bitcoin_paper

How to Create a Bitcoin Paper Wallet or Paper Bill

Bitcoin might be digital but it’s equally suited to being stored and shared in the analogue world. Whether you’re looking for a way to safely store your coins, to issue paper bills that are made out to a specific bitcoin address and amount, paper is your friend. A printer and a little know-how is all it takes.

Why Create a Paper Wallet?

Exchange accounts can be hacked, mobile wallets breached, and smartphones lost, stolen or destroyed. But paper? It’s impervious to all digital attack vectors. It’s not foolproof – fire, water damage, or theft can still take their toll – but if you’re careful where you stash your paper wallet, it’s one on the safest ways to store cryptocurrency. Be it as a backup of an existing hardware, mobile or desktop wallet, or as a standalone wallet that exists solely offline, paper is perfect.

The ultimate form of cold storage, a paper wallet simply consists of a printout of the private and public keys to your address. (These can even be handwritten if you don’t trust printers or have access to one). Suffice to say that while the public key can be shared so that others can send you coins, you shouldn’t share your private key with anyone. Thus, once you’ve printed your wallet, you need to store it somewhere only your eyes can view it. That could be a safe, a bank vault or a sly hiding place in your home.

If you’re ultra cautious, you can even split your paper wallet into parts and store it in separate locations. Not much use if you’re a day trader, admittedly, but if you’re a hodler for life, a distributed paper wallet (with at least one duplicate to ensure redundancy) is about as safe as cold storage gets.

How to Make a Paper Wallet

There are numerous websites that allow you to create a paper wallet in seconds before printing it off. Choose a favorably reviewed site whose code is open sourced to prevent the sort of scams that are all too prevalent in the crypto space. Examples of paper wallet generating sites include the following:

Bitaddress.org : A simple but effective open source Javascript wallet generator. Select the BTC wallet type you’d like, generate some entropy, choose how many addresses you want and hit “Print”. You can also create vanity, bulk, split, and brain wallets.

Bitcoin.com : The tools section of Bitcoin.com allows you to create a bitcoin cash paper wallet just like the BTC example described above. Bitcoin.com’s paper wallet generator, like all of the sites listed here, does not store knowledge of your private key.

Bitcoinpaperwallet.com : A self-explanatory site that allows you to create BTC and BCH paper wallets. There’s a useful section on paper wallet security tips and you can order tamper-proof holographic stickers for creating your own folding paper wallet. When it comes to print out your wallet, the sensitive details – namely the private key and QR code – are securely taped shut and sealed with a sticker. That way, you know that no one’s accessed your paper wallet and peeked at your private key.

How to Make a Bitcoin Paper Bill

Making a paper wallet containing your private key is fine for your own purposes, but what if you want to share your BTC address with others? In that case you only need to print your bitcoin address and QR code. Sites such as Gobitcoin.io will allow you to enter your BTC address, generate a QR code and even specify an amount. If you charge a fixed 0.05 BTC for a service, for example, you can hand people a QR code they can scan with that amount pre-entered. All they have to do is scan the QR code and hit send. Other sites will let you create QR codes for bitcoin cash and loads of other cryptocurrencies.

Versatile and ultra-secure, paper wallets are one of the smartest ways to keep your crypto. Create it, print it, and then stash it in a very safe place.

Do you use cold storage to secure your bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below.

Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System

The paper that first introduced Bitcoin

Satoshi Nakamoto's original paper is still recommended reading for anyone studying how Bitcoin works. Choose which translation of the paper you want to read:

• English original
• EspaГ±ol (EspaГ±a) translated by Breathingdog
• EspaГ±ol (Latinoamericano) translated by Angel LeГіn
• Italiano translated by Terzim
• Р СѓСЃСЃРєРёР№ translated by Ar Vicco
• Svenska translated by hanspandeya

Do you want to translate the paper into your language? Visit the Bitcoin Paper repository for instructions and open an issue if you have any questions.

bitcoinpaperwallet.com

Store bitcoins on your own tamper-resistant paper wallet

Tamper-evident stickers and the bootable CD are now 10% off. Plus, every order includes FREE SHIPPING to anywhere in the world, and a free limited edition sticker.
Order here »

Make Paper Wallets to Keep Your Bitcoin Addresses Safe.

For long-term storage of bitcoins (or giving as gifts) it's not safe to store your bitcoins in an exchange or online wallet. These types of sites are regularly hacked. Even keeping a live wallet on your own computer can be risky.

Be your own bank.

By printing out your own tamper-resistant bitcoin wallets and generating your own addresses, you can minimize your exposure to hackers as well as untrustworthy people in your home or office. Just transfer your bitcoins into your new wallets, and use common sense to keep your wallets safe the way you would jewels and ordinary cash. Or give them away!

"Bitcoin Cash" Paper Wallets

In August 2017, the Bitcoin blockchain "forked" creating a new digital currency called Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Paper wallets generated on this site are fully compatible with Bitcoin Cash. A special design is available to make it easy to identify Bitcoin Cash paper wallets.

Click here to try out the Bitcoin Cash paper wallet generator.

What's special about this design?

But first read everything on this page since you should take some precautions to make sure your new wallets are secure.

NEW: Litecoin & Dogecoin paper wallets, too!

Video: How to make a paper bitcoin wallet

Why trust this site?

This generator is based on BitAddress.org, the well established and most trustworthy open-source engine for generating addresses using your own browser's JavaScript engine. No crypto-code is run on this web server, and no addresses are transmitted over the Internet. BIP-38 encryption is fully supported as well. If you don't trust this service (or pseudorandom number generators in general) this wallet service lets you roll dice, shuffle cards, or supply your own "vanity keys". To be more secure, you should download this wallet generator from GitHub and run it offline, or even boot from this Ubuntu CD.

Canton Becker—who started this service in 2013—is easily reached for questions, Bitcoin business consultation, or custom designs at:

Wallets come in 12 different languages, as well as special Christmas and "red envelope" / Chinese New Year designs. Here's a PDF template for making an envelope for giving away Bitcoin for the holidays.

1. Tri-Fold Template

This bitcoin key generator guides you to print both a front side and a back side for your paper wallet. All sensitive details on the front side (the private key and QR code) are folded up and securely taped shut so as to stay hidden. For additional security, you can seal your wallets with the tamper-evident serialized hologram stickers available for purchase on this site—though any sufficiently opaque (light-blocking) tape will work fine.

2. Tamper Resistant

One risk with a paper wallet is that someone with physical access to your wallet may "sneak a peek" at the private key and withdraw your funds without your knowledge. This wallet's folding design and obfuscating security patterns resist "candling" -- the process of shining a bright light through the paper to reveal what's printed inside. Serialized tamper-evident hologram stickers destory themselves when removed, preventing stickers from being replaced with new ones.

3. Perfect for Giving

Want to give bitcoins to someone who isn't tech-savvy? Need to send bitcoins by mail? Use a pre-loaded paper wallet. The sealed-shut folded design helps to ensure that the recipient won't accidentally reveal the private key. For recipients unfamiliar with bitcoin, the reverse side of the wallet has printed instructions for checking the wallet balance and withdrawing funds.

Order Paper Wallet Supplies

Use this form to purchase tamper-evident holographic stickers with serial numbers, zip-sealing bags made specifically for this folding wallet design, or a bootable CD for making paper wallets offline.

Once shipped, USA orders take about 4 business days to arrive. Orders to the EU & Australia usually take 10 business days. Mailing to certain countries (e.g. Russia, Estonia, Brazil) can take significantly longer.

All orders include a free large vinyl 'bitcoin' sticker for your car, laptop, or crypto-evangelism activities.

Please complete all *Required fields above.

What can I get?

1) Tamper-evident serialized hologram stickers, silver and gold.
2) Ubuntu LiveCD with the wallet generator pre-installed. It will boot on almost any computer with an optical drive, whether you're using a Mac or PC.
3) A limited edition high-quality vinyl Bitcoin sticker for your laptop or car -- free with every order.
4) Zip-sealing bags, perfectly sized for this design.

Hologram stickers come in silver and gold tints, and feature unique serial numbers printed in pairs. You can also order a customized Ubuntu "LiveCD" with the generator pre-installed -- by far the easiest and safest way to print out secure wallets. All orders include free first-class shipping, plus one free zip-sealing bag and a high quality 3.5 inch vinyl 'bitcoin' sticker for your car or laptop.

Serial numbers (e.g. 002505) are laser-eteched in pairs directly onto the stickers.

Oooooh, rainbows!

The shiny hologram tape used to seal up the paper wallets you see on this site isn't just for good looks. It's "tamper-evident" tape that provides a deterrent to a significant group of would-be thieves: someone in your trusted environment (home, work) who might be motivated to steal your coins if you were unlikely to notice the withdrawal until checking your balance online.

• The holographic design on this tape is irreversibly damaged as soon as the tape is lifted from the paper, no matter how carefully it is replaced.
• Unique serial numbers (printed in pairs) guard against merely replacing old stickers with brand new stickers
• The reflective quality of the tape protects against "candling" -- using a super-bright light source (like a laser) to see the private key through the folds.

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Secure Wallet Generation & Safekeeping

Helpful tips organized in ascending degrees of paranoia

Keeping it Safe

The biggest threat to your wallet isn't an evil WiFi packet-sniffing robot. Your worst enemy is water. If you have access to a laser printer, use it—because laser printers melt waterproof plastic (toner) onto paper instead of using ink. When using an inkjet printer, consider storing your wallet in a zip-sealing plastic bag (like those sold on this site) or printing on waterproof paper, or treating the paper with a clear coat spray like Krylon "Preserve It".

tldr: Treat a paper wallet like cash. If you lose it or if it becomes illegible, the coins are gone forever.

Even the condensation from the outside of a glass set on top of an inkjet print can destroy it.
Here's what a tiny bit of water will do to an inkjet-printed wallet:

Withdrawing Funds

The private key on this wallet is recorded in typical "Wallet Import Format" (WIF). Many online services (e.g. blockchain.info, coinbase.com) will let you import or "sweep" your paper wallet using this key. Plan on importing your entire balance. Afterwards, discontinue using the paper wallet—as if you were breaking open a piggy bank. If you try to spend or withdraw only a portion of your funds, you risk losing the remaining balance forever.
How to import paper wallets »

tldr: Add funds to your wallet as often as you like, but withdraw them all at once—otherwise your balance may disappear forever.

Going Offline

Your wallet may be vulnerable to prying eyes when you are generating the keys and printing them out. Although the wallet generator on this website is SSL-encrypted, it's still possible for someone to be snooping on you. (For example, your computer might have malware that broadcasts your screen to a remote location.) The most important safety measure is to go offline and run the javascript wallet generator on your own computer instead of this website.
Here's how »

tldr: Download the ZIP file or get the Ubuntu LiveCD and run the wallet generator with your Internet connection turned off.

How to run this wallet generator offline

You can order the Ubuntu LiveCD from this site (which comes with the wallet generator securely pre-installed)

1. Download the wallet generator from GitHub as a ZIP file to your computer.
2. Turn off your Internet connection. (Power off the modem!)
3. Extract the ZIP file and drag the HTML file inside of it onto Safari, Firefox, or Chrome (not Intenet Explorer.)
4. Print out your wallet(s).
5. Reboot your computer and power cycle your printer before going back online.

https://github.com/cantonbecker/bitcoinpaperwallet

Destroying Cache Files

The problem with printing out secure documents—even if your computer is 100% virus/trojan free—is that your printer driver and/or operating system may be keeping copies of the documents you print in some sort of "spool" or print queue. If a hacker or virus gets into your computer and knows to look for these cache files, then they can get your private keys and "sweep" your wallets. Here are some tips on how to securely delete your printer "spool" files.

tldr: Learn how to delete your printer cache files after printing secure documents.

How to delete pesky printer cache files

1. Enable 'FileVault' to encrypt your filesystem so that cache files cannot be 'undeleted'.
2. Set up a symbolic link from /private/var/spool/cups/cache/ to a removable media volume (e.g. a SD card) and disconnect it when not in use.

1. Use an encrypted filesystem so that your cache files cannot be 'undeleted'.
2. Read this FAQ on how to change the destination of your cache (spool) files to removable media.

1. Use a live-boot CD instead of a regular hard drive OS install. This way when you reboot your computer, all cache files are deleted from memory and no jobs are ever written to disk.

Hey, do you know much about printer spools on your operating system? I need your help for this section! canton@gmail.com

Using a Clean OS

If you've got loads of applications on your computer, or if you use your computer for "risky behavior" (like installing freeware or visiting java / flash websites) consider dedicating a computer (or at least a bootable partition / thumbdrive / "live CD") for paper wallet printing. Never take that install online. Transfer the wallet generator ZIP file from GitHub to your clean OS using a thumbdrive or other non-networked method.

tldr: Run the wallet generator on a dedicated offline computer / OS.

Using a Dumb Printer

Some advanced printers have internal storage (even hard drives) that preserve copies of printouts. This is a risk if someone gets access to your printer, or if you dispose of your printer. There is also the possibility that a smart enough printer can be hacked. This isn't quite tinfoil-hat level paranoia, as we've seen examples in the wild of viruses that rewrite the firmware of non-computer devices indirectly connected to the Internet. If this concerns you, don't use a fancy printer, and never let your printer have access to the Internet or to an Internet-connected computer.

tldr: Smart printers save copies of what they print and may be vulnerable to super-smart viruses. Use a dumb offline printer whose firmware can't be reprogrammed.

Overwhelmed? Scared silly?

There's no need to follow all of these precautions. If you're just generating some give-away wallets for fun or to store small amounts of bitcoin, relax. Just use the online wallet generator on a trusted computer over a secure Internet connection. For storing larger amounts, follow as many of these security precautions as you can.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Did You Make This?

I love Bitcoin. I love how it's elegant, functional, philosophical, and radical.

Unfortunately, for folks not steeped in cypherpunk ideology and network security, bitcoins are hard to understand, hard to purchase, and hard to keep safe. The primary purpose of this site is to make it easier to keep your coins safe once you've gone through the hard work of acquiring some.

The secondary purpose of this site is to encourage you to expand the understanding and acceptance of Bitcoin by loading up and giving away these beautiful and fairly idiot-proof paper wallets.

Hey, here's a couple bitcoins. Keep this paper somewhere safe for now, because some day it might be worth a whole lot and you can buy yourself something nice. Enjoy!

About the Author

Canton Becker has been making web sites and programming database-driven web applications since 1993. Before that, he worked on "Gopherspace" — the predecessor to the World Wide Web.

In 1995, he co-founded Rocket Network, an online music collaboration application whose development brought in US$40M of investment from Paul Allen, Cisco and other generous tech pioneers.

Since exiting the company in 2000, Canton works one-on-one with small businesses and non-profits to build beautiful and intuitive websites. And he obsesses constantly about Bitcoin.

This site benefits from "standing on the shoulders of giants"—in this case the superb work of bitaddress.org, whose code does the key generation and QR code rendering at the heart of this wallet generator.

Also, thanks to Artiom Chilaru of flexlabs.org for the excellent BIP38 implementation, and to Martin Ankerl for the algorithmic 'guilloche' background pattern generator.

Donations to encourage this project are warmly welcomed. Thank you!

Donate bitcoin, because you have some.
1Pjg628vjMLBvADrPHsthtzKiryM2y46DG

You can also add a donation when you order hologram stickers.

Donate using PayPal / USD / Euro, because you're oldschool.

© Copyright 2014 by Canton Becker. The text on this page is released and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, which means that you are free to distribute, use and modify it for any personal or commercial purpose provided that you include an obvious link back to bitcoinpaperwallet.com. The Bitcoin Paper Wallet software (HTML and Javascript) may be modified and redistributed according to the MIT and GPL licenses described in the source code. The bitcoinpaperwallet.com logo, hologram sticker design, and folding wallet design are copyrighted and may not be replicated or used without permission except for personal use.

How to Make a Paper Bitcoin Wallet

Last updated: 29th January 2018

A bitcoin paper wallet is simply a public and private key printed together. It is an offline wallet, and is usually regarded as a type of "cold storage" (extra-secure storage that does not make contact with the hackable internet), although it has some important differences that make its presence in that category debatable (more on this further down).

As the name suggests, paper wallets are usually made out of paper, although technically they could also be made of plastic or any other substance on which information can be durably printed.

via bitaddress.org

What is printed on the paper wallet are the private and public keys, usually in QR form, with the latter also serving as the address. You could just copy and paste the keys onto a text document and print that out (erasing the copy on the computer afterwards). Or you could use one of the free web services that generate the printable wallet for you. The key generation is usually done in your browser, so they are never transmitted on the internet. To be safe, you should clear your browser after printing. And never store an image of the paper wallet on your computer or phone.

Some paper wallet services have a nifty design that you can cut, fold and seal, making them a lightweight and relatively secure form of storing bitcoin offline. You send your bitcoin to the public address displayed on the wallet, and then store it in a secure place.

What makes paper wallets secure is that they are totally offline (generally known as "cold storage"). They are not within the reach of hackers, and your bitcoin are never trusted to a third party. As long as the paper wallet is secure, your holdings are secure.

But, therein lies the relative lack of security. Someone could find your hiding place, take your printout, spend all the bitcoin associated with those keys, and return the paper, so you would never know.

A more secure version would involve folding the paper so that the private key is hidden from sight, taping the fold with a seal that can't be broken and replaced (just search for "tamper evident seals," there are many different providers and models), and making sure that the private key cannot be seen even if the folded paper is held up to the light.

via bitcoinpaperwallet.com

Even that is not particularly secure. What if the folder, drawer or box that you keep it in floods?

Sure, it's unlikely, but when you're securing a lot of bitcoin, it pays to think of worst case scenarios (and hey, what with climate change and all…). So, a tightly-sealed plastic bag would help.

How do you protect a paper wallet from fire? I have no idea. Keep it in the freezer? (That definitely would be "cold storage," he he.)

Also, paper itself is not the most durable of substances. Apart from the obvious risks of fire or water damage, the ink could fade with time, making the keys unreadable. No readable keys, no bitcoin.

Even with paper wallets, you can check your balance at any time using blockchain.info (just type your public key into the search box). And most online wallets allow you to import your paper wallet data. To spend those bitcoin, you will be asked to type in the private key information, or scan the private key QR code (sometimes called the "spend" QR code).

Some good paper wallet generators:

Bitaddress.org and Walletgenerator.net are open-source random address and key generators that uses your browser's JavaScript engine, so no keys are sent over the internet. And moving your mouse around to create entropy and mix up the characters even more is fun. That random sequence is then used to generate your public and private keys, which are displayed on the next screen for printing.

Bitcoinpaperwallet.org will create a printout of a colourful paper wallet, with the appropriate fold lines, and will sell you tamper-evident stickers for sealing it shut.

Mycelium offers an original and even more secure way to generate paper wallets, with a USB dongle that you plug directly into your printer. The device generates a paper wallet that automatically gets printed out, without ever having touched your computer.

(Note: specific businesses mentioned here are not the only options available, and should not be taken as a recommendation.)

How to Make a Paper Bitcoin Wallet

One of the safest and popular ways of keeping your digital assets safe and sound is by using something called a paper wallet. In this article, we will explain how to transfer all your cryptocurrency into paper form by using a printer. Most cryptocurrencies can be stored in paper form, including Litecoin and Ethereum. However, in this guide, we will be covering the specifics behind keeping a paper bitcoin wallet

What Is a Paper Bitcoin Wallet, and Why Do I Need It?

Essentially, any bitcoin wallet is composed of two keys. One of the keys is public and one of them is private. The public key is your public wallet address and it is through this public address that others can send bitcoins to you from any part of the world. The private key is what allows you to send bitcoins to the wallets of other individuals from yours. It is the combination of both these keys that allow for a safe cryptocurrency transaction between people.

It’s crucial to note that your private bitcoin wallet key should only be known to you. Remember that if anybody else obtains your private key, then they can steal all your funds. Therefore, it is wise, for safety’s sake, never to disclose your private key. It would be similar to handing someone your credit card information. Users who keep their cryptocurrencies in online wallets or hard drive wallets, like USBs, consistently expose themselves to the risk of hacking, viruses, and keyloggers that can potentially steal all their cryptocurrencies, forcing users to kiss their digital assets goodbye.

Steps to Create a New Paper Wallet

The first step to creating a physical paper bitcoin wallet is to generate a unique bitcoin address. This can be done through your web browser by visiting BitAddress.org. The website is entirely self-explanatory; it generates a key for you. For additional protection, users can further complicate their address by following the information provided on BitAddress, such as moving your mouse cursor around the screen.

After completing this process, users will be presented with their public and private keys, as well as their QR codes. It is ill advised to scan any of this information. Users should then click on the “Paper Wallet” tab provided to them. Under this tab, users can select the number of addresses that they would like to generate. If users do not like to keep the bitcoin wallet artwork that the site automatically generates, they can hide it by clicking the “Hide art?” button when prompted. Once the desired number of addresses is selected and a decision has been made pertaining to artwork, users can simply hit the “‘Generate” button to make new bitcoin wallets.

As soon as BitAddress has generated the new wallets, users can click “Print” in order to create hard copies of their wallet address. Your web browser will prompt you to select the printer of your choice. Certain browsers, like Google Chrome, may allow you to save your wallet address conveniently as a pdf file for later printing.

Those familiar with the blockchain.info website will tell you that the platform offers users the ability to make a safe paper wallet, as well. All you would have to do is find a paper wallet link button in the left-hand menu. There are many other platforms and websites that allow users to create paper wallets.

Certain websites are much more sophisticated than others, such as bitcoinpaperwallet.com. Bitcoinpaperwallet allows users to create tamper-resistant designs for their paper bitcoin wallets. Additionally, holographic labeling may also be used to show that the wallet is tamper free, in addition to other various perks.

Paper Wallet Security Issues

Users should always take serious precautions to ensure that their paper bitcoin wallets are safe, especially if these wallets are used to store a substantial amount of digital assets. Scams and theft are very common in the cryptocurrency world; that’s why it is extremely important for users to remain vigilant and safe at all times.

Important: If you are storing large amounts of cryptocurrencies, we highly recommend you use a Hardware wallet such as a Trezor or Ledger – take a look at our full guide to both devices here.

The following tips can help you remain safe regarding your paper wallet.

Make sure that nobody sees you creating your paper wallet. Unwanted viewers may copy all your keys and steal your funds, leaving you completely perplexed as to how your funds were stolen. BitAddress and LiteAddress allow users to enable two-factor authentication, providing for greatly improved overall wallet security. To avoid the risks of catching any spyware or keyloggers that could be used to snoop through all your activity, users should use a virus-free and clean operating system. Ubuntu is highly recommended for a virus- and malware-free experience.

Once you create and set up your paper wallet through any website, the website code should be able to run offline. To ensure your safety and privacy, disable your internet connection before generating public and private keys. If you wish to go the extra mile and take even more security precautions, you could print the paper wallet from a printer that isn’t connected to any network.

Individuals are also advised to store their paper wallets in a sealed compartment to avoid getting the paper wallet wet and damaged. Users have also laminated their paper wallets to ensure protection from the elements. Safes provide a great amount of security and severely reduce the risk of someone stealing your physical bitcoin wallet. So, if you have a safe in your possession, we highly advise that you store your wallet there. It is also not uncommon for users to entrust their paper wallets to solicitors, or individuals who you could trust with your will, testament, and other critical documents. Users have also stored their paper wallets in deposit boxes.

Exporting Private Keys from Altcoin Wallets

Sure, it’s pretty easy to create a paper wallet for bitcoin and Ether, but it may be a little more complicated to generate a paper wallet for a less commonly used cryptocurrency that doesn’t have an established address generator online. Have no fear; creating a paper wallet for altcoins and less used coins is possible.

Users should keep in mind that every single altcoin carries a variation of the BTC-QT wallet application. Simply visit the site that you used to create your paper wallet and check to see if there is a “Receive” tab that you can click on. Select the address you wish to copy with your mouse, and copy it over on to your computer’s clipboard. Following this, click on the “Help” menu button and select “Debug.” When the console tab opens up, enter > and paste your wallet address over.

After completing these steps, the console should display the private key associated with that wallet. Therefore, you will not have access to the private and public keys of the needed wallet. Users can print these codes or select to generate QR codes for printing. Keep in mind that pertinent wallet details will be on your computer after carrying out this process. You should remove them by finding the corresponding folder that holds the “wallet.dat” file and deleting it. However, you should make sure that no assets are stored in the wallets that you are attempting to delete from your personal computer to avoid a total loss of funds.

Congratulations, following the instructions provided in this article, you should now be in possession of a truly unhackable paper wallet for your cryptocurrency storing needs! If you don’t fancy a physical paper-based wallet, keep in mind that there is a ton of alternatives to safely store your crypto assets.

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The Yahoo product feedback forum now requires a valid Yahoo ID and password to participate.

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Your search engine does not find any satisfactory results for searches. It is too weak. Also, the server of bing is often off

I created a yahoo/email account long ago but I lost access to it; can y'all delete all my yahoo/yahoo account except for my newest YaAccount

I want all my lost access yahoo account 'delete'; Requesting supporter for these old account deletion; 'except' my Newest yahoo account this Account don't delete! Because I don't want it interfering my online 'gamble' /games/business/data/ Activity , because the computer/security program might 'scure' my Information and detect theres other account; then secure online activities/ business securing from my suspicion because of my other account existing will make the security program be 'Suspicious' until I'm 'secure'; and if I'm gambling online 'Depositing' then I need those account 'delete' because the insecurity 'Suspicioun' will program the casino game 'Programs' securities' to be 'secure' then it'll be 'unfair' gaming and I'll lose because of the insecurity can be a 'Excuse'. Hope y'all understand my explanation!

I want all my lost access yahoo account 'delete'; Requesting supporter for these old account deletion; 'except' my Newest yahoo account this Account don't delete! Because I don't want it interfering my online 'gamble' /games/business/data/ Activity , because the computer/security program might 'scure' my Information and detect theres other account; then secure online activities/ business securing from my suspicion because of my other account existing will make the security program be 'Suspicious' until I'm 'secure'; and if I'm gambling online 'Depositing' then I need those account 'delete' because the insecurity 'Suspicioun' will program the casino game 'Programs' securities' to be… more

chithidio@Yahoo.com

i dont know what happened but i can not search anything.

Golf handicap tracker, why can't I get to it?

Why do I get redirected on pc and mobile device?

Rahyaftco@yahoo.com

RYAN RAHSAD BELL literally means

Question on a link

In the search for Anaïs Nin, one of the first few links shows a picture of a man. Why? Since Nin is a woman, I can’t figure out why. Can you show some reason for this? Who is he? If you click on the picture a group of pictures of Nin and no mention of that man. Is it an error?

Repair the Yahoo Search App.

Yahoo Search App from the Google Play Store on my Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone stopped working on May 18, 2018.

I went to the Yahoo Troubleshooting page but the article that said to do a certain 8 steps to fix the problem with Yahoo Services not working and how to fix the problem. Of course they didn't work.

I contacted Samsung thru their Samsung Tutor app on my phone. I gave their Technican access to my phone to see if there was a problem with my phone that stopped the Yahoo Search App from working. He went to Yahoo and I signed in so he could try to fix the Yahoo Search App not working. He also used another phone, installed the app from the Google Play Store to see if the app would do any kind of search thru the app. The Yahoo Search App just wasn't working.

I also had At&t try to help me because I have UVERSE for my internet service. My internet was working perfectly. Their Technical Support team member checked the Yahoo Search App and it wouldn't work for him either.

We can go to www.yahoo.com and search for any topic or website. It's just the Yahoo Search App that won't allow anyone to do web searches at all.

I let Google know that the Yahoo Search App installed from their Google Play Store had completely stopped working on May 18, 2018.

I told them that Yahoo has made sure that their Yahoo members can't contact them about anything.

I noticed that right after I accepted the agreement that said Oath had joined with Verizon I started having the problem with the Yahoo Search App.
No matter what I search for or website thru the Yahoo Search App it says the following after I searched for
www.att.com.

WEBPAGE NOT AVAILABLE
This webpage at gttp://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geJGq8BbkrgALEMMITE5jylu=X3oDMTEzcTjdWsyBGNvbG8DYmyxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDTkFQUEMwxzEEc2VjA3NylRo=10/Ru=https%3a%2f%2fwww.att.att.com%2f/Rk=2/Es=plkGNRAB61_XKqFjTEN7J8cXA-
could not be loaded because:
net::ERR_CLEARTEXT_NOT_PERMITTED

I tried to search for things like www.homedepot.com. The same thing happened. It would say WEBPAGE NOT AVAILABLE. The only thing that changed were all the upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
Then it would again say
could not be loaded because:
net::ERR_CLEARTEXT_NOT_PERMITTED

This is the same thing that happened when Samsung and At&t tried to do any kind of searches thru the Yahoo Search App.

Yahoo needs to fix the problem with their app.

Yahoo Search App from the Google Play Store on my Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone stopped working on May 18, 2018.

I went to the Yahoo Troubleshooting page but the article that said to do a certain 8 steps to fix the problem with Yahoo Services not working and how to fix the problem. Of course they didn't work.

I contacted Samsung thru their Samsung Tutor app on my phone. I gave their Technican access to my phone to see if there was a problem with my phone that stopped the Yahoo Search App from working. He went to Yahoo and… more

How to Create a 99.9% Secure Bitcoin Paper Wallet

Last updated on January 2nd, 2018 at 12:00 am

What is a Bitcoin paper wallet ?

Some people would prefer keeping their private key offline in what is known as Cold Storage. This means that instead of saving that long series of characters known as a private key on their computer they rather print it out and save the paper somewhere safe – hence a paper wallet. Usually this process will be done for the purpose of storing large amounts of Bitcoin since it’s consider safer.

How do I create a non secure paper wallet

Creating a paper wallet is pretty easy, the trick is to secure it correctly. In order to create a NON SECURE paper wallet just head over to BitAddress, create a private key, then choose “Paper Wallet” and print out the results. Your Bitcoins can then be stored through the public address on the left.

Why is this considered non secure ?

First of all you’re connected to the web while doing this, this means that someone may have the ability to see what’s going on on your screen.

Second, if someone was able to hack BitAddress for example, he can collect all of the private keys that people create on the site.

Last but not least, if you’re using Windows you may have been subjected to Malware which you are unaware of. This may put your private key at risk as people may be monitoring your actions.

How to create a SECURE paper wallet

If you’re really serious about safeguarding your Bitcoins you have to make sure you create a secure paper wallet. This process is a bit tedious but is worth the effort.

Why is this process considered secured ?

1. You’re not connected to the Internet while producing your private key.

2. You’re using an “out of the box” operating system which is less prone to Malware.

3. You are using an offline version of BitAddress so no one can “hack” this site.

Download the necessary tools

Step 1 – Install Ubuntu on your flash drive

IMPORTANT: This step will erase everything you have on the flash drive.

• Open up LiLi and insert your flash drive.
• Make sure you’ve selected the correct drive (click refresh if drive isn’t showing).
• Choose “ISO/IMG/ZIP” and select the Ubuntu ISO file you’ve downloaded in the previous step.
• Make sure only “Format the key in FAT32” is selected.
• Click the lightning bolt to start the format and installation process

After the process finished unzip the BitAdrress file you’ve downloaded in the previous step and copy it into your flash drive as well.

Step 2 – Disconnect your computer from the Internet

At this point you would want to disconnect your computer from the Internet whether it’s Wi-Fi or a LAN connection. Make sure there’s no way remote access can be granted to the computer. When finished make sure you are still able to print a test page so you’ll know your printer is good to go.

Step 3 – Run your computer using Ubuntu from your flash drive

By clicking F12 or F1 on computer load you will be able to choose to run your operating system from your flash drive.

After the Ubuntu operating system load you will choose the “try Ubunto” option.

Step 4 – Setup a printer on the Ubuntu operating system

At this point you will want to set up your printer on the Ubuntu OS:

• Click on System Settings (a monkey wrench and cog wheel icon)
• Click on “Printers”
• Click on “Add”
• Add your printer
• Print out a test page

Step 5 – Open BitAddress and print your new paper wallet

The final step will be to open the copy you have of BitAddress.org and create you own paper wallet locally on your machine.

• Open private browsing in FireFox (right click -> “Open a New Private Window”)
• Type in the following in the address bar: file://cdrom/bitaddress.org-master/
• Click on the link “BitAddress.org.html”

• Create your paper wallet by moving the cursor around until the number on the top right reaches 0
• Choose “Paper Wallet” from the menu
• Print out your paper wallet

You can now load your paper wallet by using the public address on the left side.

How To Send Bitcoins From A Paper Wallet

Today we’re going to learn how to safely send the bitcoins that reside on your Bitcoin paper wallet. More accurately, we’re going to tell you what to do, and then you’ll know how to do it.

To spend the funds on your paper wallet, you’ll need:

an internet connection

about 15 minutes

Sending bitcoins from a paper wallet can be summed up in a couple of steps:

Sweep (or import) the private key of the paper wallet into the software wallet.

Send the bitcoins using the software wallet to the recipient’s address.

The bitcoins you’re sending need to be broadcast as a new transaction over the internet. The transaction will then be added to the blockchain, which credits the bitcoins you’re sending to the recipient’s Bitcoin address. This is how bitcoins are transferred.

But I don’t want to spend all of the Bitcoins on my Paper Wallet

You don’t have to if you don’t want to. You can send a portion of them to whomever, and the leftover amount will be stored in your software wallet. Your paper wallet will be depleted of all funds, even if you only spend some of your bitcoins.

But, you can perform an additional step and send the leftover amount back to your paper wallet (though for security, you may want to generate a new paper wallet and send them to that one instead).

Or you can just put all the bitcoins from your paper wallet on to your software wallet without sending them to anyone. It’s your call.

Important Stuff To Consider

Loading bitcoins to a paper wallet is easy — you just send them to the paper wallet’s address. But spending them can be risky if done incorrectly. Improperly importing/sweeping private keys or misunderstanding what you are doing can result in a partial or total loss of your bitcoins.

Make sure you understand:

Importing vs. Sweeping a Paper Wallet: if you don’t know the difference yet, visit the link to the left. It’s important to know whether you should import or sweep your paper wallet, and why. Go ahead — we’ll wait.

Verify Your Actions: It’s best to verify each step of the process is done correctly. When you make a transaction in Bitcoin such as receiving or transferring funds, you can verify each step through the blockchain to make certain that what you thought you were doing actually happened. Some great online tools to do this are blockchain.info, blockr.io, and blockexplorer.com. These websites have a search field where you can copy/paste the public key (a.k.a. Bitcoin address) from your paper wallet, and it’s transactions and total balance will be displayed.

Be Safe: Always remember to keep the private key safe and secure. The paper wallet private key should never be shared; it’s used to spend the paper wallet funds. But the public key can be shared with anyone; this is how you and others send bitcoins to your paper wallet.

How to Spend Your Paper Wallet’s Bitcoins

1. Get Your Paper Wallet Out

The first step is to have your Bitcoin paper wallet nearby — you’ll need access to the stuff written on it. Your Bitcoin paper wallet consists of a private and public key pair, which are displayed as a long sequence of numbers and letters, and their corresponding QR codes (the squares with all the dots in them). Below is an example paper wallet generated using bitaddress.org:

You have two options to get the bitcoins from your paper wallet to your software wallet; scan the QR code or manually type the sequence of letters and numbers by hand. The QR codes simply display the public and private key as separate images that can be read and translated by a camera or webcam. Of course, scanning a QR code is way easier than typing in a bunch letters and numbers.

Many Bitcoin wallet clients and services provide built in QR code scanning and display functionality. But if your wallet can’t scan a QR code, you can download a stand-alone QR code scanner app. These apps will automatically put the scanned address into the computer’s (or device’s) clipboard so that it can be pasted into your wallet app.

2. Check the Paper Wallet’s Balance (optional)

If you want to verify how many bitcoins are on your paper wallet first, scan/paste or type your paper wallet’s address (it’ll be labeled as “Bitcoin Address” or “Load & Verify”) into a blockchain explorer service like Blockchain.info, blockr.io, or blockexplorer.com. Be careful not to accidentally scan the private key! The current balance of your paper wallet will be displayed.

3. Load the Private Key into a Software Wallet Client Via an Import or Sweep

Below are examples using the Blockchain.info web wallet (import/sweep), Electrum client (import/sweep), and the Bitcoin Core client (import only). If you are using another wallet client or service, the steps outlined below should be relatively similar.

Example #1: Blockchain.info Web Wallet Service (Import or Sweep)

In this example, a paper wallet is imported and swept using Blockchain.info’s web wallet service. First, you will need to open your Blockchain.info wallet account and navigate to “Import / Export”. If you don’t already have an account, you can sign up for free.

Here you can either type or copy/paste the paper wallet’s private key (i.e. if you have used a stand-alone QR scanner) into the text box and press “Add Private Key”. Or click “Scan With Webcam” to scan the QR code using your webcam.

Blockchain.info gives you the option to import or sweep the paper wallet. Please make sure you understand the difference. It’s generally recommend to sweep the paper wallet instead of importing it.

Once you complete this process you should see the entire paper wallet balance added to your Blockchain.info account balance. These bitcoins are now ready to be spent by going to the “Send Money” tab, entering the recipient’s Bitcoin address, the amount, and clicking “Send Payment”.

You can now destroy or securely store the paper wallet.

Example #2: Electrum Client (Import and Sweep)

This section will illustrate using Electrum to import the paper wallet private key, and then performing an internal sweep of the imported private key to a different private key. If you don’t have Electrum installed, you can download it here.

Shown below are the steps using the Mac version (the Windows version will be the same). First open Electrum, then navigate to Wallet > Private keys > Import, as shown below:

If your Electrum wallet is encrypted, you will be prompted with a password dialog. Enter your password to continue. The following window will open asking for a list of private keys to be imported. Electrum provides no QR code scanner, you will have to scan your paper wallet private key yourself and paste it in into the window, or just type it in:

Press the “Import” button to proceed.

Your paper wallet funds will now be available in your Electrum wallet where you are free to spend them wherever. At this point, the paper wallet private key has only been imported and not swept.

To perform a sweep, open the “Receive” tab. Right click on the private key address you just imported, click “Send From” as show in the image below:

Choose a receive address that you own to send the coins to by copying and pasting an address from the “Receive” tab in Electrum. Enter in the full balance of the paper wallet, minus the minimum 0.0001 BTC miner’s fee. Right now the minimum fee is 0.0001 BTC — in the example 0.001 BTC was imported from the paper wallet, so only 0.0009 BTC can be sent because of the miner’s fee.

Click “Send” — the paper wallet private key has now been swept of all its bitcoins as they now reside on a different private key in the Electrum wallet. You can verify this by checking the amount next to the imported private key within Electrum is now zero.

Your paper wallet’s bitcoins can now be spent by going to the “Send” tab, entering the recipient’s Bitcoin address, an amount, fee amount, and clicking “Send”.

Optional: Remove the Paper Wallet’s Imported Private Key

Once you have confirmed the private key has a zero balance and the sweep has been fully confirmed in the blockchain, you can optionally delete the imported paper wallet’s private key from Electrum. You might do this if you want to reuse your paper wallet as cold storage and don’t want the private key lying around on your computer — if your computer is ever hacked, the private key won’t be there for the attacker to steal. Additionally, the imported paper wallet address cannot be recovered using the Electrum wallet’s seed — so if any bitcoins are ever sent to that private key, and you’ve destroyed your paper wallet, and you haven’t performed a manual Electrum wallet backup, those bitcoins will be lost forever.

If you choose to do this, please verify that the internal pending sweep is fully confirmed and has a green check mark icon next to it and not a gear icon and that the private key has a zero amount before removing the private key from wallet. This might take an hour.

Once the internal pending sweep is confirmed with a green check mark next to it, you can now safely remove the private key from your wallet.

Example #3: Bitcoin Core Client (import only)

This section shows how to use Bitcoin Core to import a paper wallet private key.

Open the Bitcoin Core client application in Mac (steps will be the same for Windows Bitcoin Core client). Ensure that the client is fully synced with the Bitcoin blockchain. It can take up to a few days to sync the blockchain from start. If you do not want to wait this long, please use a “thin” or “web-based” wallet as detailed in Examples #1 and #2.

In the Bitcoin Core client, click Help & Debug Window, illustrated below:

A separate window will open; make sure the “Console” tab is selected. If your Bitcoin Core wallet is encrypted and has a passphrase you will need to unlock the wallet temporarily in order to import a private key. Using the command below will unlock your wallet for 900 seconds.

Now that Bitcoin Core has unlocked your wallet, you can import your Bitcoin paper wallet private key by issuing the following command.

Note that “OPTIONAL LABEL” is not required, and it is not used in the below example.

When you execute the importprivkey command, it will take anywhere from 2 to 15 minutes to complete, depending on the speed of the computer. The reason for the long wait is because the Bitcoin Core client is scanning the entire blockchain to obtain the transactions and balance of the private key. During this process, Bitcoin Core will become unresponsive. When the import is complete, you will see the command prompt return.

You should now see the funds from your paper wallet added to Bitcoin Core’s wallet balance. Your paper wallet’s bitcoins can be spent by going to the “Send” tab, entering the recipient’s Bitcoin address into the “Pay To” field, a label, an amount, and clicking “Send”.

Remember that following the above guide only imports the private key into Bitcoin Core, if you wish to perform a sweep of the private using Bitcoin Core you will need to make use of “listreceivedbyaddress” and “sendfrom” commands.

What is a Bitcoin Paper Wallet?

A bitcoin paper wallet is just the Bitcoin private key printed on a piece of paper.

Although paper is one particular medium of holding the private key there are other companies that have incorporated them into physical coins, such as Casascius.

Paper wallets are a form of cold wallet and essentially a bearer instrument – whoever holds them has access to both the Bitcoin private key and therefore the address.

So you could actually hand the wallet to someone in lieu of payment – they would have to trust that you didn’t have another copy of it though and wouldn’t run off and spend the balance before they could.

The private key creates the public key, which in turn creates the address – and due to some clever mathematics using elliptic curves and modular arithmetic in finite fields the process is achieved. First though let’s remind ourselves of the process.

One form of standard paper wallet is from bitaddress.org – the private address is generated using a client side javascript tool that calculated the address too. The format the wallet is presented in is with two QR codes and two numbers – the Bitcoin address in standard base-58 format and the private bitcoin key in the Wallet import Format or WIF.

They also give you the opportunity to make gift cards that have an amount stamped on them making them a form of note.

You can store this away in a vault – there is then no chance apart from through physical theft that your Bitcoins can be stolen from this address.

There are also various physical coins that come with various forms of tamper proof security. Casascius is probably the most famous of these, although in late 2013 they were stopped from selling loaded coins i.e coins containing Bitcoins – FinCen had classified them as a money transmitting business.

There are other coin producers such as Antana, Alitin and Titan Bitcoin who all provide various forms of bearer bitcoins.

One example of where the perils of a paper wallet can be seen is when a tv presenter showed his QR code for the private key live on television.

The private key was quickly used to spend the money in the Bitcoin address although later returned to the owner. Keep your private key safe!

Bitcoin: What’s in the White Paper?

10 min read / December 30, 2017

In August of 2008, the domain bitcoin.org was registered, and just three months later, a mysterious entity posted the original Bitcoin whitepaper. Authored by Satoshi Nakamoto, an entity claiming to be a 36-year old Japanese man, the whitepaper is only a nine-page document outlining the core fundamentals of Bitcoin, and was followed by the first open source Bitcoin client in January of 2009. Satoshi himself mined the first block, called the genesis block, which had a reward of 50 bitcoins.

Strangely enough, Satoshi seemed to be a real person, albeit a genius at that, and interacted heavily with other developers for several years, improving Bitcoin while never revealing anything that could pin down who he really was. Then in April 2011, Nakamoto announced he had “moved on to other things”, and was never heard of again.

Through the same genius that was able to invent a cryptographically secured currency, Satoshi Nakamoto fully obfuscated his identity, and to this day no one knows who he really was. Whoever it was must have had an extreme mastery of economics, cryptography, C++ programming, and peer to peer networking. Nakamoto was also incredibly skilled at writing in English.

The Contents of the Whitepaper

So what did Satoshi write in the whitepaper that started this all? Well, he starts with an abstract, where he lays out the goal of an entirely peer-to-peer payment system in which no broker entity is required other than the payment network itself.

After the abstract, Satoshi writes a basic introduction. The problem Bitcoin is trying to solve is the lack of trust in electronic payments. Specifically, without a banking authority acting as the broker of online transactions, two entities attempting to transact have no way of ensuring the other is trustworthy. He states that:

“What is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party.”

Historically, the problem that mainly occurred in electronic payment systems is double spending, in which a single piece of currency could be spent multiple times when proper mechanisms were not in place. Bitcoin addresses this through its timestamp based chronological ledger of transactions.

An electronic coin is defined as a chain of digital signatures, where the transfer of coins – or fractions thereof – is handled by digitally signing a hash of the previous transaction along with the cryptographic public key of the next owner. A receiver of coins can still not verify that the previous owner of that coin did not spend it multiple times, and this is where a minting authority usually comes into play in the traditional exchange of money.

Instead, though, Satoshi writes that another way to ensure double spending does not occur is through public announcement of all transactions, where the timestamp is critical. Based on when the transaction happened, a second transaction would need to be refused based on its timestamp, which would clearly state it occurred after the first.

How can people ensure the first transaction is known to everyone, though?

Satoshi digs into this exact question, diving right into how the timestamp server would need to behave. The timestamp server broadcasts a hash, which holds the previously diagrammed transaction records. By broadcasting this hash publicly, the timestamp generated by this public announcement serves as proof that the transaction must have existed then. Each new hash includes the previous hash along with a new block of data, forming a chain where each subsequent timestamp reinforces the one before it.

The actual implementation of this timestamp server would occur through a proof-of-work mechanism, according to Satoshi. Similar to Adam Back’s Hashcash, the proof involves scanning for a value that when hashed begins with a specific number of zero bits. The work required to accomplish this grows exponentially with the number of zeros desired, and can be verified in a single hashing operation.

Proof-of-work is meant to give each CPU in the network a single vote, where the subject of voting is the validity of transactions.

“The majority decision is represented by the longest chain, which has the greatest proof-of-work effort invested in it. If a majority of CPU power is controlled by honest nodes, the honest chain will grow the fastest and outpace any competing chains.”

Satoshi writes about honest nodes here, where a dishonest node would be a potential attacker on the cryptocurrency’s network. By the mechanisms outlined so far, an attacker would have to redo the proof-of-work of all blocks in a specific chain to overtake the honest nodes’ chain. Through probabilistic algebra outlined in section 11 of the whitepaper, Satoshi showed that this is very unlikely.

Proof-of-work is dictated by a difficulty, which is determined by a moving average targeting a specific number of blocks per hour, so as to avoid the effects of ever improving hardware, among other things. If blocks are generated too fast, the difficulty increases automatically. The goal time per block is 10 minutes, and with the current craze, the difficulty has risen exponentially as global hashing power has flown into the network.

The fifth section of the original bitcoin whitepaper lays out fairly simply how the network approval of transactions should occur.

1) New transactions are broadcast to all nodes.

2) Each node collects new transactions into a block.

3) Each node works on finding a difficult proof-of-work for its block.

4) When a node finds a proof-of-work, it broadcasts the block to all nodes.

5) Nodes accept the block only if all transactions in it are valid and not already spent.

6) Nodes express their acceptance of the block by working on creating the next block in the chain, using the hash of the accepted block as the previous hash.

The longest chain is always assumed to be the correct one, and in times of competing chains of the same length the earliest one received is worked on, while the second one is kept around in case it was actually the correct one all along. When a new block is then approved on one of the chains, this breaks that tie and the shorter chain is then abandoned.

Bitcoin has two main sources of mining incentive. The first is fairly straightforward and is the transaction fee component. For every transaction sent in bitcoin, what is sent is always more than what is received by the designated receiver, and the difference is left to miners as a transaction fee reward. In addition, until all 21m coins are mined, each new block has a coin reward associated with it which are entirely new bitcoins. This reward halves every 210,000 blocks, and is currently projected to halve again from 12.5 coins to 6.25 coins in 2020. As mentioned earlier, the genesis block had a reward of 50 coins, and has already halved twice to the current 12.5 coin/block reward.

The seventh section dives into the fact that all blocks need not be broadcast everywhere all the time, a good thing since the current blockchain of over half a million blocks is well over 100GB of data. Satoshi writes about how some elements of the chain can be pruned over time to reduce the size of the chain passed around to the various bitcoin nodes. Basically, transactions that have been verified and buried under other accepted blocks can start being pruned off without breaking the block’s hash. Using a Merkle tree, the chain can be compacted, which today means a node does not need to store the entire bitcoin blockchain, and instead can run with only several gigabytes of space.

The paper then dives into how a payment is verified. Users on the network, writes Satoshi, do not need to run a full node, and really only need the block headers of the longest chain, which they can ascertain by querying other nodes on the network until they are convinced the longest chain is in hand.

The node can then link a transaction to the block it’s timestamped in, and while the node cannot verify the transaction by itself, by linking it to the network-based chain, other nodes will then broadcast that block containing the linked transaction, and more blocks on top of that will then be added, further verifying the transaction by the network.

As long as honest nodes control the network, says Satoshi, verification is reliable. If a single attacker can overpower the network, however, this malicious actor could verify their own transactions willy-nilly as long as they could continue to overpower the network.

Privacy is a big concern when the ledger of transactions is public. Just like the stock market tape, Bitcoin publicly announces the size and timing of transactions, but the parties involved are not included in the transaction data itself.

Satoshi was a master in obfuscating his own identity, and he even writes that a new public-private key pair should be used for each new transaction, which is not foolproof but can protect owners of transactions from being linked to many transactions should a single one be linked to them.

The 11th section dives into probabilistic math, specifically centred around showing the unlikeliness of a malicious actor being able to overpower the network. Satoshi relies on the assumption that the probability of an honest network node finding the next block is always greater than the probability of a malicious network node catching up, and goes on to show that once the honest chain is far enough ahead of an attacker chain it becomes exponentially more difficult for an attacker to overtake the honest network chain.

Satoshi concludes by stating:

“We have proposed a system for electronic transactions without relying on trust.”

The paper ends by declaring that any needed improvements to the network can be enforced through the voting mechanism used to verify transactions. This is how Bitcoin continues to evolve, years after the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared back into the Internet. Bitcoin does rely on trust, however, trust that the software will do what it was written to do. Thankfully, that has definitely been the case so far, with many researchers, including world-renowned security research Dan Kaminsky, being unable to find severe flaws in the system Satoshi built. Who knows if Satoshi will reappear one day, but until then Bitcoin is growing like crazy, and one can only imagine that Nakamoto would be proud of his invention.

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