Topic: Are desktop and mobile wallets always safer than online wallets? (Read 2679 times)
Yup. Online wallets are dangerous also. That's why most the crypto prefer to use desktop wallets. Atleast its minimize the risk. You are in control with your crypto. Using online wallets don't give you full control with your crypto. Btc for example. When you use online wallets, you don't have control with yiur private keys. That's the disadvantage plus the chance of scamming you. A lot of online wallets complaining that they were scammed by online wallets that they use. Some are just banned their account and never recover their funds.
As soon as I gain a substantial amount of BTC, through trade from savings from misc faucets of allsorts and the like, I do want to get those hardware wallets. THOSE> I believe are one of the safest options.
So... If I have understood well, desktop wallets are safer and less hackable, right?
It isn't even about safety. It is about financial sovereignty. If some online service/wallet holds Bitcoin on an address to which you do not control the private keys to, they are not yours. That put aside, desktop wallets are generally much safer.also... having a wallet on a web service or a mobile service is the same?
No. Whoever said that does not know what they are talking about. There are mobile wallets which give you full control of your private keys/seeds, e.g. Mycelium.and (yep, I'm new) can you explain a little bit more about paper wallet?
Paper wallets are usually not worth the trouble unless you have >$100k to store.
So... If I have understood well, desktop wallets are safer and less hackable, right? also... having a wallet on a web service or a mobile service is the same? I mean you have the control of your private key only on desktop wallet?
and (yep, I'm new) can you explain a little bit more about paper wallet?
and (yep, I'm new) can you explain a little bit more about paper wallet?
Yes they are as they are stored on your mobile or on your PC, desktop or laptop whichever you use. You are holding the private keys and you do not need to reach a third party website to log in there in order to check your balance, send and receive bitcoins. What if blockchain.info website gets hacked and you lose all your funds, who is to blame if this happens ? It is better to use desktop wallets as they are more secure than online wallets.
What is secure to you? Security in this matter to me is knowing and controllng where my private key is and what has access to it. I wouldn't know where my private key is on a propritary mobile app, nor what I can do to control what can read it.
Edit: As an example, I chose to run my core wallet as the only application outside of firewall software on a desktop connected only to a private bitcoin node I control. It can't reach the outside world nor can the outside world reach it otherwise. I distrust this setup less than having my keys on a mobile device, though I use mobile too on occassion for convinience knowing the risks.
Edit: As an example, I chose to run my core wallet as the only application outside of firewall software on a desktop connected only to a private bitcoin node I control. It can't reach the outside world nor can the outside world reach it otherwise. I distrust this setup less than having my keys on a mobile device, though I use mobile too on occassion for convinience knowing the risks.
As long as you know you are only downloading trusted and safe apps, why would you be in such a high danger of malware on a mobile compared to a regular computer?
PC gives the user more ability to be secure than mobile.
If you need to remove malware from your PC often, don't use a PC wallet.
Functional distrust will protect you more often than trust for this particular question.
What do you mean by "PC gives the user more ability to be secure"?
What ability?
As long as you know you are only downloading trusted and safe apps, why would you be in such a high danger of malware on a mobile compared to a regular computer?
PC gives the user more ability to be secure than mobile.
If you need to remove malware from your PC often, don't use a PC wallet.
Functional distrust will protect you more often than trust for this particular question.
Btw, should not mobile wallets actually be safer than desktop wallets? I mean I don't assume there is actually more malware in cycle on mobiles vs computers? And if so why? As long as you know you are only downloading trusted and safe apps, why would you be in such a high danger of malware on a mobile compared to a regular computer?
Especially since there are good virus scanners for mobile devices also? Like this one: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitdefender.security&hl=en
What makes mobile and mobile wallets so much more unsafe vs desktop wallets?
Especially since there are good virus scanners for mobile devices also? Like this one: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitdefender.security&hl=en
What makes mobile and mobile wallets so much more unsafe vs desktop wallets?
This is something that I dont understand fully yet. Are desktop wallets and wallets on mobiles etc always considered to be a safer alternative than having the coins on an online wallet or an exchange?
In examples you wrote about, most secure is desktop wallet. You and you only are owner of your bitcoins and have access to it always.Online wallets and exchanges are basically just websites, that can dissapear overnight with your bitcoin or FIAT monet balance.
When we talk about mobile wallets, they are not that safe because there are TONS of malicious applications on mobile markets that could steal your bitcoins.
Mobile wallets = only change money to buy coffee recommended
Dekstop wallets = default location to store your bitcoins
Paper wallet = most secure offline wallet, not so easy to use but most safe
Online wallet = same as mobile wallets, only change money at most to keep
Online wallets may be safer if they have 2fa authentication and your system is compromised, so the attacker could move all the coins in your desktop wallet, but not the ones in the online wallet.
Of course desktop wallets are preferred, but nothing will be safe if the system is open to malwares
How do one know one is safe from malware? Is Windows Defender giving clean status enough?
This is something that I dont understand fully yet. Are desktop wallets and wallets on mobiles etc always considered to be a safer alternative than having the coins on an online wallet or an exchange?
In examples you wrote about, most secure is desktop wallet. You and you only are owner of your bitcoins and have access to it always.Online wallets and exchanges are basically just websites, that can dissapear overnight with your bitcoin or FIAT monet balance.
When we talk about mobile wallets, they are not that safe because there are TONS of malicious applications on mobile markets that could steal your bitcoins.
Mobile wallets = only change money to buy coffee recommended
Dekstop wallets = default location to store your bitcoins
Paper wallet = most secure offline wallet, not so easy to use but most safe
Online wallet = same as mobile wallets, only change money at most to keep
Thank you for response.
About Online wallets and exchanges dissapearing over night. I could see this with smaller new sites, but I have a very hard time seeing how sites like Kraken, Coinsbase or Poloniex would dissapear and scam everyone of their money..? I could see a hack though.
About Paper Wallets, is there some reliable source or homepage that collect all safe and legit methods to create paper wallets for coins by step by step instructions?
About mobile wallets, if you had to choose, would you keep your money on a mobile wallet or an exchange or online wallet? Are mobile wallets on iOS devices safer than on Android? (I would assume so?)
This is something that I dont understand fully yet. Are desktop wallets and wallets on mobiles etc always considered to be a safer alternative than having the coins on an online wallet or an exchange?
In examples you wrote about, most secure is desktop wallet. You and you only are owner of your bitcoins and have access to it always.Online wallets and exchanges are basically just websites, that can dissapear overnight with your bitcoin or FIAT monet balance.
When we talk about mobile wallets, they are not that safe because there are TONS of malicious applications on mobile markets that could steal your bitcoins.
Mobile wallets = only change money to buy coffee recommended
Dekstop wallets = default location to store your bitcoins
Paper wallet = most secure offline wallet, not so easy to use but most safe
Online wallet = same as mobile wallets, only change money at most to keep
Online wallets may be safer if they have 2fa authentication and your system is compromised, so the attacker could move all the coins in your desktop wallet, but not the ones in the online wallet.
Of course desktop wallets are preferred, but nothing will be safe if the system is open to malwares
This is something that I dont understand fully yet. Are desktop wallets and wallets on mobiles etc always considered to be a safer alternative than having the coins on an online wallet or an exchange?
In examples you wrote about, most secure is desktop wallet. You and you only are owner of your bitcoins and have access to it always.Online wallets and exchanges are basically just websites, that can dissapear overnight with your bitcoin or FIAT monet balance.
When we talk about mobile wallets, they are not that safe because there are TONS of malicious applications on mobile markets that could steal your bitcoins.
Mobile wallets = only change money to buy coffee recommended
Dekstop wallets = default location to store your bitcoins
Paper wallet = most secure offline wallet, not so easy to use but most safe
Online wallet = same as mobile wallets, only change money at most to keep
This is something that I dont understand fully yet. Are desktop wallets and wallets on mobiles etc always considered to be a safer alternative than having the coins on an online wallet or an exchange?
My thinking is that as 1 person you are such a small target, that even if you where actually infected with a virus, you as a target is so extremely small vs a huge target like an exchange? I mean, sure someone might spend a lot of effort so steal your 0.1 bitcoins, but the incentive to do that vs trying to grab 100000 btc from an exchange must be quite minimal?
Maybe one could even argue that it would actually be statisticly safer to have your btc and private keys in a notepad file vs on an exchange or online wallet even? (though it would of course be really stupid)
Am I missing something or is this the general concencus?
My thinking is that as 1 person you are such a small target, that even if you where actually infected with a virus, you as a target is so extremely small vs a huge target like an exchange? I mean, sure someone might spend a lot of effort so steal your 0.1 bitcoins, but the incentive to do that vs trying to grab 100000 btc from an exchange must be quite minimal?
Maybe one could even argue that it would actually be statisticly safer to have your btc and private keys in a notepad file vs on an exchange or online wallet even? (though it would of course be really stupid)
Am I missing something or is this the general concencus?
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