Looking to store btc/alt with storage company .. any good ones?

[altnoob]

Hey looking for good cold storage sites.

Not sure what to look for when shopping around?  What kind of security do you like?, what are good rates? What kind of access do I have to my btc?

[herebittybittybitty]

Hey looking for good cold storage sites.

Not sure what to look for when shopping around?  What kind of security do you like?, what are good rates? What kind of access do I have to my btc?

I thought cold storage, by definition, precluded online sites?

If I really wanted it online, I'd use a random 27 character TrueCrypt or PGP encrypted wallet (generated/created in an offline computer with a Live disc) and put it on whatever cloud storage site, and/or e-mailed to myself at various addresses.

[DeathAndTaxes]

None.

Secure it yourself or end up crying when the counterparty ends up losing or "losing" your coins to theft, hacking, lost keys, embezzlement or general incompetence.

[ryanmnercer]

You do not want to trust another company with your coins...

However, you can buy independent hardware to print paper wallets for cold storage, like the http://piperwallet.com/ . Full disclosure I purchased one Friday, but I am in no way related to him... as I accept bitcoin for my business I decided shelling out 200$ for a Piper was well worth it.

[altnoob]

Thanks piper looks pretty cool .. will be getting one of those.

I guess third party cold storage isn't a great idea after all ... I think perhaps one day it will be.  People used to have problems with banks (more so than now) but eventually would deposit.  Back before debit cards money was essentially in cold storage unless you went to a branch and picked it up.

I guess I'll just back up copies.  I read that some people just throw back up on sites like dropbox ... is that secure enough?

I can see cyrpto is the future but I am very late to the game just trying to read 2 years worth of bitcointalk to figure it all out so sorry if this is all noob of me.

[ryanmnercer]

I guess I'll just back up copies.  I read that some people just throw back up on sites like dropbox ... is that secure enough?

If you do that I'd do this:

Print a wallet with say piper.
Take an old smartphone that isn't connected to the network or wifi or digital camera and photograph the paper wallet.
Boot a live CD with no internet connection, connect phone to transfer photo.
Print the photo as a PDF.
Encrypt PDF.
Save PDF to flash drive.
Hook flash drive up to networked computer and upload to wherever.
Don't lose your encryption key.


OR, piper will save backups to either a flash drive or on the SD card inside piper. You COULD just backup to a USB drive via piper and encrypt it via a live CD for uploading online.

[DeathAndTaxes]

I guess I'll just back up copies.  I read that some people just throw back up on sites like dropbox ... is that secure enough?

Maybe (depends on the security of your wallet passphrase and/or security of dropbox) however even if it is secure it isn't cold storage.

https://www.bitaddress.org/
(keys are generated client side but for higher security you can download and save a copy of the webpage and run it offline)

Use paper wallet option.  You can also encrypt the private key by checking the BIP38 option but be sure you don't forget the passphrase.   
Print out multiple copies, put the copies in secure locations, transfer coins from your online/hot wallet to the address on the cold storage paper wallet.
You now have a offline cold storage of your coins.  Keep your "spending money" online and the bulk of your wealth offline on paper.  A

[altnoob]

Great advice guys .. thanks.  I don't think I had a full grasp on storage at first but now I get it.

[TsonicTsunami]

If you don't possess the private key, you own nothing!

Here is a nice simple explanation on paper wallets and cold storage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYjH16zbf38&list=UUv8AeeWIEq6V2LjYNEO1noA