Securing the investment is the primary objective of any crypto holder and Ethereum investors are no different. However, unlike other cryptocurrencies, Ethereum’s wallets are a little complex and often confusing for new investors.
According to the report of Coin Desk, $30 million was lost in July this year in a Parity hack, which is one of the most popular Ethereum wallets. Also, $7.4 million worth of Ether was stolen in another hack in April this year from an Ethereum wallet provider, ZDNet.
These hacks have led the investors to look for more secure options to store their ETH tokens and one such option is an Ethereum paper wallet. But what is an Ethereum paper wallet and how to create a 100% secure paper wallet?
That’s why you need to read this guide, which will explain everything about Ethereum paper wallets in a simple and easy-to-understand manner. Also, why you should use it and the pros and cons after using a paper wallet for Ethereum.
So Let’s Get Started!
Table of Contents
What Is Ethereum Paper Wallet?
Ethereum paper wallet is a type of cold storage that allows you to store your ETH offline in a secure manner. This guide will teach you how to create a paper wallet for Ethereum, as well as how to use it.
It only can be accessed with the help of a private or public key. That’s why this type of wallet can be a great way to store your ETH if you’re looking for long-term storage, or if you want to keep your funds as secure as possible.
Usually, paper wallets are generated using an ETH wallet like MyEtherWallet. However, you can also use a service like Bitaddress.org to generate your paper wallet offline.
Why Use Ethereum Paper Wallet?
I hope you already understood a lot, but let me dig you in deep. In the current era of technology, every online system is vulnerable to hacking.
So it is a wiser decision to take away your assets from the online system. A paper wallet is a solution to your concern.
There are lot many Crypto wallets that exist in the market which assure you to hold your currency, but to believe in such a system could be risky and indirectly your assets are in the hand of a third party which not answerable to all your questions.
As we all know, cryptocurrency is a decentralized non-governing currency that has no control of any prominent authority. So, to hold your assets with such authority is always at risk.
There are a few well-known exchanges that definitely assure you of the safety of your currency but once again you will not control them at all in the worst situation.
So to overcome all the above risks there is a solution in terms of a paper wallet, which hold your currency and stay away from complete internet technology.
The interesting part is, that you can dig that in somewhere in your backyard or hide it in a personal locker. So your, Ethereum token will be safe unless you make sure your paper wallet is in your safe hand.
Isn’t it interesting to know:
Introduction of Ethereum Paper Wallet
Let me help you to understand what exactly the paper wallet will have. It is always recommended by Ethereum to generate a Paper wallet using its own website called MyEtherWallet.
While you go through the below steps you will get a PDF image that is downloadable and it will look like the below.
It has two addresses one is Public Address and the second is a Private Key, what are those?
1. Public Address of Paper Wallet
In a Digital address, you have an address to do transactions or an address that you share with the sender to receive coins in a similar way on a paper wallet you will have a Public address.
If anyone is willing to send any Ethereum coin then the sender can send it to this address and if you are running any Ethereum mining then you can configure this public address over there to get auto credit in your account.
It won’t put you at risk, if someone stole your public address, this is just your coin receiving address.
2. Private Key of Paper Wallet
This is what makes a paper wallet different than others, it is highly recommended to hide this address as much as possible.
It is something like your key to opening Ethereum treasure. Anytime, while you want to do a transaction, it will always ask for a private key to enter.
Without it, you won’t be able to access your account. Make sure to keep this secret as much as possible.
I hope now you are well understood about Ethereum Paper wallet
Pros and Cons of Paper Wallet
Every system has its own advantages and disadvantages and the Paper wallet is also having the same. So let’s figure out what.
Pros
- It will make your currency away from the cyber hack.
- You will be the sole owner of your Ethereum coin
- No Third-party control over your cryptocurrency
- If you are willing to hold Ethereum for a long time then a Paper wallet is most safe and most secure.
- The private key will add one more level of security to your cryptocurrency
Cons
- You are responsible for the safety of your currency or paper wallet to be stolen
- If you are a day trader then this should be your last choice.
- Your transaction speed will reduce as your coins are back in the online system.
- If someone has stolen your secret key then he can steal all your coins
Here the concern is only with the safety of your Private key. If you can do that, then you are far safe than another way around.
How To Create Ethereum Paper Wallet
MyEtherWallet is an open source javascript-based client-side platform, which is helpful to generate paper wallets to store Cryptocurrency.
Using MyEtherwallet you can store only the below type of currency.
- Ethereum standard coin (ETH)
- Any ERC-20 token builds on the Ethereum platform.
Let’s go step by step process to create a Paper Wallet.
Step 1
Click on MyEtherWallet, make sure to click the same link else there is a huge scam roaming around the market. Do verify your browser should look like this.
Step 2
The home window will pop up and will ask you to create a new password, make sure you click on New Wallet on the home page.
Provide a secure password that has around 12 characters long including capital letters, small letters, numbers, and special characters.
This makes the password very strong, this password will be required in addition to a private key to access the wallet.
Hope you have decided on a password and clicked to “Create New Wallet“.
Step 3
Now the key for your treasure wallet will be visible with the name “Keystore file”.This file is the most important and makes sure to store it somewhere as your million-dollar property.
This is a sign that your ether wallet is created somewhere. The Keystore file will help you in the future, in case you want to know the private key or paper wallet.
Step 4
Click on “I understand Continue” and it will navigate to the new window, which will show two things one is the private key and Print Wallet.
Step 5
Click on “Print Paper Wallet” and it will generate Paper Wallet. Which has your public and private addresses.
You have successfully generated your Paper wallet and The Public address you could share with anyone to send Ether or any ERC-20 tokens to your account.
But if you want to unlock your wallet in the future to know your private key in case you lost your paper wallet or you want to send or Receiver Ether coins, then there is a solution for that.
This solution is using JSON/KeyStore, a File that you have already downloaded at the beginning while creating a wallet.
How To Send Ether Tokens Using MyEtherWallet
Go to Homepage and this time chooses, Click “Send Ether/Token“, it will navigate to the new window and will ask you to choose the option.
Here chose any option you have like Jason File or Private key. Here I choose Jason File
Upload your Jason File and provide the password, which you have chosen earlier to access your wallet, and click to Unlock.
Now a new window with the same as another wallet will be visible which will ask you to provide.
- Recipient Address
- Amount of tokens needed to send
- A default gas fee is like fuel to clear a transaction.
Simply enter the detail and your transaction will be initiated.
Here Is My Additional Bonus Tip
I hope you got quality information out of it, but I thought to add one bonus tip for you.
Yes, having a paper wallet is always safe and secure but make sure that the system or browser you are using to access your wallet should not have any vulnerable applications.
A few applications installed in your browser or mistakenly installed in your system might track or record your key input.
Here in the case of the paper wallet, your private key is everything, if it is lost you are almost finished.
So if you are not able to make sure of this security issue then I would suggest you go for a hardware wallet.
But do you really think that you should buy Ethereum, well I have created a separate guide to explain that in detail.
My View on Ethereum Paper Wallet
Securing your digital assets is always a very tedious job, but using a paper wallet is quite easier to do so, and all I explained in a detailed guide.
This is the end of my ultimate guide on Ethereum paper wallets where we have gone through what is Ethereum paper wallet?.
Pros and Cons of Paper Ether wallet, how to generate a paper wallet, and how to use MyEtherWallet to send Ether/Token.
Mining of Ethereum can be useful if you want to make free Ethereum but how?
Here is what we have listed in the Ethereum mining guide, what are the best software, hardware, and mining pool has a look.
You may also like how people are debating the new cryptocurrency platform EOS as the future Ethereum Killer.
This is my opinion, let me know what you think about the paper wallet, and to learn more about Cryptocurrencies join our Facebook Group and Keep reading keep sharing.
