Question about paper with address (my first post)

[greyplum]

Hello, it's my first post here.

I am a computer science student who is lucky enough to have an older brother who is involved in bitcoin since 2015-16.

So my brother gave me a paper as a gift, which has 2 qr codes and he explained to me that one of them is the private key and the other is like my account where people send me money. He told me that:
1. I must never, ever, ever trust anyone and always be suspicious.
2. I must never, ever, ever tell anyone my "private" key. He told me which part of the paper wallet is the private key.

My questions are:
a. is there a tool where I can put my private key in order to send my bitcoin to an exchange and sell it?
b. can I simply send my coins to another address (I need to find how to create them, but shouldn't be difficult), in order to keep them in a private key that nobody else knows? is this how it works?

As I said, i am a computer science student, so I have some knowledge regarding cryptography, which kind of helps.

[rat03gopoh]

My questions are:
a. is there a tool where I can put my private key in order to send my bitcoin to an exchange and sell it?

You can use a self-custody Bitcoin wallet software. There are several, but I recommend Electrum https://electrum.org/#home
Read the community guidelines for this wallet first: ?topic=5240594.0
As your brother said, since the private key is known to you and your brother, it's considered "leaked", you shouldn't use that wallet again after spending BTC in it. For your own security, you can create a new wallet with a different private key.

b. can I simply send my coins to another address (I need to find how to create them, but shouldn't be difficult), in order to keep them in a private key that nobody else knows? is this how it works?

Yes.

[greyplum]

My questions are:
a. is there a tool where I can put my private key in order to send my bitcoin to an exchange and sell it?

You can use a self-custody Bitcoin wallet software. There are several, but I recommend Electrum https://electrum.org/#home
Read the community guidelines for this wallet first: ?topic=5240594.0
As your brother said, since the private key is known to you and your brother, it's considered "leaked", you shouldn't use that wallet again after spending BTC in it. For your own security, you can create a new wallet with a different private key.

b. can I simply send my coins to another address (I need to find how to create them, but shouldn't be difficult), in order to keep them in a private key that nobody else knows? is this how it works?

Yes.

Thanks, so my 2 options are to send bitcoin to binance to sell it, or to create another wallet and send the bitcoin there.
In case I keep the bitcoin, I must definitely not keep the paper my brother gave me, even if he's my brother and I trust him.

[rat03gopoh]

Thanks, so my 2 options are to send bitcoin to binance to sell it, or to create another wallet and send the bitcoin there.
In case I keep the bitcoin, I must definitely not keep the paper my brother gave me, even if he's my brother and I trust him.

It depends on your preference. If you want to sell immediately, you can send it to Binance without transferring it to a new wallet first. If you want to hold it for a while, you can transfer it to a new wallet (unless you trust your brother won't take the Bitcoin back).

[AakZaki]

Yes, of course you can, you need to use a Bitcoin wallet to enter the private key for it to work. One of them is the Bitcoin Electrum wallet, you can download it here https://electrum.org/#download

Once you download, you can enter the private key in Electrum and you will find the Bitcoin address of the private key, and you can send the existing Bitcoin to the Exchange or wherever you want.
If you want to use another Bitcoin wallet, you can search for it in the Wallet Software section. There are plenty of options for wallets.

[Stalker22]

Thanks, so my 2 options are to send bitcoin to binance to sell it, or to create another wallet and send the bitcoin there.
In case I keep the bitcoin, I must definitely not keep the paper my brother gave me, even if he's my brother and I trust him.

Actually, you have more than the two options you mentioned.  It all depends on whether you want to cash out right now or keep holding onto the Bitcoin for the future. 
If you truly trust your brother and know he did not keep a copy of the keys, you can leave it alone.  Just hide that paper somewhere safe from fire, water, and wandering eyes.  But I suppose the option is to create a new wallet if you want 100% certainty that you are the only one with access.  You can also buy a hardware wallet for this purpose, which is possibly the best option for long-term storage.

[AakZaki]

You can also buy a hardware wallet for this purpose, which is possibly the best option for long-term storage.

Yes, I think it's also the best choice to use a hardware wallet, but I suggested a software wallet in my previous post because it's based on what the OP said. he only gets Bitcoin from his brother, which may be more expensive than the price of a hardware wallet.

OP as a newbie, there is nothing wrong with learning all the existing wallets so that he can learn new things without having to spend more money first, unless the Bitcoin is indeed very much, then the hardware wallet must be a priority.

[Cricktor]

It seems your brother hasn't transfered much Bitcoin knowledge to you and of course we can't know how much your brother actually knows himself about Bitcoin, recommended self-custody security and such things.

If your brother knows a lot about crypto coins and Bitcoin in particular, do you talk with each other?

Your brother gave you a so-called paper wallet. There's usually a private key on it and a public address, mostly written as character strings and with a QR code to scan (copying the private key's string and/or public address by hand is error prone because every single symbol matters).

The private key starts with 5... (uncompressed WIF key, 51 symbols long) or K.../L... (compressed WIF key, 52 symbols long).
The public address could start with 1... or 3... or bc1q... (rarely with bc1p...).

DO NOT take digital pictures of your paper wallet with your mobile phone or other digital devices that are online and could possibly sync their pictures with some image clouds. Clouds are other people's computers and you loose control over your own valuable secrets.

DO NOT type/copy your private key to an online website. You loose control of your valuable secret and likely your coins can be stolen.

Before you do anything with your paper wallet, I highly recommend to learn the security basics of crypto coin self-custody and Bitcoin in particular. The computer device with which you handle your private key MUST be secure!

I hope you're likely not in a rush, so better ask here first before you do anything stupid or out of lack of knowledge.

To learn more about Bitcoin, I recommend to spend time at https://learnmeabitcoin.com, there's a lot material there, easy for beginners, but you can also dive deep into the rabbit hole.

If you're new here, I also highly recommend to read and understand the Unofficial list of (official) Bitcointalk.org rules, guidelines, FAQ.


Post edit:
I don't want to cover any possible detail, because this is basically impossible. But I want to add this: paper wallets can be "dangerous" for newbies if you don't understand the transaction model that Bitcoin uses (UTXO model) and you want to spend the amount of coins "on your paper wallet" only partially. At the moment I see not much need to go into detail here, but others or I can explain further if required or desired.

[tbct_mt2]

So my brother gave me a paper as a gift, which has 2 qr codes and he explained to me that one of them is the private key and the other is like my account where people send me money.

If it is a private key with a first QR code, the another one must be a Bitcoin public address for receiving bitcoins (not money) from other people.

With a Bitcoin private key, it means your brother created a non custodial wallet, so there is no account. It's only a Bitcoin public address generated from the Bitcoin private key.

Account is for custodial wallet like what you will be given with centralized exchanges and account registrations there. With them, there is no private key for you, just an account and a Bitcoin public address for your deposit.
Reminder: do not keep your money in online accounts.

[Porfirii]

Thanks, so my 2 options are to send bitcoin to binance to sell it, or to create another wallet and send the bitcoin there.
In case I keep the bitcoin, I must definitely not keep the paper my brother gave me, even if he's my brother and I trust him.

Actually, you have more than the two options you mentioned.  It all depends on whether you want to cash out right now or keep holding onto the Bitcoin for the future. 
If you truly trust your brother and know he did not keep a copy of the keys, you can leave it alone.  Just hide that paper somewhere safe from fire, water, and wandering eyes.  But I suppose the option is to create a new wallet if you want 100% certainty that you are the only one with access.  You can also buy a hardware wallet for this purpose, which is possibly the best option for long-term storage.

Even if he trusts his brother, sending them to wallet nobody else has had access apart from himself is so easy and cheap that it would be stupid not to do it. Not your keys, not your coins, and the only way to make sure that you're the only owner of these keys and your brother hasn't stored a copy for what might happen is to move them to your own wallet.

But I'll also tell you that, if you hold a large amount there and you do not have much experience, it is better to wait until you are completely sure of what you are doing. As long as you keep them where they are, if your brother has a copy, at least you'll have the option to get them back if you lose your keys. Because if you don't have much knowledge, you may create a wallet from a compromised system and the cure may be worse than the disease.

[hd49728]

Even if he trusts his brother, sending them to wallet nobody else has had access apart from himself is so easy and cheap that it would be stupid not to do it. Not your keys, not your coins, and the only way to make sure that you're the only owner of these keys and your brother hasn't stored a copy for what might happen is to move them to your own wallet

That paper and the simple guide can be motivation for me to search and learn about Bitcoin. Also learning about Bitcoin wallet, private keys, addresses, how to create, backup and recover a wallet. Through learning, I will know "It's my key, it's my coin; while it's not my key, it's not my coin" and I will not use that given wallet created by the brother for storing my coin.

By learning, I will be able to create a new wallet by myself and be sure that it's my wallet, with keys I own, and coins will be mine. I will not have fear that my coins in a wallet will be stolen by the brother or anyone else who knew about that given wallet generated not by myself.

[BlackHatCoiner]

Answering your questions:

a. You can just create a new wallet in Electrum, using your private key, and send the bitcoin to an exchange and sell it there. DO NOT paste the private key into any exchanges. Only to a non-custodial wallet like Electrum.
b. Yes, and it's recommended, because a private key is not human-readable. You should use a seed phrase instead, which is just 12 words, and from which unlimited private keys can be derived. Try downloading Electrum and play with it. Once you understand how it works, you can use that as your main wallet. If the amount of bitcoin you have is high value, then consider buying a hardware wallet like Trezor for additional security.

[hd49728]

a. You can just create a new wallet in Electrum, using your private key, and send the bitcoin to an exchange and sell it there. DO NOT paste the private key into any exchanges. Only to a non-custodial wallet like Electrum.

Choosing Electrum wallet to use is good start for newbies, as it is a SPV wallet that does not require too much storage space, while it is open source and non custodial wallet. Generally as always, to use anything, people must learn how to do it rightly first.

[GUIDE] How to Safely Download and Verify Electrum.
The paranoid user's security guide for using Electrum safely.

[Stalker22]

Thanks, so my 2 options are to send bitcoin to binance to sell it, or to create another wallet and send the bitcoin there.
In case I keep the bitcoin, I must definitely not keep the paper my brother gave me, even if he's my brother and I trust him.

Actually, you have more than the two options you mentioned.  It all depends on whether you want to cash out right now or keep holding onto the Bitcoin for the future. 
If you truly trust your brother and know he did not keep a copy of the keys, you can leave it alone.  Just hide that paper somewhere safe from fire, water, and wandering eyes.  But I suppose the option is to create a new wallet if you want 100% certainty that you are the only one with access.  You can also buy a hardware wallet for this purpose, which is possibly the best option for long-term storage.

Even if he trusts his brother, sending them to wallet nobody else has had access apart from himself is so easy and cheap that it would be stupid not to do it. Not your keys, not your coins, and the only way to make sure that you're the only owner of these keys and your brother hasn't stored a copy for what might happen is to move them to your own wallet.

But I'll also tell you that, if you hold a large amount there and you do not have much experience, it is better to wait until you are completely sure of what you are doing. As long as you keep them where they are, if your brother has a copy, at least you'll have the option to get them back if you lose your keys. Because if you don't have much knowledge, you may create a wallet from a compromised system and the cure may be worse than the disease.

Well, thats kind of what I had in mind too.  it might actually be smart to pause and hit the brakes until he is completely sure of his next move.  Even if his brother has a copy of the keys, he is basically a safety net if he accidentally lose them.  He already said that his brother is more experienced and gave him those Bitcoins on that paper wallet.  It makes no sense that his brother would not want to "steal" them back.  Maybe it is best to discuss his next steps with his brother, who can guide him through the entire process of creating a new wallet.  Thats probably what I would do if I were him.

[Z-tight]

I must say that this is a very weird way to give someone BTC as a gift, especially when you want them to keep that gift. 

Paper wallet is risky for newbies, let alone a complete novice. Your brother should know that, according to you he has been a bitcoiner since 2015. However, maybe it's an experiment to introduce you to the network, so i want to believe the money in that address is not so much, only then can it make sense to me.

[bitmover]

I must say that this is a very weird way to give someone BTC as a gift, especially when you want them to keep that gift.

Paper wallet is risky for newbies, let alone a complete novice. Your brother should know that, according to you he has been a bitcoiner since 2015. However, maybe it's an experiment to introduce you to the network, so i want to believe the money in that address is not so much, only then can it make sense to me.

Why is it risky? It is so easy to recover. A paper wallet can be just a back up of a seed, or even a public/private key pair which you can open in electrum or any other wallet.

If you are not gifting 10,000 or more, it should be fine.


In 2020 I gave a paper wallet to a friend.

It was the seed of a wallet containing $20 in BTC. He was a computer scientist and i know he could recover it after a google search. No big deal and it was a nice gift and way to introduce a friend to bitcoin,.

[PX-Z]

Keeping your funds the old way, like only using a private key QR code, is less secure and also impractical these days. It's much better to use a more modern wallet setup, especially HD wallets, where you only need to securely back up your 12 or 24 word seed phrase. Electrum wallet is the most recommended wallet you can use, always read the official announcement of the update from its github and official site (electrum.org)

Since you're still new to this, spending time reading guides and learning online will really help you understand how wallets and backups properly work.

[SeriouslyGiveaway]

Keeping your funds the old way, like only using a private key QR code, is less secure and also impractical these days. It's much better to use a more modern wallet setup, especially HD wallets, where you only need to securely back up your 12 or 24 word seed phrase.

With hardware wallets, there are close source and open source wallets, and for security reasons, it's recommended to choose open source hardware wallets to use.
[LIST] Open source hard ware wallets.
Also knowing how to purchase hardware wallets rightly.
[GUIDE] How to buy a Hardware Wallet the right way

Electrum wallet is the most recommended wallet you can use, always read the official announcement of the update from its github and official site (electrum.org)

Electrum wallet is a good wallet to use but people must learn about important steps to download, verify, create, back up and recover wallets, not only with Electrum wallet.
Electrum vulnerability allows arbitrary messages, phishing.
[GUIDE] How to Safely Download and Verify Electrum.
The paranoid user's security guide for using Electrum safely.
[Guide] How to back up a seed phrase?

[greyplum]

@Cricktor Very helpful answer, thanks. Just to answer your very very first question, apparently my brother knows about bitcoin a lot, but not about teaching

@Z-tight It was $50 back then, and he asked me to find a way to find out how much it's worth today.

Yes, and it's recommended, because a private key is not human-readable. You should use a seed phrase instead, which is just 12 words, and from which unlimited private keys can be derived. Try downloading Electrum and play with it. Once you understand how it works, you can use that as your main wallet. If the amount of bitcoin you have is high value, then consider buying a hardware wallet like Trezor for additional security.

Wow, I've watched some videos and read some guides. Looks like the seed phrase and the private key aren't the same thing. We could say that the seed phrase is a way to write down the entropy. I just went back to my thermodynamics physics classes. It's astonishing how all the dots connect.

Why is it risky? It is so easy to recover. A paper wallet can be just a back up of a seed, or even a public/private key pair which you can open in electrum or any other wallet.

I am sharing this opinion as well. After reading about bitcoin this weekend, it seems like a "paper wallet" is a very easy way to store bitcoin.
What I don't like however, is that my brother didn't tell me how he created the paper. If he created it in a public computer, or using a public network, I don't have to trust my brother only, but also the whole internet
I'll have to ask him - just considered this issue.

Keeping your funds the old way, like only using a private key QR code, is less secure and also impractical these days. It's much better to use a more modern wallet setup, especially HD wallets, where you only need to securely back up your 12 or 24 word seed phrase. Electrum wallet is the most recommended wallet you can use, always read the official announcement of the update from its github and official site (electrum.org)

Since you're still new to this, spending time reading guides and learning online will really help you understand how wallets and backups properly work.

Yeah that's what I did this weekend and I plan to keep reading about it this week. Electrum looks good to me and it has the benefit that I can see the code online.
But you said 12 or 24 word seed phrase, does it make a difference? With a simple google search, a 12 word seed phrase generally covers 128 bits of entropy whereas 24 words cover 256 bits.
I remember - and just found in my cryptography class notes, that 128 bits is impractical and infeasible for a current computer to break.


PS; I don't know how it's recommended to structure post responses to multiple users, but if you prefer something else than what I did, let me know.

[satscraper]

My questions are:
a. is there a tool where I can put my private key in order to send my bitcoin to an exchange and sell it?

You can use a self-custody Bitcoin wallet software. There are several, but I recommend Electrum https://electrum.org/#home
Read the community guidelines for this wallet first: ?topic=5240594.0
As your brother said, since the private key is known to you and your brother, it's considered "leaked", you shouldn't use that wallet again after spending BTC in it. For your own security, you can create a new wallet with a different private key.

And for security and safety reasons the best approach is to perform the above procedures using Tails OS the distribution of vwhich already includes Electrum wallet. This approach eliminates the risk that the OP’s machine might be infected, which could result in their private key being stolen when attempting to import it into Electrum.