Is the Bitcoin paper wallet safe and secure?

All you want to know about the Bitcoin paper wallet

The cryptocurrency had never failed to upgrade themselves every time. With the emergence and interest over cryptocurrency investments, the industry is updating itself with a new set of upgrades in its industry. One such upgrade is the introduction of paper wallets. Initially, during the introduction in 2011, they were considered as unsafe regarding their hardware nature and lack of any effective storage, but they have updated themselves and emerged as one of the trusted wallets of all time. But there is still a question — Is the bitcoin paper wallet is safe and secure? It might be because of their volatile nature.

In this blog, we can get to know about the bitcoin wallet, safety, and security features. Let us jump into it and explore.

What is a Bitcoin paper wallet?

Bitcoin paper wallet is a kind of offline wallet where you can store your coins out of online storage. It is more effective from hardware wallets like the trezor wallets as you cannot describe its serenity if you are using hardware trezor wallets. It is because of the hard wallets like trezor can get a virus and get deteriorated. But in the case of paper wallets, you cannot induce or inject viruses into the system.

How it is different from that of other wallets:

Be it a hard wallet or a cold wallet, it needs the address and the key to access the wallet and do any kind of transactions. In the case of the paper wallets, it works similar to other wallets. It contains a QR code. It has access following the public and the private keys where the entire control is based on. Once the transaction is about to happen, the holder of the paper wallet will use the QR code and the key to conduct the operations securely.

Making things clear:

Bitcoin paper wallets are not like you are storing your bitcoins in your paper. It is a different concept. All the transactions are done and stored online. This paper wallet is an identification key or access that you give yourself during the transaction. The entire transaction happens through bitcoin addresses. This bitcoin address is stored in form of a QR code and hashed under the key. The public key will allow you to receive the funds and the private key will help you to send the funds. So, to be short, the bitcoins are not stored in the paper you are holding, but in the address that is stored in the paper. That is why this type of cold wallet is known as the paper wallet.

Is this secure?

Yes, the paper wallets are secure in the same way other online or offline wallets are. Some of them think that if the paper wallets are drowned in the water or get destroyed or torn, then it is impossible to retrieve the data stored under the address present in the paper wallet. But it is not the case. Any offline wallet information is provided with a backup. In this case, a recovery seed will be provided where you can recover any sort of transaction that you have made through your paper wallet. But make sure that you should not lose the recovery seed. Otherwise, things will become difficult to retrieve information.

Advantages of the bitcoin paper wallet:

Bitcoin paper wallets are one of the best sources of cold wallets since its emergence in 2011. There are several advantages of using the bitcoin paper wallet compared to other online wallets. Some of them are discussed below:

1. Prevents the wallet from getting hacked — this is one of the threats most of the online wallets face. Despite the security provided by Blockchain technology, online wallets are at risk of getting hacked. This paper wallet will secure your bitcoin account from being hacked as the private key will be completely under your control. Even it is theft or stolen, there is no reference to the private key address in the paper wallet. It will be present in the recovery seed where you can obtain all your lost information securely.
2. The cheapest option to buy wallets: Compared to other hardware wallets like the Trezor one or Trezor-t Ethereum wallets, the bitcoin paper wallet is cost-effective and cheap. Yes, other hardware wallets which are also cold wallets may range between 70 USD to 300 USD, which the paper wallets would be more cheap compared to other cold hardware wallets.
3. Security perspective: paper wallet is one of the highly secure wallets compared to other hardware wallets. Despite its blockchain protection, it is more effective for storing the coins in the address without any restrictions. It cannot be hacked or hijacked like other hardware wallets too and hence it is the best from the security perspective.
4. User-friendly and cozy — you need not worry about the UI and other software-based interruptions as it is a cold wallet in the first place and it does not need any such electronic preferences as it is printed paper with the details of our wallet alone in the second place. So, it is very user-friendly and cozy. You can carry this wallet like you carry your fiat currency.
5. Size and compactness — the size and compactness of the cold paper wallet are appreciable as it can be kept inside your wallet like fiat currency. All the paper wallets contain is the QR code and the bitcoin address to do the transactions efficiently.
6. Easy to create your wallet — If you are aiming to start your paper wallet it is easy to create yours within minutes. This is hard in terms of other types of hardware wallets or even hot wallets. You can generate your keys-both public and private keys (either automatically or manually) and create your paper wallet.

Final words:

Paper wallets are one such epic initiative in the cryptocurrency arena. They are easy to operate and manage cryptocurrencies without worrying about security. Since its initiation, it has gained huge attraction and it will continue alike in the future. Being engulfed with all the safety features, paper wallets are secure wallets and hence it is worth investing in it. To create your bitcoin paper wallet, reach some of the best bitcoin wallet development companies in the world.