Key concepts

Private Key

Your currency balance is effectively stored in the Bitcoin blockchain – the global decentralized ledger. You can imagine a locked box with all of your bitcoins sitting inside of it. This box is unlocked with a piece of information known as “private key”. (Some boxes require multiple private keys to unlock; see the section “Multisignature Security” below.)

Unlike a password, a private key is not meant for you to remember. It’s a long string of gibberish. The private key is what you need to keep secure. If anyone gets it, they can take your money. Unlike traditional financial instruments, there is no recourse. There is no company that is liable, because Bitcoin is a decentralized system not run by any person or entity. And no law enforcement agency is likely to investigate your case.

Offline Key Storage (“Cold Storage”)

You don’t want to store your private key on any computer that’s connected to the Internet (“hot storage”), because that exposes it to more hacking attempts. There are viruses out there that search computers for private keys and steal them (thereby stealing your money).

One way to protect against this is by encrypting your private key, so even if a thief steals it, they can’t read it. This helps, but is not foolproof. For example, a thief might install keylogger malware so that they steal your password too.

Online keys are inherently exposed to hackers. You therefore need to make sure your private key stays offline (“cold storage”) at all times.

Paper Key Storage

Because the private key is a relatively small piece of information, it can be stored on paper as easily as it can be stored on a computer. And when it comes to key storage, paper has various advantages compared to computers: It’s always offline (no chance of accidentally connecting it to the Internet!), it’s easy & cheap to make multiple copies for backups (and different keys for multisignature security – see below), and it’s not susceptible to mechanical failure.