PC

Nementon

The security won't depend on the software wallet it will depend on the security of your PC, so basically it will depend on your behaviour.

riscten

A hardware wallet is really just a convenience device for people who spend frequently. For most hodlers who just stack without ever spending, all they need is to generate a wallet on an airgapped PC *once*, then import that wallet as watch-only on their phone so that they can receive funds and check balance easily.

wasgivenautismbyvax

[bitcoin self custody - Search](https://www.bing.com/search?pglt=931&q=bitcoin+self+custody&cvid=7c80f9735f12493bad234e008d5a4a8d&gs_lcrp=EgRlZGdlKgYIABBFGDkyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQABhAMgYIAhAAGEAyBggDEAAYQDIGCAQQABhAMgYIBRAAGEAyBggGEAAYQNIBCDQyMzhqMGoxqAIAsAIA&FORM=ANNTA1&PC=HCTS)

markaction

Something like Solana might have quicker block times, but it is not decentralized at all. Their validators run in a server-farm that can be shut-down. And if you are a "home-staker", well Solana isn't for you. In contrast, with Ethereum you can be a Validator with a home PC. And the Validators are geographically spread out as well, so no single nation-state can shut down the network. What is more important to you, and why are you in this space in first place if you don't care about decentralization?

Sector__7

Regarding image quality, what do you expect from a windows 95 PC and a potato camera?

wasgivenautismbyvax

' I ended up making an account and following 'bitcoin Archieve on the Odessay 1\] , there is a very small chance - [The Satoshi Mystery full english version - Search](https://www.bing.com/search?pglt=931&q=The+Satoshi+Mystery+full+english+version&cvid=73429e73eb174810a7efd183dd621473&gs_lcrp=EgRlZGdlKgYIABBFGDkyBggAEEUYOdIBCDM5NzdqMGoxqAIAsAIA&FORM=ANNTA1&PC=HCTS) did a key word search, 2nd link came up amazon - shows the same , French- so I highly doubt there is a full English version - and I feel like I can't study best these types of videos?

MinimalGravitas

> what's been improved so far on the main Ethereum chain? Every year Ethereum upgrades with multiple EIPs, there have obviously been a huge number since the chain's inception, and in many ways the network is barely recognizable... so it is hard to know if you are being serious here? Assuming so, the switch to proof of stake was an upgrade that surely everyone has heard of? Previously the chain was built by 'miners' running GPUs racing to guess lucky numbers that would give a hash close to zero. The winner of that guessing game got to make a block, and was paid ETH to do so. You could never really know how long it would take someone's GPUs to guess a lucky number, and so you could never really know how long it would be until the next block, obviously a problem for some applications and use cases. Now we have switched to proof of stake each block takes exactly 12 seconds. Another problem with proof of work is the ability for large miners to re-org the chain, replacing a previous block and therefore undoing those transactions. Finality was never totally final as at least theoretically a miner with enough hashpower could undo any number of blocks if they were dominant enough. With proof of stake we get true finality after 2 epochs (about 8.5 minutes), after which no matter how dominant a block producer was they could not change history. Another issue that proof of stake solves is centralization due to economies of scale. With proof of work, a rich miner can move to an area with cheap infrastructure, make deals with energy providers, bulk buy hardware etc etc. This reduces their costs and so increases their profitability in comparison with small miners, who can only afford to set up at home, with domestic power supplies etc. This means big entities are more profitable, and so eventually out compete small miners, centralizing block creation (like we see with BTC today, where almost no-one mines profitably from home). With PoS however, there are no big power or hardware requirements, and so no meaningful benefits for those operating at scale. Everyone earns pretty much the same returns, regardless of if you are a hobbyist with a $500 PC running a 3.2 ETH distributed validator, or a huge exchange like Coinbase with thousands and thousands of validators. Percentage returns will be about the same. Then there is the energy consumption. At it's height, Ethereum mining was consuming on the order of 0.2% of the total electricity used by humanity. That is a crazy amount of power, and switching to PoS was probably the single biggest reduction in energy use in history. And finally, there was the reduction of issuance. Because Ethereum no longer needed to pay the electricity bills for it's miners, the chain was able to cut the inflation of ETH the asset by about 90%. Even if you don't care about any of the other stuff, if you understand that BTC reducing inflation by 50% every 'halvening' is good, then obviously reducing inflation of ETH by 90% is also good. So look, that was just one upgrade, albeit the most well known one. The Ethereum foundation pay the majority of the researchers that design, study and model each upgrade, and the teams of developers that build, test and implement the changes. And obviously this goes into the future too. The next upgrade that is being worked on now has loads more improvements, and loads of devs and academics contributing. You can see what changes are coming and how they improve things for all the different types of stakeholder at: https://forkcast.org/upgrade/fusaka

juliandid

Why, when the heat is on and BTC moves up quickly does the Coin Base web site on my PC go down with "server too busy" errors? which means I can not do a damn thing tradings or selling. I had to use my phone to do the job. This happens quite often.

Boo0ger

Also take into consideration that your photo library and email account is not compromised today. But what makes you believe it won’t in a year from now or maybe 10 years from now? You do realize that 0-day viruses can hit at any time with new ways to compromise your phone or PC right?

Userbyte101

You probably have a RAT on your PC, if you have a webcam disable it or tape over it. Reset your computer to factory settings and do not ever download random stuff without verifying it. Before factory resetting make sure everything you need is saved.

Erowid2S

My 9950X3D, Laptop's 6800H and other laptop's 4500U get me a total of 0.07 XMR every ~60 days. It used to be 40 days. I guess more people are mining now. Anyways basically I earn 30 cents a day from this. It's not much at all but I have free energy and can keep my PC and laptops on 24/7.

No-Wrap3568

Phantom and MetaMask are convenient for daily use, but for 10–15 years of storage they carry serious risks—if your phone or PC gets hacked or you sign a malicious transaction, your funds can vanish instantly. Hardware wallets keep your keys offline, so even if your computer’s compromised, the attacker can’t steal them without your physical device and PIN. If the device breaks, you usually recover with your seed phrase on a new one, though paper backups can degrade or be lost over time. That’s why some long-term holders prefer solutions like the Cypherock X1, which removes the single seed phrase risk by splitting your private key into five encrypted pieces (1 vault + 4 cards) using Shamir’s Secret Sharing, needing only any two to recover meaning you’re safe even if the main device or some cards are lost or damaged.

NefariousnessVivid

no, you’ll meed a PC for this.

GoldenBeard32

Im not selling these at the moment. Wallet address and seed phrase is all generated offline with an old air gapped PC. And it prints to a printer via USB cable. I’m also that one guy that dies inside when people tell me they screen shorted their seed phrase. It should always be analog.

Objective_Gene9503

My neighbor is running a node on an apple silicon mac mini. It's really incredible how low the barrier of entry is for participating in consensus on Algorand. Much lower hardware requirements compared to what I needed to run a node on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. I also like how easy it is to get rewards. No token lock up and the rewards come into the wallet in real time. Got me thinking about running a node myself with a spare PC that I have in the closet.

International-Rip129

Run a search for ' *.dat' files. The asterisk before the dot serves as a wildcard so itll search for all .dat files on the PC. I'd then Google the names of some of the dat files to see if any are related to BTC wallets.

FesteringAynus

I'm in the same boat. My mom left me her old PC and my litter brother at the time was into the bitcoin craze and convinced her to buy some. She has like maybe 8 bitcoin on the PC but I have no idea wtf to do and how it even looks like or whatever, so I just stored it away in a storage unit lol. Maybe I should consider grabbing it after seeing all these comments.

Need_For_Speed73

No, don't connect it to your PC it could contain viruses (true). Just send it to me, I'll check it for you. [https://cdn-useast1.kapwing.com/static/templates/black-guy-hiding-behind-tree-meme-template-regular-d36efd44.webp](https://cdn-useast1.kapwing.com/static/templates/black-guy-hiding-behind-tree-meme-template-regular-d36efd44.webp)

Pugilist12

Understand that at this moment you cannot trust anyone. You just can’t. If you can’t figure out how to fix it yourself, take that fucking sticker off and try to find a small, local PC repair place. Ideally it’s just one nerd who runs his own little shop. And…I don’t know. Play it casual, hoping he won’t snoop? Tell him upfront that you KNOW what’s on it so if anything is missing you will KNOW? Might work. Tell him the whole situation and hope he’s an honest person? ….

hotDamQc

Yeah but he has an RTX 5090 in that PC so I don't see the issue here

intergalactic_dog

Solana, SUI & SEI are still slow compared to Microsoft SQL on my PC

SmoothGoing

[Trezor Safe 5](https://trezor.io/trezor-safe-5) is very nice to use @ $180. Touch screen, swiping, very smooth. Works with PC wallets and Android wallets. It's the best for daily users. [Coldcard MK4](https://coldcard.com/mk4) @ $178 is great if you want high security, lots of features but not obvious on how to use. It's great if you want to pull it out on rare occasion. The dot matrix looking menus and clicky buttons offer somewhat clunkier usability, i.e. for entering your passphrase. It would take me longer to do the same send function with MK4 vs Trezor Safe 5. The more budget option I would also recommend (and own) is [Trezor Safe 3](https://trezor.io/trezor-safe-3) @ $80. Ledger has baggage and Trezor Model One is a decade old, may soon go out of support, and same as Trezor Model T - no secure element. A more modern generation of wallets with a strong base is Safe 3 or Safe 5. All of these options obviously come with top notch safety, secure elements, whole nine yards, not just "looking pretty." Do not get scammed. Do not let anyone set things up for you. Do not lose or reveal your mnemonic to any app or website to "validate" wallet, or "web3" anything, or other nonsense. Do not fall for scary looking emails telling you to migrate your wallet or some quantum thing and telling you to give up your mnemonic to some website. Doesn't matter if it looks like the hardware vendor made it. Read and follow the instructions and user guides. Enable the passphrase feature and get comfortable with how it creates an entirely separate wallet. Passphrase isn't stored internally so it cannot be extracted from the hardware by any means even if the device is lost or stolen. There are some fans of Jade. Unless you need what it specifically does like bitcoin liquid and AMP token stuff do not buy a Jade.

Cakewormz

I mined Bitcoin in 2009. But back then it was just numbers on a screen. There was not exchanges where you could easily turn the Bitcoin in to usable cash. Bitcoin where as useful as money from a bank heist in Grand Theft Auto. It was just numbers in a screen. No one really could have predicted what would have happened. When I started mining in 2009 it only took a few minutes to mine 1 bitcoin on my Gateway Mediacenter PC. I mined for about three weeks, and then stopped. It was pointless. Also to keep mining I had to get a new harddrive to handle the ever increasing size of the pagefile. And that harddrive would have cost easily 250 usd. So I uninstalled the miner. And hid my safe words somewhere safe. So I at one point could recreate my wallet later. But I haven't been able to recover the words. Don't know where they are.

reffak

I as reading some tech mag and there was a small story about the new internet money called bitcoin. Thought hmm interesting. Being in a third world country it a a bit difficult to get more info on it. Fast forward to 2017 and I am mining on my PC, had a bit of spare cash and bought a few. Since then, hodel. Its for a rainy day, my daughter and my grandson. Its intergenerational wealth

siberian

Newegg FTW! I buy a new PC every 4-5 years with Crypto there. Newegg is an OG crypto acceptance company.

PowerfulPossibility6

You would download and all known addresses (UTXO) that had non-zero balance or at least activity (received and spent money) during a given time period when the user knows they were using the wallet. It is large but not excessive, less than 100 GB? Full blockchain size is 670GB, we need only addresses not other details, and can filter by known time range, and addresses can even be trimmed from 25 bytes to let’s say 10 bytes for address - it will still be very unique. Computationally it does not even need to be in GPU or even in RAM, it can stay on disk. Compute all valid permutations of words -> calculate ~29mln (479 millions / 16) seeds to BIP derivation paths (this is computationally intense!) -> get perhaps 200mln candidate addresses at common derivation paths -> 10 GB of candidate addresses (if trimmed to 10 bytes per address). Now need to lookup/join a 10GB dataset against a 100GB dataset on disk, it is doable on a PC in lots of ways effeciently.

ShittingOutPosts

Thought so. Thanks for confirming. I saw CoD is also doing something similar, so I’m sure my PC will be far more vulnerable than it is today, but I guess this stuff is inevitable with FPS games.

The_Faceless1

Then dont install any game with Kernel level anti cheat. Its sad but its the only way to fight cheaters nowadays, even thats not bullet proof, but still far better than using one that doesnt use kernel level anti cheat. If you want to play FPS games, this is the future you need to accept. Or just buy a PS5 and dont play FPS games on PC.

bongosformongos

Pretty much every anti cheat does this. Vanguard, EasyAnticheat etc. All kernel level access. Vanguard even requires to run whenever your PC is powered on.

birjy

For crypto use smartphone ,for gaming PC ,whats the problem

pontificuxius

It's as complicated as you make it. Self-custodial cold storage - at its core - just means generating your own addresses on a device not connected to the internet. Decide on what your priorities are. Do you want a simple, intuitive method for managing your crypto? -> go for a well-known hardware wallet, such as Trezor. Do you want a more hardcore, hands-on approach? -> set up an air-gapped PC yourself with the right programs for generating wallets. Remember that address generation is just a neat bit of code - where and how you run it depends on your personal preferences and technical know-how.

Merflon

Bitcoin is nice for a big reason: It is easy to have your own private wallet, run your own node, and be Completely Independent of everyone else. Any old PC with \~TB of space and some sort of internet will do.

fusterclux

OP is in my DMs. He told me he’s found a folder on an old PC. Update: he’s currently waiting to see if the folder has any BTC or not

Mynameismikek

The timestamps on the files are only minutes apart. I'd guess they had a go at running their PC as a miner, then stopped 10 mins later when the fans got too loud. There's gonna be nothing in there.

bigbrainbrianhere

Not entirely sure, as all my mother gave me for context was that her friend's son moved countries without wanting his PC stuff anymore. Don't know much more than that. Did find old photos of them I'm saving to send it back to them

pontificuxius

Remember it's also possible to buy P2P (peer-to-peer), such as on Bisq or HodlHodl. With regards to the cold wallet, having one serves two purposes: 1. You own your own keys. If you hold crypto on an exchange, it's not truly "your crypto" because they hold your private keys and, thus, control your crypto. 2. The private keys live on a device that is never connected to the internet and, hence, are totally protected from malware and other nasties. There are plenty of good hardware wallets out there, such as Trezor. Though using a hardware wallet is recommended for the average user, it's also possible to set up a PC with the correct programs for generating wallets. I mention this just so you know it's an option. Best of luck and happy HODLing!

VisualPage782

I saw your comment reply, but for some reason I couldn't figure out how to reply to it. I guess I'm getting old, haha. I was using UmbrelOS on the Rasp Pi 4, which is based on Debian. I did some googling but couldn't figure out the specific Debian build that UmbrelOS is using. I like Umbrel because it works out the box for everything bitcoin and doesn't have a graphical user interface, just command line when using monitor and keyboard. The interface is web based and it frees up PC resources by outsourcing the graphical processing to the PC connecting to the web interface. I looked up the specs on a Rasp Pi 5. You'll probably have better luck than I did. Seems much more powerful, and the power supply is 27w instead of 15w on the Pi 4. So you may not have the power issues I did with the usb ports and usb/sata adapter.

nachtraum

Don't generate your private key online, don't store or enter your seed phrase on a PC (or other online connected device), if you don't want to lose your funds.

OriginalFluff

Sadly no. Mostly just PC ETBs from the modern cards and PSA 10 slabs. I doubt anything I own will retire me.

VisualPage782

I tried it on a Raspberry Pi 4 and it was painfully slow. That was just bitcoin core by itself. If you plan on running all that extra software on it, be prepared for a laggy interface. I also had an issue where the SATA to USB adapter knocked out the USB ports, even though I pasted heatsinks all over the chips on the board. I run Umbrel with Bitcoin core, Electrs, Mempool, NGINX proxy server, Pi-Hole DNS, all on an old HP Elitedesk mini PC. It will randomly spike to 25% cpu when doing something, but idles around 5-6%. Another thing to keep in mind, these PCs have variable speed fans, so they're quiet when idling. The Raspberry Pi 4 I bought didn't have a variable speed fan, so it was loud all the time. Something to keep in mind. Some info about my setup. I bought an HP Elitedesk 800 G3 on ebay with Core i5-6500 (3.2Ghz 4 core), 8GB RAM, no disk or power supply for $50. I added extra 8GB RAM ($15), new power supply ($12), and a cooling fan ($14), total cost was less than $100. I already had a 2TB Sata SSD laying around. Still under $200 if you need to purchase a disk drive. After realizing that Umbrel runs on x86 systems, I've completely abandoned Raspberry Pi as a platform for bitcoin nodes. There's better and cheaper options out there, unless you already have a Pi laying around that you want to repurpose.

Grubne

download the Electrum Wallet desktop client for your PC and set up a wallet. after you buy on cash app, withdraw your BTC to one of your Electrum Wallet addresses. that way you have it stored in a wallet that you can restore in the event that your hardware fails. cashapp does not create accounts using seed phrases like other wallets. so say, for example, you get locked out of cashapp or get your account shut down, you have no way to retrieve your BTC. with Electrum, you can restore your wallet and recover your BTC as long as you have the seed phrase that was generated when you created the account. i know that this is an old post, and you probably obtained cold storage already, but that is what i would suggest to someone for any amount over $100.

ddenou

Hi, thank you for your hard work and the incredible trades. Making this public is remarkable. I would be interested to know how you got into trading. Where you come from, your age, etc. I have built a thesis on your values for the Coin Project Crypto $PC and would like to hear your opinion on it: Bullish Thesis for $PC (Project Crypto): The Next Breakout Memecoin in the Style of $DOGE In the dynamic world of memecoins, assets like $BONK and $DOGE have shown that strong narratives and fundamentals can lead to explosive gains. $PC (Project Crypto) on Solana (Address: HL3dJsB6BZVdQYTpRYLS94Bmd62D1SFhonMBaajUbonk) and Ethereum (Address: 0x892b60319ef4f9be8f97f8c8c4e85cf8cb0442f2) positions itself as the next moonshot candidate. Based on patterns from successful memecoins like $DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and $BONK, here’s a detailed thesis: Focus on conviction and HODL, ignore short-term charts, and zero in on fundamentals. This could be the runner that creates generational wealth. (1/4) #PC #Memecoin #CryptoBull Core Thesis 1: $PC as “DOGE Gov” for the SEC On-Chain Revolution – Political Narratives Are Unbeatable The “Department of Government Efficiency” ($DOGE) narrative has established itself as one of the strongest memes this cycle – with a 6,000% pump in a month, top-trading status on Ethereum, exploding holders, and support from figures like Elon Musk and Donald Trump. It’s achieved 244% gains, boosting market cap by $45B in 1.5 months, benefiting from political backing that creates long-term hype. 15 Such regulatory and political developments attract retail investors, institutions, and normies. $PC follows the same playbook: As the memecoin for the SEC’s “Project Crypto,” it drives regulated on-chain market integration. 10 It debunks Ethereum rumors and could unlock billions in adoption once SEC details go public. 11 With a low entry price (~$0.0006 on ETH, MC ~$613K) and strong early momentum, it offers asymmetric potential – just like $DOGE exploded from under $10M cap to multi-billions. 7 The narrative isn’t short-term; it’s long-term viral, with a solid community base and potential media attention. Fundamentals like on-chain metrics and KOL support are building early, and FUD can be debunked like in other memes. (2/4) 🚀🐶 Core Thesis 2: Bullish Fundamentals – Applying Lessons from $BONK and $DOGE Successful memecoins stand out with on-chain strength: Holder growth, high trading volume, and community hype. $PC shows similar signs: Fresh launch with cross-chain presence on Solana and ETH, potential market-maker deals (e.g., Wintermute), and growing adoption. The Project Crypto narrative draws not just crypto degens but institutions seeking regulated markets. 12 Early metrics are popping – holders growing, volume potential massive. In altcoin season, it could explode like $BONK through community-driven hype. If it dips, that’s a buy opp: Short-term pain for long-term gain. (3/4) Core Thesis 3: Why $PC is Bullish – The Big Picture and HODL Advice In summary: $PC is the “Doge Gov” for the SEC era. Regulatory narratives outperform in bull markets – $BONK pumping 7% despite FUD. In 2025’s ongoing bull market, $PC positions as a winner via on-chain revolution and retail flooding. Target: $1 price, $1B+ market cap, outpacing competitors. Risks like volatility exist, but conviction wins – let FUD come and accumulate. $PC could be the strongest emerging meme narrative: Politically backed, community-driven, and primed for explosive gains. HODL, load dips, and watch it send. This is no financial advice, just a thesis based on market patterns. 🚀

Laxmin

That would be simplistic. Let's take real world examples. About 300,000 Hongkongers will be relocating to the UK - 214,400 have already immigrated. Ref: [214,400 arrivals to the UK \(rounded\), with 25,500 in the year ending September 2024](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-september-2024/how-many-people-come-to-the-uk-via-safe-and-legal-humanitarian-routes) Now, the crime rate of these Hong Kongers is below 1%. The Jail population of Hindus in UK Jails is a grand 0%. (Ref: Page 16, [UK Prison Population Statistics - submitted to the UK Parliament](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04334/SN04334.pdf)) Now, do you know what is the percentage of Muslims in Jails? Compared to their population? Muslims make up for 7% of England and Wales, but 18% of Jail population. (Ref. [abid](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04334/SN04334.pdf)) Even if the population doubles with immigrants from Chinese, Indian (read Hindu), Thai, Vietnam, Cambodian, etc populations, the crime rate won't double, it will come down. There is a problem that we must not overlook because it is not PC.

GabeSter

If you are looking at the post on PC the picture quality might be terrible for some reason. (reddit being funky) - on mobile it should look better.

disco-cone

>uses the same security and is much slower to adapt to changes, so they will have "even more" problems. Banks use encryption but not in the same way as Bitcoin. Cryptography is not used to prove ownership of your money. Your IRL id is used for those basically and a password that you know. Cryptography is used over the net HTTPS. But you could securely use a banking website over HTTP if you are on a LAN network. It's very difficult to perform mitm attacks on fibre cables. Even if everyone could break encryption only a few parties would actually have access to the network traffic. Eg government, ISPs and any organisation that can splice fibre cables without ruining them. This isn't the case for Bitcoin. This is a catastrophic threat to Bitcoin but not a serious threat for fiat but still pretty serious. If QC was available we would need to stop using any device that communicated wirelessly. Eg your phone would be insecure. But a PC connecting over fibre would be relatively secure

Drtysouth205

He’s a Brit. He’ll do his time in PC

Rattl3r_21

I have been mining tari for about 3 weeks now... got about 400 XTM till date (couldnt mine for a few days due to blackout). I feel that the fight of investors vs miners is there in it... all investors believe it is a pump and dump. but it has been going stable above 10 mill MC for sometime now. The dumping is being done by those who were in the project since the beginnning and made good profits during the 70 mil high. I am sure there are many people who believe it is a pump and dump scheme but from a miner's perspective and for a PC which as it is I have to run 24x7 cos of my work, I dont think it is a bad way to earn few extra bucks no matter how small/big. I mean it is just the beginning of the project from my persective and on CMC since May 2025. so its too early to decide if it is actually good or bad.

SafeMoonJeff

450 ? Run mine on a N100 mini PC (cost around 100$)

semanticweb

lot of community members are running nodes using mini-PC from their home, which is amazing.

videokillradiostarr

I wouldn't use an everyday PC to do any bitcoin txns. I'd only use a dedicated bitcoin computer for signing and creating txns. The virtual machine is not as segregated as you'd wish. And you are overcomplicating it that way. But a cheap used PC, install a new hard drive and flash Ubuntu on it. I've never even heard of satochip. That is a shit hardware wallet after looking at it for a few mins. If you can't verify the addresses on an offline device, you are asking for trouble. Get a coldcard, use a dedicated machine, use an open source wallet software like Sparrow wallet, put a passphrase on your seed (and store it somewhere else not with the seed phrase), and then you are golden. The next step would be Multi-sig, but take baby steps first.

8bEpFq6ikhn

I mean it is not hard to implement at all. All the OG paper wallets from the early days are this. Then when you want to spend import the private keys to a fresh PC with no internet connection. Sign the transactions and use a CD to transfer it to the PC with an internet connection. A small amount of day to day funds can be kept in a hot wallet.

jaimewarlock

That kind of money isn't safe on a PC or Phone. Get a Trezor and learn to use it properly.

Xnove

Translated using ChatGPT, cheers from Brazil! It may sound complicated, but it’s not. I believe this is WhatsApp ppl call an "air-gapped" solution. I’m not an expert — this is just my personal strategy and opinion. You're not wrong to be concerned — self-custody is a serious matter. I'm also cautious, and I'll try to explain how I handle it: I have my 12 words written down, and I use a passphrase along with them. Ideally, you should also have a decoy wallet without a passphrase to confuse potential thieves. I bought a Raspberry Pi without Wi-Fi or Bluetooth modules and installed SeedSigner (I recommend it). I input my 12 words into this device, and it derives my public key, which I can use in various generic wallet apps (I use Sparrow on my PC). Anyone with access to my PC or my public key can't move my funds — they can only view them. If I want to receive BTC, Sparrow can generate addresses for me. If I want to send (which I don’t plan to do anytime soon), I need to get my SeedSigner again, enter the 12 words with the passphrase, create a transaction in Sparrow, and sign it (via QR code) using SeedSigner.

NeWacho

I don't want to believe this really happened to OP but just to give a general idea of Exodus security. The app stores all the keys and data on a literal file with default location on the PC, making it super easy target for any data breaches. You can find plenty of leaked data on internet and log in into these wallets yourselves. All you need to do is just literally replace files in the appdata/roaming/exodus to access corrupt wallets. It still requires a password though(not a seedphrase) which is mostly found in the data leaks from the same computers. All of the wallets I've seen yet were drained. As an app currently the airgap vault + metamask is the safest solution. The arigap vault is still counterparty risk. Using any other hot wallets I would strongly suggest looking into creating multisig wallet As a hardware wallet trezor is a way to go for stablecoins etc., ledger is partially closed sourced. Make sure you order only from official website to a country that is listed. Do not use any freight forwarding services

Pfdtup

With the cold card you can: Determine the 23 words with dice throws Enter them in the coldcard and it will calculate your checksum and give you the choice between 8 (24th possible words) With Ledger this is not possible, you have to calculate the checksum yourself. In my opinion it is impossible to calculate the checksum by hand because it requires the SHA256 of the 256 bits. You must therefore do this with a PC or smartphone offline... and not make any mistakes to avoid leaking the 256 bits determined with the dice. If the calculation of the checksum is false the seedphrase will be invalid because it does not comply with BIP39.

alineali

Again this is the kind of vulnerability that can be exploited only in targeted attack. Theoretically possible, in practice - chances are negligible. It might be worse with phones (I am not expert here), but for PC it is not important. As for cold wallet - the question is not about price. It is about problems with physically storing data so they both would be accessible, secure and it would take some reasonable amount of effort to use them to get access to your money.

alineali

First, because offline backups have their own set of issues. Some people here in Ukraine found this hard way when they were forced to flee and than their backup locations were destroyed as well or are inaccessible due to being on the front line or covered my land mines. Also, while impossible to hack, offline backups are much easier to steal/ seize. It was discussed many times that most people are very bad at hiding things. Basically it is not easier to do offline backups properly than online ones. It is just that people are more scared of "digital" risks while all stories we hear about hacked wallets are usually about non-existent opsec (like creating seed on your home PC without using fresh system, or downloading fake wallet, or using web sites for seed generation etc). Second, you never can have zero risk, and in this case risk is really low - to get things like tampered keyboard with keylogger or something similar means you are specifically targeted. And in this case you are screwed anyway.

BitcoinBaller420

*Every* way to hold buying power across time has risks. Life is risky. You need to assess the pros and cons of all the methods of storing your wealth, and choose for yourself. Here are the risks in your setup that I can see, perhaps there are more I don't see. \- it sounds like your seed phrases backups are physically located in the same place. Your exposed to risks like fire and other natural disasters. Yes, having the seed phrase on metal helps mitigate this risk. But if the fire fighter finds it first, or if it's buried under a pile of rubble you can't access that gets scooped up in the clean up, bye bye. You might mitigate this by using a 2-of-3 signed wallet and storing seed phrases in physically disparate locations. This has its own risks though. \- it sounds like your seed phrases are all accessible to you at any time. This means you are exposed to theft / violence to force you to give up your wealth. You might mitigate this with 2-of-3 seed phrases + protocol to prevent others from giving up their phrases without confirming you're not being coerced. There are also hardware wallets that delete contents with a fake pin you might trust yourself to enter under duress. \- when your PC is connected to the internet with your seed phrase, all the software vendors on it are potential adversaries. You might mitigate this by air-gapping our wallet, signing transactions with software that isn't connected to the internet, then transferring the details of the transaction to another machine to send \- death? If you die, will the people you love be able to access your seed phrases? Good luck! Self-custody of large amounts is hard. If you have only small amounts, your setup is likely fine. if you are on a bitcoin standard, you need to clean it up.

-_YT7_-

if you choose to do this then it must be on an airgapped computer that must never be connected to the Internet or even local network. perhaps a raspberry pi or a cheap mini PC using Tails OS.

wasistdas258

Imma shoot my shot, how many likes for a PC? 🤣🤣

ultramegat1000

I think b3 is being overlooked. They have over 100 games already. How many does avalanche have ? Or other ect.? They are building a PC for crypto also. They have already sold out in pre orders.

GoldmezAddams

The wallet contains the private keys that sign your transactions. The bitcoin itself lives on the blockchain, the distributed ledger, not on the device. Basically, you use the  hardware device to construct or sign a transaction, and then send that signed transaction to your PC / phone without ever exposing the private key to the internet connected device.

crunchyeyeball

It generates a seed phrase, stores your keys, and lets you sign transactions, ***without any sensitive data ever touching your PC or other internet-connected device***. This means that no matter how malware-infested your PC, and no matter how good a hacker, your funds remain secure (as long as you follow the instructions and never give away your seed phrase).

GoldmezAddams

A cold wallet is a wallet whose private keys (the secret code that lets you move your bitcoin) are never exposed to an internet connected device. This makes them inherently safer than an internet connected "hot wallet" which might be vulnerable to malware / hackers. The typical and easiest way to achieve a cold wallet is to buy a hardware wallet like a Coldcard or Trezor. It's a little device that will hold your private keys and sign transactions without exposing the keys to your PC / phone.

wh977oqej9

This. Electrum or Sparrow from offline PC, booted from Linux CD. And store seedphrase, in case they lose their paper wallets. But then, in 20 years, you could be tempted to use it for yourself...

whataboutbenson

I’ve never seen anyone else have this issue but I had a nano x when I first got into crypto and eventually the PC app just stopped allowing me to do anything with my crypto. Luckily I had less than ten dollar’s worth at the time. I never tried to use it again.

March-of-21

Thanks for the reply. Yes I have a bit of love hate relationship with windows. Especially in last few years they have gone really downhill. Tons of bloatware and I have noticed they have installed softwares in the PC without even letting me know. I kind of ignored it because the only thing that runs windows is the gaming laptop and a PC that kids use for their school stuff. I have moved totally to Mac/ipad for most of my other things. But for this application I will rather use Linux because as you said it is much easier to run linux safely than windows. I think you are right.

Mantzy81

I have it on paper, in a locked drawer (not a safe admittedly) but agree with everything else you said - it was generated initially on a PC. And yes, I did just try to connect to my wallet again recently so it was compromised. Time to clean house and start again. Will buy a hardware wallet and transfer my remaining crypto to that and then slowly build again. Unfortunately, I'll have to trade to get my way back up there again rather than just hodling but that's going to be part of the rebuild.

PoisonWaffle3

And to think, I profitably mined BTC on the CPU and a pair of GPUs in a gaming PC back in 2011 😅

Unusual_Stick3682

I'm sorry this happened to you. When you say you had it on exodus, did you have it running on your PC as a 'hot' wallet? If so advice for future and others - this is extremely risky as any software on your PC can potentially access this. You should ALWAYS keep your btc on the seed phrase ONLY. This is proper 'cold storage'.

mjergen

When you feel euphoria from your gains, when you wanna share PNL cards (you'll figure out what it is later) and percentage of gains, THAT'S the moment when you wanna cash out. If not everything, at least what you initially invested. 99% of people coming to talk to you in private wants to steal your money Under NO REASON WHATSOEVER should you share the private keys to your crypto wallet. The ONLY moment where YOU use them, is to restore your wallet when you buy a new phone/a new PC/lose the current one Every single "revolutionary" project will die out like a turd in 6-12 months. Buy only stuff from the top 20-30 market cap

Vonsoo

If your PC is hacked, they can do man in the middle attack (hacked app displays you the address you want, but sends different one to your wallet to sign), unless you really verify every letter of the "to" address on the tiny screen of your Ledger or Trezor. It's really better to have $20 additional drive with separate OS just for sending crypto. Boot the system, send, shutdown, boot your normal Windows.

Electrical_Hat_680

The topic of "The Computer should be able to be used to make a Digital Currency" has been a topic since at least 1981 in my view. I've been working on it on my own, but not alone, as many people shared the same idea, mostly here in San Franciscos Bay Area. I was six in '81. And have been working on it. Now Bitcoin is out, it's time to ask even more questions, and don't fret, everyone can help from my understanding - Learn about the MIT License, the GNU license, and the Cult of the Dead Cows license. We do have a place. I learned a lot, so, I'm going to be helping out as I can - And, when I was a kid, I often made mention to my Counselors in Junior High, my Cult of the Dead Cow Computer Science Club or '86/87 I believe that's correct. And, yah - the government had interest in securing the PC network, so I've been well ahead, and they've at least known about us and our endeavors to create such, for quite some time, maybe even more from the others such as those that hosted the conference that is popular and led to many having these questions.

Repulsive-Ad-3612

Why not use Ledger hardware wallet because of Secure Chip, but in combination with open source wallets such as Electrum and others? If during usual transaction signing Ledger wallet software (PC) can extract seed and send it to their servers, this won't happen with Electrum or others. Anyone has opinion on this?

Bkokane

You’re ignoring everyone asking where you kept it so 🤷🏻‍♂️ As far as I’m concerned if you generated the phrase on a PC it’s compromised by default

phansen101

I'd be more interested in going back and putting my gaming PC to work... A week of mining and you could have been sitting on thousands of BTC in the early days.

Kwayzar9111

one of the issues could be account linking from multiple devices, ie PC/laptop/smartphone, My crypto is only on one account and is only accessible from my work PC which has a high level of security on, ie 2fa, and finger print and passkey etc etc, and software cannot be installed whatsoever unless i enter my admin un/pw at the time it requests. not even a browser addon can be added and we use very strict website global blocklist. I suspect you have been phished

slavikthedancer

Android is ok, and PC is a computer. To keep everything you have on a connected Windows PC which you use in everyday life was a mistake.

metamorphosis

On PC create a new Account - with new email. Strong unique password that you can remember. If using exchanges create an account with a newly created email. Your 2FA is on a newly created email account. Meaning: You login to your PC with a new account only when managing crypto . You only access your newly created email via that account on PC. You don't click on any links in your email . You only access web page via your favorite or by typing in an address. You only login via the local network (from home ) You don't browse when logged into that account. Not Reddit. Need. YouTube. Nothing. Once you complete whatever you were doing with your crypto. You log out.

Hutcho12

Where should you keep it? On your PC - that can get hacked too? On a piece of paper? That can be stolen. In a safe? Your house could burn down, then you lose it all too. Same with a hardware wallet, but you run the extra risk of that failing. None of these problems exist with non-Crypto assets. There are systems in place to always get your cash back. Crypto is not anywhere near as secure and if more people move to holding their assets like this we’re going to see more and more of it. It’s a criminals dream.

Mantzy81

Don't know where you read that as I never said that. I said I accessed Exodus on my PC, I didn't store the seed phrase anywhere on my PC

alexthegrapefruit17

If my PC was hacked, and thus my emails, all my passwords, and hotwallets on that PC were drained, is there any way to recover it?

Bkokane

From what I’m reading, it was stored on his PC. I’m curious how many times OP read “never store your seed phrase on a computer or phone” but still did it anyway.

ElGatoMeooooww

Exodus desktop or phone? Mac or PC?

metamorphosis

Its virtually impossible (at least with large Telcos) to have 2 active phone # /SIMs at the time. Again with reputable exchanges, you can add geo IP restrictions, multiple 2FAs, verification on withdrawals and security triggers on large transactions. In principle I agree with you , that nothing is 100% safe amd that there needs to be more education. Hardware wallets can get lost. Damaged by accidents (eg, fire) - unless you back up your keys somewhere, which again is a security risks. Same with exchanges, no matter how big or reputable they are, they can get go insolvent, hacked, etc. I see that OP used same PC to access his wallets. Big mistake . Separate accounts, on PC, phone, email. Only used for that only purpose. No additional software or app downloaded. No browsing on these accounts. No clicking. Nothing. Just check , but, sell, that's it

metamorphosis

word of advice (too late I know) - never access your crypto form same PC/phone accounts. I have separate user accounts on windows and email, just fort crypto. Nowhere else do I use these accounts and I only log in from time to time, from home. I do not browse, download or have any additional apps while on these accounts.

88eth

> I didn't click on anything. I had the crypto sitting in there for months. I wasn't touching it. Maybe some malware got through and found my account on my PC but I'm fastidiousness about not clicking random links. It could also have been a fraudulent wallet update. theres actually some good pointers here in the top comments /r/ExodusWallet/comments/1cpq82f/exodus_wallet_hacked/ I know you probably dont want to hear it as you are still in "denial" and overwhelmed and just trying to blame someone else.

Mantzy81

I didn't click on anything. I had the crypto sitting in there for months. I wasn't touching it. Maybe some malware got through and found my account on my PC but I'm fastidiousness about not clicking random links.

AvocadoMaleficent410

1) Creat you wallet on PC not connected to internet, preferebly with passkey. 2) Write down your words and passkey onto metal.(Google it, it sels for $15 for bitcoin) 3) Hide it. 4) Transfer public key(watch only wallet) to PC with internet. 5) Buy first $100 and send it to wallet. 6) Test sending some money with offline pc sign transaction, so you can assure all work and you have control. 7) Try to restore your wallet from words and seed on offline PC and repeat 6. 8) Now you ready to put one mill in! NEWER connect offline pc to internet. You can use sparrow or any other wallet software for offline hard wallet.

riscten

2-of-3 multisig with the mnemonics stored in 3 different locations. Get rid of the Ledger and get yourself a good stateless, airgapped hardware wallet: Coldcard, Jade, Seedsigner, or even just a PC with a live OS and its radios removed. Don't mess around trying to reinvent the wheel. Encrypting mnemonics is a fool's errand.

HedgehogGlad9505

NFC cards don't have screens, and you don't know what you are signing. Maybe on PC screen you are sending to yourself, but a malware replaces the destination address to the hacker's. That is theoratically possible.

Annual_Head_6744

Because of the secure chip element. This means you can hang the Bitbox02 on an infected PC and your keys remain safe.

Charming-Designer944

You do not mine Bitcoin with a PC. You need a suitable ASIC. Most ASiCs uses significantly more power, built for 24/7 datacenter use with large power feeds. There is projects refusing ASIC chips in lower power designs. Primarily various variants of Bitaxe. Easier to scale to your power budget. But quite costly from a price/performance point so not realistic to expect a return of investment. But still a fun project to get into mining.

bc7915dawg

I remember a co worker telling me about Bitcoin back in 2010, and both of us having the Bitcoin wallet and miner open on our PC's. Me : "Pointless this, it will take ages to get a decent amount." Could have had 100s within days 😩

eveul_kneveul

No it can't. You need to connect it with a USB to use it anyway - unless you have the latest Nova. The purpose of Bitbox and other hardware wallets is they are designed to be trustless of your computer and internet connection. The private keys always remain on your device there is no chance of them being "hacked" through a connection. The only risk you would have which is already like a 0.00001% chance is that if your PC is compromised an attacker could swap the address you are trying to send or receive BTC to or change the fees. That is why it is always important to double check the transaction details on the screen of your device carefully and only trust the device - not the PC. The Bitbox also use an encrypted signal through it's USB connection which lowers this risk even more. Overall the Bitbox is one of the best wallets out there along with the coldcard.

riscten

If all you're doing is DCA and hodl, honestly you don't even need a hardware wallet. Wallets were specifically made to make spending more convenient. All you need is to temporarily airgap a PC with a fresh OS, generate your mnemonics, then enter your xpubs in a phone. Stamp the mnenonics on steel and you're set. You'll be able to receive funds, and if you ever need to spend frequently, then you can get yourself a hw wallet.

RustOceanX

Presumably, many have been able to hold onto their Bitcoin from the early years until today only because they lost their wallet and were then able to restore it years later because the hard drive or PC was lying around in the attic.

BlockAir_Game

This hits all the right notes if you're into **low-cap coins with strong community vibes** and some *actual* utility. What makes $DOGPU interesting isn’t just the meme factor—it’s the combo of **GPU mining**, **fast block times**, and a genuinely fun ecosystem. If you’ve got a gaming PC just sitting around, the fact that you can mine it with a standard GPU (no crazy ASIC setup) is actually kind of refreshing. It feels like those early Dogecoin days—but with way better tech behind it. And while price predictions are always just guesses, that tiny starting price + active devs/community does make it one to watch. Especially if you’re into crypto that mixes *fun, function,* and a bit of “what if this actually takes off?” Wouldn’t ape in, but tossing some spare GPU power at it? Could be a fun ride.

AVarietyStreamer

Going to be selling some Bitcoin here in the next couple of weeks to buy a dedicated gaming PC. Figured it's time to enjoy a little profit.

babban_rao

I was way too early. I mined 100s of Bitcoins for fun on my gaming PC and then later sold them for $15 each. Everyone was saying they are going to zero. So I thought $15 was the last chance to sell. I regret that decision to this day. I even thought of keeping just 10 Bitcoins but sold them anyway. Now I keep calculating the cost of 10 Bitcoins and regret each day.