Topic: What do you think of Desktop Wallets and introducing myself. :) (Read 501 times)

Would using Oracle Virtual Box VM work for using a Electrum Wallet on Linux based O.S. Oracle VM VirtualBox as I am not exactly sure how this works. Here is a Link to explaining how it works a bit and what it is.


  https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch01.html

I always prefer using hardware wallet specially Trezor.

Few desktop wallets are:

• Jaxx
• Exodus

You can read more about top wallets here. I feel that the hardware wallets are more safer than compared to the desktop or mobile wallets.

Now that mostly members have explained how wallet recovery works in desktop wallets you should also keep in mind that this is also the way you will lose them through online theft. Your seeds/passphrases and private keys should be kept offline and for your eyes only as if anyone will have access to hit the more likely your BTC will be stolen. Not only that, theres a lot of scam websites and phishing sites that will ask for these kinds of information and no matter what you do don't you ever give them your private keys as its good as giving them your own Bitcoin, and you can kiss your money good bye.

Technically "cold" strictly means unpowered thing, such as a piece of paper or a disconnected hard drive or a usb thumb drive.

If you have a fortune you are moving from your bank into a Bitcoin wallet, you should indeed make such a cold wallet. A good method involves generating a wallet with Electrum, it will ask you to write down 12 words, those words are your actual wallet (technically your private key is derived from), but you also need to copy/print your public addresses otherwise you won't know where to send the funds.

Once you have made a wallet in this way, that is, written the 12 words by hand somewhere, and copied/printed your public addresses, you are already finished, delete that from your computer (format etc, or even better would be to create it entirely with a live linux iso as windows is seriously insecure).

I don't know if you are catching it, but your wallet doesn't store any money, just the keys to be able to move it. It truly is stored on "the cloud" which is the famous decentralized worldwide peer to peer encrypt protected database known as "blockchain".

What, with those 12 words you can recreate your wallet again anywhere and be able to move your funds, but you are normally not doing that, since its to store a large sum all you need to do is keep sending bitcoin to the public addresses you copied/printed before, and you can even verify those transactions online using a blockchain explorer, without opening the wallet which is the risky part.


If i were to make a guide, i would:

Instruct you to download a linux iso image, put it into an usb and make you boot your computer with that.
Then tell you to install Electrum, and proceed creating a new wallet. At this point comes the most critical step: writting with your hands in a piece of paper the 12 words, those are what you must protect the most, in fact you should make another physical copy (again with your hands, no cameras, no copy/paste, no printing) and make sure you store those papers in secure separate physical places.

Of course at that point you need your public addresses, so you can take the chance to copy/print/photo, whatever, those addresses are where you (and others) will send you Bitcoins.

And now comes the best part, you turn off the computer. Boom, everything is gone. That's the beauty of a a linux live iso, no installing, no saving.


At some point you will want to move your funds out or send them to another wallet, perhaps in the future when Bitcoin has gained more value against fiat currency. At that moment, you repeat the same process:

Boot a linux iso, install Electrum, but instead of creating you will restore a wallet with the 12 words (see why they are so important yet?). Then move your funds, and turn off the pc. Transaction done.

All this time you "wallet" has been in those pieces of paper with words written by your own hands. Those inconspicuously looking papers with words are the true jewels of the crown.

If you purchased a hardware wallet then you skip the using a pc to create a wallet part and use the device directly, hoping you back up your private keys or seed words anyway because you never know when you might lose your device...


Now you could have a "hot" wallet with small amounts for "mundane" purchases, that could be your hardware wallet, and android device or even a PC, but please try to stay away from windows, if only for the "serious money handling part". Linux can be booted from a live iso without installing, or you could install it alongside if you want. Some people run it inside windows using a virtual machine but that isn't exactly safe or efficient.


Also beware of phishing, there are several wrongdoers providing "fake" wallet software attempting to lure users to download their trojans, always triple check you are getting your wallet software from the official site, and do the pertinent verification. There are threads on this forum explaining how to do that, its especially bad in windows where users are used to go to random web pages to then click download and install. Bad habits are hard to break, and those are easy prey for the thieves...

There's a lot of difference there as hardware wallets have least chance of being vulnerable to getting attacked but that cheap old computer could come with an infected virus itself which could steal away all your data (not saying that you use it with/without internet but some sellers also sell their PCs already infected (or injected) with some Trojans which could easily sweep off all the data once it's used. And you also have higher chances of losing your BTC if that old PC crashes if you don't possess proper ways of recovering your data. You need to save your private keys as well to pieces of paper (offline cold storage's best alternative).



Don't know exactly who misguided you here and why you're specifically focusing on PC only. When you already have a hardware wallet, you can directly use it to send the coins to the desired address through scanning QR code.



I've found that best answer for you -
https://www.quora.com/What’s-the-difference-between-storing-your-cryptocurrencies-on-a-hardware-wallet-such-as-the-Nano-S-Ledger-vs-a-wallet-stored-on-an-encrypted-USB-thumb-drive-with-a-strong-password




Going offline simply makes no sense that you can use that device as a cold storage, as who knows whether it's infected already with a malware?!



VPNs are actually good to save yourselves from having your surfing data shared with your ISP and in the end, your Gov. But well, it really doesn't make any difference here except just not letting them know about all your activity so keeping it on while using your wallet has nothing to do with your privacy issues because your IP can't really be traced down when you transact anything (except if someone personally knows of the activities you're performing on your PC).


 
https://youtu.be/M5T6u0iWUPc
It'll also be great if you choose to go SegWit over Legacy as it'll save you fees almost 1/4th of what you normally pay in Legacy. Although, it'll fetch you bech32 addresses (starting with bc1) but it's not that hard to use, believe me.

Whoa! A lot of information thrown my way which is not at all a bad thing but just little overwhelming for a person new to Bitcoin use entirely altogether. What I don't understand is what's the difference between buying a Ledger Nano S for a cold storage wallet which I understand it is that you buy it then get a cheap or old computer or some to store your Bitcoins on an Electrum Wallet on an offline no internet connected computer so you can simply withdraw what ever amount you want to spend.


  Then you just simply use your Ledger Nano S which you say put only a small amount of the Bitcoin you keep on your offline Computer Electrum Desktop Wallet and use it to make a purchase since like it's been stated it's still vulnerable when you connect it to make the purchase/transfer the funds.


  Now my question sorry if this is a silly new Bitcoin user repeatedly asked question but what's the difference between simply using any U.S.B Drive like my WD Passport 2TB Hard Drive has a Password I use and is required unlock it. How is the Ledger Nano S U.S.B. Storage Wallets different from simply putting an Electrum Wallet on my WD Passport Hard Drive I assume there is a very good answer to why you can't just simply do this or I assume nobody would bother buying these wallets and when I mean I don't have enough Bitcoins worth stealing what I mean by that is simply it won't be that big of a deal or loss of money for the amount that I keep stored which is only when I buy Bitcoin and spend it and have extra Bitcoin which at the moment my case right now is I did not even use the Bitcoin after I purchased it so I plan to just save it for when something I want comes along that I want to buy and or the Bitcoin value goes up possibly.


  My Cell Phone uses Android but I don't have a Data plan and I can simply disconnect my Cell Phone from my Wi-Fi Internet Connection from my House and would that make it into a cold walletish? Oh and I use NordVPN for the use of hiding my Torrent P2P activity from my internet service provider should I be closing my NordVPN when I use my Wallet as anyone who knows anything about VPNs then you would know they are shady as shady gets lol even the best of them I only use it because my brother purchased it for bypassing Netflix Location so he is letting me share his account for free.


  If anyone has a good link or youtube video to help me get started on a Electrum Wallet and to make sure I set it up right on my Windows 7 Home Premium 65-Bit (6.1 Build 7601) is what it says my Computers Operating System is.

Do you think our android is much safer?

I really don't suggest anyone to keep their android as their storage wallet unless they have only the default apps while the mobile was purchased because most of the applications were are installing takes the accessibility control so the chances of taking our sensitive information is highly possible when our mobile is not in encrypted status.

Never do this. If you are going to create a wallet for offline use, boot a linux live iso (no windows), install Electrum there, create a new wallet and it will show you the 12 seed words, DON'T COPY, DON'T TAKE PICTURES, DON'T PRINT. Those words are for your EYES, and hand, write them in a piece of paper, this paper you must protect, preferably make a copy by hand and store in separate physical places, in case your house burns down or such.

You can copy, print email your addresses so you know there to send funds to. Note you haven't saved the wallet, and if you are running a live iso, everything is gone one you turn off the pc, so do that, turn it off.

See the value of the seed words? They can regenerate your wallet, and you can practice doing just that, boot the live iso again, install electrum again and this time recover your wallet but using the 12 words you wrote by hand on a piece of paper. Now you know how it works.

You can start sending bitcoins to this "offline/cold" wallet, and you can use an online blockchain explorer to make sure the funds are there.


If you INSIST in doing a digital copy, this should be encrypted, which means another password to remember...


"Online wallets" means you are trusting a third party with your money, in short, garbage. But if you decide to be your own bank, be prepared to assume the responsibility and stop playing games or else you may become yet another victim for malware / phishing of the week...

I personally keep the majority of my funds on hardware wallet(s) and paper wallets, with my desktop and mobile wallet holding a few hot funds that I use for daily transactions. I don’t trust my main PC too much as I feel there’s a moderate chance that it’s infected with some sort of malware already and I actually keep a bit more on my phone than my desktop as I can scan QR codes with my phone for payment. As for the software I use for storage on my desktop, I use the Electrum light wallet and I have my wallet file encrypted for a bit extra security.

Oh definitely. Both phones and computers are definitely very vulnerable hence it's really not suggested to hold keys with significant amounts of coins/tokens on your phone and computer. I just prefer mobile phones as a more secure platform just because probability wise, your personal computer is more likely to be infected by a malware/virus that's made specifically to steal private keys. Unless you know what you're doing with computers of course, then you can make yourself an air-gapped device.

Well I don't like desktop wallets for few reasons like..
1) windows wallets are easier to get hacked due to viruses or spywares
2) you have to sync the entire blockchain for the coin before you can even send transactions
3) you can't move around with your desktop wallets unlike mobile wallets

Well to be fair, there's really no question at all that the only way to truly protect your money is by using a cold wallet. What people mostly argue about is the threshold at which it is necessary -- how much coins should I be holding for it to be worth it, etc. The answer to that, unfortunately, is very subjective, like pretty much every response here demonstrates.

OP has deemed his coins to be not worth stealing, and that tells me that medium security wallets like desktop/mobile wallets would suffice for his requirements. Not worth stealing translates to don't mind losing for majority of the population after all.

This is an interesting post, and some digging has led me to fierce online debates about the security of laptop wallets compared to mobile wallets. I have come to the conclusion that they are both vulnerable - or more so than my own liking - so I take the position that hardware wallets are the best option right now for savings. Now, for spending small amounts, I think a mobile wallet is fine, and I think its security may improve as the industry matures. Lots of people are using mobile wallets for making purchases without any issues.

I sense that you'll be in long term holding considering the wallets that you've mentioned. And sure, paper wallet will be good just be careful where you'll store it and your mother is the one you can trust to aside from yourself.

Remember that nothing is impossible with hackers so store at your own risk and if necessary live a low key life to avoid someone to envy you.

There's always a downside on any bitcoin wallets but by using a different wallet (like a desktop wallet) he can eliminate some of those downside.

Some online wallets do have the option to back up your private key through seed phrases. If OP was an old blockchain user he could retrieve his own private keys but using a desktop wallet is the better move for OP.

Yes, the major difference being a wallet being hosted on a website has more attack vectors than a regular desktop wallet (ex. seed + login credentials vs. just the seed).


You actually still need an internet connection. Hardware wallets are classified as cold wallets only because they're designed in such a way that private keys are never exposed online.


Hacks are rarely directed at anyone in particular, so you could still just as easily fall under attack as anyone else. But yeah, if you don't have much at stake and you know how to protect yourself, a desktop wallet should be good enough. Once you build up a portfolio though, a hardware wallet or any cold wallet would be mandatory.

It's still safe when you are using an online Bitcoin wallets for as long as you secure it by using a proper password and 2FA but you're not in control with your Bitcoin private keys while using a desktop wallets is best suited for me(I'm using Electrum) because you'll be eligible to multiple receiving Bitcoin addresses and you have an access to its private keys, by the way I earned a Bitcoin Cash when fork happened because I have my own private keys.

I always use my hardware wallet in desktop and it is easy to use. I have ledger where I store all my cryptocurrency there. But, if you want to know about best desktop wallet kindly search in internet and you can see a lot about it. However, hardware wallet is more convenient to use in desktop.

depending on how many time you want to access your bitcoin you can make an easier choice in my opinion. for example if you want to store your bitcoin and not touch it for years then using a paper wallet is the cheapest and best way to go. but if you want to constantly access them (like a trader wanting cold storage) then using a hardware wallet is best and if you don't want to pay then setting up a wallet on an offline machine is the way to go. my set up is on a linux installed on a USB disk with network cut off and Electrum installed with multiple encryption.

just give different setups a try and see which one works best for you.

If you're going to create wallets without using a hardware wallet, then use your mobile phone instead. Chances are that you're using a computer running a Windows operating system, which is mostly a more common platform for hackers to steal recovery seeds. Your mobile phone(hopefully not a rooted android device) is most likely to be a lot more secure. I suggest using Mycelium wallet[1].

You might think that you're only storing small amounts of bitcoin anyway, but in the future, that could be worth a lot more. So as much as possible, I'd lessen the risks.

Some reading material on wallets:

• https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/general-bitcoin-wallets-which-what-why-1631151
• https://cryptosec.info/cryptocurrency-wallets/

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[1] https://wallet.mycelium.com/contact.html