Making paper wallets. | Bitcointalksearch.org

dzungmobile

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Quote from: LoyceV on Today at 01:50:50 AM

If you're using Electrum as a cold wallet, I'd suggest to also write down the addresses you're going to use. Relying on copy/paste is a risk, and relying on an address in a watch-only wallet assumes nobody changed that address. It's best to check your own hardcopy before depositing.

I can have a risky practical step but before depositing my bitcoin to another wallet, I have to confirm that the receiving address is correct. If it is my address in non custodial wallet, I have to open that wallet, to confirm the address is correct. If it is an exchange account, I have to log in it first, to check accuracy, and to make sure that my account on that exchange is still usable and was not frozen.

If it is an address of another person, not mine, I have to confirm it with him, before funding it.

LoyceV

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Quote from: BitMaxz on February 09, 2025, 06:18:47 PM

It generates a seed phrase backup that you need to write down on the piece of paper as your paper wallet and then copy the address under that wallet and import it to online wallets as a watch-only wallet if you want to monitor them or deposit a BTC.

If you're using Electrum as a cold wallet, I'd suggest to also write down the addresses you're going to use. Relying on copy/paste is a risk, and relying on an address in a watch-only wallet assumes nobody changed that address. It's best to check your own hardcopy before depositing.

Leahhhh

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Quote from: hosseinimr93 on February 09, 2025, 06:51:01 PM

Quote from: Leahhhh on February 09, 2025, 06:44:25 PM

Maybe a daft question but if Electrum ever ceased to exist, would it not be better to have the actual private keys written down not just the seed phrase? (forgive my ignorance).

There's nothing to worry about. Electrum is an open-source software and there's nothing hidden from users. Even if electrum website isn't available for any reason, people will be still able to run the software from the source code and derive the private keys.
It may worth mentioning that the seed phrase generated by electrum is supported by bluewallet too and you can also import your electrum wallet file in Sparrow.

Thank you.

hosseinimr93

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Quote from: Leahhhh on February 09, 2025, 06:44:25 PM

Maybe a daft question but if Electrum ever ceased to exist, would it not be better to have the actual private keys written down not just the seed phrase? (forgive my ignorance).

There's nothing to worry about. Electrum is an open-source software and there's nothing hidden from users. Even if electrum website isn't available for any reason, people will be still able to run the software from the source code and derive the private keys.
It may worth mentioning that the seed phrase generated by electrum is supported by bluewallet too and you can also import your electrum wallet file in Sparrow.

BitMaxz

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Happy New year 🤗

Quote from: Leahhhh on February 09, 2025, 06:31:55 PM

Thanks for your reply. I can't see the private keys anywhere, just the 12 word phrase. Is that normal? Or should I see them and be able to write them down? (It is a cold storage wallet that I want to make -I don't want it as a watch-only wallet).

You can get the private keys by going to the addresses tab and choose any of the addresses you want, then right-click and choose private key, and then enter the password. The result should be your private key, which you can copy or write down in your paper.

Isn't that way easier if you write the word phrases than the WIF private key? Because seed phrase is the best backup of all private keys generated from that wallet.

Leahhhh

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Quote from: hosseinimr93 on February 09, 2025, 06:41:33 PM

Quote from: Leahhhh on February 09, 2025, 06:31:55 PM

I can't see the private keys anywhere, just the 12 word phrase. Is that normal? Or should I see them and be able to write them down? (It is a cold storage wallet that I want to make -I don't want it as a watch-only wallet).

As I said in my previous post, you can right click on any of your addresses in "Addresses" tab and then select "Private key" to get any of your private keys, but you don't have to save them.
Your seed phrase is all you need to recover your wallet.

Maybe a daft question but if Electrum ever ceased to exist, would it not be better to have the actual private keys written down not just the seed phrase? (forgive my ignorance).

hosseinimr93

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Quote from: Leahhhh on February 09, 2025, 06:31:55 PM

I can't see the private keys anywhere, just the 12 word phrase. Is that normal? Or should I see them and be able to write them down? (It is a cold storage wallet that I want to make -I don't want it as a watch-only wallet).

As I said in my previous post, you can right click on any of your addresses in "Addresses" tab and then select "Private key" to get any of your private keys, but you don't have to save them.
Your seed phrase is all you need to recover your wallet.

Leahhhh

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Activity: 139

Merit: 14

Quote from: BitMaxz on February 09, 2025, 06:18:47 PM

Yes, you can run Electrum in offline mode, which is recommended when creating a wallet.

It generates a seed phrase backup that you need to write down on the piece of paper as your paper wallet and then copy the address under that wallet and import it to online wallets as a watch-only wallet if you want to monitor them or deposit a BTC.

It is way safer than generating a wallet from Bitaddress; you can also make a cold storage wallet with Electrum if you want to.

Thanks for your reply. I can't see the private keys anywhere, just the 12 word phrase. Is that normal? Or should I see them and be able to write them down? (It is a cold storage wallet that I want to make -I don't want it as a watch-only wallet). I just see public keys, not private keys?

hosseinimr93

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You don't have to write down the private key(s). Write down the seed phrase. That's all you need to recover you fund.
With using your seed phrase, you can generate a very big number of private keys and addresses.

Also note that there's a big possiblity that you make a mistake when writing down your private keys, but a seed phrase contains meaningful words and you can write it down easily without any mistake.
You can use your seed phrase to recover your fund and your master public key to generate your addresses without any need to the seed phrase.

If you insist on saving individual private keys for any reason, go to "Addresses" tab, right click on any of addresses you want and select "Private key".

Quote from: Leahhhh on February 09, 2025, 05:54:13 PM

If this can be done, can it be done offline, like I did with bitaddress.org. TIA.

Yes, you don't need internet connection when generating a wallet in electrum and I recommend you to generate your wallet on an air-gapped device. Take note that you don't really make your wallet more secure with just disconnecting your computer from the internet when generating the wallet.

BitMaxz

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Happy New year 🤗

Yes, you can run Electrum in offline mode, which is recommended when creating a wallet.

It generates a seed phrase backup that you need to write down on the piece of paper as your paper wallet and then copy the address under that wallet and import it to online wallets as a watch-only wallet if you want to monitor them or deposit a BTC.

It is way safer than generating a wallet from Bitaddress; you can also make a cold storage wallet with Electrum if you want to.

Leahhhh

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Activity: 139

Merit: 14

I have always used bitaddress.org to create paper wallets, but I have been reading that it is not always reliable. I have also Electrum downloaded on my computer following advice from this forum. Can I create paper wallets there? I only see the public address when I try it, not the private keys which I would want to write down on paper. If this can be done, can it be done offline, like I did with bitaddress.org. TIA.

Topic: Making paper wallets. (Read 58 times)