Topic: How would you store >100 Bitcoins? - page 29. (Read 42323 times)
On a hard drive not connected to any computer
If you think about it, you can buy a cheap but good brand new computer for 1% of your holdings, if you have 100 BTC, then 1 BTC is what you spend. (It does not necessarily scale, so that 1 BTC hardware can be all you need for up to 1000 BTC.)
Cold storage, get yourself new computer or a raspberry pie and get it all on there and don't use it for anything else except that, that is the only way to be at least a little bit sure.
I keep a significant portion of my bitcoins on an encrypted ironkey usb drive stored in a security deposit box and stored in a zip lock bag (in case of vault flooding, which was an issue in Manhattan after hurricane Sandy, although the ironkeys are very well contructed and would probably work after a year or more underwater). The ironkey uses hardware-based encryption and automatically erases and disables the drive after 10 wrong password attempts, so brute force isn't an option. The file on the drive is itself is encrypted with a password in combination with a keyfile that I don't keep anywhere near the bank. I have an encrypted copy stored within a personal ironkey, also using keyfiles that I do not keep locally or anywhere that the drive itself routinely travels to or gets used.
Just remember, you're much more likely to lose coins than have them stolen (i.e., forgotten password, hard drive failure, house fire, ruined paper wallet). For that reason I always make sure I have 2 working copies which are physically separated. I also have redundancies for the keyfiles, which are necessary to recover the wallets, but its easy to keep copies of those in various places since they by themselves are not valuable to anyone. The keyfiles are not labeled as such, obviously (you can use any kind of file).
I wouldn't keep a full list of keys, you should just extract a private key from a zeroed address so that no one who finds those encrypted keys will be able to access your Bitcoin (He if the odds of this happening are very slim) Instead they will only be able to access the blank address. You can still find the password from that encrypted key as long as you know enough of it or have a good idea what it could be. So it would be accessible by you if you ever forget your password but, know what it could be. Whoever, else will just have access to the blank address and nothing else.Just remember, you're much more likely to lose coins than have them stolen (i.e., forgotten password, hard drive failure, house fire, ruined paper wallet). For that reason I always make sure I have 2 working copies which are physically separated. I also have redundancies for the keyfiles, which are necessary to recover the wallets, but its easy to keep copies of those in various places since they by themselves are not valuable to anyone. The keyfiles are not labeled as such, obviously (you can use any kind of file).
For anyone considering this option of using a encrypted storage device:
What you could of done before you stored it in the encrypted storage drive and set the password to the encrypted storage device is made the password the same as your Bitcoin wallet encrypted password. Extracted a private key which belongs to a zeroed address then it would be possible to find that password without affecting the storage device. Of course, that means the wallet and storage device would need the same password which could be a security flaw, however not everyone would know how to apply the script to the private key &/or know that encrypted key would be the password to the storage device.
Of course, this requires that you know most of the password, so if anyone did find the private key they would need to know most of the password anyway to even try to bruteforce it. Don't get me wrong, there are far more secure ways to store your Bitcoin but, if you insist on using a encrypted usb then this is probably the best way to go about it.
I keep a significant portion of my bitcoins on an encrypted ironkey usb drive stored in a security deposit box and stored in a zip lock bag (in case of vault flooding, which was an issue in Manhattan after hurricane Sandy, although the ironkeys are very well contructed and would probably work after a year or more underwater). The ironkey uses hardware-based encryption and automatically erases and disables the drive after 10 wrong password attempts, so brute force isn't an option. The file on the drive is itself is encrypted with a password in combination with a keyfile that I don't keep anywhere near the bank. I have an encrypted copy stored within a personal ironkey, also using keyfiles that I do not keep locally or anywhere that the drive itself routinely travels to or gets used.
Just remember, you're much more likely to lose coins than have them stolen (i.e., forgotten password, hard drive failure, house fire, ruined paper wallet). For that reason I always make sure I have 2 working copies which are physically separated. I also have redundancies for the keyfiles, which are necessary to recover the wallets, but its easy to keep copies of those in various places since they by themselves are not valuable to anyone. The keyfiles are not labeled as such, obviously (you can use any kind of file).
Just remember, you're much more likely to lose coins than have them stolen (i.e., forgotten password, hard drive failure, house fire, ruined paper wallet). For that reason I always make sure I have 2 working copies which are physically separated. I also have redundancies for the keyfiles, which are necessary to recover the wallets, but its easy to keep copies of those in various places since they by themselves are not valuable to anyone. The keyfiles are not labeled as such, obviously (you can use any kind of file).
I agree with your argument about losing coins, however the method you describe is so complex it seems to illustrate pretty well how to lose coins !
1) Linux
2) Electrum Bitcoin wallet
3) strong password for spending them
4) regular wallet backup on 2 remote locations.
That's really enough.
2) Electrum Bitcoin wallet
3) strong password for spending them
4) regular wallet backup on 2 remote locations.
That's really enough.
use 1 wallet per btc and store them in a paper wallet/usb, or you can just store them in a computer that isn't made for anything else, this mean that you don't downloand anything there and connection are not shared with any other machines and you don't even browse the internet with it, a perfectly isolated pc environment, no hacker can get there
I'd be totally paranoid that my buddies would try and steal my flash drives then. When I sit around and drink with them I tend to brag about Bitcoin and as soon as they knew I had several drives with a lot of BTC on then, I guess they'd steal them...
use 1 wallet per btc and store them in a paper wallet/usb, or you can just store them in a computer that isn't made for anything else, this mean that you don't downloand anything there and connection are not shared with any other machines and you don't even browse the internet with it, a perfectly isolated pc environment, no hacker can get there
I'd be totally paranoid that my buddies would try and steal my flash drives then. When I sit around and drink with them I tend to brag about Bitcoin and as soon as they knew I had several drives with a lot of BTC on then, I guess they'd steal them...
You need new friends.
Lol, or he need to store or backup his coins better. I suggest hiding them somewhere safe.
use 1 wallet per btc and store them in a paper wallet/usb, or you can just store them in a computer that isn't made for anything else, this mean that you don't downloand anything there and connection are not shared with any other machines and you don't even browse the internet with it, a perfectly isolated pc environment, no hacker can get there
I'd be totally paranoid that my buddies would try and steal my flash drives then. When I sit around and drink with them I tend to brag about Bitcoin and as soon as they knew I had several drives with a lot of BTC on then, I guess they'd steal them...
You need new friends.
use 1 wallet per btc and store them in a paper wallet/usb, or you can just store them in a computer that isn't made for anything else, this mean that you don't downloand anything there and connection are not shared with any other machines and you don't even browse the internet with it, a perfectly isolated pc environment, no hacker can get there
I'd be totally paranoid that my buddies would try and steal my flash drives then. When I sit around and drink with them I tend to brag about Bitcoin and as soon as they knew I had several drives with a lot of BTC on then, I guess they'd steal them...
If I had 100 bitcoins I would split them up into batches of 10 and keep them in a different wallet.dat each on a usb and also write the private keys down and encrypt them or print them off.
Buy 50 USB pendrives and store on them 1 btc each from a computer booted from a live cd disconnected from the internet.
Do the same but with 50 paperwallets and finally store all your btc in alot of different places.
Do the same but with 50 paperwallets and finally store all your btc in alot of different places.
Agree on multiple wallets, sounds safer. 
use 1 wallet per btc and store them in a paper wallet/usb, or you can just store them in a computer that isn't made for anything else, this mean that you don't downloand anything there and connection are not shared with any other machines and you don't even browse the internet with it, a perfectly isolated pc environment, no hacker can get there
hero member
Activity: 560
Merit: 506
I prefer Zakir over Muhammed when mentioning me!
Not that I have that many (I wish!), but how would you store >100 Bitcoins? The easy answer is just to say "create 1 offline/cold wallet and put them all in". But what about risk management? IE how do you store a very large value of coins while managing risk against hackers, forgetting passwords, the obvious need for at least 1 hot wallet, portability, easy of use, house fires, EMP bomb's (lol), or if a foreigner had to flee a country while taking no assets etc etc.
I'm looking for real responses and ideas. Please keep the trolling to a minimum
I'm looking for real responses and ideas. Please keep the trolling to a minimum
I guess I'd put them in different locations. Make an encrypted paper wallet with (m of n) keys needed in order to decrypt it. And store those keys in different locations!!! Wow, that's a lot of money, even thinking about that makes my head spin around!
Encrypt qr codes for more security.
Kindly,
MZ
Not that I have that many (I wish!), but how would you store >100 Bitcoins? The easy answer is just to say "create 1 offline/cold wallet and put them all in". But what about risk management? IE how do you store a very large value of coins while managing risk against hackers, forgetting passwords, the obvious need for at least 1 hot wallet, portability, easy of use, house fires, EMP bomb's (lol), or if a foreigner had to flee a country while taking no assets etc etc.
I'm looking for real responses and ideas. Please keep the trolling to a minimum
I'm looking for real responses and ideas. Please keep the trolling to a minimum
I guess I'd put them in different locations. Make an encrypted paper wallet with (m of n) keys needed in order to decrypt it. And store those keys in different locations!!! Wow, that's a lot of money, even thinking about that makes my head spin around!
I'm lazy too:
https://blockchain.info/address/1Dabso5tsVpM9oZKxu8h4WYUUxjkwxC25Q
One wallet works you know. It's protected by a .45 ACP 1911-A1, buried behind a platoon of completely loyal pitbulls, rottweilers and german shepherds. They can only be bribed with meat.
https://blockchain.info/address/1Dabso5tsVpM9oZKxu8h4WYUUxjkwxC25Q
One wallet works you know. It's protected by a .45 ACP 1911-A1, buried behind a platoon of completely loyal pitbulls, rottweilers and german shepherds. They can only be bribed with meat.
What I do is keep most of by bitcoin in cold storage and some in my hot wallet, when I run out of coins in the hot wallet I simply top it up with about 4-5 btc from cold storage 
From what I can see the best way to store digital data is to keep them in not digital state. You can't hack paper wallets but it becomes the same thing as keeping around 1 million bucks, but I am sure people know good hiding spots.
Well the problem is digital stuff breaking then screwed
Or a fire for a paper wallet my painting!!!
So it's tricky to make sure you do not absolutely bone yourself while keeping stuff completely safe
Maybe bury one copy in the yard or something with a paper wallet copy beside it
Just make sure the spot is easy to find or a lot of holes will be dug in the future he-he but it would be neat if someone put 100 BTC in a timecapsule or something and 100 years from now someone opened it and found it there.
Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of having an offline PC/laptop for cold storage. Or even USB's inside of a safe etc. But I don't see this mitigating against disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes and so on. Backups would have to be stored in multiple locations (in case of natural disasters it couldn't be a safety deposit box in the surrounding cities because they would be destroyed too). And having cold storage in large objects makes them very non-portable.
I do like the idea of the Trezor, question is if people will find security flaws or exploits in the upcoming few months (and will they public publish them?).
I don't like pure paper wallets, just due to paper being so vulnerable to disasters, water, condensation, fading of ink, decay, fire etc. But I do think they could be used as short term cold storage.
I do like the idea of the Trezor, question is if people will find security flaws or exploits in the upcoming few months (and will they public publish them?).
I don't like pure paper wallets, just due to paper being so vulnerable to disasters, water, condensation, fading of ink, decay, fire etc. But I do think they could be used as short term cold storage.
Jump to: