2014 01 13 Bitcoin cold storage and insurance services sprout

[freedomno1]

http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=16198

Bitcoin cold storage and insurance services sprout

The pros and cons of using and investing in Bitcoin and crypto currency in general are no longer a mystery, and solutions to some of the problems are being presented almost daily.

One of the biggest ones is keeping your Bitcoin stash safe, both from cyber crooks and your own errors of judgement. Usually, that means keeping your bitcoins in "cold storage": in a paper or offline hardware wallet, a data storage device inaccessible to anyone except the owner, or online but encrypted (with the encryption key offline).

But, if you want, you can now also insure your bitcoins against theft or loss, as a UK-based company has presented Elliptic Vault, a storage service with insurance underwritten by Lloyd’s of London.

The service protects its customers' bitcoins with "advanced deep cold storage techniques" - the stash is encrypted and the keys are stored offline.

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[LiteCoinGuy]

true, this is a big step and when more and more companys join the space, the insurance-fees will be lower.

[cryptoanarchist]

I would advise people away from buying into these scams.

Its fairly easy for the average american dipshit to encrypt his wallet, and it only takes very minor technical skills to create an offline wallet with a linux USB stick.

Bitcoin attracts LOTS of scammers because it competes with the biggest thieves in the world - the international banking cartel.

So since 2011, I've seen all kinds of bitcoin services with nice websites and vouched for with big money that ended up being nothing more than scams - high priced, very well funded scams.

YOU are in charge with protecting your bitcoins. If you don't trust the encryption, you shouldn't even be using bitcoin.

[seldon]

I would advise people away from buying into these scams.

Its fairly easy for the average american dipshit to encrypt his wallet, and it only takes very minor technical skills to create an offline wallet with a linux USB stick.

Bitcoin attracts LOTS of scammers because it competes with the biggest thieves in the world - the international banking cartel.

So since 2011, I've seen all kinds of bitcoin services with nice websites and vouched for with big money that ended up being nothing more than scams - high priced, very well funded scams.

YOU are in charge with protecting your bitcoins. If you don't trust the encryption, you shouldn't even be using bitcoin.

I disagree.. the average american/westerner will not be able to operate bitcoin-qt, let alone provide for appropriate safety. The amount of lost or stolen coins even under us tech-savy enthusiasts is proof.
Bitcoin gives you the chance to be your own bank, but at the price of taking care for your own money. This new development makes it way safer for normal people and also companies.

[elliptic]

Tom from Elliptic here.
If you have any questions/comments about our Elliptic Vault service, please post them in this thread:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=424215

[BTCisthefuture]

There's a few things IMO services surrounded around bitcoin that it needs to continue to gain mainstream adoption. It's still very true that bitcoin is too complicated for most people.  One of those things is certainly insurance on loss or theft.  Its the same reason why most people keep the vast majority of their money in banks instead of in their house or pants pocket. 

Although many will argue that 3rd party services like this go against bitcoins core value of being decentralized without having to deal with banks or other parties ,  it's certainly something that's needed for more mainstream adoption.  The good news is for those people who still want full control of bitcoin and transactions etc etc without any 3rd parties, you will still always have that option due to the p2p nature of bitcoin.  It really is the best of both worlds imo.