Can't withdraw from paper wallets w/o MtGox??

[velcrovan]

Was looking into creating a paper wallet, but when I read this on the wiki it concerned me:

The Bitcoin software does not yet have a built-in way to load private keys, but you can use the "Add Funds" - "Private key" screen at MtGox to recover digital coins from a private key. (source)

So, if I transfer bitcoins to a "paper wallet" (basically a bitcoin address which has no actual wallet.dat file and the private key exists only on paper, right?) then I need MtGox to get those coins back out again some day??

What if MtGox goes down?

[mcorlett]

There is an "importprivkey" command included in the official Bitcoin client if you pass it over JSON-RPC.

[Vandroiy]

Worst case someone has to re-implement it. It's some series of SHA iterations, not really catastrophic to write. A few people probably already have scripts for it, Casascius might know something.

Edit: or what mcorlett said. Don't know whether this supports the mini-key format though.

[stevegee58]

The paper wallet is just a paper backup of your wallet.dat file.

If you have a HD crash and lose your bitcoin client install you can just re-install bitcoin and import the data from the backup.

They say the paper wallet is the safest but I guess it's just preference.  I store multiple encrypted copies of the wallet.dat file around the internet and on a USB drive.

[realnowhereman]

Blockchain.info/wallet has excellent import and export facilities.

[velcrovan]

The paper wallet is just a paper backup of your wallet.dat file.

If you have a HD crash and lose your bitcoin client install you can just re-install bitcoin and import the data from the backup.

They say the paper wallet is the safest but I guess it's just preference.  I store multiple encrypted copies of the wallet.dat file around the internet and on a USB drive.

I think I'm looking at a paper wallet as a hedge against hacking just as much as protection from HD crashes. I.e., a separate savings wallet.