Topic: Why say "NO" to Web wallet (Read 574 times)

Can't be bash shitcoins here? Lol

When I discovered cryptocurrencies I bought a lot of ethereum, then I realized they don't even have a proper desktop wallet...

Anyway, as the discussion turned over browser wallet, which bitcoin doesn't have any one that I am aware of

Actually I have use coinbase wallet for long now and I haven't encountered any problem. Even deposit and withdrawal in coinbase all transactions went well. Aside from web wallet I use hardware wallet which is also safe to use for me. Right it is not safe to store big amount of btc in a web wallet and I don't trust easily better use a secure wallet to avoid problem.

Oh my bad, I thought we are in the Bitcoin section, no the altcoin discussion 


Nope, the hacker needs to infect your browser.
And if you plan on having a separate browser for every coin to keep secure, why not stick to a traditional wallet?
Oh, wait, because the shitcoin doesn't have a proper wallet...

In my opinion, the choice is pretty simple, I can invest in some gold that I can keep in a safe, or I can invest in some platinum that I must hide under my doormat.

Let's not even talk about the deadly combination of a web browser and pornhub..

They are more secure than a web wallet, yes.
But they are by far not as secure as a desktop wallet.


There are still many attack vectors which would allow to steal funds from a user using a browser-based wallet, compared to a desktop wallet. DNS poisining, etc. The attacker does not always need to compromise your device.
On the other hand, there is no attack vector i can think of which applies to a desktop wallet, but not to a browser based one.

There is a big difference regarding security between a browser based wallet accessed by typing an URL into the address bar and a desktop wallet.

Storing bitcoins on custodial wallets like Coinbase for a long period of time is not advisable op, next time use desktop wallets that you can easily recover your bitcoins whenever you need it bitcoin core, electrum, exodus, mycelium there are plenty of it you can use for free, most users only use coinbase for buying and selling bitcoins, fiat conversions but not for storage purposes. 

Never encountered something like this on coinbase unlucky for you. I guess not all web wallets are safe. Looks like in coinbase you dont own the private keys right? Its better to use a web wallet that you have full control of the private keys it feels not comfortable putting big amounts there.

Its not safe to use web wallet because i think it can be hacked easily and save the private key of the wallet address which very important. That's why it is much safer to use the wallet on pc and hardware wallet that is legit.
 
And i think using wallet like Metamask is much than the myetherwallet website because it needs a. Json file and other informatiion need that can be at risk getting hacked.

After these anomalies in web wallet, I stop using them to store my coins all my wallets are now desktop based and I secure it by taking all the necessary precautions like installing the best antivirus and anti-malware, only use a web wallet to store a little number of tokens, or if you are good and educated in how a phishing site looks like, metacert is a big help but it will not guaranty safety.

Nothing is safe as long as your money is controlled by others, so if you are in doubt using the services of others, you can use a hardware wallet that is managed by yourself.
but now everything has evolved, they have added several security features, and so far news of the hack has been reduced.

Web wallets has had a history of insecurity and if you do a little research, you would discover that most of the phishing scams involving cryptocurrency wallets were done with a web wallet, applications are much more secure in my opinion because I think that whena hacker can't even identify a domain, then they wouldn't be able to hack it.

Even the biggest web wallet has been hacked in the past by a good Samaritan hacker who later returned the funds and you could read the article here: https://www.coindesk.com/good-samaritan-blockchain-hacker-returned-255-btc-speaks

Browser based wallets, which stores data locally, are common in ethereum network.
They are safer imo, compared to web wallets. Those browser based are like desktop wallets. They are safer because there is xentral server which can be hacked to steal your coins : the hacker would need to hack your computer.

Those browser based wallets are more common in ethereum because there are no good desktop Wallets for ethereum. Have you ever seen one?
On the other hand bitcoin has a lot of good desktop wallets.

So I believe browser based wallets (like metamask) are a workaround , because they can't make good desktop Wallets

Currently I still use myetherwallet and blockchain wallets and everything is fine. I agree that there are many slow and insecure WEB wallets, but there are still many reputable and well functioning web wallets.
Especially web wallet is easy to use, it is fast and convenient. However, I still divide my money into many different wallets.If there is a problem, I will not lose all my money.

For web wallets and other online wallets like exchanges and websites, I only keep enough usually for the day, or for whatever purpose stated on them. I've lost coins a couple of times on exchanges that died the next day, so at most I've only lost what I was trading for the day. Sometimes it was supposed to be a larger withdrawal and I blame mostly myself (as well as the exchange) for disappearing like that.

Not your keys, not your coins.

This is not about hacker attacks, but about the fact that the funds kept on the exchange or in online wallet do not really belong to you, because the person managing the service or exchange can freeze your money at any time, or simply steal it from you. Already many times, exchanges disappeared overnight with the money of all users. They often explain themselves by hacker attacks, but it's usually inside job.

Whether or not a website is going through an upgrade or completely offline for a month, as long as you have the private key, you'd have your wallet (assuming that site didn't steal an unencrypted form of your private key and use it to move your coins, of course).

blockchain.info/.com has been around since 2011 and has never had any major issues to my knowledge. That said, technically anything sent through the internet has a chance of being captured, but in the case of blockchain.com, it should end up getting captured in an encrypted form.

I don't personally use any web wallets and keep everything local with Core, but I realize it's not a practical solution for everyone.

I believe it's a matter of who you chose to trust, your own security practices, and convenience. Web wallets can be convenient and needed but you definitely want the private key, and you have to have some trust the website provider is actually encrypting the key and not stealing it and/or claims they're hacked and the hacker changes the site to steal your keys/password/coins/etc (Instawallet comes to mind).

Also, any browser access to any web wallet, exchange, or any site including blockchain.com always carries a risk of browser-based infections/malware. And even local software has the potential of system-based infections/viruses, none of that would be the fault of the web wallet or the local software since you have to make it your own personal responsibility to keep your system and browser free from those types of infections (and of course keeping the e-mail account secured that you've used with these services).

With Coinbase, you will have no private key. They go down or deny you access, it's their wallet and their private key that "your" coins will be associated with. They should always be treated like an exchange IMO.

Because he might knew that it was a crap.

If you have time visit Web Wallets section,where you can find the first page is filled with Issue with my blockchain.com wallet,Blockchain wallet hacked,etc,so no web wallet is safe but when compared coinbase and blockchain,blockchain is more worse.

Yes, you're wrong and you keep on being wrong.
From the start, as Tryninja pointed out, not most, but almost all wallets are NOT browser-based.
Guarda comes with either a web wallet hosted on their server or a standalone wallet not related to your browser.

I hard it hard for somebody to mistake a web wallet and call it browser-based because you access it via a browser, but I really can;t find any other reason why you would say this.

so because of that you must to secure your account.  You might need to find a solution or find a possible web that are legit for security and also for you security.  There are a lot of wallet that are more secured so then you have the only one who can access your account specially to some wallet that have google authenticator that you are the one who can open your account.

The intention is to give awareness that business like this always have the rights to review your account if they've seen some uncommon movements.
There's nothing anyone can do about that, maybe there's a site rules or updates in terms of withdrawing or securities seen malicious changes from your wallet, whatever reason they have ins their minds, it's always best to have your own wallets where you are holding private keys so you can deal
anytime without any interruptions coming from any third party service.

About security reason, I agree with you. But, about seed or PK on web wallet, I'm not agree, if you are using blockchain.com you are able to get your PK on setting menu. It's different if you are talking about exchange wallet, they will never give you your seed or PK.