Hardware wallet or Bitcoin Core wallet?

[ejd59005]

I've been "into" bitcoin since 2013 and just recently started getting back into it. I used to use the Bitcoin core wallet (pretty much the only option back in 2013). Now with hardware wallets like Ledger and others, is it recommended to use something like that, or continue using the downloadable bitcoin core wallet?

What are you using?

I'd rather keep my BTC off any exchanges for hodling.

[1714515755]

1714515755

[sunsilk]

I'm using a hardware wallet, Ledger wallet.

It's like 5 years already to me and have used it many times and still have the old version that works perfectly for me.

If you like to download a desktop wallet, Electrum is the best option for you to have.

Never keep your bitcoins into any exchanges even they're the most reputable ones because you have no control over it, you don't have the private keys of your btcs.

[PrimeNumber7]

I would suggest using a hardware wallet. Using a trezor or ledger is not quite the same as using cold storage, but the security is up there. There ease of use/security tradeoffs make using a HW wallet ideal.

You can use most HW wallets with most major wallet software, although I don't think many (any?) are compatible with bitcoin core.

Although you did not specify, I got the feeling after reading your post that you were considering using a "hot" wallet using bitcoin core as your first choice.

[examplens]

I would definitely recommend a hardware wallet (my choice is Trezor) over any "only" software option. and as much as a wallet is safe, there are always other factors that can affect the security of the coins in them, for example, your operating system may be infected and that may compromise security.
I say this based on personal experience, unfortunately, I learned it the more expensive way 

[Charles-Tim]

For privacy, you can use Bitcoin Core.

I am not a Bitcoin Core user, but likely you should be able to connect it with hardware wallet: https://github.com/bitcoin-core/HWI

There are other ways you can go. Like this: Connect to full node on Trezor Suite using Electrum server

If you are okay with SPV wallets, you can just go for hardware wallet directly.

[ejd59005]

Interesting. Thanks for the suggestions and ideas!

I'm going to look into Electrum (I have to be honest, I haven't heard of it before)

I do think it'd be a good idea to get my coins off a locally installed wallet. I really like the ideas of a physical hardware wallet.

[hosseinimr93]

The answer depends on what you are trying to achieve.

If you use bitcoin core and run your own node, you would have more privacy. With using bitcoin core, you can also help the network with validating transactions and blocks and keeping a copy of the blockchain.
The downside is that you need to download a very big size of data.

If you don't care about your privacy that much and you don't have any problem with connecting to servers owned by third parties, you don't need bitcoin core.
You can use a hardware wallet. It's much easier than using bitcoin core.

I'm going to look into Electrum (I have to be honest, I haven't heard of it before)

Electrum is surely one of the best bitcoin wallets.
It's open-source and gives you full access to your private keys.

Warning:
Download electrum only from its official website and do not forget to verify your download.

[PrimeNumber7]

I'm going to look into Electrum (I have to be honest, I haven't heard of it before)

Using Electrum is a lot less resource intensive than running a full node in exchange for only a small reduction in privacy. The reduction in security when using Electrum is close to zero (in my opinion).

As you may have noticed with my two posts in your thread, you have to consider various tradeoffs when considering how to transact, and what via which means your private keys are stored. You will need to consider how much privacy you need, how much security you need, and how important 'ease of use' and how many resources you want to dedicate to using bitcoin.

[ejd59005]

I'm going to look into Electrum (I have to be honest, I haven't heard of it before)

Using Electrum is a lot less resource intensive than running a full node in exchange for only a small reduction in privacy. The reduction in security when using Electrum is close to zero (in my opinion).

As you may have noticed with my two posts in your thread, you have to consider various tradeoffs when considering how to transact, and what via which means your private keys are stored. You will need to consider how much privacy you need, how much security you need, and how important 'ease of use' and how many resources you want to dedicate to using bitcoin.

Very interesting. I'm going to download Electrum. If I may, what makes Electrum a bit less secure than the Bitcoin core wallet? Sorry if my questions are silly, I've been out of the loop for quite some time, lol.

[hosseinimr93]

If I may, what makes Electrum a bit less secure than the Bitcoin core wallet? Sorry if my questions are silly, I've been out of the loop for quite some time, lol.

If electrum is used properly is secure enough.
For example, if you install electrum on a device which has been infected with a malware or someone has access to your keys, you can lose your bitcoin. This applies to bitcoin core as well.

If you want your electrum wallet to be completely secure, it should be created on an air-gapped device. Otherwise, there's always the risk of getting hacked. Whether it's electrum or it's bitcoin core.

[ejd59005]

If I may, what makes Electrum a bit less secure than the Bitcoin core wallet? Sorry if my questions are silly, I've been out of the loop for quite some time, lol.

If electrum is used properly is secure enough.
For example, if you install electrum on a device which has been infected with a malware or someone has access to your keys, you can lose your bitcoin. This applies to bitcoin core as well.

If you want your electrum wallet to be completely secure, it should be created on an air-gapped device. Otherwise, there's always the risk of getting hacked. Whether it's electrum or it's bitcoin core.

Thanks for the info. That makes complete sense. Maybe I'll spin up a quick VM, download and install Electrum, grab my secret keys and do it that way? just kind of sucks if I ever want to actually use the BTC for something or trade etc. Really with there was a good way to ensure your coins are safe especially when trading on exchanges.

[Hispo]

I've been "into" bitcoin since 2013 and just recently started getting back into it. I used to use the Bitcoin core wallet (pretty much the only option back in 2013). Now with hardware wallets like Ledger and others, is it recommended to use something like that, or continue using the downloadable bitcoin core wallet?

What are you using?

I'd rather keep my BTC off any exchanges for hodling.

It would be a good idea to get a hardware wallet, open source, if possible. We have a complete board about hardware wallets where you can find more information:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=261.0

Get one in case the amount of Bitcoin is high enough to justify the purchase, it would not make sense to buy a HW of 70$ to store 10$ in BTC, if you have over 200$ then I'd say you should go for it, otherwise stick to Bitcoin Core.

Also, Hardware wallets have other advantages: they can be used to sign-verify in a more secure way, they can serve as Universal two Factor authentication to protect your accounts and even exchange accounts from unauthorized access and you can even encrypt messages and files with them. It would be good if you get one before the next bull run, when they are more likely to increase their price again.

Good luck.

[Marvell1]

What are you using?

.

I have not used bitcoin core and am using Electrum, I am satisfied with what Electrum delivers. But for the best and safest of your bitcoins, consider using a hardware wallet is essential. May not be 100% secure, but hardware wallets are considered the most perfect solution today.
No matter which wallet you use, your safety still depends on you. Your assets will still be hacked or lost if you cannot take good care of your seed phrases. Therefore, the use of a dedicated wallet is necessary, but whether the assets are safe or not is up to us.

[dkbit98]

I've been "into" bitcoin since 2013 and just recently started getting back into it. I used to use the Bitcoin core wallet (pretty much the only option back in 2013). Now with hardware wallets like Ledger and others, is it recommended to use something like that, or continue using the downloadable bitcoin core wallet?

Why bother comparing apples and oranges?
You can use both wallet types perfectly fine, but if you don't keep your computer turned on all the time with full node and blockchain, than you obviously won't use Bitcoin Core.
Hardware wallets are easy way of keeping your seed words offline and using your funds easily in the same time, but some of them are closed source and not as good as people may think.
I would never recommend anyone using ledger, safepal or any similar closed source hardware wallets that just gives false sense of security.

List of Open Source Hardware Wallets:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5288971.0

[crwth]

Nice to see you back here and getting back into it. It’s been a long time since you have been here. I hope you would stick around more and probably get more into the community.

If you believe that you want to be one of the nodes that supports the network and then it’s okay to use the downloadable bitcoin core wallet. It’s one of the ways that you could really support the network, even though you have no incentive of doing it directly.

I’m using a hardware wallet and they have been really useful for me for keeping and holding coins. It’s really recommend it to hold it in a hardware wallet.

It is a smart idea to keep it off exchanges, unless you are trading it for profit.

[NeuroticFish]

I recommend hardware wallet, clearly. Most probably with Electrum.
Even more, if OP values his privacy, he will also get Bitcoin Core, will download the blockchain and will use local Electrum Server and local Blockchain Explorer.


I have a Ledger Nano S and I use it with Electrum. My Electrum connects to a local Electrs that runs on top of a Bitcoin Core.
There are nowadays better options than Ledger, you can search for all the problems they had with their customers' data, plus they are not open source.
I am kinda eyeing SeedSigner, but as long as my Nano S still works, I stick to it.

[LoyceV]

If you want your electrum wallet to be completely secure, it should be created on an air-gapped device. Otherwise, there's always the risk of getting hacked. Whether it's electrum or it's bitcoin core.

Thanks for the info. That makes complete sense. Maybe I'll spin up a quick VM, download and install Electrum, grab my secret keys and do it that way? just kind of sucks if I ever want to actually use the BTC for something or trade etc. Really with there was a good way to ensure your coins are safe especially when trading on exchanges.

For the record: a VM on an online machine doesn't count as air-gapped.

Since you've been into Bitcoin since 2013, I assume you're holding some decent value in Bitcoin. In that case, it's best to keep the majority of it offline. Neither Bitcoin Core nor Electrum are completely safe if they're connected to the internet.
I use different wallets for different purposes. I use Bitcoin Core, Electrum and a hardware wallet, all depending on my needs.
So my advice: try them all, see what works for you. But keep the majority of your coins offline.

[PrimeNumber7]

I'm going to look into Electrum (I have to be honest, I haven't heard of it before)

Using Electrum is a lot less resource intensive than running a full node in exchange for only a small reduction in privacy. The reduction in security when using Electrum is close to zero (in my opinion).

As you may have noticed with my two posts in your thread, you have to consider various tradeoffs when considering how to transact, and what via which means your private keys are stored. You will need to consider how much privacy you need, how much security you need, and how important 'ease of use' and how many resources you want to dedicate to using bitcoin.

Very interesting. I'm going to download Electrum. If I may, what makes Electrum a bit less secure than the Bitcoin core wallet? Sorry if my questions are silly, I've been out of the loop for quite some time, lol.

Electrum only downloads the block headers compared to bitcoin core downloading and verifying every block since the genius block. This makes it slightly less difficult to subject you to a sybil attack in order to make you believe you have received a transaction that you haven't. In practice, the risk of a sybil attack using both bitcoin core and electrum is near zero.

In the past, malicious servers have been able to use mass social engineering to trick electrum users into downloading a malicious version of electrum that would be malware. The ability to do this has largely been curtailed.

[hd49728]

Very interesting. I'm going to download Electrum. If I may, what makes Electrum a bit less secure than the Bitcoin core wallet?

Both wallets are good to use about security.

However if you want better privacy, you should choose Bitcoin Core with full node and Tor connection. Even with Electrum wallet, you can use Tor too but with Electrum, you won't have your full node.

Electrum only downloads the block headers compared to bitcoin core downloading and verifying every block since the genius block.

Electrum is a SPV wallet that is lighter than either Bitcoin Core prune node or full node.

In the past, malicious servers have been able to use mass social engineering to trick electrum users into downloading a malicious version of electrum that would be malware. The ability to do this has largely been curtailed.

It happened four years ago in 2018. The admin made an announcement Electrum vulnerability allows arbitrary messages, phishing

There is a guide to verify Electrum wallet, before using it.

[GUIDE] How to Safely Download and Verify Electrum