Best USB drive to store your Bitcoins

[mishax1]

I think you have got enough answers. I suggest you to make a format(not quick) and wait for it to finish(might take some minutes). Some softwares help you to format in more advanced way, that will be better than 'normal format'.


How are you planning to use it? Create a LiveUSB and install wallet or just store private keys?

   -MZ

I already have paper wallets with keys created with vanitygen on an offline secured machine so another backup on usb would be great. (not a LiveUSB)

[Bizmark13]

I think any USB drive is good to store bitcoin
But, i prefer Sandisk flash memory vault which can store data up to for 100 years

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Other option is Ledger Wallet, Hardware USB wallet for store your bitcoin

Yes! This was actually the first one I had in mind. Surprised to see I'm not the only one who knows about this. It's really designed to store photos but there's no reason why you can't store an encrypted BTC wallet in there. Normal flash drives will actually lose some/most of their data after a few decades due to electron leakage so they're not suitable as a very long term cold storage option.

There is one slight caveat though. Since the purpose of the drive is to act as long term storage, you can't replace any files stored inside. So once the drive is completely filled up with data, that's it.

If you're going to be storing keys a 4gb should be fine by kingston.

4 gb for keys? isnt that like a lot too much?

I think he chose 4 GB because that's about the lowest capacity you can find in stores these days. I suppose even a 128 MB drive would be sufficient for something like this.

[ChuckBuck]

Unrelated to USB drives to backup wallet/wallet.dat, but sorta related since it looks like a thumb drive and around the same size of one:






https://www.ledgerwallet.com/

I regularly backup my Bitcoin Core wallet.dat to a Sandisk Cruzer and Lexar thumb drive, but hoping to get my hands on a Trezor or Ledger wallet sometime this year.

[mishax1]

Waiting for the price to rise eh ?     me too.. I also thought of the Ledger wallet.. I will probably buy it when it's price is under 0.05BTC 

[NeuroticFish]

Paper wallets (on paper) and 2 copies on whatever USB drive you have.
In case that both USB drives fail, you'll have to enter the private key(s) by hand, no biggie.

I don't think that too much energy has to be invested in finding "the most reliable USB drive".

[mishax1]

Paper wallets (on paper) and 2 copies on whatever USB drive you have.
In case that both USB drives fail, you'll have to enter the private key(s) by hand, no biggie.

I don't think that too much energy has to be invested in finding "the most reliable USB drive".

I made QR codes for all the keys I created with vanitygen, so I don't need to type them 

Just wanted to see which USBs people are using and get some recommendations..

[mishax1]

I'd say buy any drive you want. A double backup on 2 cheapest drives should provide more security than a single, more expensive stick. You can also use SD card, even your phone's internal memory and the capacity doesn't matter because a backup uses only ~2MB.

This is suppose to be an offline backup, how does my cellphone helps? 

[Muhammed Zakir]

This is suppose to be an offline backup, how does my cellphone helps? 

Don't connect your phone to internet.


If you have two phones, try to give Bither a try. Mutlisig HD.

   -MZ

[NeuroticFish]

The idea is good.
You can get the unused SD card you had in an older cellphone.
Stop the cellphone, stick the SD into the cellphone, or just use the old cellphone (maybe even better).

Connect the cellphone (old or new) to PC, transfer the wallet to SD, get the SD card out and you have a good storage, also maybe for free if you wanted to throw it away.

This is suppose to be an offline backup, how does my cellphone helps? 

The cellphone will be only the USB stick replace for a few seconds.
If you have a card reader you don't even need the cellphone.



Of course, the source PC has to be safe, offline, ... you know the drill.
The SD card will NOT stay in the cellphone anymore. You'll put it somewhere safe.

[mishax1]

Never gonna use an SD card for this.

[Snipe85]

Never gonna use an SD card for this.

How is an SD card worse than a USB drive? They both use the same flash drive technology. You could as well buy a whole SSD drive, but why waste money.
It actually might be a good idea to keep a card hidden somewhere in your wallet. This way you'll have access to money in case of emergency like a house fire. Of course this is an option for people heavily invested in crypto, who don't have much fiat.

[kpitti]

I would go and look for known manufactures as:

ADATA
Corsair
Kingston
Verbatim

I am using Kingston Corsair. I have two of them one is more then 5 Years old and still working fine.

[ranlo]

I'll go ahead and post this in the Beginners section as it fits the most in my opinion.

Which USB drive would be your best choice for storing sensitive data like bitcoin keys and wallets and why?

Please provide a link to your preferred USB stick.


I have ordered a Sandisk Cruzer Force 8gb for 4$ from ebay just because I had some change in my paypal account, yeah it might be fake, and i'm not sure if i'm going to use it for that kind of storage. (If it's fake i'm going to charge back this crap).
I've seen it's rating on Amazon store and it looks like a decent USB.

So, what would be your pick ? (links please(amazon/newegg/ebay).

With ANY USB stick, be sure you have backups. Always. USB sticks (thumb drives) run on flash memory, and it's not known for its reliability (I can't count the number of times a drive has been wiped/lost files randomly). Absolutely do NOT use it as your only source of backup.

[PaulPierce]

For me I am just going to buy a cheap brand name usb and use that.

[ranlo]

For me I am just going to buy a cheap brand name usb and use that.

If it's just for the wallet file (and it's a BACKUP, not your only copy), that should be fine. Most drives go through issues after repetitive reads/writes or due to being filled up past their "true capacity" (some drives are altered to make them think they have more room than they do). If it's just for a wallet file, a cheap USB drive should handle the job of allowing access without causing too many issues. Just keep in mind that it can wipe at any point.

[mishax1]

Never gonna use an SD card for this.

How is an SD card worse than a USB drive? They both use the same flash drive technology. You could as well buy a whole SSD drive, but why waste money.
It actually might be a good idea to keep a card hidden somewhere in your wallet. This way you'll have access to money in case of emergency like a house fire. Of course this is an option for people heavily invested in crypto, who don't have much fiat.

It doesn't matter how much crypto or fiat one has, offline storage is the most secure.

How do you encrypt an SD to carry it around with you?   If you lose it, you will probably need to change the keys anyway.. and the chance to lose a wallet is too high..

[pooya87]

go ahead and ask this guy: How to get the Bitcoin off my USB stick? what kind of usb he had and how did he lost it. it is good to know what "not" to do.

[Muhammed Zakir]

go ahead and ask this guy: How to get the Bitcoin off my USB stick? what kind of usb he had and how did he lost it. it is good to know what "not" to do.

It was his fault probably. Using USB isn't a problem if you "know" what you are doing.

   -MZ

[mishax1]

Can't rely 100% on technology, that's why I got the paper wallets..

[drugs]

I second all those who recommended sandisk drives. Never once had a problem with mine.

Can't rely 100% on technology, that's why I got the paper wallets..

But I also second this. Don't just rely on one usb. Back them up on 2 usbs and maybe other ways. On some wallets you can recover your coins from a seed so write that down as well.