Just like cash and credit cards, you must take certain precautions to ensure that your Bitcoin wallet is safe and secure.
It is your responsibility to adopt best practices in order to protect your money. Here are a few advanced security guidelines that we recommend:
- Only keep a small balance in your Bitcoin wallet. Limit your exposure to potential theft by keeping your Bitcoin wallet balance low. To prevent muggings, you wouldn’t walk around the streets with thousands of dollars in cash in your pocket. So just like an actual wallet, only keep a small amount of money in your Bitcoin wallet.
- Regularly back-up the hard drive that contains your Bitcoin information. If your computer or hard drive fails, you can lose your Bitcoin forever! By making regular back-ups of your data, you always have another way to access your Bitcoin.
- Always keep a back-up of the secret key to your Bitcoin wallet. When all else fails, your secret key allows you to access your Bitcoin wallet. Be sure to store your secret key where only you can access it. You can even create a QR code (which is like a fancy laser bar code) to help you retrieve your secret key if your device is lost or stolen.
- Create a back-up plan for your loved ones. Your Bitcoin can be lost forever if your loved ones don’t know where to find the locations and the passwords of your Bitcoin wallets. It’s a best practice to have a way for your loved ones to recover your funds in case you’re unable to do it yourself.
- Create an offline (cold storage) wallet for your Bitcoin. An offline wallet (known as cold storage) provides the highest level of security for your Bitcoin. You can either store your Bitcoin on a device that never connects to the internet, or you can print out your Bitcoin and store them in a fire-safe or bank safe deposit box.