We tell what is a paper purse, to whom it is suitable and how to get a purse for bitcoin, ether and other crypto-currencies.
To work with bitcoin (Bitcoin) and altcoins, you need a purse. It allows you to buy and sell crypto currency, but its main task is to store the secret key that is needed to access the bitcoin address.
Wallets are different: desktop, mobile, online, hardware, but the most secure - paper. It can be done completely free of charge, and if you observe certain precautions, it will give a full guarantee of the safety of your private keys - and it is very important to keep them secret, otherwise you will lose your funds.
What is a paper purse?
If in a nutshell, it's a way of offline storage of crypto currency. You print on paper your keys - personal and public - and hide them in a safe place. Keys are printed in the form of QR-codes, which, when scanning, open access to all your transactions. This is safe, because you, the user, completely control your wallet - the only thing you need is to ensure the safety of a sheet of paper.
Do I need a paper purse?
If you plan to trade from time to time, probably not. If it is a question of long-term storage of a part of the capital that you do not plan to touch for a long time, then this is the safest way.
How to make a paper purse?
You will need a program that randomly creates a unique personal and public key. It's an open source program, and if you understand programming, you can see for yourself that it does not do anything superfluous.
Moreover, the keys will be created offline so that they do not get on the Internet, and when it's done, you need to uninstall the program to get rid of all traces.
You do not need to be a programmer or to understand encryption: you need only a computer, a printer, an internet connection & a piece of paper
. First you need to make sure that there is no malware on your computer. The best thing is just a new computer, but of course, not everyone can afford it.
Go to WalletGenerator.net.
Download the zip-archive.
After that, be sure to disconnect from the Internet, and then open the file index. Html. All this is necessary to protect the purse from a possible hacker attack.
Now let's move on to creating a wallet. Move the cursor over the page, and the program will generate a sequence of characters, using this movement as a source of random information (if you want, you can just enter random characters into the text field). Continue until the counter reaches zero.
Everything, the purse is created.
Now you need to print this page or rewrite somewhere two sequences of characters. Before printing, make sure that the printer is not connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi.
Delete the saved page. Now you can connect to the Internet.
How to make a paper purse for airtime?
Please note that there is no ether (ETH / USD) in the list of WalletGenerator-supported crypto-currencies. Suppose you need a purse for this crypto currency. What to do?
Go to MyEtherWallet.com.
Click the Help tab.
In the Offline section, click How do I run MEW offline / locally? (How do I start MEW locally?)
Follow the link and download the zip file.
Disconnect the computer from the Internet, then open the archive and run the index. Html file.
Now set the password (complex password!) And create a purse.
Download the file with the keys - this, in fact, is your wallet. Be sure to back up this file.
Now click on the I understand button. Continue (I understand everything.) Continue.
Everything, the purse is created. Before you is your private key. Do not show it to anyone!
Now you can print your wallet by clicking on the Print Paper Wallet button. Please note, the printout will contain both private and public keys.
Everything, a paper ether-purse is ready!
What are the risks of a paper wallet?
Of course, although using a paper purse reduces the risks associated with the Internet, other risks remain:
Compulsion. There are always people who are ready for everything for the sake of enrichment, and, of course, you can be politely asked to open a safe. Morality? Do not brag about investing in the crypto currency, on the Internet, or personally - why give criminals an excuse?
Short-livedness. Paper is just paper, it is easily torn or worn. It is better to make a few copies.
Theft. Again, since this is a paper, an attacker can read it or take a picture of it - and that's all, it has access to your money.
Disaster. A sheet of paper can burn or get into water - it is better to have backup copies.
Bad printer. For example, if you printed a purse on an inkjet printer, then when you hit the water, the ink may flow. A laser printer is better.
Human factor. You simply can forget where you left your wallet.
Personal key and recovery methods
Personal key - the most important information about the purse, it must be protected at all costs. If you lose it, you lose money, and nothing can be done about it. So it's better to store multiple copies in several places. Think about what will happen if there is a hurricane, a sudden evacuation or something like that. On the other hand, the more copies, the greater the risk that someone will know the key.
Under lock and key
Many people prefer to store keys in paper form. In this case, it's logical to hide them in the safe, but remember that home safes are usually not too reliable, and the thief will look for such a safe in the first place. On the other hand, if you do not have individual access to a reliable bank safe, you will have to use your home.
Cloud storage
It is hope that in the future it will be possible to keep the keys in a secure distributed cloud storage. However, putting them there in an open form is probably not the best idea, but you can first encrypt them.
Engraving on metal
You can engrave the keys on the metal and hide them. In this case, it is very important to choose the right metal - low-quality material can be short-lived.
Memory
You can learn the keys, but obviously this is not the best way: the risk of not remembering a sequence of 64 characters is too large.
What do you need to remember when choosing the storage method?
It is important that access to your personal key is only for those to whom you trust your money.
Think about what will happen if there is a fire, a flood, theft.
Ideal if you have single access to a quality safe and you can independently engrave on metal.
It is better to have multiple copies in different places, but each of these places should be safe.
There are risks for any method of storage. The main thing is to minimize them.
Restoring keys from offline storage
When you need to use keys stored on paper, they will need to be imported into one of the online purses - any option that supports such imports will do. In most cases, this is done in an obvious way. Below is the sequence of actions in case of using the Bitcoin Unlimited purse .
Open the program and select Help.
Select the Debug Window and click the Console tab.
In the importprivkey field, replace it with your private key by removing the quotes.
Press Enter.
Now all the data from your wallet is imported into the online wallet. Remember, from now on you are concerned with all the threats to which online wallets are exposed, so it's best not to get involved with working with them as much as possible.