Paper Wallets for Dummies.

[DrBitcoin]

While this should probably be in beginners, I decided to post in the main forum for one reason...fear that someone will put up a dummy physical wallet service and steal bitcoins instead of answering my question.

Right now, I use Coinbase.com physical wallet service to offload Bitcoins.  However I have more Bitcoins in Bitcoin.QT that I want to put in cold storage, and I don't want to send them to Coinbase, pay fees, and also run the risk that some untrustworthy employee at Coinbase is intercepting the physical wallet printing service.

What is the absolute most DEAD SIMPLE and SECURE way to get Bitcoins from Bitcoin.QT to a physical wallet for printing?

Also...I am obsessed with esthetics...I even laminate my physical wallets...so I like the look of Coinbase.com's printed wallets.  I need a service that offers good esthetics, preferably customization, and is nice and secure.

Why doesn't Bitcoin.QT just have its own wallet printing feature? This seems like a no brainer.

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https://www.bitaddress.org

For the most paranoid (like me), download the website from https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org to your computer, disconnect your internet, and run it offline.

[ensurance982]

Yeah use https://bitaddress.org, if you want to be completely safe download the page (Page->Save as...) on a flash drive and boot a machine from a live CD (NOT CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET) and create your wallet on that machine.

[odolvlobo]

A Coinbase paper wallet is a generic paper wallet. You can fund it from anywhere. You don't have to fund it from your Coinbase account.

1. Generate the paper wallet on Coinbase.
2. Print it.
3. Send bitcoins from your Bitcoin Core (Qt) wallet to your paper wallet.

[Fearless]

Yeah,absolutely bitcoin qt should itself possess a paper wallet printing feature,It would be best rather than using other services

[ensurance982]

Yeah,absolutely bitcoin qt should itself possess a paper wallet printing feature,It would be best rather than using other services

Well this is an interesting stance. Yeah, I agree that as the "main" or reference implementation it should feature more of the interesting features that emerged, but I guess that BitcoinQT is neglected in many ways. Also a lot of people opt for a "cleaner" "lighter" or "simpler" client like MultiBit.

[itsAj]

A Coinbase paper wallet is a generic paper wallet. You can fund it from anywhere. You don't have to fund it from your Coinbase account.

1. Generate the paper wallet on Coinbase.
2. Print it.
3. Send bitcoins from your Bitcoin Core (Qt) wallet to your paper wallet.

I wouldn't personally use a paper wallet that is created by a website like this. If you trust coinbase enough to not somehow compromise the creating of a paper wallet then you might as well use their vault (cold storage) services. With their vault service you have a more or less zero chance of loosing your BTC because you mess something up.

[cryptoart.com]

What is the absolute most DEAD SIMPLE and SECURE way to get Bitcoins from Bitcoin.QT to a physical wallet for printing?

Also...I am obsessed with esthetics...I even laminate my physical wallets...so I like the look of Coinbase.com's printed wallets.  I need a service that offers good esthetics, preferably customization, and is nice and secure.

Here is an easy solution that should satisfy both.

1) Buy some Cryptoart

2) For security, swap out the private key/QR code by printing off a paper wallet from bitaddress.org.  The size is compatible.

Here is a code discount code for 35% off for you or anyone else reading this:

drbitcoin

The discount code is good through Monday.

Enjoy -Troy

PS: New artist with amazing imagery coming out soon!

[ariyaromadhona]

Yeah use https://bitaddress.org, if you want to be completely safe download the page (Page->Save as...) on a flash drive and boot a machine from a live CD (NOT CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET) and create your wallet on that machine.

yeah , cold storage provide more security and low risk .. even i'm newbie here , i'm using cold storage wallet to storage a big point of BTC ..
and uses online storage for faucet or Gambling 

[BitcoinBarrel]

You can use a Vanity generator and write the private Key on a piece of paper.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Vanitygen

[DrBitcoin]

A Coinbase paper wallet is a generic paper wallet. You can fund it from anywhere. You don't have to fund it from your Coinbase account.

1. Generate the paper wallet on Coinbase.
2. Print it.
3. Send bitcoins from your Bitcoin Core (Qt) wallet to your paper wallet.

Thanks! This makes sense and solves the fee dilemma. But obviously not the security dilemma.

Nice suggestion.

[DrBitcoin]

A Coinbase paper wallet is a generic paper wallet. You can fund it from anywhere. You don't have to fund it from your Coinbase account.

1. Generate the paper wallet on Coinbase.
2. Print it.
3. Send bitcoins from your Bitcoin Core (Qt) wallet to your paper wallet.

I wouldn't personally use a paper wallet that is created by a website like this. If you trust coinbase enough to not somehow compromise the creating of a paper wallet then you might as well use their vault (cold storage) services. With their vault service you have a more or less zero chance of loosing your BTC because you mess something up.

This is a pretty false statement. A paper wallet and vault storage are two very different things. With the vault storage, I don't have control over the Private keys. So while I do trust coinbase, there is always the chance of insolvency. If Coinbase goes bankrupt and disappears, so does my Bitcoins.

[fryarminer]

A Coinbase paper wallet is a generic paper wallet. You can fund it from anywhere. You don't have to fund it from your Coinbase account.

1. Generate the paper wallet on Coinbase.
2. Print it.
3. Send bitcoins from your Bitcoin Core (Qt) wallet to your paper wallet.

I wouldn't personally use a paper wallet that is created by a website like this. If you trust coinbase enough to not somehow compromise the creating of a paper wallet then you might as well use their vault (cold storage) services. With their vault service you have a more or less zero chance of loosing your BTC because you mess something up.

No way I'd ever use a "vault" storage. Vault storage is just a fancy way of a total stranger telling you: "hey! let me take care of your bitcoins for you!"
I remove any penny from CoinBase as soon as I do a transaction. I wnt full control over my BTC.

[wezphoto]

I have used bitaddress in the past, it's really easy and userfriendly, I recommend it for a quick cold wallet.

[Kentes]

I have used bitaddress in the past, it's really easy and userfriendly, I recommend it for a quick cold wallet.

I also use bitaddress, very user friendly , easy to get paper wallet. Saying from my own experience.

[btcguys]

If you want true solution then might as well put the time and effort to store your bitcoins because it will be worth.

here is user friendly guide to help you create paper wallet: http://www.btcguys.us/blog/how-to-create-bitcoin-paper-wallet-tutorial

disclaimer: using this guide means you are trusting Canton Becker. Alternatively, you can use any paper wallet creator from GitHub such as bitaddress.org : https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org

make sure to verify integrity of the file.

rule of thumb: never use online computer to create paper wallet(s)

[minerpumpkin]

This is another thing that needs to become easier for people to use. A normal person interested in using Bitcoin will never want to go through all the hoops and loops in order to create a simple paper wallet. But the trust issue remains. You should never use an external third-party service in order to create your private keys or print them on a paper wallet.

[odolvlobo]

This is another thing that needs to become easier for people to use.

When Mycelium's Entropy device comes out, all of these problems will go away. You just plug it in to your printer's USB port and you print a paper wallet.

[Tugbit]

SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MIND IF YOU PRINT PAPER WALLETS ON A MFP PRINTER !!!

Found this today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCKr5WgVVN8

Closer investigation shows that my mfp printer has a HD : http://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/public/kb/docDisplay?javax.portlet.begCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken&javax.portlet.prp_ba847bafb2a2d782fcbb0710b053ce01=wsrp-navigationalState%3DdocId%253Demr_na-c02738751-1%257CdocLocale%253D%257CcalledBy%253D&javax.portlet.tpst=ba847bafb2a2d782fcbb0710b053ce01&ac.admitted=1409502745239.876444892.199480143

Even closer investigation allowed me to retrieve EVERY document ever printed, copied or faxed on this machine...

[minerpumpkin]

This is another thing that needs to become easier for people to use.

When Mycelium's Entropy device comes out, all of these problems will go away. You just plug it in to your printer's USB port and you print a paper wallet.

Yes those devices are a very good starting point. In my opinion most people won't want to buy an additional device just to use Bitcoin, but we may optimize those devices or even integrate some of their features or security measures to mobile phones. Now we just got to make sure the printer isn't storing everything that's been printed on it