It's stupidity to have thousands in Bitcoin using a software wallet

[glendall]

Hardware wallets are not the end of everything for crypto asset owners, software wallets too, if we properly store them and take care of them, I think they are safe,
There are many people who entrust their assets to software wallets, which is prohibited if you store assets on exchange which is very vulnerable to loss.

[1714661078]

1714661078

[hatshepsut93]

I'll probably never get a hardware wallet, because despite them being generally accepted as very safe, I can't fully trust the devs to not put any backdoors or to trust that I'm getting the genuine device and not a malicious fake. Meanwhile I'm quite happy with using a software wallet on my ancient PC that is never online and whose only purpose is to launch my software wallet, because there's no chance there are any hardware backdoors on a PC that is almost as old as Bitcoin itself.

[kotajikikox]

It's not stupidity now let me tell you why.
A lot of Bitcoin users have over $10,000 worth of Bitcoin on their online wallets and not a cold wallet now this is because people like this are business persons who transact constantly with Bitcoin and putting it on a hardware wallet will make it more difficult for them to make quick transactions.

The cautions that come with using an online open source wallet like Electrum is mainly to keep your keys and seeds safe. The only problem is that when your keys are online they are more easily compromised than when they are stored offline. One has to even be careful when storing keys offline as theft and burglary can also compromise them.

Majority of people that use cold wallets for Their Bitcoins actually do it for their hodlings since they don't have to visit it frequently.

explained well there mate , and the thread is actually nonsense at all and he does not really understand the market and the usage  as if you are using your crypto from time to time so how hard and not appropriate to use  hardware wallet as you need to pull out your coins from time to time, maybe it is applicable to store in hard wallet at night after transacting and pull out again the next day and that I think if he really wanted to show security using.

[Julien_Olynpic]

I don't think software wallets are a bad choice. They provide fairly high-quality storage, you just need to be very responsible with your bitcoins. But, of course, you need to use non-custodial wallets like Mycelium or Samourai. I have been using these wallets for a very long time and I have never had any incidents that I would regret.
The only way hardware wallets could be useful is their use in a 2-2 or more multi-signature scheme (2-3 or 3-3). Such storage is more reliable and allows you to protect yourself from backdoors in the software of both wallets.

[BitcoinsGreat]

This was how I found FreeWallet, I use this to store some Bitcoin, it was easier for me because it required only email login and password, I stumbled on some that ask me to write down recovery seed but it was stressful for me, stupid me, since Free wallet sync with my email I thought that's all that matters and I lost it all, can't log into my account anymore, as if Freewallet swapped my password and log in info.

Well, initially if you do not have an hardware wallet it is not a big issue but since you were storing your bitcoins at some centralized place that was accessible by username and password, so you were at a bigger risk because of the site was down or if they do not allow you to withdraw, there was noting you can do.
Always use wallet where you have your private key with you, so you have full control over your wallet.

[hd49728]

I mean, why spend dollars on a hardware wallet when a software wallet can do the same?

Cold wallets are safer than hot wallets. With hardware wallets, you have cold wallets.

But you must by new hardware wallet from official stores and avoid to buy used hardware wallets from sub-market, with discounts because you will take risk of backdoors from sellers.

With software wallets, you can set up multisig wallets, 2FA wallets to increase security and it's hard to say what is best as it depends on your budget too. If you have like thousands of dollar or $100,000, buying a hardware wallet is not costly with you, so why not?

[LIST] Open source hardware wallets

[Victorik]

The security of your assets is paramount. Like you rightly posit anyone that can afford Bitcoin of about 2000$ should be able to afford a hard wallet. Then again, information is key. It may surprise you to know that not everyone knows about this hard wallet. They may have the money to buy it, but the knowledge is lacking.

[adaseb]

There is nothing wrong with software wallets. Many people use electrum and never had any issues. But you need to use correctly and the correct way is use it with a cold storage method.

Don’t keep your crypto on your online computer, make a key offline and use it to sign transactions and that computer Never connects to the internet. That is very safe and has been used before hardware wallets were even a thing. Just need to do hours of research to do it properly.

[AicecreaME]

We never learn until we experienced it.

I've never heard of that "freewallet", and I doubt I will use that since it already sounds like a just wannabe bitcoin wallet, fishy. Now, getting a hardware wallet is a good thing, but it is still has its own risk, depending on how you will store it. In short, you could use electrum or trezor and still might lose your Bitcoin because of a single mistake you'll do or it depends on how unlucky you are.

Just don't put all the eggs in just one basket.

[Kakmakr]

The reality is that the majority of the people of this world, earn less than $10 per day. You cannot expect them to fork out the money for a hardware wallet, if they can hardly survive with the little money that they earn.

You can, with a little bit of research... still create a very safe paper wallet for cold storage... that will give you more or less the same level of security. (Long term storage)

[Apocollapse]

Hardware wallets are not the end of everything for crypto asset owners, software wallets too, if we properly store them and take care of them, I think they are safe,
There are many people who entrust their assets to software wallets, which is prohibited if you store assets on exchange which is very vulnerable to loss.

@OP was mentioning freewallet, it's not a wallet, but an exchange because they didn't give the private keys to customers.

Remember, a majority doesn't always right and a minority doesn't always wrong. They're safe, until there's a dangerous malware comes up or you made a mistake.

Private keys

Kept by Freewallet
Customers’ private keys are kept by Freewallet. Lost private keys or mnemonic phrases don’t mean lost funds. Your account can be retrieved via your email like on any other service.

I'll probably never get a hardware wallet, because despite them being generally accepted as very safe, I can't fully trust the devs to not put any backdoors or to trust that I'm getting the genuine device and not a malicious fake. Meanwhile I'm quite happy with using a software wallet on my ancient PC that is never online and whose only purpose is to launch my software wallet, because there's no chance there are any hardware backdoors on a PC that is almost as old as Bitcoin itself.

Unfortunately not every people want or interested to set up their own cold storages, so hardware wallet is the quick solution to skip the hassle and secure their coins.

[davis196]

There's no way achieve 100% safety. It doesn't matter if you are going to use hardware or software wallet. What if you lose your hardware wallet? What if the hardware wallet breaks? I've never heard about this Freewallet software. No legit software wallet is going to ask you for an email, because emails can get hacked. The software wallets are usually asking for password only(and they ask you to remember and store  your seedphrase somewhere safe). I just don't get too obsessed with the safety of my Bitcoins. Otherwise, I will freak out.
I wouldn't bother buying Trezor unless I have 10 million USD worth of BTC. And I will probably have to put the Trezor wallet in a safety deposit box and dig it somewhere in my backyard.

[Alana Arden]

Although I have not yet experienced much experience with Wallet. However, I learned and understood a lot through some valuable links and threads of the forum.
I think that if I am alert and responsible for my Bitcoin, software wallets are never bad and the opposite software wallets are easy for quick and frequent transactions. All I need is to keep my wallet's seed phrase secure so that I can save Bitcoin pretty good. Specifically, non-custodial  wallets such as Electrum and Samurai  provide a lot of protection.

On the other hand, free wallets are given simple benefits like email login, password, etc., but they are like custodial wallets. Here, there is a third party work that has the opportunity to be extremely risky or scandalous.
After all, a hardware wallet or cold wallet is advised to save long -term currency.

[Natsuu]

Well think of a hardware wallet like Trezor as a super-secure vault for your crypto. Unlike software wallets, it keeps your private keys offline, making it way tougher for hackers to mess with your funds. Sure software wallets might seem easy but when you're dealing with a significant amount of crypto, a hardware wallet is like a sturdy fortress for your digital assets. While you cant afford hardware wallet, theres no harm usinf software. You can upgrade anytime

[m2017]

"It's stupidity to have thousands in Bitcoin using a software wallet" - stupidity or not, before the advent of hardware wallets, this is how everyone stored their bitcoin. Some, perhaps in more than thousands.

why spend dollars on a hardware wallet when a software wallet can do the same?

These wallets perform the same function, but in completely different ways. The main advantage of hardware wallets is that it effectively eliminates the threat coming from online. Let hackers try to physically press the transaction confirmation button remotely.

This was how I found FreeWallet, I use this to store some Bitcoin, it was easier for me because it required only email login and password,

Cryptocurrencies are designed in such a way that their storage can't be simple. This simplicity comes at a very high cost. Well, you already know that.

"Not your keys - not your wallet". And you are limited to only "email login and password".

Things are different now, in fact way better, still if you are new and you want to DCA into Bitcoin, kindly consider getting a Trezor wallet at least, don't keep Bitcoin worth $2000, $10,000 on a software wallet, even if its a open source software wallet I believe this amount is too much for a software wallet, having this much means you can afford a hardware wallet.

Better yet, store it in several wallets. Remember to diversify.

[Rehan Zakir]

It is true that hardware wallet is best for fund holding of large amount of bitcoin. It protects from being an easy target of phishing attacks. Even then, hardware wallets do not guarantee 100% that your funds are completely safe from hacking. The security of your fund depends a lot on you. If you are holding bitcoins on your device and not browsing safely, then no one can save you from being hacked. In case of a hardware wallet, you must be careful when connecting the hardware wallet to any device. That device should be safe. However, the latest layer to provide the best security for holding funds is to use hardware wallets, but those who maintain security and use hot wallets for holding, I will not call it stupidity. Because many people have problems importing hardware wallets, like mine, cryptocurrency is illegal in my country and for this reason I cannot buy any hardware wallets from anywhere.

You are saying right that holding Bitcoin in hardware wallet is not the last and best solution.  But hardware wallet is not connected through internet that's why it is difficult to hack a wallet. If you have low funds then don't buy hardware wallet..put your funds in exchange

[Plaguedeath]

Now, show me your own hardware wallet, you can't just bitching people to use hardware wallet and avoid to use hot wallet if you're not even use a hardware wallet.

The reality is that the majority of the people of this world, earn less than $10 per day. You cannot expect them to fork out the money for a hardware wallet, if they can hardly survive with the little money that they earn.

You can, with a little bit of research... still create a very safe paper wallet for cold storage... that will give you more or less the same level of security. (Long term storage)

To be fair he said you need to buy a hardware wallet if you have thousands dollars in Bitcoin, he's not saying poor people or small holder need to own hardware wallet.

Creating a safe paper wallet isn't easy though.

[Inwestour]

There's no way achieve 100% safety. It doesn't matter if you are going to use hardware or software wallet. What if you lose your hardware wallet? What if the hardware wallet breaks? I've never heard about this Freewallet software. No legit software wallet is going to ask you for an email, because emails can get hacked. The software wallets are usually asking for password only(and they ask you to remember and store  your seedphrase somewhere safe). I just don't get too obsessed with the safety of my Bitcoins. Otherwise, I will freak out.
I wouldn't bother buying Trezor unless I have 10 million USD worth of BTC. And I will probably have to put the Trezor wallet in a safety deposit box and dig it somewhere in my backyard.

If your hardware wallet breaks or you lose it, you can always buy a new one, and using the seed phrase you can restore access to your coins. But perhaps you are right that there is no way that can 100% protect your coins, there will always be a human factor and in any case everything will depend on the user, how well he is aware of all the dangers and fraudulent schemes. You need to understand that in the case of Bitcoin, you yourself are the bank and all responsibility is on you.

[Crypt0Gore]

If I choose to spend that money that was hard for me to spend on a hardware wallet then I would have safe myself from some losses.

It's easier to find the definition of Bitcoin online at the time but it's a bit complex to know out of the box that there is something called cold wallet or custodial wallet, it was confusing to me, so I just visit google for answer and yes Legder and Trezor are always the first, instead I went on google play store for bitcoin wallet, I mean, why spend dollars on a hardware wallet when a software wallet can do the same?

This was how I found FreeWallet, I use this to store some Bitcoin, it was easier for me because it required only email login and password, I stumbled on some that ask me to write down recovery seed but it was stressful for me, stupid me, since Free wallet sync with my email I thought that's all that matters and I lost it all, can't log into my account anymore, as if Freewallet swapped my password and log in info.

You are talking non sense.

Unless you are very experienced in cyber security,  there is no way you could have the same level of security using a software wallet and a hardware wallet.

A hardware wallet gemerates your seed in an airgapped environment , 99.9999% secure. You can even plug your device in an infect computer and your coins will be safe. Unless if you do some mistake like phising etc...

I guess you are already feeling asleep when you read my post.

There is no where that I claim that it's possible to have the same level of security using software wallet just like a hardware wallet.

I only shared my old thought about how I felt about software wallet before learning that they are not all secured, I couldn't tell the difference between a closed source and a open source crypto wallet.

I only shared my old mistakes, it was a nonsense back then, it's something that any newbie or beginner can do, but today I don't keep coins in a software wallet, Electrum is a safe one, fully open source, but I choose to go hardware wallet because of the amount of Bitcoin I am holding, I feel at ease holding my bitcoin in a hardware wallet.

[Assface16678]

Hardware wallets are not the end of everything for crypto asset owners, software wallets too, if we properly store them and take care of them, I think they are safe,
There are many people who entrust their assets to software wallets, which is prohibited if you store assets on exchange which is very vulnerable to loss.

Well, true, because there are still pros and cons to using a hardware wallet for your assets. For example, if the hardware wallet is physical, you can still lose it; in fact, you may be more prone to losing using hardware if you are bringing it somewhere, so better store it in a safe place. As the hardware wallet is physical, it is also prone to being destroyed, stolen, or could malfunction at some point if not handled well. While using an online or software wallet, there are also pros and cons to using it, like the fact that you could forget your password and be prone to hacking. But in summary, if you can't manage your assets well, then it will be your problem. It's your responsibility to keep them safe and take layers of security and care. I use both hardware and software wallets but still haven't encountered problems such as losing assets or what because I know how to make them safe and away from anomalies.