In Part 8 of the Bitcoin Basics Series, we looked at how to buy and sell Bitcoin. In Part 9, we’re going to look at how to store Bitcoin.

Holding is similar to holding large amounts of paper money bitcoin involves taking several precautions to protect one’s wealth. While some traders – who spend their days trading between Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies – may leave their Bitcoins on an exchange to keep them most secure bitcoin long term is to use a wallet.

As we mentioned earlier, the term “wallet” is not a very precise description – some prefer the term “keychain” – and it is actually wrong to say that a wallet “stores” bitcoins. A wallet contains a user’s public and private keys that are used to access a Bitcoin public address or to sign transactions.

Bitcoin wallets come in a variety of formats and each offers unique features from the other. Your needs can vary and it is important to consider both your trading or investment habits and your security needs before committing to any particular type of wallet for the long term.

Desktop wallets

Desktop wallets are software programs that can run on desktop and laptop computers running popular operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, Apple’s macOS, and even Linux. The attractiveness of desktop wallets enables access to your own bitcoin Address directly on the same computer that one could trade from, although these are usually not as portable or usable in the wild as mobile wallets.

The de facto Bitcoin client called Bitcoin Core is run by many computers around the world. These form “nodes” in the network that do the important job of forwarding transactions – but this software also allows users to create a Bitcoin address for sending and receiving Bitcoins and to store their private key.

Desktop wallets like Bitcoin Core can be overly large to download and manage, and also require users to continually update the program to stay in step with the blockchain as new transactions are reviewed and added.

However, not all desktop wallets necessarily act as nodes. Some choose to simply serve as a software wallet that can hold both keys and is developed by a third party. These are typically far less cumbersome to download and maintain, and may be available with specific features or focuses that investors may find attractive.

Mobile wallets

Mobile wallets, like their desktop counterparts, are software programs (apps) that you can install on your smartphone. Typically, these are available on Apple’s iOS (iPhones), Android phones, and some even for Microsoft’s less-used Windows Phone.

While desktop wallets are relatively mobile and cannot by nature be put in the pocket, mobile wallets offer investors and traders the convenience of being able to take their wallet with them when they are on the go. This also enables users of certain mobile wallets to make convenient and fast payments not only with bitcoin, but also with other cryptocurrencies.

The tradeoff for this requirement is that smartphones don’t have the processing power or memory of most computers bitcoin blockchain – instead rely on a small “part” of the blockchain and thus route most transactions through so-called “trustworthy” nodes.

This essentially offsets some of the computing power and memory required to use a bitcoin Wallet to other computers connected to the Bitcoin blockchain.

While a mobile wallet contains both a user’s public and private key like a desktop, most mobile wallets use either QR code scanning or Near Field Communications (NFC).

In the first case, mobile wallets can scan a QR code with the camera of their smartphone. The relevant mobile wallet can then interpret the code as a different one bitcoin Wallet address to which users can send bitcoins.

In other cases, smartphones equipped with an NFC chip (such as some of Apple’s current iPhones or Samsung’s Galaxy S phones) that users can leverage to facilitate transactions. This allows users to knock their phone against a reader and send bitcoins without entering any data. This is similar to using popular services like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Android Pay.

Hardware wallets

While either desktop computers or cell phones can be viewed as “hardware”, there are several electronic products that are specifically designed to store your own public and private keys. These are commonly known as “hardware wallets” and are sometimes used to facilitate payments.

Hardware wallets can be very similar to USB drives, although this can vary from brand to brand.

Hardware wallets usually work with an “online” and “offline” component. An investor uses an online wallet that saves his public address and signals which transactions are being “signed”. To complete a transaction, users need to connect their hardware wallet to a computer via USB, where a signature is then formed, sent to the wallet and then fed into the Bitcoin blockchain.

Specifically, some hardware wallets offer users the security of storing a user’s private key in a “protected area” on the device in question – which means that this private key cannot be divorced or used without the device.

Some hardware wallets offer a backup service in which a user can use a special key to restore their private keys in the event of failure, loss or damage. bitcoin Account balance and transaction history in a new device. These backups are usually secured by a PIN that is either linked to the device or can be set by a user.

The appeal for many users is that hardware wallets don’t fall victim to viruses that target software wallets from time to time. However, these devices are not immune to corruption, theft, or damage.

Paper wallets

One of the most cost effective ways to secure yourself bitcoin consists in using a so-called “paper wallet”.

With a paper wallet, a user essentially prints out a hard copy of two QR codes; one is the public address where you can get bitcoins and the other is the private key with which you sign outgoing transactions. To use a paper wallet, a user either scans the QR code himself or invites a transaction partner to do so.

Paper purses reduce some of the risk of storing the private key on the Internet, where an investor would have to trust the facility in which their key is stored. As a result, paper wallets do not fall victim to cyberattacks or other malicious actions in which parties could try to steal bitcoins online.

However, paper wallets have their own weaknesses. Similar to hardware wallets, paper wallets can be stolen or damaged and the paper itself degrades over time – so users should be careful when storing their paper wallets and ideally never use the same for long periods of time.

Are Bitcoin Wallets Safe?

Basically, each type of Bitcoin wallet has its own strengths and weaknesses, and it is up to each user to adequately secure their accounts and choose the most convenient or affordable option for them.

While online or software wallets (desktop or mobile) offer convenience and easy access to the Internet, where transactions can be carried out quickly, they come at the expense of security and are a thing of the past prime Target for internet hackers who want to steal bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies over the web.

Conversely, physical storage such as hardware or paper wallets can easily be stolen, damaged or degraded over time.

A successful rule of thumb is to consider using several different types of wallets and make sure that the bitcoins are not allocated on just one wallet.

There are other steps you can take to secure your account. Users who use online wallet services can use two-factor authentication, which means that, in addition to logging in with a user name and a suitably complex password, they can enter a special code from a device of their choice called the “second Layer “of. is used for security when logging in.

In part ten of our bitcoin fundamentals series, we explore why you should invest in bitcoin.

How can I save Bitcoin? first appeared on Coin Insider.

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