Keeping your butts safe

[fryarminer]

You could post your private key on bitcointalk. Nobody would believe you! :p



Disclaimer:
JUST KIDDING DON'T DO THAT!!!

[fran2k]

Absolutely.

Store in cold wallets the amount of bitcoins you are not planning to use in the coming weeks and at a high % (>90-95%) if you have a considerable amount.

[cryptasm]

Wiating for multisig support on bitcoincore gui

Yeah I'm surprised this hasn't been implemented into core's gui yet, been meaning to try out Armory's multi-sig wallet just haven't got round to it.

[sunxxdzy]

You can try bither bitcoin wallet.It is easy to use and very  safety.

[Argwai96]

- Fire/flood/theft risk (unless mitigated with some kind of backup)
- Keylogger risk (true for pretty much everything except trezor style device)
- Coins perhaps inaccessible if you travel
- Potential data corruption (again unless mitigated through solid backups, which is more opportunity for fuck ups)

Thank you for your reply, but those are all covered.

Fire = encrypted backups
Keylogger = after initial set up disconnected, no further software is installed. no hardware is allowed near it. It's a clean machine, bare OS, all other services off, all other ports blocked.
Travel = that's a given, I would need to be on that particular machine. Backups will take time to set up, but can be done (same as for destruction).
Data corruption = same backups.

In order to properly protect yourself from data corruption you need to have multiple backups on multiple types of backups. For example if you have 3 backups of your private key on 3 USB drives all made by the same manufacturer then there is a highly elevated chance that all three will fail if one fails. Also, the same is true with the program that you use to encrypt your backup file. 

[Dabs]

- Fire/flood/theft risk (unless mitigated with some kind of backup)
- Keylogger risk (true for pretty much everything except trezor style device)
- Coins perhaps inaccessible if you travel
- Potential data corruption (again unless mitigated through solid backups, which is more opportunity for fuck ups)

Thank you for your reply, but those are all covered.

Fire = encrypted backups
Keylogger = after initial set up disconnected, no further software is installed. no hardware is allowed near it. It's a clean machine, bare OS, all other services off, all other ports blocked.
Travel = that's a given, I would need to be on that particular machine. Backups will take time to set up, but can be done (same as for destruction).
Data corruption = same backups.

In order to properly protect yourself from data corruption you need to have multiple backups on multiple types of backups. For example if you have 3 backups of your private key on 3 USB drives all made by the same manufacturer then there is a highly elevated chance that all three will fail if one fails. Also, the same is true with the program that you use to encrypt your backup file. 

Correct! Also, best to have them in more than one physical location. To protect against earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. No real protection against giant asteroids though, since that will wipe us all out.

[solitude]

Where do you guys store your paper wallets?  If I had a safe that weighed like 500 lbs I'd use that, but not many people have that.

I guess most people just find a hiding spot in their house and hope it doesn't burn down?

[djnocide]

I have two offline wallets that split my BTC between the two. If something happens to one, I don't lose them all.

I have my public addresses as 'watch only' so I can monitor the balances.

I have my private keys stamped into metal that won't melt if the house burned down.

AND I have paper copies in another location, split up so you need both parts to complete the key.

I'm HODLing long term, so I wanted to be safe.

This is one of the best option you can have to keep your BTCs safe

[phillipsjk]

Where do you guys store your paper wallets?  If I had a safe that weighed like 500 lbs I'd use that, but not many people have that.

I guess most people just find a hiding spot in their house and hope it doesn't burn down?

This came up once before in this thread, but nobody responded directly.

If you are worried about your house burning down, you obviously do not have off-site, verified backups.

I currently have my Bitcoin stored in two locations at least 10km apart. I must confess, it was scary to open the sealed envelope only to learn that some of my private keys were only stored in one location (ie: not verified).

I hope to upgrade to 3 locations at least 10km from each other, each with m-of-n keys, such that 2 keys are needed to recover funds. If you opt for a safe-deposit box 10km from your home, you may get extra scrutiny for using a branch that is not near your home or place of work.

I chose 10km because I rarely leave the city. I concluded that if I am likely to survive any city-destroying event: so should my Bitcoin. If the city is totally wiped off the map, I probably won't be looking for my private keys.

With the precautions outlined above, I think there is no problem with paper wallets. Some people suggest encrypting your backups, but then you will need to back up the decryption key somewhere. As the number of locations go up, the higher the chance of compromise. That is why m-of-n keys with some kind of tamper detection would be ideal.

[Dabs]

I chose 10km because I rarely leave the city. I concluded that if I am likely to survive any city-destroying event: so should my Bitcoin. If the city is totally wiped off the map, I probably won't be looking for my private keys.

Me and another forum member were thinking of offering a service to hold some of your paper wallets, for a fee. I'm at least 10,000 km away from you.

If your city got wiped off the map, but you survive, you may want to have access to your bitcoins.

[Argwai96]

- Fire/flood/theft risk (unless mitigated with some kind of backup)
- Keylogger risk (true for pretty much everything except trezor style device)
- Coins perhaps inaccessible if you travel
- Potential data corruption (again unless mitigated through solid backups, which is more opportunity for fuck ups)

Thank you for your reply, but those are all covered.

Fire = encrypted backups
Keylogger = after initial set up disconnected, no further software is installed. no hardware is allowed near it. It's a clean machine, bare OS, all other services off, all other ports blocked.
Travel = that's a given, I would need to be on that particular machine. Backups will take time to set up, but can be done (same as for destruction).
Data corruption = same backups.

In order to properly protect yourself from data corruption you need to have multiple backups on multiple types of backups. For example if you have 3 backups of your private key on 3 USB drives all made by the same manufacturer then there is a highly elevated chance that all three will fail if one fails. Also, the same is true with the program that you use to encrypt your backup file. 

Correct! Also, best to have them in more than one physical location. To protect against earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. No real protection against giant asteroids though, since that will wipe us all out.

LOL. I think it would be theoretically possible to protect against this by storing your private keys in locations that are underground and have several years worth of food, water and electricity and medical supplies. I would think that protecting against asteroids would have a negative NPV as would protecting against volcanios - at least in most of the world

[Dabs]

Yeah, just store your backups on a cubesat. Or the moon. Or under the sea. I dunno. They are all really far fetched.