Downsides of using web wallets? | Bitcointalksearch.org

TheLordOfTime

newbie

Activity: 8

Merit: 0

Quote from: Birdy on June 22, 2013, 04:35:05 PM

Quote from: TheLordOfTime on June 22, 2013, 04:26:21 PM

If it were *your* choice between a web wallet or a bitcoin-qt client running 24/7 for the purposes of receiving bitcoin, which would you choose for the specific case here?

Ehm...you don't need to have it running to receive coins o,O
I would probably use the online-wallet for this.

I'm tired, forgive my fail at typing. running 24/7 so i can, say, VPN in and get an at-a-glance balance Wink

But so far, I'm inclined to agree that i can run thee web wallet for the donations, and then send them off to a qt client or something for safe keeping later. Assuming I get any donations. Tongue

Thanks!

Birdy

sr. member

Activity: 364

Merit: 250

Quote from: TheLordOfTime on June 22, 2013, 04:26:21 PM

If it were *your* choice between a web wallet or a bitcoin-qt client running 24/7 for the purposes of receiving bitcoin, which would you choose for the specific case here?

Ehm...you don't need to have it running to receive coins o,O
I would probably use the online-wallet for this.

TheLordOfTime

newbie

Activity: 8

Merit: 0

Okay, so i was writing, and getting a response while writing meant "Time to rewrite" xD

The main wallet I use is for OTC trades on the #bitcoin-otc IRC channel, and that never has lots of coin. It has an extremely fluid balance because I never hold coin there for long. If there's little risk because of the fluidity of the funds, then I'll probably use that on blockchain.info indefinitely. (although since it's a vanity address, I can import the privkey to a bitcoin-qt client at my leisure).

But, I want to be able to receive donations on one of my sites, hence wanting access to the wallet from anywhere and not needing a bitcoin-qt or similar client. If it were *your* choice between a web wallet or a bitcoin-qt client running 24/7 for the purposes of receiving bitcoin, which would you choose for the specific case here?

***EDIT: I missed BitcoinBoss's answer when I was writing this. But the open question still remains

***

BitcoinBoss

sr. member

Activity: 404

Merit: 250

As said, if the site goes down or gets hacked your coins are at risk. I would use blockchain.info for regular transactions but keep savings stored seperately in QT.

Birdy

sr. member

Activity: 364

Merit: 250

Only the obvious risk of the website/your account being hacked or the owner being a scammer and running away with your coins.
For smaller sums a wallet on blockchain.info is fine, I just wouldn't use it to store all my coins.

TheLordOfTime

newbie

Activity: 8

Merit: 0

I am pretty sure I know the answer to this, but what are the specific downsides of using a web wallet over, say, an actual client like bitcoin-qt? I'd rather not have to spin up a bitcoin-qt client on each system I want to use bitcoins with, but if there's any blatant security risks to using a web wallet, I'd like to know about those risks.

Topic: Downsides of using web wallets? (Read 496 times)