Where should I keep my bitcoins?

[flametoken]

There are multiple ways to secure your Bitcoins, depends on what level of safety do you need. Let me list a few in order, from the least safe to the safest, in my opinion:
- online exchanges, like Coinbase, Kraken etc. These are very handy if you want to trade, but you don't own the coins, they are held by the exchange, in your name. If they go bankrupt or they are hacked, you could lose your coins.

- Software wallets, like Electrum or Jaxx. These are applications that you run on your device that keep the private keys in your name. They are safer than an online exchange, because you hold the private keys, but if your device gets infected, the malware can exfiltrate your private keys. And the owner of the private key is the owner of the coins.

- Hardware wallets, like Trezor or Ledger. These are devices that look like a USB memory stick, that hold the private keys in a chip on their motherboard and the private key never leaves the device. You can use it with infected PCs, because the PC will never know the private key.

- Paper Wallet. You can keep your private key printed on a piece of paper. They are impervious to online hacks, but a thief can get them to you the old way, by stealing the paper on which the private key is printed.

- Brain Wallet. This is a recovery seed comprised of 12-24 words that can be used to get your private key back. Because they are words they are easy to remember and you don't have to write them anywhere. Of course there is still an issue if you forget the words, because you will lose access to all of your funds, but it's your risk to mitigate.

[DJ_Rick]

I think that you should keep btc in the hard wallet rather than using some online services but it is better to read the reviews about the safety methods beforehand, otherwise, it won't bring you success

[Jayskie15]

There are lots of stuff to use to keep your bitcoins safely according to the comments of this thread but first of all make yourself knowledgeable about this matter don't just simply believe on what they recommend do some research and studies about the things they recommended for you.

[Elips1]

I am confused on how cold wallets and hot wallets differ. To make any transaction we still need to get access to internet. Then how are they different?
Being connected to the internet makes the wallet hot and every wallet needs to connect to the internet for any transactions.

The safest way to keep bitcoins safe is to store them on Hardware WALLET.A wallet that is specifically built to hold cryptocurrency and keep it secure. This includes USB devices. These devices can go online to make transactions and get data and then can be taken offline for transportation and security.You can trust it because proven and tested.

[A Feeder]

There are lot of wallets you choose to respective wallets that you want to keep you coins, you can use a offline Bitcoin Hardware wallet, put in a paper wallet, USB drive or other data storage medium in a safe place or else you will ask people who really know about wallets to bitcoin or make a research.

[CASTIEL05]

I am confused on how cold wallets and hot wallets differ. To make any transaction we still need to get access to internet. Then how are they different?
Being connected to the internet makes the wallet hot and every wallet needs to connect to the internet for any transactions.

Cold wallet is only needed to sign the transaction.

For example you generate the transaction on a view-only wallet (based on the address, not on private key), which stays online safely, transfer with an USB stick that transaction to the cold wallet (offline) computer, sign it, go back to the online computer and dispatch it.

However, if you only store your Bitcoin and don't plan to spend, (safely generated!) paper wallet is cheap and pretty safe. And you can always send more Bitcoin to that, you can always check the balance safely online and, as long as you keep your private key safely and privately on a piece of paper nobody else can spend your coins until you import the private key into a wallet.

The most safest way of storing BTC is on a cold wallet. There are instances that we enters in a phishing site without knowing that the hackers are getting information about us and stealing our btc. But if we used cold storage, we can assure that our assets are in safe and away from potential hackers.

[vuhieu1]

For me, paper wallet and hardware wallet is my choice, Because when trading i only use ETH and Altcoin to trade. I I use not too much, save bitcoin on wallet and sometime, i use to convert to ETH or Altcoin.

[bennypagulayan]

Nowadays, there are many safeguarded secrets of BTC, however, you should use more secure application of your account, not with private wallet without high security.

[gesdan]

there are many wallets for bitcoin, so we can keep Britain in any platform, for example, is an online wallet, so we will create the online wallet for saving or bitcoin, and the popular right now is the hardware wallet, that we can save our bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the hardware like the USB

[Gontxi]

I am confused on how cold wallets and hot wallets differ. To make any transaction we still need to get access to internet. Then how are they different?
Being connected to the internet makes the wallet hot and every wallet needs to connect to the internet for any transactions.

actually this is easy, you can buy hardware as a long investment wallet choice. or other wallets are all safe too. security level I think you have to create it especially to avoid such hacking phishing due to self-neglect. or you can look for other recommendations that friends make during this discussion.

[sakahayang]

I am confused on how cold wallets and hot wallets differ. To make any transaction we still need to get access to internet. Then how are they different?
Being connected to the internet makes the wallet hot and every wallet needs to connect to the internet for any transactions.

I don't understand what you ask, but I know, that there are several types of wallets. for example, wallet online with an offline wallet.
if we talk about security, offline wallet is the choice, it doesn't mean that online wallet is not safe, but to safer offline wallets.

[fokinflor]

I am confused on how cold wallets and hot wallets differ. To make any transaction we still need to get access to internet. Then how are they different?
Being connected to the internet makes the wallet hot and every wallet needs to connect to the internet for any transactions.

I usually have them in a my hardware wallet, its highly secure and can use or transfer them whenever required and I would recommend you the same.

[Panetymerni]

Ledger Nano S goes no for around 80 euros and it is the best hardware wallet I know of. If you think about safety seriously than this is the way to go.

[Sbdip]

Cold wallet is the best way to store any crypto currency..  As wellas bitcoin.. Just use hard wallets or paper wallets which are not connected to any network. And voila.. Your account is safe with your bitcoin

[Benjamin Roberts]

Keeping Bitcoin safely is one of the most realities for everyone. I think you should choose the cold wallet because cold wallet is only needed to sign the transaction. When you send Bitcoin in cold wallets, you will stay online safely transfer with an USB stick that transaction to the cold wallet compute.

[Janet Wright]

In the status of the Bitcoin market, the price is falling heavily, I just store Bitcoin and no spending it. So, I choose to send all of my Bitcoin to paper wallet. It is really cheap and safe. Because you just have to keep your private key safely, you don't need to worry someone can intrude your BItcoin.

[Patrick Carvalho]

There are many ways to keep your bitcoin safe such as using paper wallet, using offline hardware wallet or using USB drive and so on. For me, I select to keep my bitcoin in basically hardware wallet due to it is more secure.

[rnssol]

Always use a hardware wallet for safe storage and safe spending.  Trezor and Nano Ledger are the two most trusted wallets to use.  Never leave a large amount of cryptocurrency on exchanges because they have a high chance of being hacked because they are a really juicy target for thieves.

I would also set up some type of inheritance method to your family or loved ones in case of death.  Leave them instructions about how to access your cryptocurrency funds.

Yes I understand. But can it be the case that instead of keeping all my coin in a single wallet I dividedly place them in different wallets? And would that be any secure?

[rnssol]

Yup but internet it self can be a danger to bitcoin storage. We might store our coins on an online wallet or an offline wallet but end up loosing our coins if the system is hacked or fails.

There is no 100% safe way to store your coins, any option has its advantages and disadvantages, so you should study every possibility and then decide what suits you best. I'll give you some examples :

- Online wallets : Most insecure way for storing your coins, user have no control over their private keys/exchange is exposed to hacking or phishing.

- Desktop wallets : Quite a safe way to store and transfer coins, but only in case your device is clean and well-protected (AV, Firewall, Antimalware).

- Hardware wallets : An excellent way to store coins, private keys are always stored inside the device, for me best option.

- Paper wallets : Good choice for long term storage, need to be created in safe environment/paper need to be stored in safe place (fire, water, etc..)

Whatever you use, using of common sense is always advisable, even a best way of protection can not protect you from the mistake caused by the human factor.

Okay understood. thank you for the detailed explanation regarding possible kinds of wallets.

[SoiledDove]

I am confused on how cold wallets and hot wallets differ. To make any transaction we still need to get access to internet. Then how are they different?
Being connected to the internet makes the wallet hot and every wallet needs to connect to the internet for any transactions.

Cold wallet. Hot wallet. Offline wallet. Hardware wallet. How many kinds of bitcoin wallet are there?