Paper Wallet: A Paper Bitcoin Portfolio
We will talk about a simple and free method for securing your precious bitcoins.
The paper wallet is recommended for long-term cold storage. It can also be used to make a gift. If you want to secure your bitcoins, while having easy access to them, we recommend using a Ledger Wallet which is also a very good solution for long-term storage. In any case, it is strongly discouraged to leave crypto-currencies on trading platforms or online portfolios, which are regularly targeted by hackers.
The paper wallet will keep your private keys
First of all it is important to understand that to really be in possession of your bitcoins you need to have control of your private keys. For your wallet to be secure at most it is important that these private keys are stored on a physical medium, such as a sheet of paper or a Ledger Wallet.
By printing your bitcoin portfolios or keeping your crypto-currencies on physical wallets they become almost tamper-proof and you minimize your exposure to hackers, as well as trusted third parties.
Attention: the paper wallet is fragile
To save your paper wallet, you can print it in two copies and store it in two different places. For example, a deposit in a safe at the bank and another hidden at home. In case of fire in your home or theft in your bank you will always have a backup of your private keys.
It is also advisable to physically protect your paper wallet with, for example, a small plastic bag.
Tutorial: Creating a Bitcoin Paper Wallet
We will use a website that has already proven itself and offers some nice services.
Go to https://bitcoinpaperwallet.com/ and click on "Generate Keys & And Print Paper Wallets"
You will then arrive on the page below. Simply move your mouse quickly until you reach the zero digit to randomly generate a private key.
Then follow these steps to print your bitcoin portfolio on both sides, cut it out and fold it.
The paper wallet personalized version
It is also possible to modify the design of your paper wallet.
The site includes a small shop that sells seals to close your paper wallets. We have not tested, but the idea is nice
A very fast video that shows the procedure for making your Bitcoin paper wallets:
Ledger Wallet: electronic cold storage
The Ledger Nano S is a hardware portfolio for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Altcoins, based on robust security features to store cryptographic assets and secure cryptocurrency payments. It connects to any computer via USB and integrates a secure OLED screen, to check and confirm each transaction with a single click on its side buttons.