How can I "protect" my wallet

[FFrankie]

Yeah so that is the question. If anyone could point me in the right direction, I would much appreciate it

I am currently using bitcoin core as a wallet. Its on my laptop which I use daily. I have malwarebytes pro and microsoft security essentials (if that matters at all, which I does not think it does)

Is there a better safer wallet? How do people even steal coins from wallets(not looking for a specifc answer here, more like how is it possible since my wallet is on my computer?)


If I put bitcoin core into an encrypted folder would that do anything for protection?

[dothebeats]

Well, since your wallet is on your computer, why not try making a paper wallet and put the majority of your holdings in there and try keeping some coins for spending in a hot wallet (a wallet that is always, or most of the time, connected to the internet) for spending purposes?? In that way, you can be sure that the majority of your coins are kept safely within your reach. There are also the Armory wallet in which your coins may be stored, but based on what I've read, the software is resource-heavy (I don't know, haven't used it yet) so maybe sticking into a paper wallet might save you from hesitations.

[pooya87]

i suggest you look into either paper wallet or offline wallets.
here is wiki for it
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_set_up_a_secure_offline_savings_wallet

[Paraka]

you can download bitcoin wallet to safe your balance

[FFrankie]

i suggest you look into either paper wallet or offline wallets.
here is wiki for it
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_set_up_a_secure_offline_savings_wallet

Ah I will use that now, thank you! But is this 100%secure? I know nothing is. But from the sounds of it, it seems someone would need my copy and password to take the coins?

[LewiesMan]

Use blockchain with 2FA or generate a BIP encrypted paper wallet!

[ColderThanIce]

u could try electrum too, it seems like a good wallet. plus you don't need to download the whole blockchain like you need to with the original bitcoin wallet.

if you want to keep bitcoins in cold storage you could try making encrypted paper wallets too. just make sure to not lose them!

[Passprot]

why dont you try hardware wallet ?
trezor or ledger
more safer

[kpitti]

I am using exactly paper wallet where I put majority of my Bitcoins there. I keep only minimum for spending in my online wallet.

[ajareselde]

Depend on what type of wallet you are using.
Personaly i would avoid online wallets of all sorts for bitcoin balances over 50-100 USD value.
Strongest would be hardware wallet, but its up to you to decide.

I simply have bitcoin client on my pc, but i keep wallet.dat on my thumb drive, excrypted and offline.
To me it seams like the most simple solution, when i need to make some payment , i just take it, make payment, and once again remove it.
While of thumbdrive, i rename wallet.dat to something random, so if i by any chance pick up wallet stealer, it doesnt recognize it.
So far over  9000 bitcoin transactions, and not a single problem.

[HarmonLi]

Long term storage? Use a paper wallet or a trezor (if you can afford one). If you want to spend the coins, using an encrypted BitcoinQT is fine, but only keep as many coins there as you need to. You can sign your transactions offline, as well. That would be 100% safe, if done right.

[dsattler]

If you want top-notch security:

Paper wallet (create offline)
Trezor
Armory (with offline signing on separate PC)

If you want to keep your bitcoin core wallet I recommend that you encrypt your wallet.dat with a really long password, 15 or more random (!!!) characters long. Then there's no need for an encrypted file system. Use a password manager for entering your password in the bitcoin core wallet, I recommend keepass2. It's free, widely used and proven to be reliable and secure. If you activate "2-channel auto-type obfuscation" you should be safe even if you catch a trojan with a keylogger.

[Amph]

password to it, and usb stick, or another pc dedicated only to btc, no browser no dl anything, only for the blockchain, with a different outbound ip of course, so no shared connection

[jbrnt]

I don't feel safe having my wallet on a machine I use daily. I would at least put the wallet on an older machine that Is only for bitcoin. If younhave a lot, consider a paper wallet for cold storage and then a hardware wallet for hot storage. Hardware wallet is great for securing your coins even on a compromised computer.

[odolvlobo]

At a minimum, ensure that your wallet is encrypted and backed up. Bitcoin Core can do both of those.

You can store the wallet offline for additional safety, but then you can't spend the bitcoins.

[Troonetpt]

Yeah so that is the question. If anyone could point me in the right direction, I would much appreciate it

I am currently using bitcoin core as a wallet. Its on my laptop which I use daily. I have malwarebytes pro and microsoft security essentials (if that matters at all, which I does not think it does)

Is there a better safer wallet? How do people even steal coins from wallets(not looking for a specifc answer here, more like how is it possible since my wallet is on my computer?)


If I put bitcoin core into an encrypted folder would that do anything for protection?

Cold storage is the best way to keep your coin safe.
And you can spend it by offline transaction.

[ronaldo40]

I just use an online wallet + 2FA and it is very safe and simple in my opinion

[SOAD]

Yeah so that is the question. If anyone could point me in the right direction, I would much appreciate it

I am currently using bitcoin core as a wallet. Its on my laptop which I use daily. I have malwarebytes pro and microsoft security essentials (if that matters at all, which I does not think it does)

Is there a better safer wallet? How do people even steal coins from wallets(not looking for a specifc answer here, more like how is it possible since my wallet is on my computer?)

Wallets are only as safe as you are. Personally I'd go with a liteweight client over bitcoin core and make sure I use a computer I know to be safe just for transactions. Look into booting from a linux live CD so your computer is fresh every time.

If I put bitcoin core into an encrypted folder would that do anything for protection?

Yes, but having a password just on the wallet will be fine if your computer is safe, but the best way to protect yourself is to keep your wallet offline. Burn it to a CD or put it on usb stick.

[gkv9]

I don't think I have an answer, but a question to ask to everyone...

Can you guys please let me know that if there is any chance of any private keys either getting leaked or compromised, then how these 2FAs, password and encryption protections are going to help in any means?

[Muhammed Zakir]

I don't think I have an answer, but a question to ask to everyone...

Can you guys please let me know that if there is any chance of any private keys either getting leaked or compromised, then how these 2FAs, password and encryption protections are going to help in any means?

Duplicated r values in an address' transaction history might result in exposing the private key.This happened for transactions in Blockchain.info recently(some weeks ago). It can also be leaked by the infection of wallet stealing trojan or any similar malware or via keyloggers.

AFAIK 2FA would be the best option if your phone isn't compromised. If you can setup a Google Authenticator, that would be the best option as Google Authenticator doesn't need to be online.

I would suggest you to use a paper wallet or hardware wallets(this can also be hacked but chances are very low) or setup an offline wallet.

   -MZ

[Velkro]

Store your coins on several offline encrypted devices. Simple as that

[avatar_kiyoshi]

Yeah so that is the question. If anyone could point me in the right direction, I would much appreciate it

I am currently using bitcoin core as a wallet. Its on my laptop which I use daily. I have malwarebytes pro and microsoft security essentials (if that matters at all, which I does not think it does)

Is there a better safer wallet? How do people even steal coins from wallets(not looking for a specifc answer here, more like how is it possible since my wallet is on my computer?)


If I put bitcoin core into an encrypted folder would that do anything for protection?

The point is make a private keys save, use strong pass, dont click link which you dont know or download something from site that is not trusted first cek that link or file on virustotal.com. Becareful with link, email, file, which will pishing on your pc. Put antikeyloger too, for more security.

[LiteCoinGuy]

you can use a hardware-wallet:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=899253.0

[erikalui]

Like others have advised, I too believe that paper wallet is the best option but it is better to keep less BTC in your account and having about 0.1 BTC is the max your wallet should have to avoid any hacking or stealing of BTC.

[Akbarkoe]

store your coins in wallet local
download wallet armory.

[grandFX]

I think, it is better you use F2A to protect your wallet
and use strong pass with combine numbers, letters and symbols.

[champbronc2]

Use https://www.bitgo.com

It's mind-numbingly simple, but it's also institutional grade security.

[ranochigo]

Yeah so that is the question. If anyone could point me in the right direction, I would much appreciate it

I am currently using bitcoin core as a wallet. Its on my laptop which I use daily. I have malwarebytes pro and microsoft security essentials (if that matters at all, which I does not think it does)

Is there a better safer wallet? How do people even steal coins from wallets(not looking for a specifc answer here, more like how is it possible since my wallet is on my computer?)


If I put bitcoin core into an encrypted folder would that do anything for protection?

Antiviruses doesn't do much, so don't rely on them. The best method is not to download any programs thats suspicious and use Google Chrome since it would most probably have better virus protection than other browsers. No wallet is safe, SPV wallets doesn't protect you from malware hacking, same as full chain wallet.

You could try putting majority of the coins in a cold storage and put a small percentage on the desktop wallet.

Encrypted folders won't work since Bitcoin Core wouldn't be able to be used without a password. And when you key in the password, a malware could possibly have captured the password.

[Muhammed Zakir]

Store your coins on several offline encrypted devices. Simple as that

Legit. Ideally store these devices somewhere unprobable like inside your closet in between clothes or something.

Hope it has waterproof hardware(s)!

   -MZ

[Q7]

The best option right now to secure your coin is either using paper wallet or hardware wallet. While I'm not over enthusiastic about having paper which reminds me of my fiat money, I suggest you look into having the hardware wallet. Maybe this can be your starting point https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=899253.0

[viboracecata]

Export your private key, and print it, then store your paper somewhere you think it safe, meanwhile, you can store you wallet on some cdroms

[cambda]

I preffer hardware wallet. But there are more hardware wallets available on market so choose wisely . Generally hardware wallet without showing what is signing on its own display is less secure.

[tidus1097]

Use coinbase active 2FA. My wallet still safe.

[bitkilo]

I would just say no online walle is safe and only keep what you need and can afford to loose in one.

If you have more than say $50 of btc put it on a paper waller, if your not 100% on how to do this with making a mistake then oreder a mccelium entropy device that can make paper wallets without touching a computer. (When they finally ship them)
Legdger wallet is another cheap option.
Trezor hardware wallet if you get a lot of coins.

[arvindr]

The best way for me, is to back up to a cold storage for large amounts.
For smaller amounts, you might keep it on a multibit wallet, but if you aren't sure of your computer, then using localbitcoins or an online wallet is fine too.
but any amount over 1 BTC should be moved to cold storage

[jjacob]

Use cold storage.
Keep only coins which you need on a daily basis on your desktop wallet.

[sifter]

All you need to do is encrypt it.

And have an anti virus installed to detect and remove keyloggers.

[bitkilo]

All you need to do is encrypt it.

And have an anti virus installed to detect and remove keyloggers.

I know this is a way but would you trust say 20btc in an online wallet and just relying on your encryption method and your anti virus software or would you feel safer having it totally offline in your hands on say a paper or hardware wallet?

[Muhammed Zakir]

All you need to do is encrypt it.

And have an anti virus installed to detect and remove keyloggers.

You can't rely on that forever. Even if you have the best antivirus which have ever built(there is none currently), it won't protect your wallet. If ypu have a USB(atleast 4 GB), you can easily create a linux-cold-storage.

I know this is a way but would you trust say 20btc in an online wallet and just relying on your encryption method and your anti virus software or would you feel safer having it totally offline in your hands on say a paper or hardware wallet?

I prefer cold storage. But for some people, cold wallet isn't a good choice as they travel a lot or they don't have enough things to make a cold storage wallet. Even to spend from paper wallet, we need a smartphone or a webcam but in some jobs we will have to live in particular place such as a rig where camera-related things aren't allowed. So there is issues with everything but more than that it's pure laziness.

   -MZ

[ranochigo]

All you need to do is encrypt it.

And have an anti virus installed to detect and remove keyloggers.

I hate to say this but this method is seriously flawed. Encrypt the wallet with what? There are programs which allows people to bruteforce the encrypted files. Furthermore, whenever you use the wallet, you would have to unencrypt it using the password. In the process, a keylogger or malware on your computer would have captured it already. Antivirus CAN remove viruses and malwares but ever heard of crypters? They can allow the virus to pass the AV's test with no detection. If this happens, your wallet would be ultimately hacked.

[dsattler]

All you need to do is encrypt it.

And have an anti virus installed to detect and remove keyloggers.

I hate to say this but this method is seriously flawed. Encrypt the wallet with what? There are programs which allows people to bruteforce the encrypted files. Furthermore, whenever you use the wallet, you would have to unencrypt it using the password. In the process, a keylogger or malware on your computer would have captured it already. Antivirus CAN remove viruses and malwares but ever heard of crypters? They can allow the virus to pass the AV's test with no detection. If this happens, your wallet would be ultimately hacked.

Encryption of the qt-wallet is really strong. If you choose a long enough password with random characters, there is no way to brute-force it. I recommend a length of 15 or more characters.

[ranochigo]

All you need to do is encrypt it.

And have an anti virus installed to detect and remove keyloggers.

I hate to say this but this method is seriously flawed. Encrypt the wallet with what? There are programs which allows people to bruteforce the encrypted files. Furthermore, whenever you use the wallet, you would have to unencrypt it using the password. In the process, a keylogger or malware on your computer would have captured it already. Antivirus CAN remove viruses and malwares but ever heard of crypters? They can allow the virus to pass the AV's test with no detection. If this happens, your wallet would be ultimately hacked.

Encryption of the qt-wallet is really strong. If you choose a long enough password with random characters, there is no way to brute-force it. I recommend a length of 15 or more characters.

Whenever you have to spend it, you would have to unencrypted it, in the process, the password can be stolen and the wallet will be hacked. It depends on how secure is the encryption method, if a vulnerability is found or the hashing method is weak, your bitcoins will get hacked.

[ronaldo40]

store your coins in wallet local
download wallet armory.

yeahh besides saving on blockchain + 2FA, just also save on local web exchanger and it is very safe, and has been reliable

[Muhammed Zakir]

store your coins in wallet local
download wallet armory.

yeahh besides saving on blockchain + 2FA, just also save on local web exchanger and it is very safe, and has been reliable

I didn't got what you meant by 'local web exchanger'. Could you please clarify? Thanks!

I dearly hope you didn't meant any exchanges.

   -MZ

[zBlood7]

If you want to use online wallet, always use strong password & 2FA
If you want to use offline wallet, use bitcoin core / armory with strong password in clean PC

Never store your bitcoin on exchange site

[dsattler]

All you need to do is encrypt it.

And have an anti virus installed to detect and remove keyloggers.

I hate to say this but this method is seriously flawed. Encrypt the wallet with what? There are programs which allows people to bruteforce the encrypted files. Furthermore, whenever you use the wallet, you would have to unencrypt it using the password. In the process, a keylogger or malware on your computer would have captured it already. Antivirus CAN remove viruses and malwares but ever heard of crypters? They can allow the virus to pass the AV's test with no detection. If this happens, your wallet would be ultimately hacked.

Encryption of the qt-wallet is really strong. If you choose a long enough password with random characters, there is no way to brute-force it. I recommend a length of 15 or more characters.

Whenever you have to spend it, you would have to unencrypted it, in the process, the password can be stolen and the wallet will be hacked. It depends on how secure is the encryption method, if a vulnerability is found or the hashing method is weak, your bitcoins will get hacked.

Keyloggers are the only weakness, the encryption method of the qt wallet is very strong:

Wallet encryption uses AES-256-CBC to encrypt only the private keys that are held in a wallet. The keys are encrypted with a master key which is entirely random. This master key is then encrypted with AES-256-CBC with a key derived from the passphrase using SHA512 and OpenSSL's EVP_BytesToKey and a dynamic number of rounds determined by the speed of the machine which does the initial encryption (and is updated based on the speed of a computer which does a subsequent passphrase change). Although the underlying code supports multiple encrypted copies of the same master key (and thus multiple passphrases) the client does not yet have a method to add additional passphrases.

Source: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Wallet_encryption

[kpitti]

store your coins in wallet local
download wallet armory.

yeahh besides saving on blockchain + 2FA, just also save on local web exchanger and it is very safe, and has been reliable

I will not leave any significant amount on any online service and exchange is even worst. You can have 2FA enabled, but when they close bussines ....

I trust in Paper wallet printed in good quality printer and laminated.

[adworker]

I trust in Paper wallet printed in good quality printer and laminated.

I use Paper wallets as well, but the weakest paper wallet point is when you spending it. I using offline armory for this, but it is still weakest point in my opinion

[ranochigo]

store your coins in wallet local
download wallet armory.

yeahh besides saving on blockchain + 2FA, just also save on local web exchanger and it is very safe, and has been reliable

I will not leave any significant amount on any online service and exchange is even worst. You can have 2FA enabled, but when they close bussines ....

I trust in Paper wallet printed in good quality printer and laminated.

True but you could also get backups from the wallet provider(most probably) online wallets like blockchain.info allows user to export backups. It can be a hassle to scan paper wallet everytime you use it and you would have a hard time searching for it due to its size.

[AtheistAKASaneBrain]

I dont trust paper wallets. You could lose the paper, the dog could find it and bite it, it could degrade due humidity.. its pointless.
its better to remain electronic.

[Muhammed Zakir]

I dont trust paper wallets. You could lose the paper, the dog could find it and bite it, it could degrade due humidity.. its pointless.
its better to remain electronic.

Electronic equipments are much danger than that. Besides, you can always store paper wallet in safe place atleast where your dog can't reach.

   -MZ

[Avenged7Vold]

Use blockchain with 2FA or generate a BIP encrypted paper wallet!

Yes Aggre with him, use 2FA to protect from hacker or etc

[Banjiro]

I dont trust paper wallets. You could lose the paper, the dog could find it and bite it, it could degrade due humidity.. its pointless.
its better to remain electronic.

Well I think also like that it should be safe to store in paper wallet
because it can be lost.

[uki]

I dont trust paper wallets. You could lose the paper, the dog could find it and bite it, it could degrade due humidity.. its pointless.
its better to remain electronic.

Electronic equipments are much danger than that. Besides, you can always store paper wallet in safe place atleast where your dog can't reach.

   -MZ

whereas I agree on paper wallets and use them as the cold storage too, being the easiest and the least expensive storage method for larger amounts of BTC, it is a very interesting observation that the currency that was originally thought to be fully electronic is not safe enough in the electronic form, bringing us back to the paper money.

[Velkro]

If I put bitcoin core into an encrypted folder would that do anything for protection?

No, it would slow your bitcoin core software, and that "windows encryption" is joke.
Encrypt only your wallet data file and with proper software, like last true version of truecrypt

[Brewins]

I dont trust paper wallets. You could lose the paper, the dog could find it and bite it, it could degrade due humidity.. its pointless.
its better to remain electronic.

Electronic equipments are much danger than that. Besides, you can always store paper wallet in safe place atleast where your dog can't reach.

   -MZ

Better yet: write your key in stone.

If people from 4000 years ago could do that and preserve the stones until today, I think you can do it too.

[hardhouseinc]

Armory offline wallet, never connected to the internet or any network of any sort.
Offline transactions with Armory.  Best way Ive found so far and the program is
GREAT.  Lots of backup and offline wallet options. 

[najzenmajsen]

it really depends , how you're gonna want to use your coins. the best possible way to store coins is in my own opinion at a paper wallet. But if you need to move your coins often , get a dedicated linux machine that you only store your coins on. ( kind of like your own bank ) and make sure to not store everything at 1 place , and backup your wallets to usb etc.

[Muhammed Zakir]

Armory offline wallet, never connected to the internet or any network of any sort.
Offline transactions with Armory.  Best way Ive found so far and the program is
GREAT.  Lots of backup and offline wallet options. 

I agree with you. But for people with less storage and/or low internet speed, Electrum(offline+online wallet) is their best choice.

P.S. They can also use Armory cold storage without installing Armory online wallet by inputting their address in counterwallet. I do it!

   -MZ

[greek8TC]

Bitcoin Core is the most secure wallet, if you need better feature you can try Armory.

And usually hackers hack wallet from virus / malware

[Muhammed Zakir]

Bitcoin Core is the most secure wallet, if you need better feature you can try Armory.

And usually hackers hack wallet from virus / malware

Many people can't/don't use them as Blockchain needs to be downloaded and it is over ~30 GB. So SPV clients like Multibit or Electrum or hardware wallets or paper wallets are their choice.

   -MZ

[uki]

Bitcoin Core is the most secure wallet, if you need better feature you can try Armory.

And usually hackers hack wallet from virus / malware

Many people can't/don't use them as Blockchain needs to be downloaded and it is over ~30 GB. So SPV clients like Multibit or Electrum or hardware wallets or paper wallets are their choice.
   -MZ

yes, whereas with current connection speeds of DSL/cable/cellular access downloading 30GB shouldn't be such a big effort and can be run as a background task.
Even if it takes a week to do, it is worth the effort.

[ranochigo]

Bitcoin Core is the most secure wallet, if you need better feature you can try Armory.

And usually hackers hack wallet from virus / malware

Many people can't/don't use them as Blockchain needs to be downloaded and it is over ~30 GB. So SPV clients like Multibit or Electrum or hardware wallets or paper wallets are their choice.
   -MZ

yes, whereas with current connection speeds of DSL/cable/cellular access downloading 30GB shouldn't be such a big effort and can be run as a background task.
Even if it takes a week to do, it is worth the effort.

You can still sign the spend the funds even if the blockchain isn't downloaded. Wallets like electrum would be much easier since they have a gui. The difference between bitcoin core and other wallets are very small. Bitcoin core just offer the advanced features a technical user needs. Whereas other wallets offer typical user one would use to secure their coins or receive/send bitcoins.

Download and upload speed isn't as important as the possible bottleneck in your CPU. Slow CPU takes loads and loads of time to verify all the blocks. Also, if there are no Bitcoin nodes which is near you, the speed would be reduced greatly.