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Topic: How to create a secure Bitcoin Vanity Paper Wallet on Ubuntu live USB & Windows (Read 4318 times)

legendary
Activity: 1382
Merit: 1122
Well I needed to revisit my own thread because I needed to make some more of these so thought  I might as well bump the thread while I'm here!!
legendary
Activity: 3290
Merit: 16489
Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021
I store 99% of my bitcoins on paper wallets because I'm paranoid ever since I lost 0.05BTC from Blockchain.info when I just started out with bitcoins.
Aren't you paranoid someone will take your paper wallets?

I was looking for a method to import a vanity address into a paper wallet printed by bitaddress.org (but I didn't find what I was looking for).
I found what I wanted (with some effort):
1. Use Chrome browser to go to https://www.bitaddress.org/ (of course it's recommended to do this offline from a LIVE CD)
2. Click Paper Wallet
3. Right-click on the private key, select Inspect
4. Replace it with the private key for your vanity address
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the bitcoin address
6. Print to PDF
7. Click Wallet details (still on bitaddress.org) and enter the private key for your vanity address
8. Edit the PDF, I used The GIMP, which is probably available on your LIVE CD. Open it in 600 dpi resolution.
9. Copy the QR-codes Bitcoin Address and Private Key WIF and paste them into the PDF
10. Print the PDF, cut it out, fold it, tape it, and don't lose it.
You now have the bitaddress.org paper wallet with your own private key, bitcoin address, and QR-codes.

Final result:

(needless to say: do not use this one!)
legendary
Activity: 1382
Merit: 1122
I this something that can be don offline though? I was trying to do this as securely as possible.
You can do it offline, from a LIVE Linux CD that hopefully recognizes your dump printer that connects with a cable and doesn't save the pages in its memory.

Very nice. Thanks for the addition! I wasn't able to find anything about it when I Googled back in the day so that's why I set out to figure it out. I store 99% of my bitcoins on paper wallets because I'm paranoid ever since I lost 0.05BTC from Blockchain.info when I just started out with bitcoins.
legendary
Activity: 3290
Merit: 16489
Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021
I this something that can be don offline though? I was trying to do this as securely as possible.
You can do it offline, from a LIVE Linux CD that hopefully recognizes your dump printer that connects with a cable and doesn't save the pages in its memory.
legendary
Activity: 1382
Merit: 1122
Google brought me to this old topic. I was looking for a method to import a vanity address into a paper wallet printed by bitaddress.org (but I didn't find what I was looking for).


Thanks for the post! That's true it does look better. I wasn't to concerned about someone finding this hidden in my house (for 2 reasons, I don't have anyone over that I don't trust and I know most people wouldn't know what they were looking at anyways) but for people who are,this would be a great option. I this something that can be don offline though? I was trying to do this as securely as possible.
legendary
Activity: 3290
Merit: 16489
Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021
Google brought me to this old topic. I was looking for a method to import a vanity address into a paper wallet printed by bitaddress.org (but I didn't find what I was looking for).
I'd like to combine two posts into one new post:

1. Go on bitaddress.org offline, on a Ubuntu live USB
11. Print out the wallet details page (to have the QR codes)
This gives you a simple (but ugly) printed page.

This is too complicated for the normal ppl. Why not buy one from here https://bitcoinpaperwallet.com/ ?
I wouldn't say "buy", as the site doesn't sell paper wallets (they do sell related items though). Bitcoinpaperwallet.com is the easiest site I've found to print a vanity address into a paper wallet that looks nice.
Bitaddress.org can print good looking (small) paper wallets, but it doesn't give the option to import a private key. Bitcoinpaperwallet.com makes this possible. The paper wallets are quite large though.

Bitaddress.org produces this (no vanity, fold into 3 layers, then use tape or laminate it):


Bitcoinpaperwallet.com produces this (vanity possible, fold the right side into 3 layers):


Not only does it look better than just printing the overview-page from bitaddress, it's also not possible to copy the private key for anybody who sees the paper without leaving evidence.
legendary
Activity: 1382
Merit: 1122
I successfully made my first few bitcoin paper wallets! Updated OP to show my method.

I'll edit the title so people can search it easily.

1Chris4GEoLLjdh4juFXGwY7snaazuxvKb

The snaaz is because I'm snazzy (I can only assume Wink)
copper member
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1528
No I dont escrow anymore.
Did you run vanitygen with the pubkey option -P or without (just 1Chris)?

If you ran it without -P you can just import the private key into your wallet.

If you ran it with -P you need to conver the private key from vanitygen its hex version. You can do this via bitaddress with the "Wallet Details" options. Once you have both private keys in hex format you go to "Vanity Wallet" and put them in the fields for Step 2. Select add and click Calculate. The private key you get can be imported in your wallet.

Oh I ran it without -P... I didn't know that's how you did it. Rather than importing the key I made on Windows (not too secure) I'll look into the other method. Thank you very much!

If you do it yourself its perfectly fine to run it without -P the option is just to allow someone else to do the work for you without them knowing the final private key. If you do the work on your own machine its fine to run it just with the prefix you want.

If you dont trust the machine you can do split key vanity over two machines you own, but its probably better to make sure you can trust your own computer as much as possible.


Off topic: The oil came in today and my wife loves it. Also got a freebie from them that smells like orange. She seems to like that one too! Woohoo! "It smells like vitamin C tablets!" lol.

lol, as long as she enjoys it I guess
legendary
Activity: 1382
Merit: 1122
Did you run vanitygen with the pubkey option -P or without (just 1Chris)?

If you ran it without -P you can just import the private key into your wallet.

If you ran it with -P you need to conver the private key from vanitygen its hex version. You can do this via bitaddress with the "Wallet Details" options. Once you have both private keys in hex format you go to "Vanity Wallet" and put them in the fields for Step 2. Select add and click Calculate. The private key you get can be imported in your wallet.

Oh I ran it without -P... I didn't know that's how you did it. Rather than importing the key I made on Windows (not too secure) I'll look into the other method. Thank you very much!

Off topic: The oil came in today and my wife loves it. Also got a freebie from them that smells like orange. She seems to like that one too! Woohoo! "It smells like vitamin C tablets!" lol.
copper member
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1528
No I dont escrow anymore.
Did you run vanitygen with the pubkey option -P or without (just 1Chris)?

If you ran it without -P you can just import the private key into your wallet.

If you ran it with -P you need to conver the private key from vanitygen its hex version. You can do this via bitaddress with the "Wallet Details" options. Once you have both private keys in hex format you go to "Vanity Wallet" and put them in the fields for Step 2. Select add and click Calculate. The private key you get can be imported in your wallet.
legendary
Activity: 1382
Merit: 1122
-snip-
Why not just store all my Bitcoins on blockchain.info? I don't want anyone else to have access to my private keys.

I'll have to poke around with this later and see what we can do...

Vanity addresses can be created without anyone else knowing your private key while at the same time allowing someone else to do the majority of the work. Its called split key vanity gen. Let me know what prefix you want for the address and I can make you an offer.

*mind blown*

How does that work exactly? The prefix I'd want is Chris.

Edit: Wow. I've been going about this all wrong. I could simply make a vanity address on vanitygen on Windows then crack open bitaddress on Ubuntu Live USB. Right?! Oh Shorena... What would I do without you?

Edit2: OK so I made my vanity address... But I'm a little confused as to what to do with it on bitaddress.org. Do I punch in The vanity address at all? Or the private key for the vanity address + the private key calculated on bitaddress.org? Neither seem to give me a new vanity address.

P.s. The random smelly German oil is on it's way!  Tongue

I hope it smells good.

1Chris is relativly easy. I have a quick how to in my thread -> https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcoin-vanity-addresses-1257817

If you want, I can do the repfix for a donation.

Oh I've already calculated my address with 1Chris. I'm just trying to figure out how I go ahead and "blend" the two together on bitaddress (or however you word that).
copper member
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1528
No I dont escrow anymore.
-snip-
Why not just store all my Bitcoins on blockchain.info? I don't want anyone else to have access to my private keys.

I'll have to poke around with this later and see what we can do...

Vanity addresses can be created without anyone else knowing your private key while at the same time allowing someone else to do the majority of the work. Its called split key vanity gen. Let me know what prefix you want for the address and I can make you an offer.

*mind blown*

How does that work exactly? The prefix I'd want is Chris.

Edit: Wow. I've been going about this all wrong. I could simply make a vanity address on vanitygen on Windows then crack open bitaddress on Ubuntu Live USB. Right?! Oh Shorena... What would I do without you?

Edit2: OK so I made my vanity address... But I'm a little confused as to what to do with it on bitaddress.org. Do I punch in The vanity address at all? Or the private key for the vanity address + the private key calculated on bitaddress.org? Neither seem to give me a new vanity address.

P.s. The random smelly German oil is on it's way!  Tongue

I hope it smells good.

1Chris is relativly easy. I have a quick how to in my thread -> https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcoin-vanity-addresses-1257817

If you want, I can do the repfix for a donation.
legendary
Activity: 1382
Merit: 1122
-snip-
Why not just store all my Bitcoins on blockchain.info? I don't want anyone else to have access to my private keys.

I'll have to poke around with this later and see what we can do...

Vanity addresses can be created without anyone else knowing your private key while at the same time allowing someone else to do the majority of the work. Its called split key vanity gen. Let me know what prefix you want for the address and I can make you an offer.

*mind blown*

How does that work exactly? The prefix I'd want is Chris.

Edit: Wow. I've been going about this all wrong. I could simply make a vanity address on vanitygen on Windows then crack open bitaddress on Ubuntu Live USB. Right?! Oh Shorena... What would I do without you?

Edit2: OK so I made my vanity address... But I'm a little confused as to what to do with it on bitaddress.org. Do I punch in The vanity address at all? Or the private key for the vanity address + the private key calculated on bitaddress.org? Neither seem to give me a new vanity address.

P.s. The random smelly German oil is on it's way!  Tongue
copper member
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1528
No I dont escrow anymore.
-snip-
Why not just store all my Bitcoins on blockchain.info? I don't want anyone else to have access to my private keys.

I'll have to poke around with this later and see what we can do...

Vanity addresses can be created without anyone else knowing your private key while at the same time allowing someone else to do the majority of the work. Its called split key vanity gen. Let me know what prefix you want for the address and I can make you an offer.
legendary
Activity: 1382
Merit: 1122
IIRC there are no precompiled linux versions of vanitygen, so you would need to compile it yourself every single time in order to use it on the live usb.

Type these into terminal to build
Code:
sudo apt-get install build-essential git libssl-dev libpcre3-dev
git clone https://github.com/samr7/vanitygen.git
cd vanitygen
make

In the terminal, in the vanitygen's directory, run it as you normally would from the command line.

AFAIK this will not compile the gpu accelerated versions, so you will need to get the drivers and libraries for that, but it is also card specific, so it depends on your computer.

I got this: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

E: unable to locate package clone
E: Unable to locate package https

And a few others it couldn't locate

Edit: Also please note I'm not connected to the internet. I don't know if this will make a difference. I just thought I'd mention this because I see the github link (which is where I got vanitygen from in the first place).
You need to be connected to the internet to set this up. I suppose you can download the stuff from github and the offline packages you need for installing, but that will be harder to do.
This is too complicated for the normal ppl. Why not buy one from here https://bitcoinpaperwallet.com/ ?

Why not just store all my Bitcoins on blockchain.info? I don't want anyone else to have access to my private keys.

I'll have to poke around with this later and see what we can do...
legendary
Activity: 1596
Merit: 1000
IIRC there are no precompiled linux versions of vanitygen, so you would need to compile it yourself every single time in order to use it on the live usb.

Type these into terminal to build
Code:
sudo apt-get install build-essential git libssl-dev libpcre3-dev
git clone https://github.com/samr7/vanitygen.git
cd vanitygen
make

In the terminal, in the vanitygen's directory, run it as you normally would from the command line.

AFAIK this will not compile the gpu accelerated versions, so you will need to get the drivers and libraries for that, but it is also card specific, so it depends on your computer.

I got this: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

E: unable to locate package clone
E: Unable to locate package https

And a few others it couldn't locate

Edit: Also please note I'm not connected to the internet. I don't know if this will make a difference. I just thought I'd mention this because I see the github link (which is where I got vanitygen from in the first place).
You need to be connected to the internet to set this up. I suppose you can download the stuff from github and the offline packages you need for installing, but that will be harder to do.
This is too complicated for the normal ppl. Why not buy one from here https://bitcoinpaperwallet.com/ ?
staff
Activity: 3458
Merit: 6793
Just writing some code
IIRC there are no precompiled linux versions of vanitygen, so you would need to compile it yourself every single time in order to use it on the live usb.

Type these into terminal to build
Code:
sudo apt-get install build-essential git libssl-dev libpcre3-dev
git clone https://github.com/samr7/vanitygen.git
cd vanitygen
make

In the terminal, in the vanitygen's directory, run it as you normally would from the command line.

AFAIK this will not compile the gpu accelerated versions, so you will need to get the drivers and libraries for that, but it is also card specific, so it depends on your computer.

I got this: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

E: unable to locate package clone
E: Unable to locate package https

And a few others it couldn't locate

Edit: Also please note I'm not connected to the internet. I don't know if this will make a difference. I just thought I'd mention this because I see the github link (which is where I got vanitygen from in the first place).
You need to be connected to the internet to set this up. I suppose you can download the stuff from github and the offline packages you need for installing, but that will be harder to do.
legendary
Activity: 1382
Merit: 1122
IIRC there are no precompiled linux versions of vanitygen, so you would need to compile it yourself every single time in order to use it on the live usb.

Type these into terminal to build
Code:
sudo apt-get install build-essential git libssl-dev libpcre3-dev
git clone https://github.com/samr7/vanitygen.git
cd vanitygen
make

In the terminal, in the vanitygen's directory, run it as you normally would from the command line.

AFAIK this will not compile the gpu accelerated versions, so you will need to get the drivers and libraries for that, but it is also card specific, so it depends on your computer.

I got this: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

E: unable to locate package clone
E: Unable to locate package https

And a few others it couldn't locate

Edit: Also please note I'm not connected to the internet. I don't know if this will make a difference. I just thought I'd mention this because I see the github link (which is where I got vanitygen from in the first place).
staff
Activity: 3458
Merit: 6793
Just writing some code
IIRC there are no precompiled linux versions of vanitygen, so you would need to compile it yourself every single time in order to use it on the live usb.

Type these into terminal to build
Code:
sudo apt-get install build-essential git libssl-dev libpcre3-dev
git clone https://github.com/samr7/vanitygen.git
cd vanitygen
make

In the terminal, in the vanitygen's directory, run it as you normally would from the command line.

AFAIK this will not compile the gpu accelerated versions, so you will need to get the drivers and libraries for that, but it is also card specific, so it depends on your computer.
legendary
Activity: 1382
Merit: 1122
 Sad I'm sure that's a very very helpful post but I just don't understand what I should type to be honest. Sorry. I know it's probably a really dumb question. Pretend I'm 6 years old Smiley


IIRC there are no precompiled linux versions of vanitygen, so you would need to compile it yourself every single time in order to use it on the live usb.

Reserving this spot while I type up detailed instructions.

Thanks! Yes I understand I would have to compile it myself each time. Smiley I'll always have this thread to come back to haha!
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