Because you are the owner of your bitcoin funds thus, you are responsible for caring, and you need a wallet with complex security that will be unable to hack. So this reading will introduce the cold storage wallet to make your bitcoin highly secure without formalities.
What is a cold storage bitcoin wallet?
Cold storage bitcoin wallets are the wallets that will keep your bitcoins offline (without any internet connection) which means no hacker can reach up to your bitcoin wallet. There are hell lot of bitcoin wallets available on the internet, and different categories have different purposes. Exchange wallets primarily work to trade small amounts and send and receive bitcoins. But Decentralized software wallets work to hide your identity and pay a higher amount of bitcoin from one wallet to another wallet. An internet connection in this wallet is a must. A cold wallet utilizes to record bitcoins without the internet for an extended period or give as a gift because it is the only wallet with 100% security to bitcoin up
Types of Cold storage wallet
There are the following two categories of Offline or cold storage wallets that are famous on the internet network given below:-
- Paper Bitcoin Wallet: Paper bitcoin wallet is quite popular as cold storage, and many long-term bitcoin investors use it to keep bitcoins. As the name of this cold wallet describes, a paper bitcoin wallet means the other public and private keys are held on a physical paper that you can print out for future use. You can produce the paper wallet through offline software or online websites and can print it out so that in the future, you can spend or use the bitcoin by withdrawing it from the paper wallet.
- Hardware bitcoin wallet:- Hardware bitcoin wallet is also a second cold wallet with higher security. It is in the form of a USB that you can plug into your desktop or laptop, storing your public and private keys. There is also no need for an internet connection to keep both keys, and that probably means you can use it on any desktop or laptop. Also, since there is no internet connection, you cannot see the updated bitcoin balance if someone sends it to your wallet. This cold bitcoin wallet will cost you around a hundred to two hundred dollars, and on the other hand, there is only a printing cost for a paper bitcoin wallet.
How to set up a paper bitcoin wallet?
Since there are two cold storage bitcoin wallets but in this blog, we will guide you through setting up only a paper wallet to store your bitcoins for an extended period with an easy process given below:-
- Download an offline paper wallet generator software if you want more security, and you can also use a paper wallet generator website to generate it.
- Suppose you are using a website to generate cold storage paper wallet. In that case, your computer must be connected to a VPN for more security because you need an internet connection to create the public and private keys from the website.
- If you use offline software to generate the paper wallet, ensure your computer or laptop is offline (no internet connection).
- (Through website) Move your cursor on the computer screen until the public and private keys and QR codes display on your computer screen.
- Now disconnect your computer or laptop with an internet connection and make sure you are not using the random wifi of other people in your area; otherwise, there are chances for theft.
- Now print out the paper with both keys and QR codes by using your printer, and do not use the computer or laptop of other people to generate paper wallets because they can see your paper wallet later and steal your bitcoins.
- Now scan the public QR code of the bitcoin paper wallet with another bitcoin software wallet to receive bitcoins in the paper wallet. Still, you cannot see the bitcoins in your wallet because it is in the form of paper (paper), and if you want to, you have to import your private keys into the software wallet to check that does not recommend.
- Keep your bitcoin wallet safe and secure from your friends or random people because if anyone finds your private key, they can make your paper bitcoin wallet zero. And you will not get any notification because paper wallets are offline wallets. After some years, when you connect your cold storage wallet with a software wallet, you will get shocked to see your wallet is zero.