Topic: How Long Does Physical BTC Wallets last? (Read 1926 times)
It totally depends on how you use it. I am using the Trezor wallet to store my crypto and I have a seed key to recover the funds even if my Trezor wallet is destroyed or stolen. There are some warnings in the manual that helps to increase the life of such hardware devices. You don't have to worry about the funds even if the USB wallet is destroyed because you will not lose anything more than the cost of that wallet. You can buy a new wallet and import the funds from your wallet to the new device.
As long as I take care of it and keep it forever if it's damaged I'll replace it with a new one, maybe I'll make a 2-3 wallet it's nicer.
I have few USB flash drives which have 'died'. Is there any estimation how long those current hardware wallets on the market, for example trezor or ledger nano, will last?
Well that is basically a fact we all cannot avoid. Nothing lasts forever, so we really have to keep our secret keys secure somewhere so we do not lose our bitcoins or at least keep the seeds with you so you can restore all your coins when your hardware wallet dies.
By the way, maybe the better wording for your tittle should be "hardware wallet" and not physical bitcoin wallets.
I have few USB flash drives which have 'died'. Is there any estimation how long those current hardware wallets on the market, for example trezor or ledger nano, will last?
it depend on how many data you write and read with that usb stick, but if you are going to put only the wallet.dat there it's not much and should not cause major break anytime soon, it will last many years, i would suggest to buy many of these usb stick they are cheap and save your ass if one is broken
They will survive as long as you care for them and treat them well. If you have a physical bitcoin wallet like trezo and keep a key or some sort of physical wallet then you should keep it in a safe place.
You aren't reading and writing tons of data to a hardware wallet like you would an ordinary USB drive so I don't foresee them failing due to this in any reasonable timeframe.
I will last long because there are nursing who will get the truth. The wallet I have today has kept it in a safe place away from harmful elements like water and fire that can destroy it.
Well, it is a physical wallet and therefore, I can be destroyed by elements 
USB can handle around 10k to 100k write/erase cycles, it's depend on multiple things like the brand, the memory technology used, conditions storage, ect. For exemple if low quality memory components are used, the flash drives can fail more fast.. It's like if you buy shoes for 5$ don't except to see them lasting as long as a 150$ one 
.Of course cheap brands dont spend much money to get the same quaility than the others brands. Once the limit is reached, you may lost datas as the memory is not functionning correctly anymore
.Of course cheap brands dont spend much money to get the same quaility than the others brands. Once the limit is reached, you may lost datas as the memory is not functionning correctly anymore
I will last long because there are nursing who will get the truth. The wallet I have today has kept it in a safe place away from harmful elements like water and fire that can destroy it.
For me I think Physical BTC Wallets will last very long and it depends on the BTC wallet provider hardware on how they maintain those hardware.
But we can assure on those legit BTC wallets that they have strong foundation of software and hardware before they go on BTC business.
The hardware wallets will last as long as the owner didn't intended to break it because if he has some intention to break it then it won't last long my friend has a 2 year hardware wallet and it is still looks and performs like a new hardware wallet so i think it is up to the owner on how he will take care of his items like hardware wallet. But we can assure on those legit BTC wallets that they have strong foundation of software and hardware before they go on BTC business.
I'd say THEY have to last a pretty long time and probably as long as any of these online wallets as normally one of them a year gets "hacked" and runs away with all the customer funds. So, I'd be expecting them to last for a pretty long time and they probably have some sort of backup / Warranty of the product that they have or they would just lose the respect that they've gained over this time.
I think you're supposed to have a paper wallet backup just incase if something goes south here's the link if anyone has a trezor and wants to go ahead and drink it - https://doc.satoshilabs.com/trezor-faq/warranty.html
So, probably pretty long if you don't be dumb with it and throw it around and such.
I think you're supposed to have a paper wallet backup just incase if something goes south here's the link if anyone has a trezor and wants to go ahead and drink it - https://doc.satoshilabs.com/trezor-faq/warranty.html
So, probably pretty long if you don't be dumb with it and throw it around and such.
For me I think Physical BTC Wallets will last very long and it depends on the BTC wallet provider hardware on how they maintain those hardware.
But we can assure on those legit BTC wallets that they have strong foundation of software and hardware before they go on BTC business.
But we can assure on those legit BTC wallets that they have strong foundation of software and hardware before they go on BTC business.
This is the paradigm of long term information storage. The solution isn't in a permanent material or permanent device, it's the most inefficient way to address this. To hell with substance permanancy. This is money, keep an eye on it. Beause the information is the key, I think it's better to hide something like this in plain sight. Religions figured this out centuries ago; you want to hide something really important, encode into a public document and give the key to the people you want to understand
I just gave a way a secret, if you caught it Make a framed picture of your key, hidden in a poem. Make a charm bracelet out of your key. You can even print it out. The winning strategy is to make redundant copies. It's the halfway point between concelaing information for its sensitivity, vs exposing information, even if encoded, for its longevity.
For me I think Physical BTC Wallets will last very long and it depends on the BTC wallet provider hardware on how they maintain those hardware.
But we can assure on those legit BTC wallets that they have strong foundation of software and hardware before they go on BTC business.
But we can assure on those legit BTC wallets that they have strong foundation of software and hardware before they go on BTC business.
If you're thinking looooooooooooong term then the cryptosteel is a pretty good bet.
i've seen these things. is there any way of disguising your seed or does it have to be written down raw? it might be indestructible but that doesn't matter if someone digs it up and reads it.
If you're talking about "physical' then you shouldn't mention usb stick.
But this kind of wallet:
http://cryptosteel.com/
or
https://bitkee.com/
will probably outlive you
.
But this kind of wallet:
http://cryptosteel.com/
or
https://bitkee.com/
will probably outlive you
.If you're thinking looooooooooooong term then the cryptosteel is a pretty good bet.
I own a Trezor hardware wallet myself, and even though it feels quite durable, there is no way to find out how long it will last up front. If you set up your device, you are being shown a recovery seed that contains 24 words. It's extremely important that you correctly write them on a piece of paper. It will allow you to import it into a new device in case your old device is broken or stolen. From there you should worry more about the recovery seed than the piece of hardware itself. Hardware is replaceable in case you lose it, the recovery seed is not.
It is like another wallets. It will be with you till last until you recover your bitcoin from them and still you will be able to use it again and again. So it never expire. But in that case you have to take care that you are using the wallet from a better company.
a friend of mine has an archive of ancient usb drives that he hands over when he wants films transferred. some of them are less than 200mb so they must be well over ten years old. they all work perfectly even though they're useless.
If you're talking about "physical' then you shouldn't mention usb stick.
But this kind of wallet:
http://cryptosteel.com/
or
https://bitkee.com/
will probably outlive you.
But how would you be sure they don't save your private key/seed before sending you this kind of product?But this kind of wallet:
http://cryptosteel.com/
or
https://bitkee.com/
will probably outlive you
.I think you should never use a wallet which key wasn't generated by you alone. It's the same as using a online vanity address generator.
You can never be sure about the safety of you coins.
IMO that's why a hardware wallet like Trezor and Ledger are still the best options to store BTC in a long-term, since you have exclusive access to your keys.
Edit: I see that with CryptoSteel you are the one inserting all the wallet info with your own hands. So this is another valid option to keep your Bitcoins safe.
A good hardware wallet should last a long time assuming it doesn’t get abused in any way, so if you’re considering purchasing one then it’s lifetime shouldn’t be a concern.
Also, as it’s been pointed out several times, you’ll get a seed; so in the case that it did break or get lost you won’t actually lose you BTC, you’ll just need to replace the wallet.
Also, as it’s been pointed out several times, you’ll get a seed; so in the case that it did break or get lost you won’t actually lose you BTC, you’ll just need to replace the wallet.
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