What do you think?

[FirmWars]

Is this good advice for those who can't afford a hardware wallet?

Using a Bitcoin Electrum wallet or other, disconnect from the internet before generating a new seed and never connecting to the internet again.

Until you are ready to sell everything in that wallet.

Is this practice similar to using a hardware wallet? This advice came from a man I know who said to have been keeping his BTC since 2013 in the same manner, he said the internet/online is the culprit or enemy of every crypto wallet.

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[hosseinimr93]

If you want your electrum wallet to be completely secure, you should create it on an airgapped device.
This means that you should use a device which has been always offline and will never connect to the internet.

[Plaguedeath]

Using a Bitcoin Electrum wallet or other, disconnect from the internet before generating a new seed and never connecting to the internet again.

Until you are ready to sell everything in that wallet.

Remember, when you generate a new seed from disconnected PC, this disconnected PC doesn't mean it safe if you ever use this PC to connect with internet or you bought the used one.

You need to generate a new seed on fairly new PC or you've reinstall and cleaned the not secure PC.

When you need to send your coins, you don't have to spent it all.

Just create unsigned transaction in your offline PC and sign it in your online PC, read https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/coldstorage.html

[Learn Bitcoin]

Is this practice similar to using a hardware wallet? This advice came from a man I know who said to have been keeping his BTC since 2013 in the same manner, he said the internet/online is the culprit or enemy of every crypto wallet.

Yes. This is a good advice. But, I don't know how people use their computer or mobile device without an internet connection. If you can afford to buy a laptop or a computer to use as a hardware wallet and never connect it to the internet, you should be able to buy a hardware wallet as well. Simply disconnecting and never connecting it to the internet is not enough.

You should not connect any device to it that has internet access, and you should not use any pen drive to transfer data. Because you never know if there is ransomware or not. A hardware wallet costs around $50 to $200 depending on the model and the company. You should take one if you are serious investor.

[Coin_trader]

Is this good advice for those who can't afford a hardware wallet?

Using a Bitcoin Electrum wallet or other, disconnect from the internet before generating a new seed and never connecting to the internet again.

Until you are ready to sell everything in that wallet.

Is this practice similar to using a hardware wallet? This advice came from a man I know who said to have been keeping his BTC since 2013 in the same manner, he said the internet/online is the culprit or enemy of every crypto wallet.

You are describing an air gapped wallet creation which is almost the same to hardware wallet assuming the device you use is an air gapped since you will not move your tokens after you create your wallet.

And yes this safe as hardware wallet. The only difference is you can’t transfer funds conveniently like the hardware wallet technology. I do this before to my old laptop but it’s hassle for me because I always want to transfer part of my funds so I just purchased a HW that only cost a couple of hundreds for safety and convenience of my asset.

[mk4]

That's one way to do it but you need to make sure you're creating the wallet on an air-gapped device running secure open-source software. Which, probably majority of the masses aren't capable of doing so they're better off just buying a cheap hardware wallet.

Also, the limitation of that is it's solely for hodling. If you want to use the bitcoin to pay for something, you're putting your funds at risk for connecting to the internet.

[hosseinimr93]

And yes this safe as hardware wallet.

It's not.
You don't make your device air-gapped with disconnecting it from the internet, even if keep it offline and never connect to the internet in the future.

The only difference is you can’t transfer funds conveniently like the hardware wallet technology. I do this before to my old laptop but it’s hassle for me because I always want to transfer part of my funds so I just purchased a HW that only cost a couple of hundreds for safety and convenience of my asset.

Take note that whether you want to spend the whole balance or part of it, you should make your transaction offline which means that you should create an unsinged transaction on an online device and sign it on an offline device. Otherwise, you would defeat the purpose of the cold storage.

[dkbit98]

Is this good advice for those who can't afford a hardware wallet?

No it's not.
I have seen to many people making mistakes with their imagined fake airgapped system, that I can recommend everyone to stay away from setup like this.
There are to many things that can go wrong, and people don't really understand how to keep everything offline and updated in the same time.
It's not that hard to get hardware wallet today, for example Satochip cards are lees that $25 with discount, Safepal is almost free, Jade and Trezor One are aroud $60, etc.
If you don't want buy anything, than using old smartphone would be acceptable with disabled all connections (airplane mode) and removed sim cards.

Is this practice similar to using a hardware wallet? This advice came from a man I know who said to have been keeping his BTC since 2013 in the same manner, he said the internet/online is the culprit or enemy of every crypto wallet.

No.
You don't have to complicate things with hardware wallets, just make a transaction.
If there was no internet, there would be no bitcoin, so internet can't be the culprit or enemy of anything.

[pooya87]

If you are into building your own cold storage then you should start educating yourself on a couple of topics like what "airgap" means (others already explained) and how to create one. The best and safest solution in my opinion is to dedicate a USB disk to a Linux OS (installed not live) and having your wallet in there.
Here is a very old topic with a step by step guide to create a DIY kind of cold storage: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=853288.0

If this is your first time with Linux, Bitcoin, etc. you can take all these steps and create a TestNet wallet with some TestNet coins which you can get from any faucet out there. This way you don't have to worry about losing money. Receive some coins then send them out to learn how things work.

[Yaunfitda]

Is this good advice for those who can't afford a hardware wallet?

Using a Bitcoin Electrum wallet or other, disconnect from the internet before generating a new seed and never connecting to the internet again.

Until you are ready to sell everything in that wallet.

Is this practice similar to using a hardware wallet? This advice came from a man I know who said to have been keeping his BTC since 2013 in the same manner, he said the internet/online is the culprit or enemy of every crypto wallet.

As others have said, this kind of setup will fall under the category of air-gap PC and it should not be connected to the internet once you have set up everything. Although if I will have to choose between a hardware wallet vs a air gap pc, I will go with the hardware wallet.

And if the person that known have this kind of setup since 2013, then good for him. He could be very knowledgeable and knows how to protect hit Bitcoin with that kind of setup. The key here is that you know what you are doing if you chooses air gap setup.

[PrivacyG]

Using a Bitcoin Electrum wallet or other, disconnect from the internet before generating a new seed and never connecting to the internet again.

You forgot a step.  Verifying the download before hand.  By skipping this step, it may not even matter any more whether you are connected to the Internet or not because you could be running a malicious version of Electrum.

Until you are ready to sell everything in that wallet.

Until you are ready to sell any thing, you could start learning how to spend and receive Bitcoin with no Internet connection.  Doing this is VERY easy and simple if you have a little practice on your hands.

Is this practice similar to using a hardware wallet? This advice came from a man I know who said to have been keeping his BTC since 2013 in the same manner, he said the internet/online is the culprit or enemy of every crypto wallet.

I rather think the main culprit is our own.  We care too less until it becomes too late.  You can skip most of the attack vectors by simple extra steps.  The main issue here is the word 'extra', which many people run from.  Better add a few extra steps and be safe than be lazy and cry out loud later.

[legendbtc]

Is this good advice for those who can't afford a hardware wallet?

Using a Bitcoin Electrum wallet or other, disconnect from the internet before generating a new seed and never connecting to the internet again.

Until you are ready to sell everything in that wallet.

Is this practice similar to using a hardware wallet? This advice came from a man I know who said to have been keeping his BTC since 2013 in the same manner, he said the internet/online is the culprit or enemy of every crypto wallet.

But hardware wallets are not too expensive, many wallets are quite cheap, such as the Trezor One hardware wallet, which costs less than 60 USD each. And I think if we are serious about our bitcoin investments and intend to keep them for many years, spending $60 to own a hardware wallet is not too expensive. But it's okay if we use Electrum wallet or any open source software, as long as we meet enough factors to be safe for it. You can use any wallet you like, but don't make the excuse that a hardware wallet is too expensive to own.

[Doan9269]

Is this good advice for those who can't afford a hardware wallet?

Using a Bitcoin Electrum wallet or other, disconnect from the internet before generating a new seed and never connecting to the internet again.

Until you are ready to sell everything in that wallet.

Is this practice similar to using a hardware wallet? This advice came from a man I know who said to have been keeping his BTC since 2013 in the same manner, he said the internet/online is the culprit or enemy of every crypto wallet.

If you're investing much on bitcoin and you're yet complaining of the unaffordability of buying a single hardware wallet, then that means you're not giving the necessary attention to what can jeopardies your asset, even though electrum wallet is not a bad option once its on airgapped device.

It all depends , because if you're still using electrum wallet, its something different from hardware wallet because it does not have a physical showcase as how you could move, store , use and apply its uses on any of your interested device, however, there are alternatives as well to using a hardware wallet as you have given one example already, one can make use of a paper wallet too, or anything that has to do with a wallet types which falls under a cold storage.

[m2017]

Is this good advice for those who can't afford a hardware wallet?

Doesn't it look strange when a person can afford to invest in cryptocurrencies, but can't afford a hardware wallet for ~$100 (often even less)?

Using a Bitcoin Electrum wallet or other, disconnect from the internet before generating a new seed and never connecting to the internet again.

Why all this complexity and twisting, when it’s easier and safer with a hardware wallet?

Until you are ready to sell everything in that wallet.

One day there will come a time when you will have to connect to the Internet to sell crypto assets, and at this point a catch may await you with a compromised PC (infected with a malicious program).

Shouldn't we be careful about this?

Is this practice similar to using a hardware wallet? This advice came from a man I know who said to have been keeping his BTC since 2013 in the same manner, he said the internet/online is the culprit or enemy of every crypto wallet.

Isn't the user himself the enemy of his wallet? By not recognizing hardware wallet, users make mistakes in storing crypto assets, leading to losses with cryptocurrencies. So far, nothing safer than hardware wallets has been created against online threats (taking into account that the hardware wallet is from a reliable manufacturer).

[hosseinimr93]

One day there will come a time when you will have to connect to the Internet to sell crypto assets, and at this point a catch may await you with a compromised PC (infected with a malicious program).

You are right that it would be better to use a hardware wallet, but it's not that you will have to connect to to the internet for spending your bitcoin. You can sign you transaction offline.
If you install your wallet on an airgapped device and do everything in the correct way, your wallet can be as safe as a hardware wallet.

[yudi09]

As long as you can make sure the device isn't online as long as you don't need it, I think it's still safe to use an electrum wallet to store Bitcoin as long as you don't spend it.
Hardware wallets are also inexpensive to purchase if one has the desire to own one.
The safest way to use a Bitcoin wallet like Electrum can be followed by the method given by people here.
Regarding wallets storing Bitcoin, don't take it lightly if you don't want to regret it.

[Churchillvv]

Having an offline wallet on an airgapped device is practically the best way to store your bitcoin for a long term which believe I that's the same measure the said person is talking about.

But one also needs the hardware wallets, there is absolutely no reason to justify that one has a thousand dollars investment in bitcoin and can not afford a hardware wallet, is that weird?.
For me what ever it takes to remain safe is the ideal goal, and a cold storage is what guarantees a better security.

[suzanne5223]

Is this good advice for those who can't afford a hardware wallet?

Using a Bitcoin Electrum wallet or other, disconnect from the internet before generating a new seed and never connecting to the internet again.

Until you are ready to sell everything in that wallet.

Is this practice similar to using a hardware wallet? This advice came from a man I know who said to have been keeping his BTC since 2013 in the same manner, he said the internet/online is the culprit or enemy of every crypto wallet.

No, the practice is not similar to using a hardware wallet. On hardware wallet you're putting your trust the wallet creator to create something genuine and safe for long term of your crypto and this is why open source hardware wallet is advise for public flaws checkup.
The practice you explained is called airgap wallet and it's secure if used a device that's not physical, or wireless connect to the internet and other computering devices.

[btc78]

Even without knowing all the complexities of wallets and computers, you can already think of hundred of ways that this could go wrong.

First of all a computer itself would have to be updated constantly so that its system functions well. Many devices tend to malfunction if not used for a long time so how do you expect to open your wallet if the device itself is not even functioning properly?

Just get an actual physical wallet and research of ways to store it the safest way possible.

[Jewan420]

Yes no doubt you have given a good advice. Your advice is reasonable and accurate.

But if you are a high level investor then you directly buy hardware wallet and deposit your BTC in that wallet. Only use that hardware wallet later when you are ready to sell.

On the other hand, caution should be taken for added security when using Electrum wallet. Create Electrum wallet using internet connection only once by electronic device i.e. computer, mobile or smartphone and it is better not to establish internet connection on that device before preparing to sell BTC. In this case, do not use any type of input device to protect yourself from harmful viruses like malware or ransomware.

In my personal opinion, it is better not to use Electrum wallet. In this case you should get used to using hardware wallet.