Bitcoin For Dummies by Prypto

Author:Prypto
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub, mobi, pdf
ISBN: 9781119076148
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2016-03-20T16:00:00+00:00

Owning a paper wallet means the address that holds the bitcoins has not yet been connected to the live blockchain, and so is not “active.” Until the wallet is connected to the blockchain, it is considered to be in cold storage (bitcoin jargon for an account being offline).

You can always check the balance of any bitcoin address by searching the blockchain, but to spend it you would need to associate the bitcoin address of the paper wallet to a wallet that is online.

Paper wallets are classed as the most secure method of holding your bitcoins if you do not intend to spend them initially.

When you send bitcoins to an address, they are stored in the blockchain, but to be able to spend them, you will need the private key. As mentioned, this is a long alphanumeric string of characters, and when linked to a bitcoin wallet, any coins associated will be accessible to spend via that wallet. So, a paper wallet is a very secure way of holding your bitcoins, but as with anything involving banking, you need to ensure you look after your private key.

When you create a paper wallet, make sure you are not connected to the Internet: If you are connected, there’s a chance that malware could intercept your data, record your private key, and have access to any coins held in your bitcoin address at a later date.

Check out the following section on creating a paper wallet for a step-by-step guide to setting one up.

Here’s a quick tutorial on how you can create a paper wallet. The service we used for this process is BitAddress.org, the easiest place to create new paper wallets for bitcoins. In the following figures, you will see the steps you need to take in order to have your own paper wallet ready for usage within minutes.

Visit http://bitaddress.org in your favorite browser.

You will see a screen similar to Figure 5-1 that automatically generates new bitcoin addresses and private keys for you. Move the mouse pointer around a bit and enter random text in the text box to increase the randomness of your addresses and keys.

Don’t save the private key and QR codes presented to you. Instead, click Paper Wallet.

Select the number of addresses you want to generate.

Hide the art if you prefer to, even though the standard design looks great. Glick the Generate button to start the generation process for your number of paper wallets.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.