Do I need a Bitcoin Core

[GeorgeFeb]

Do I need to download a full blockchain with Bitcoin Core if I'm not mining?

[hurricandave]

Not if your only interested in a wallet. There are plenty of services that can provide a way to conduct transactions without Bitcoin Core or any of the blockchain. If you do want to mine and join a pool the Core and Chain are hosted by the pool's server. If you want to solomine then you need the Core and the full blockchain.

[Glizlack]

I would say it depends. I am very small btc holder. I use an online wallet. If I had even 1 btc i would use the offline wallet bitcoin core the latest version of course. The only real disadvantage to an offline wallet is the time to catch up on blockchain. It can take a long time hours and hours. That and if i was desperate and only desperate I could check my online wallet somewhere other than normal. This is an advantage and a huge security hole. Again I would limit my exposure to loss on the online wallet.

Steve

[zetaray]

You still need to download the complete blockchain if you want your transaction to show up in bitcoin core. If you only need an offline wallet, you can try Electrum.