole your password when you typed it in AND stole the wallet file on your computer.

If you want to be absolutely safe, then get a cheap offline computer (netbook or something) and install electrum there. Create a brand new wallet there, and store all your coins on that computer, memorizing and/or writing down the seed. Send all your Bitcoins to that computer. When you want to spend your Bitcoins, sign the transaction offline, and copy the signed transaction hash, stick it on a USB, then use an online computer to push that transaction hash to the network (or use something like Blockchain.info). In this way, there is no conceivable way anybody could get at your Bitcoins, even if they had a virus that gave them full control of all of your computers. Also, even if somebody took a sledge hammer and bashed the hard drives of all your computers, thanks to your seed, you could still restore your wallet. On the other hand, it might be easier to simply stay clear of viruses and sledge hammers Smiley

flexgroo (OP)
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December 06, 2013, 03:39:44 AM
 #3

hmm thanks for your time in writing a nice reply, gave me some good info
Bobbydiggital
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December 06, 2013, 09:17:46 AM
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that was a nice post  but as i asked in another thread, if we want the BTC to be used by more and more people i think would need to finds other ways, like for exemple if i would ask anyone to use a digital currency but they have to use an offline compter i think it would be something that may them very worried about of how safe are digital currency and will be limited to a smaller sample of users.
bryant.coleman
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December 06, 2013, 09:36:27 AM
 #5

Blockchain.info is the best online wallet. Use it with 2 strong passwords, and 2FA.

Make sure that the backups are secure and safe.

Else use paper wallet.

In any case protect your system with a good anti-Virus software (My choice is Kasper).
flexgroo (OP)
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December 06, 2013, 09:51:00 AM
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Blockchain.info is the best online wallet. Use it with 2 strong passwords, and 2FA.

Make sure that the backups are secure and safe.

Else use paper wallet.

In any case protect your system with a good anti-Virus software (My choice is Kasper).

how do you make 2 passowrds and what is a 2fa?
bryant.coleman
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December 06, 2013, 10:37:36 AM
 #7

How do you make 2 passowrds and what is a 2fa?

OK... here you go.

1. Create a simple wallet and confirm the email

2. Go to Account settings.

3. In the personal tab, make sure that the email is verified. Then type an alias (don't forget this word)

4. Go to display tab. Select Bitcoin or mBTC as your preferred "Bitcoin Display"

5. Go to passwords tab

6. Click on "Enable Double Encryption". Type 2nd password.

7. Click on "Show / Hide Password Mnemonic" and write it down. Store it somewhere safe and secure.

8. Enter password hints

9. Go to Security Tab.

10. Select Email in Two Factor Authentication (2FA).

11. Go to wallet home. On backup, click on "email". A backup file will be sent on Email. Keep this file somewhere secure (may be an USB drive) and delete the mail.

12. Click on "paper". Printout paper wallet backup, and store it somewhere safe.
flexgroo (OP)
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December 06, 2013, 02:43:12 PM
 #8

thank you much
theonewhowaskazu
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December 08, 2013, 04:33:02 PM
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that was a nice post  but as i asked in another thread, if we want the BTC to be used by more and more people i think would need to finds other ways, like for exemple if i would ask anyone to use a digital currency but they have to use an offline compter i think it would be something that may them very worried about of how safe are digital currency and will be limited to a smaller sample of users.

Look, I am saying that's what you do if you want to be absolutely safe. There's no way you're going to get as safe as what I described with anything aside from a physical wallet, or offline wallet. Most people won't need to do that. I have a fair amount of coins, and I don't do that.

Bobbydiggital
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December 19, 2013, 09:10:43 PM
 #10

what is the max amout of BTC that you would keep on blockchain before keeping some on an offline computer?
luqash3
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December 20, 2013, 05:18:43 PM
 #11

At first I congratulate for your recent purchases. Yes Bitcoin or any other money online is at risk of being hacked. You may use reliable antivirus or anti key logging software’s but still there is a risk of being hacked or victim of other frauds. I personally use cash instead of cards or crypto-currency
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December 20, 2013, 05:29:49 PM
 #12

what is the max amout of BTC that you would keep on blockchain before keeping some on an offline computer?

Personally, while I trust blockchain.info, I generally prefer not to keep more than a few hundred mBTC spending money there. The rest is either in my Bitcoin-Qt or offline.

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