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>It's possible to store Bitcoin on sheets of paper The process for making a secure paper wallet is far from convenient and brain wallets are about the worst po

>It's possible to store Bitcoin on sheets of paper The process for making a secure paper wallet is far from convenient and brain wallets are about the worst possible way to store bitcoin and are far from safe and secure. If you're going to get some please do not use a brain wallet.

Cyther606 12y ago
Numerous wallets make it dead simple to create a paper wallet. With Electrum, you just open the program and it automatically generates 12 words which you can write down on paper or learn by heart. It doesn't get much easier than that, and it's perfectly safe and secure to do.
- sanswork 12y ago
  Dead simple but no more secure than just storing the file encrypted on your computer. Electrum is great and if you write down the words thats fine. If you try to memorize them without a backup there are a lot of events that can happen in your life that will lead to the total loss of your coins.
  - bdamm 12y ago
    Agreed. I'm looking for a LiveCD style paper-waller generator, do you know of one?
    - sanswork 12y ago
      I don't use paper wallets myself but any barebones linux bootcd/usb with https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org and BIP38 selected is the route I see most recommended.
      - bdamm 12y ago
        Very convenient!
- mbillie1 12y ago
  > It doesn't get much easier than that I think a lot of people would argue that sticking with their current system (banks, fiat currency, etc) is, in fact, much easier than that.
  - rockyleal 12y ago
    They are more familiar with the current system, but after you have done it for the first time, you realise that electrum is actually way easier than banks. People just think its harder, but it is not really.
    - sanswork 12y ago
      It's only easier if you ignore the part where you have to get bitcoin in the first place.
      - Guvante 12y ago
        All the examples of "see Bitcoin isn't hard, here is $0.0005 worth" completely gloss over this point.
      - Natanael_L 12y ago
        That's no fault of Bitcoin, however. Getting USD isn't magically easy either.
        dublinben 12y ago
        Sure it is. You can sit on a street corner and people will literally hand you physical cash. It doesn't get any easier than that.
        mrb 12y ago
        Someone merely held a Bitcoin address sign on TV and received coins from all over the world: http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/1/5163926/one-college-football-sign-netted-22-bitcoins-for-enthusiast http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/1/5163926/one-college-footba... How awesome is that? It sure beats the reach of sitting on a street corner...
dwaltrip 12y ago
If you know what you are doing, brain wallets are very safe. However, if you don't, you might easily make a disastrous mistake. The casual user should not store coins in a brainwallet, but they can be quite useful.
- sanswork 12y ago
  If you know what you are doing you can get enough entropy that is true but there is still a lot of things that can happy in your life that will affect your memory but not be life ending. In those cases without a backup you'll lose your coins.

Cyther606 12y ago

Numerous wallets make it dead simple to create a paper wallet. With Electrum, you just open the program and it automatically generates 12 words which you can write down on paper or learn by heart. It doesn't get much easier than that, and it's perfectly safe and secure to do.

sanswork 12y ago
Dead simple but no more secure than just storing the file encrypted on your computer. Electrum is great and if you write down the words thats fine. If you try to memorize them without a backup there are a lot of events that can happen in your life that will lead to the total loss of your coins.
- bdamm 12y ago
  Agreed. I'm looking for a LiveCD style paper-waller generator, do you know of one?
  - sanswork 12y ago
    I don't use paper wallets myself but any barebones linux bootcd/usb with https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org and BIP38 selected is the route I see most recommended.
    - bdamm 12y ago
      Very convenient!
mbillie1 12y ago
> It doesn't get much easier than that I think a lot of people would argue that sticking with their current system (banks, fiat currency, etc) is, in fact, much easier than that.
- rockyleal 12y ago
  They are more familiar with the current system, but after you have done it for the first time, you realise that electrum is actually way easier than banks. People just think its harder, but it is not really.
  - sanswork 12y ago
    It's only easier if you ignore the part where you have to get bitcoin in the first place.
    - Guvante 12y ago
      All the examples of "see Bitcoin isn't hard, here is $0.0005 worth" completely gloss over this point.
    - Natanael_L 12y ago
      That's no fault of Bitcoin, however. Getting USD isn't magically easy either.
      - dublinben 12y ago
        Sure it is. You can sit on a street corner and people will literally hand you physical cash. It doesn't get any easier than that.
        mrb 12y ago
        Someone merely held a Bitcoin address sign on TV and received coins from all over the world: http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/1/5163926/one-college-football-sign-netted-22-bitcoins-for-enthusiast http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/1/5163926/one-college-footba... How awesome is that? It sure beats the reach of sitting on a street corner...

dwaltrip 12y ago

If you know what you are doing, brain wallets are very safe. However, if you don't, you might easily make a disastrous mistake. The casual user should not store coins in a brainwallet, but they can be quite useful.

sanswork 12y ago
If you know what you are doing you can get enough entropy that is true but there is still a lot of things that can happy in your life that will affect your memory but not be life ending. In those cases without a backup you'll lose your coins.