Safest way to go from paper wallets to Trezor

[Intrepid42]

I have a lot of BTC I bought in 2013 and put on a paper wallet from https://bitcoinpaperwallet.com.  I'd like to move it to a Trezor, but I haven't figured out the best and safest way without handing over control to something like blockchain.info   How would you guys recommend a paranoid way to sweep a paper wallet into a Trezor?

Thanks, I've been a lurker since 2013.

[1715144431]

1715144431

[1715144431]

1715144431

[1715144431]

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[mk4]

Probably simply sweep the paper wallet's keys onto a reputable mobile wallet like Mycelium[1], then simply send it over to your Trezor bitcoin address. I personally really prefer using a phone than using a computer. I really don't trust my Windows 10 device that much.

[1] https://wallet.mycelium.com/

[OmegaStarScream]

In addition to the wallet suggested above, you could use Omniwallet and import the private keys and send them from there to Trezor or simply scan the private key QR code using Coinomi (as a reference to Android & iOS wallet, not sure If the desktop version have that feature) as well.

Another solution would be to try to use Trezor with your Electrum wallet and see If you could use the sweep option so they're sent directly to one of your device's addresses. I'm not sure If that would work as I have never tried it though, I only used the sweep option on Electrum alone.

[HCP]

How would you guys recommend a paranoid way to sweep a paper wallet into a Trezor?

Sadly, Trezor don't support sweeping within their wallet software

So, I would recommend using Electrum in conjunction with your Trezor. You would need to do the following:

1. Download Electrum from official website: https://electrum.org/#download
2. Verify digital signature of Electrum
3. "Standard Wallet -> Use a hardware device -> [select your trezor] -> then select "legacy" (1-type addresses) or "p2sh-segwit" (3-type addresses) depending on how you have configured the Trezor"
4. Once the wallet is "created", confirm that it is indeed generating the addresses you think it should (compare with the Trezor wallet)
5. Once you are satisfied you have it setup properly in Electrum, simply use the following menu option: "Wallet -> Private Keys -> Sweep"

This will allow you to enter multiple private keys... and will automatically select the first unused address from your Trezor to send the coins to. You can change that address if you wish.


Note that Electrum supports sweeping from multiple different address types, so when you enter the private keys in the "sweep" dialog, they need to be entered in the following format(s), based on the the script type of the address you are trying to sweep FROM:
"legacy" private key (1-type address) => p2pkh:KxZcY47uGp9a...
"p2sh-segwit" private key (3-type address) => p2wpkh-p2sh:KxZcY47uGp9a...
"native segwit" private key (bc1 address) => p2wpkh:KxZcY47uGp9a...

Given you did this a long time ago, I'd guess that your paper wallet is a "legacy" address starting with a "1"... so use the p2pkh:YourPaperWalletPrivateKeyGoesHere format

[Coiner.de]

The paranoid way is to do it offline.

https://bitcoinelectrum.com/how-to-spend-from-an-offline-paper-wallet-using-electrum/

[Intrepid42]

Thanks everyone, also I'm guessing I would do similar things for the Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV wallets that share the same private key? (I would sweep Bitcoin first, since I care the most about that than shitty altcoins).  

[HCP]

Pretty much... Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold and Bitcoin SV all have forked versions of Electrum available... so you could probably use those forked versions in conjunction with your private keys to sweep the coins. There may or may not be others for other forks (like Bitcoin Diamond etc)

I'd check the relative values of each forkcoin with coinmarketcap.com and sweep in descending value order... most valuable first. That way you stand to lose the least amount of money if the one of the fork wallets turns out to be nefarious.

Currently, that would be:
Bitcoin
Bitcoin Cash
Bitcoin SV
Bitcoin Gold
Bitcoin Diamond

[bassmaster]

Since you say it is a lot of bitcoin...

Electrum is the way to go.  Not Mycelium or another mobile wallet.

Here is a very high-level overview of the steps:

Creating the sweep transaction (online)

• Setup the hardware wallet (backup the seed, etc)
• Record the hardware wallet address it generated.
• Load the paper wallet address into an online version of Electrum (Keep the private key away from that computer, just the ADDRESS)
• Create a tx spending from the paper wallet address to the hardware wallet address.
• Save the tx as a file to a USB stick.

Signing the transaction (offline)

• Create a secure TailsOS on a second USB stick and boot into it. (make sure to select Networking => Offline from the welcome screen)
• Load Electrum (it is pre-installed)
• Create a new wallet from your private key (type the whole thing)
• Import the unsigned tx and sign it with your private key
• Save the signed transaction as a file back to the USB stick

Broadcast the signed transaction (online)

• Rebot back to your online system
• Load the signed transaction into Electrum
• Broadcast it