How do I secure my wallet

[Vinaa77]

Some traders and investors choose to keep their assets on exchanges, especially if they are actively trading or have a degree of confidence in the security measures of the exchange.

The exchange is indeed a good enough place to store assets, but you need to be careful, in general, storing large quantities of assets on this exchange is not good, because the exchange is not a safe depository with a high level of security, because they might crash or it is vulnerable to theft or hacking of assets that you store on the Exchange, even though it is one of the large exchanges and has been around for a long time.

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[Flexystar]

It has been some months that I have been in this forum, I have started making arrangements for transacting with Bitcoin in the aspect of buying and storing. I don't have much knowledge of wallet to the extent of knowing a preferable wallet to use for storing my Bitcoin, right now I know that Bitcoin is a valuable asset from my understanding but other people doesn't accept the fact that it is really an asset, so I want to know a good wallet to use for my Bitcoin because I notice that some wallet my friends recommend to me are all exchange kind of wallet and I was told that it's not proper to use an exchange wallet for storing or saving of Bitcoin for a long time. I wish to have more recommendation or articles to read concerning wallets and it's security values but during my research I was recommended to use electrum wallet but I was confused if electrum wallet is an exchange or a custodial wallet, therefore i need a good direction, clarification and update of suitable wallet from senior colleagues.

Well, I don't know what other users have said, but for me, electrum is a great wallet, it is actually a non-custodial wallet, and I think the wallet is open source too (this I am not very sure) but regardless, electrum wallet is one of the top bitcoin wallets recommended by many, but this is if you do not have plans of going for a hardware wallet like trezor and the likes, hardware wallets are actually the best in terms of security of your bitcoin and maybe other crypto assets you might want to invest in in the future.

I would personally advice you go for a hardware wallet if you intend to hold your bitcoin for a very long time, wallets like electrum, mycelium and the likes are much better used as hot wallet for day to day sending and receiving bitcoin, hardware wallets are best for storing bitcoin as a long term investment.

The high security can only be achieved with the help of non custodial wallets. Its even better for OP if they just keep loading their paper wallets instead of loading the bitcoin in any type of wallets. My experience with hardware wallet and paper wallet has been way good than the software wallets. I am surfing the wallet software thread and seeing that their are many arguments and bugs in the wallets thus leading everything towards black hole with surprises.

The paper wallet advantage: You wont be exposing your wallet info over the internet once it is printed and all its digital copies are deleted. Their is virtually no existence of that data since it would be on a printed paper. As long as OP does not insert the private keys in imported wallet they are way safer than any other form of wallet.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Currently there are very many wallets that we can use to store Bitcoin assets, and you can choose for yourself which one is easier to use and the Google Play Store has also provided many crypto wallets so those of us who already have assets and start investing in crypto then we can easily find many wallets there, And for wallet problems we must be careful because all for the security of the assets we have.

When giving advice, I wouldn't consider this one valid. I hope you are aware that not every wallet you find on the Play Store is a very secure wallet, and by the way, there are hundreds of crypto wallets in the app store. OP, you have some more valid advice on the first and second pages of this thread, and you should know that everyone is pointing at the Electrum wallet as the best you can use to store your wallet, and I advised you to go with it too if you don't have the money to get a Trezor Hardware wallet now. Also, I suggest you use BlueWallet for mobile, but on Windows, use Electrum.
You can also luck the thread, because you've got a lot of good advice that will be able to guid you.

Cheers 🥂, Dr.Bitcoin_Strange 👺👺

[hosseinimr93]

The paper wallet advantage: You wont be exposing your wallet info over the internet once it is printed and all its digital copies are deleted.

Just with deleting your private key from your device, you make your paper wallet secure.
Most people generates their paper wallet incorrectly. For generating a paper wallet, you should use a safe tool on an airgapped device.

Electrum offers advanced features such as Replace-By-Fee , which allows you to increase transaction fees after a transaction is submitted, and CoinJoin, which enhances privacy by combining transactions.

There is no coinjoin in electrum.

Now come to the point, whatever software wallet or hardware wallet, whatever Trezor/Ledger or Open-Source, who knows do they have any back door or not? ?

When you use a open-source wallet, you can review the code and know how exactly it's working.
For example, we are sure that there is no backdoor in electrum.

[Nwada001]

First, all you need is a secured, self-custodial wallet. Avoid storing your crypto on a centralized exchange. It all depends on the amount of crypto you want to transact; if it's worth a little more, then purchasing a hardware wallet will be a better idea.

Check out the list of open-source hardware wallets.
Trezor should be avoided, though, since they are now gradually going centralized instead of fully decentralized and self-custodial. For security reasons, avoid them.

The only thing you need to keep in mind as an investor is that you have never given anyone access to all of your uses regarding what you are investing in the future. I know that finding a good wallet is a good idea, but even if you have a good wallet and you can't keep the secret or private keys to yourself it's not safe, many people today fail because they are unable to hide their secrets.
Hardware wallet is among the most popular wallets today, none of the wallets that are introduce to you here are bad; rather, my point is that you should learn how to protect your private key.

Anyone who has passed the text on choosing the right exchange to buy his or her favorite crypto and knows fully well that storing crypto on the exchange is not actually a good idea will be enlightened enough to know the major reason why most people advise against saving on the centralized exchanges, which is giving them access to your fund.

So choosing a self-custodial wallet simply means the person is ready to take full control of his or her wallet security, and that's to say they will handle all their wallet transactions, protect the private key, and their phrase, and they should also know that keys and phrases are just like their complete bank details and access pin, and anyone who has access to them completely has access to their entire holdings, and they shouldn't joke with such things. And if the OP doesn't know that already, then it's good that this has been brought out here, and it will now be taken into consideration if the OP has the time to revisit the thread again and read through others opinions.

[AmoreJaz]

If you have the opportunity and resources to get a hardware wallet, it's really a great option. Hardware wallets are considered by many to be the safest option for storing cryptocurrencies. They provide an extra layer of security by keeping your private keys offline, making it very difficult for hackers to access your funds. However, if you don't have immediate access to a hardware wallet, then Electrum is a reputable and secure software wallet. It's a non-custodial wallet, which means you have full control over your private keys and are responsible for their security. Electrum offers advanced features such as Replace-By-Fee , which allows you to increase transaction fees after a transaction is submitted, and CoinJoin, which enhances privacy by combining transactions.

i guess by now, the OP already understand that electrum wallet is one of the noncustodial wallets and he has full control of his coins using this wallet. i will also suggest electrum if you don't have the funds for a hardware wallet and seems that he is just starting to store more coins. electrum is easy to install and only needs small storage from your computer.

[Sarah Azhari]

For now I think electrum and others open source wallets are  a pretty safe bet, just don't go click in any automatic updates popups.

As I know, automatic updates popups only appear if you download Electrum from an illegal source, not from an official. This happens to me 4 years ago after downloading Electrum from Softonic. So if this happens, one of the ways to clean up your PC is re-install the OS or use a bootable USB like Tail OS.

which allows you to increase transaction fees after a transaction is submitted,

Increase transaction on Electrum wallet is more detailed right now, if you don't read and understand how is going you will be confused, and you can't do it before changing the preserve to decrease tab.

I always prefer Bitcoin core wallet with an offline machine(Linux/other os),

Oh God, true, we can safely and can create an offline wallet on that machine, but, when we are going to the transaction, we have to download the full 516 GB+ blockchain data. So, If urgent, you have to import that private key from core wallet to a light wallet like Electrum.

[adzino]

It has been some months that I have been in this forum, I have started making arrangements for transacting with Bitcoin in the aspect of buying and storing. I don't have much knowledge of wallet to the extent of knowing a preferable wallet to use for storing my Bitcoin, right now I know that Bitcoin is a valuable asset from my understanding but other people doesn't accept the fact that it is really an asset, so I want to know a good wallet to use for my Bitcoin because I notice that some wallet my friends recommend to me are all exchange kind of wallet and I was told that it's not proper to use an exchange wallet for storing or saving of Bitcoin for a long time. I wish to have more recommendation or articles to read concerning wallets and it's security values but during my research I was recommended to use electrum wallet but I was confused if electrum wallet is an exchange or a custodial wallet, therefore i need a good direction, clarification and update of suitable wallet from senior colleagues.

You're right here. Avoid using an exchange as a wallet for holding your coins for long term. Not even for short term. Just do your stuffs on the exchange and once you are done, leave with your coins. You don't have access to your keys, so you don't really own your coins when you use an exchange. When the exchange goes down, so does your coins with them.
Like others suggested, Electrum is actually a very good choice for beginners. Only you have access to your private keys and no one else. So you are the owner of your coins. You can create backup of your keys and you can restore it anytime you wish. Or you could try hardware wallets. They are less vulnerable to hacks since your keys are stored offline. Whichever wallet you chose, make sure you keep them safe and make multiple backups.

[lewisrafael40]

It is true that Electrum is an open-source wallet due to its open-source nature. As a result, the source code of the software is publicly available, allowing developers and users to review and verify the software's security and functionality. The security of open-source projects can be enhanced by the contributions and audits of the community.

You should consider your needs and preferences when selecting a wallet. With hardware wallets, such as Trezor and Ledger, private keys are stored offline, making them less vulnerable to hacking and malware attacks. When storing significant amounts of cryptocurrency or storing long-term, hardware wallets are often recommended.

Now come to the point, whatever software wallet or hardware wallet, whatever Trezor/Ledger or Open-Source, who knows do they have any back door or not? ?
I always prefer Bitcoin core wallet with an offline machine(Linux/other os), or at least DIY Crypto Hardware Wallet is more safer than Trezor and Ledger...

Sure, open-source projects have the advantage of community audits and transparency, but that doesn't mean we should let our guard down. Even with Electrum's open-source nature, we can't be 100% certain about the absence of backdoors. It's a constant battle between convenience and security. For me, I'd rather take the extra steps to ensure my funds are in the hands of a wallet I have full control over, like a Bitcoin core wallet on an offline machine.

[hosseinimr93]

As I know, automatic updates popups only appear if you download Electrum from an illegal source, not from an official.

Asking the user to update the wallet with a fake version of electrum was possible in the versions older than 3.3.4.
If you are using the new versions, you are right. You should be safe.

In versions 3.3.3 and before that, there was a vulnerability which allowed servers to display any arbitrary message. Server could abuse this feature and display a message including a link to a fake website and ask the user to update the wallet through that website.

[KiaKia]

For now I think electrum and others open source wallets are  a pretty safe bet, just don't go click in any automatic updates popups.

Rank does not matter when it comes to sharing knowledge, newbie I will like to ask you and also others reading this question of mine, is it possible for scammers to push an update automatically to your existing crypto wallet? Automatic updates are supposed to come from the already apps or software you've installed and already using.

But maybe it's possible, that's why I am asking, because this days, as an Android wallet user I always get automatic update message for my apps and crypto wallets, just want to know if this is wrong.

[Cricktor]

If a wallet is distributed by some reputed app store, then automatic updates are possible and usually also available. For Electrum that's only the case for the Android app which is available in the Google Play store. The desktop versions of Electrum do indicate that there's an update, but you have to download, verify and update the software yourself.

From https://www.electrum.org/#download you can download and verify the APK files for Android with the dev's signatures. You can't do that for the pushed updates from the Google Play store. You have to trust the devs that they don't loose their app store dev credentials to some malicious actors.

[suzanne5223]

For now I think electrum and others open source wallets are  a pretty safe bet, just don't go click in any automatic updates popups.

As I know, automatic updates popups only appear if you download Electrum from an illegal source, not from an official. This happens to me 4 years ago after downloading Electrum from Softonic. So if this happens, one of the ways to clean up your PC is re-install the OS or use a bootable USB like Tail OS.

No, we have seen a user that downloaded from the official Electrum website years ago but was still scammed by the pop-up Electrum wallet notification. I think a strategy used by online theft to steal from BTC and download from the Electrum official website is not enough either if the wallet is not verified.

I always prefer Bitcoin core wallet with an offline machine(Linux/other os),

Oh God, true, we can safely and can create an offline wallet on that machine, but, when we are going to the transaction, we have to download the full 516 GB+ blockchain data. So, If urgent, you have to import that private key from core wallet to a light wallet like Electrum.

Creating an offline wallet using Electrum is better.

[Lanatsa]

It has been some months that I have been in this forum, I have started making arrangements for transacting with Bitcoin in the aspect of buying and storing. I don't have much knowledge of wallet to the extent of knowing a preferable wallet to use for storing my Bitcoin, right now I know that Bitcoin is a valuable asset from my understanding but other people doesn't accept the fact that it is really an asset, so I want to know a good wallet to use for my Bitcoin because I notice that some wallet my friends recommend to me are all exchange kind of wallet and I was told that it's not proper to use an exchange wallet for storing or saving of Bitcoin for a long time. I wish to have more recommendation or articles to read concerning wallets and it's security values but during my research I was recommended to use electrum wallet but I was confused if electrum wallet is an exchange or a custodial wallet, therefore i need a good direction, clarification and update of suitable wallet from senior colleagues.

Electrum is a non-custodial wallet and open source
Download the recent version only on this website link
https://electrum.org/

Just choose according into the device that you are using. The main thing that you should mind about is on keeping those keys away from other people
awareness so that it wont really be resulting into loss of assets or funds. Its really that common that there are people who dont know about exchange platforms
on which there are ones who do really believe  that it is really that something sensible on storing their assets on such place until they would really be able to
realize it sooner or later about the real stuff.

[Bitcoin_people]

You must use a secure wallet to keep your Bitcoin safe. In this your assets will be protected and there will be no risk of loss in future. It is best if you use a hardware wallet but you can also use a software wallet. But if you are holding for a long time then it will be best to use a hardware wallet. You can also use secure software wallets to keep your bitcoins safe, they will give you enough breakup. There are of course Electrum, Mycelium and many more software wallets for you to use secure wallets, they are fully secured. If you want to know more about Wallat, you can decide which wallet will be more secure for you to use in the future.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5240594.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1631151.0

[asawale]

The first step to getting your crypto assets secured is to ensure you're using a non-custodial wallet. A wallet which you control by having its recovery phrases. You can expand the security of your assets by storing them on a hard wallet. Note that irrespective of wallet you use (hard or soft wallet), you must ensure your wallet recovery phrases are well kept from where a third party can asses it

[mendace]

It has been some months that I have been in this forum, I have started making arrangements for transacting with Bitcoin in the aspect of buying and storing. I don't have much knowledge of wallet to the extent of knowing a preferable wallet to use for storing my Bitcoin, right now I know that Bitcoin is a valuable asset from my understanding but other people doesn't accept the fact that it is really an asset, so I want to know a good wallet to use for my Bitcoin because I notice that some wallet my friends recommend to me are all exchange kind of wallet and I was told that it's not proper to use an exchange wallet for storing or saving of Bitcoin for a long time. I wish to have more recommendation or articles to read concerning wallets and it's security values but during my research I was recommended to use electrum wallet but I was confused if electrum wallet is an exchange or a custodial wallet, therefore i need a good direction, clarification and update of suitable wallet from senior colleagues.

There are many interesting wallets to keep your Bitcoins for a long time but I personally follow some rules.  To begin I make sure that the code is open source and therefore that it is released on Github or similar to check the code.  There may be conflicting opinions on this point but this is my opinion.  For the second advice, in addition to the open source software, check that it is recently updated or otherwise still maintained, otherwise without any correction patch it doesn't make much sense to use obsolete software.  Another thing that I prefer and this is my third advice, a hardware portfolio is better than a software and here dozens of discussions could arise, like "secure yes or no", "but the secure element is closed source"... useless chatter

So I'll leave you with one of the cheapest, safest and coolest options I've ever tried.  If you followed the guide you'll be able to build a hardware wallet in no time with Jade's github.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5450647.msg62362581#msg62362581

[erep]

No, we have seen a user that downloaded from the official Electrum website years ago but was still scammed by the pop-up Electrum wallet notification. I think a strategy used by online theft to steal from BTC and download from the Electrum official website is not enough either if the wallet is not verified.

I just found out about this news because it's impossible for wallet software from the official web to pop up (notifications) which are dangerous for its users, I'm also an Electrum user for a long time but I've never experienced that and my Electrum wallet has remained safe until now. Maybe you should check your pc/desktop and scan for viruses regularly because there are third party influences that take advantage of notifications on electrum to steal your assets.

My advice is that you should pay attention to the official website link and make sure you don't download applications from phishing webs, because you have to be very careful to check the letters of the official web address because I think the official application is still safe to use..

[Popkon6]

@Op
My suggestion for you, you can use Electrum wallet because Electrum is the most secure among the wallets we use. Which can be opened offline wallet in this case you can save the secret security face through a paper. And it is quite safe from unique wall. (All eggs should not be kept in one pair) If you are thinking of accumulating wealth then you can definitely choose different wallets from here.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5288971.msg55583288#msg55583288

You can collect detailed information about many wallets in this link. But I support electrum wallet from my side.

[BenCodie]

Security depends on your desired level of accessibility. If you are looking to buy Bitcoin and store it for the long-term without using it to spend or make any outbound transactions, then the best way to go is to create a paper wallet. Gemini have quite an extensive guide on how to create a paper wallet with additional layers of precaution.

If your plan is to occasionally access the wallet for spending or selling, then Electrum or Bitcoin Core are your best options. Electrum is quite lightweight being an SPV wallet, while Bitcoin Core offers all of Bitcoin's features within a wallet containing all ledger history. You can use both of these options by backing up your private keys offline or on a flash storage device, and accessing that wallet when you need to use it via either of these clients.

If you want to store securely while having access for every day/often usage, then use Electrum on a flash storage device and focus on hardening your system, as that's the best thing you can do to keep your coins safe on a wallet like Electrum. Steps like using a security-focused distribution of Linux, using encryption to harden your files/flash storage and only accessing your wallet when absolutely needing to are some steps you can take to increase security outside of good management for your wallet. I created this request to bring a Cybersecurity and Privacy board to help to teach good security & privacy practices which should help produce educational material that would help to keep your coins and your system safe. If you think this board would be of use to you, I recommend going there, giving your opinion and adding your vote to the poll