Hacker News Reader

Comment by d23 | Hacker News Reader

Is our only recourse downloading the entire block-chain to keep our wallets stored offline? Or do I have some misunderstanding? I just really like the convenience of services like coinbase.

View on HN

You don't need the block chain to keep coins. You only need a wallet. Technically your private keys never need to see the internet at all.

Edit: here is one way to do it https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_set_up_a_secure_offline_sa...

At a recent meetup there was a presentation recommending Electrum with HD wallets instead. That would mean you really would only need to memorize a passphrase, all the keys would be generated from that so no backup necessary. Personally I am not yet 100% sure HD wallets are safe, need to look into it.

You can also use something like blockchain.info for slightly better security than coinbase. They do client-side encryption and decryption of wallets. Of course, if you forget your password, your coins are gone. And blockchain.info could always modify their code to steal your coins later. At least they couldn't steal them without you logging in.

But a thin wallet like Electrum is probably your best bet.

You can keep your wallet on your own computer with a "light" client like Electrum, which doesn't need to download the whole blockchain. There are some security tradeoffs, but nobody can outright steal your bitcoins without you doing anything.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com