Given the precise value of bitcoin, its security becomes an issue of utmost importance. There are plenty of ways to store the bitcoins you own, mainly classified as ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ storage. Any storage that is connected to the web is termed as hot storage, and one that works offline is called a cold storage.
While each of them has their pros and cons, one can make selections based on their requirements. Speaking of long-term storage security, the cold one is often preferred by a lot of Bitcoin miners and traders.
Here is a list of 10 best ways to store bitcoins for long Term:
1.Trezor
Trezor, a hardware wallet is considered as the gold standard of the cryptocurrency storage system. It is compatible with all the three primary desktop operating systems- macOS, Windows and Linux as well as with Android accessing your mobile phone.
Trezor is powered by 120 MHZ embedded ARM processor, which comes along with an OLED display. Even though it is a name that is associated with Bitcoins, it can be used for any of the popular cryptocurrencies like Litecoin, Ethereum, Dash, Zcash, etc.
In a nutshell, Trezor is a secure, 12g portable device and a great way to store your Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies considering long-term security.
Pricing: 89 Euros
Supporting Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linus and Android
Supported cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Dash, Zcash and so on
Official website: https://trezor.io
Available on Amazon.
2.Bitpay
Bitpay is yet another cryptocurrency storage system that you can use either for storing your Bitcoins securely or readily trading them for dollars. The Bitpay platform is available for almost all the operating systems ranging from iOS, Android, Linus, Windows, macOS, etc.
Apart from providing a real wallet service, Bitpay also offers a Bitpay card with VISA integration. You can use its VISA card Worldwide.
Pricing: Free
Supporting Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linus, iOS, Android etc
Supported cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin
Official website: https://www.bitpay.com
3.Paper Wallet
If you are looking for some way to lock up your Bitcoin, away from any trade; there is nothing better than a paper wallet. As the name suggests, it is a cold storage method. To store Bitcoins on a paper wallet, you need to print QR codes on a paper that consist of your public and private keys to the wallet. Whenever you need to access the keys, you just need to scan the QR codes.
A paper wallet is best when it comes to long-term security. There is absolutely no risk of hackers, malware, etc. You just have to protect the paper from theft. One big risk associated with the paper wallet is that unlike hardware wallets, there is no scope for recovery once you lose the paper. In that case, you might want to print more than one paper and lock them up.
You can generate your paper wallet at Bitaddress.
How To Create Bitcoin Paper Wallet?
4.Ledger Nano S
Another big name in this hardware wallet industry, Ledger Nano S is quite similar to Trezor and is priced at 58 Euros. Like Trezor, it has also been designed to store a wide range of cryptocurrencies. Ledger Nano S is compatible with Windows (7 or up), macOS(10.8 or up), Linux, and ChromeOS.
While it has its wallet interface for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple, yet you can choose other interfaces like BitGO, MyEtherWallet, etc., by downloading their respective apps.
Price: 58 Euros
Official website: https://www.ledgerwallet.com
Available on Amazon
5.Coinbase
Coinbase is a hot method of Bitcoin storage available in 32 counties. No doubt, Coinbase leads the hot wallet storage industry, and they claim to have 50 Billion US Dollars exchanged on their platform. However, hot storage methods like these are not great when it comes to keeping your Bitcoin for a long term. It is an excellent way to keep your Bitcoins safe given the amount and duration is small.
Like most of the other wallets, Coinbase also supports Litecoina and Ethereum along with Bitcoin.
Price: Free
Supported cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin
Official website: https://www.coinbase.com
6.KeepKey
KeepKey, a product of KeepKey, LLC, is a hardware wallet system similar to Trezor and Ledger Nano S. It works on the ARM Cortex M3 processor and supports many other cryptocurrencies apart from Bitcoin like Litecoin and Ethereum. KeepKey can be used with Windows, macOS, and Linux and is priced at 129 US Dollars.
Price: 129 USD
Supported cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash, Dogecoin, and Namecoin.
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, and Linus
Official website: https://www.keepkey.com
Available on Amazon
7.Opendime
Opendime features two kinds of products, both for real-time trading and for long-term storage. The first product called ‘Opendime 3 Pack’ is a USB stick that allows you to spend or trade the Bitcoins as you do with dollars.
Opendime 3 Pack comes in two variants, designed for Bitcoins and Litecoins. This stick costs 37.50 US Dollars. The second product called Coinkite Coldcard, priced at 49.99 US Dollars is a hardware wallet that lets you take your wallet offline.
Price: Opendime 3-Pack($37.5) and Coinkite Coldcard($49.99)
Supported cryptocurrency: Bitcoin
Official website: https://opendime.com
Available on Amazon
8.Mycelium Wallet
Mycelium provides a bank-grade security wallet for keeping or exchanging Bitcoins. It provides a simple interface that can also be used with the hardware wallet systems like Trezor and Ledger Nano S. Hence; you can take your wallet offline, making it secure for a long term. With Mycelium you can access Hierarchical Deterministic wallets so that you can derive all of the Bitcoin addresses.
Price: Free
Supported cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin
Supported platforms: iOS and Android.
Official website: https://wallet.mycelium.com
How To Setup Mycelium Wallet on mobile?
9.An Encrypted Flash Storage Device
An Encrypted pen drive, hard disk drive, solid state drive(SSD), or any other flash storage drive can be a very safe and secure way to store cryptocurrencies. Since these are also cold methods of storage, you do not have to worry about the hackers, malware or any other agents that might crack your security. You just have to store and keep it somewhere safe.
10.BitKey
BitKey is an open source cryptocurrencies storage system based on air-gapped technology. It is believed to provide equivalent to better security than other hardware wallets like Trezor.
Moreover, BitKey comes for free. First, you need to download an ISO files, and then you can burn it to a CD-ROM or USB stick. BitKey supports three modes; cold-offline(high security), cold-online(high security), and hot-online(medium security)
Price: Free
Supported cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin
Official website: https://bitkey.io
That’s it. These are the storage systems to store Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for long-term.
