Bitcoin Wiki - User contributions [en]

Currency exchange

2016-04-17T08:23:45Z

Jordan:

Bitcoin currency exchanges work in a manner similar to banks. One first deposits amounts of money in the currencies supported by the exchange, to his own account in the exchange, uses these balances to trade with other users of the exchange and then withdraws that money. Unlike over-the-counter transactions, there is no risk of losing money due to people not fulfilling their part of the deal, as long as the exchange itself does not commit fraud or withhold money.

Exchanging is done by placing "buy" or "sell" orders, which the exchange system software then matches with each other. "Buy" orders (or "bids") are offers to buy bitcoins in exchange for another currency at a maximum price-per-bitcoin which is set by the offerer. "Sell" orders (or "asks") are offers to sell bitcoins at a minimum price-per-bitcoin. If the bid price of a buy order is higher than the ask price of a sell order, an exchange can be performed and either the bid order, the sell order or both can be removed from the "order book". Thus, at any given time, there is a price above which there are no more buy orders and a slightly higher price below which there are no more sell orders.

Communication with the Bitcoin currency exchanges is commonly done using a standard web browser, over a secure SSL connection.

The payment methods that are most commonly accepted and used by Bitcoin currency exchanges are:

* Bitcoin transfers
* Liberty Reserve
* Bank wires
* Credit cards

Currencies that can be exchanged with Bitcoins in an automated way include:

* US Dollars
* Euros
* Japanese Yen
* Russian Rubles
* Pound Sterling
* Pecunix Gold

=="Soft currencies" and chargebacks==

Exchanging bitcoins for other forms of currency brings up some issues regarding chargeback fraud. Specifically, payment methods such as credit cards, and PayPal, can be reversed up to 90 days after the transaction took place. In contrast, bitcoin is a "hard currency", once you spend bitcoins, you cannot get them back by 'pulling' from your side. Thus, when you trade bitcoin for a 'soft' currency like paypal or credit card, you open yourself up to the risk of chargeback after you send bitcoin. The buyer may initiate a chargeback by claiming non-receipt of goods, or if a stolen account was used, the real account owner will initiate the process once he notices a charge he didn't make. As a result, it is strongly recommended to not trade 'soft' currency for 'hard' currency with people you do not know or trust.

In January, 2010, an open source currency exchange platform was released by the founder of [[Bitcoin Central]].

The two major exchanges at the time, [[Bitcoin Market]] and [[MtGox]], were hit with a wave of PayPal scams in October 2010, where one or a group of individuals used stolen PayPal accounts to fund their exchange accounts to buy bitcoins. This has caused the freezing of the Mtgox paypal account, and a suspension of new user registration on [[Bitcoin Market]]. These account freezes caused a temporary liquidity problem for the bitcoin economy, as it became more difficult to exchange dollars for bitcoins.

==Exchange Rates and Market Forces==

Early in the life of Bitcoin, the currency showed some major fluctuations in exchange value, ranging from under $50 to $266 US. The exchange rate of Bitcoin has shown relatively stable growth since the beginning of 2013. According to Currency.Wiki <ref>[http://www.currency.wiki/bitcoin What is a Bitcoin converter?]</ref>, as of February 01, 2014, the current exchange rate for bitcoins is at $959.58 US. The all time high for the value of a single bitcoin was on November 17th, 2013 when it reached $1216.73 US on the Mt. Gox exchange.

Bitcoin has been criticized by economists for bubbling up around itself, similar to the housing market in the US before the crash and it is true that Bitcoin has shown a tendency for rapid rises and crashes in price. However, given the instability of the global economy, Bitcoin has proven to be a reliable investment compared to many other popular currencies. In particular the European debt crisis gave rise to a large amount of currency being converted to bitcoin to keep it safe from the falling value of the Euro. These investments in turn drove up the value of the bitcoin thanks to its unique production method.

Despite the growing popularity of bitcoin transactions and the generally rising price, several events have shown an inability to withstand major blows to its reputation. The FBI seizure of around 26,000 bitcoins from the drug distribution website Silk Road more than halved the value of individual bitcoins. Technical errors have also proven to be a difficulty for speculators on the exchange value of the BTC. In April of 2013, a backlog of transactions shut down the Mt. Gox website, causing a drop in value from $266 to $77 US.

While it has become easier to buy and sell bitcoins with the influx of bitcoin exchanges <ref>[https://bitcoinx.io Bitcoin Exchanges]</ref> across the world over the past couple of years, the availability of access to the currency has been one of the greatest sources of variability in its exchange rate. Because of looming government regulations, most notably the U.S., it has been a challenge to convert your local currency into Bitcoin, which has led to highly variable prices based on geography, which, for a currency which is designed to be borderless, has proven to be an issue, given that so many bitcoin users treat their bitcoins more like an asset than a currency. That is to say, they intend to hold onto their BTC until they decide to convert back into their local currency, rather than spend it online for anonymous transactions.

==See also==

* [[:Category:Exchanges|Exchanges]]
* [[Buying bitcoins]]
* [[Selling bitcoins]]
* [[Secure Trading]]

== Related Resources ==
* [https://www.sellbitcoins.io/ SellBitcoins.io] - Find exchanges to cash out bitcoins.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Exchanges]]

Hardware wallet

2016-04-17T08:22:49Z

Jordan:

A '''hardware wallet''' is a special type of [[wallet|bitcoin wallet]] which stores the user's private keys in a secure hardware device.

They have major advantages over standard software wallets:

* private keys are often stored in a protected area of a microcontroller, and cannot be transferred out of the device in plaintext
* immune to computer viruses that steal from software wallets
* can be used securely and interactively, as opposed to a [[paper wallet]] which must be imported to software at some point
* much of the time, the software is open source, allowing a user to validate the entire operation of the device

This page is an attempt to summarize all the known developments of hardware wallets that can use Bitcoin as part of their operation.

== Purchasable hardware wallets (ordered chronologically) ==

=== Pi Wallet - cold storage ===
[[File:Piwallet.jpeg|300px|thumb|left|Pi-Wallet]]

The Pi-Wallet is a small computer with the [[Armory]] bitcoin client.

Transactions are signed offline, then transferred on a USB stick via [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneakernet Sneakernet] to an online system for broadcasting.

[https://www.pi-wallet.com/ pi-wallet.com]

 

=== [[TREZOR]] The Bitcoin Safe ===
[[File:Trezor-tx.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Confirming the transaction with TREZOR]]

[[TREZOR]] is a secure bitcoin storage and a transaction signing tool. The private keys are generated by the device and never leave it thus they cannot be accessed by a malware.

It uses a deterministic wallet structure which means it can hold an unlimited number of keys ([[BIP 0032]]/[[BIP 0044]]). A recovery seed is generated when the device is initialized. In case TREZOR gets lost or stolen, all its contents can be recovered using this seed (private keys, bitcoin balance and transaction history) into a new device or another [[BIP 0039]]/[[BIP 0044]] compatible wallet.

TREZOR also introduced a unique way of PIN entering preventing keyloggers from recording it even when entered on a compromised computer. An encryption passphrase can be set on top of the PIN protection. More passphrases can be used for plausible deniability.

[https://BuyTrezor.com E-shop BuyTrezor.com] | [https://doc.satoshilabs.com/ TREZOR Documentation] | [https://bitcointrezor.com BitcoinTrezor.com]

 

=== Ledger HW.1 - USB Smartcard Hardware Wallet ===
[[File:Btchip_dongle.jpg|220px|thumb|left|HW.1 inserted in a laptop]]

HW.1 is an implementation of a deterministic ([[BIP 0032]]) Hardware Wallet on a USB smartcard.

It is typically used as a blind secure device for multi signature transactions - holding a set of derived private keys and signing transactions without requiring user confirmation.

Power users can rely on it to confirm all transactions with a second factor scheme turning the dongle into a keyboard typing what the user is supposed to have signed, as a protection against malware.

It is also possible to customize HW.1 for more specific needs, such as creating a prepaid card without revealing the deterministic seed before it is received by the user, or securing bitcoin transactions on a server.

[https://www.ledgerwallet.com/products/3-ledger-hw-1 E-shop] | [https://ledgerhq.github.io/btchip-doc/bitcoin-technical.html Technical Documentation]

 

=== Ledger Nano - USB Smartcard Hardware Wallet ===
[[File:ledger_wallet_photo.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Ledger Wallet USB]]

Ledger Nano protects your Bitcoin data within a smartcard. Its micro-processor certified against all types of attacks (both physical and logical), and has been used in the banking industry for decades (think credit card chips). The device connects to your computer through the USB port and will do all the Bitcoin cryptographic heavy lifting such as signing transactions inside its secure environment. You can therefore use your Bitcoin account with maximum trust, even on an insecure or compromised computer.

The second factor verification of the transaction signature can be done either with a paired smartphone (Android, iOS) or a physical security card.

The Ledger Wallet Chrome application (available also on Chromium) provides an easy onboarding as well as a seamless user experience, and the Nano is compatible with numerous third party software: [[Electrum]], [[Mycelium]], [[GreenAddress]], Greenbits, [[Coinkite]] and Copay.

[https://www.ledgerwallet.com/products/1-ledger-nano Ledger Nano product page] | [https://github.com/LedgerHQ Source and specifications]

 

=== Ledger Unplugged - NFC Smartcard Hardware Wallet ===
[[File:ledger_unplugged_photo.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Ledger Unplugged NFC]]

The Ledger Unplugged is a credit card sized NFC hardware wallet. It embeds an open source Java Card app and is compatible with all NFC enabled Android phones.

The device can be used with Mycelium or Greenbits. In case of loss, you can restore it on any Ledger Wallet (Nano or another one) or all other compatible solutions (BIP 39).

[https://www.ledgerwallet.com/products/6-ledger-unplugged Ledger Unplugged product page] | [https://github.com/LedgerHQ/ledger-javacard Source code]

 

=== BWALLET TREZOR clone ===

[[File:BWALLET_Trezor_Clone.jpeg|200px|thumb|left|Chinese clone of Trezor]]

BWALLET is a clone of Trezor by a Chinese company.
Trezor code is open source and this device operates like a Trezor.
However, this product has been [https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2tyier/bwallet_review_by_trezor_developer/ reviewed by Merek aka Slush(Trezor developer)] and he has found some problems which makes this device less than 100% compatible, for example it doesn't work with [http://mytrezor.com myTREZOR.com] website and it does not work with Trezor official firmware.

[http://mybwallet.com MyBWALLET.com] | [http://www.bidingxing.com/en/bwallet Buy BWALLET]

 

=== KeepKey: Your Private Bitcoin Vault ===
[[File:keepkey.jpg|300px|thumb|left|KeepKey showing a bitcoin transaction that needs to be manually approved.]]

KeepKey is a USB device that stores and secures your bitcoins. When you entrust KeepKey with your money, each and every bitcoin transaction you make must be reviewed and approved via it's OLED display and confirmation button.

KeepKey has a unique recovery feature utilizing a rotating cipher to restore private keys with a [[BIP 0039]] recovery seed. This means it is not necessary to store your private keys on KeepKey: the recovery process is secure enough so that KeepKey can be used as a transaction device for paper wallets.

[https://www.keepkey.com keepkey.com]

 

=== CoolWallet: The Ultimate Bitcoin Safe ===


[[File:CoolWallet in the box.jpeg|300px|thumb|left|CoolWallet showing Launch App, waiting for user to connect with smartphone via Bluetooth]]

CoolWallet is a credit card sized Bluetooth device that stores and secures your bitcoins and private keys. It fits in your wallet and works wirelessly.

Every Bitcoin transaction must be manually confirmed and approved through its e-paper display and button.

CoolWallet only acknowledges the paired smartphone. Whoever stole the CoolWallet are not able to steal any bitcoins. Using recovery Seed can restore all your bitcoins in case you lost the device.

[https://coolbitx.com coolbitx.com] | [https://github.com/CoolBitX-Technology/coolwallet-ios Source and specifications]

 

=== BlochsTech card: Your user friendly Bitcoin wallet ===


[[file:BlochsTech Bitcoin card hardware wallet.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Graphic printed on front of BlochsTech cards.]]

The BlochsTech open Bitcoin card is an open protocol secure hardware Bitcoin wallet your grandmother could use.
For shops it's faster to accept than slow QR code based wallets and more reliable as it works offline.

Currently it's of course in a novelty phase like Casascius coins (of which thousands were sold),
however in the long run it is fully capable of functionally replacing the VISA system in all nations.

[http://www.BlochsTech.com BlochsTech.com]

 

=== BitLox Bitcoin Hardware Wallet ===
[[file:Bitlox.jpg|300px|thumb|left|BitLox Bitcoin Hardware Wallet]]

BitLox is a metal cased (aluminum or titanium) bitcoin hardware wallet that works with their own web based wallet by USB and apps for iPhone and Android using Bluetooth LE.

At present it is the only bitcoin hardware wallet you can buy that works with iPhone. The device weighs one ounce and is the size of a credit card 4 mm thick.

Bitlox allows you to set up hidden wallets. Unlike other hardware wallets your seed is never displayed on a connected computer or phone but only on the Bitlox. All your wallet, device and transaction PINs are only entered on the BitLox and never on any app.

BitLox has also implemented several advanced security features not available on any other bitcoin hardware wallet.

[http://www.bitlox.com bitlox.com]

 

== Not purchasable hardware wallets ==

=== BitcoinCard Megion Technologies-Card based wallet ===
[[File:Bitcoincard-medley-large.jpg|400px|thumb|left|Bitcoin Card]]
[http://www.bitcoincard.org/ Bitcoincard Home Page]

[http://blog.bitinstant.com/blog/2012/6/19/our-discovery-in-vienna-the-bitcoin-card.html Excellent review by evoorhees]

Incorporates a e-paper display, keypad, and radio (custom ISM band protocol.) Unfortunately it is fairly limited in terms of transaction I/O, requiring a radio gateway or another bitcoincard wherever funds need to be transferred.

 

=== BitSafe - allten/someone42's hardware wallet ===
[[File:Bitsafe-wallet-sizecompare.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Bitsafe wallet]]
[https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=152517.0 Final BitSafe announcement]

Signing transactions only, requires USB host software for transactions & USB power. Has a OLED display and Confirm/Cancel buttons. Evolved out of someone42's prototype below, and has significant contributions from someone42 as well.
 
=== someone42's original prototype ===
[[File:Someone42-wallet-prototype.jpg|300px|thumb|left|someone42's original prototype]]
[https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=78614.0 Hardware Bitcoin wallet - a minimal Bitcoin wallet for embedded devices]

Signing transactions only, requires USB host software for transactions & USB power. All work is rolled into the above BitSafe wallet currently.
 
=== Other/Defunct but with good discussion: ===
* natman3400's BitClip Jun 2011 [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=24852.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=24852.0]
:Seems to have gone defunct around Dec 2011. Some good ideas though and seemed to have started on execution.
* jim618 hardware wallet proposal Apr 2012 [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=77553.0 Dedicated bitcoin devices - dealing with untrusted networks]
:Great discussion and good ideas from jim618. Also linked the following video:
* Prof. Clemens Cap's hardware wallet? (video:)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IavQ-Wc8S1U Clemens Cap about electronic bitcoin wallet at EuroBit]
:Clemens Cap of Uni Rostock explains the Electronic Bitcoin wallet device he's working on. It's based on adafruit microtouch device.
* ripper234's discussion based on Yubikeys Aug 2012 [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=99492 Having a YUBIKEY as one of the parties for m-of-n signatures]
:The use of Yubikeys. They only support symmetric crypto, so you'd have to trust the host device.
* kalleguld's hardware wallet proposal Oct 2012 [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=115294.0 Proposal: Hardware wallet (Win 3 BTC)]
* Vaporware: Matthew N Wright's ellet [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=85931.0 ANN The world's first handheld Bitcoin device, the Ellet!] (Vaporware)

== Smart Card based wallets ==
This type of device requires complete trust in the host device, as there is no method for user input.
See [[Smart card wallet]]

== Related Resources ==
* [https://bitcoinnewsmagazine.com/best-bitcoin-hardware-wallet-2015/ Best Bitcoin Hardware Wallet 2015] - reviews of all bitcoin hardware wallets.
* [http://99bitcoins.com/trezor-vs-ledger-hands-hardware-wallets-review/ TREZOR vs. Ledger] - User reviews and Reddit feedback
* slush's Hardware wallet wire protocol discussion: [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=125383.0 Hardware wallet wire protocol]
* kjj's Todo List discussion for client protocol requirements: [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=19080.msg272348#msg272348 in topic Re: Split private keys]
* paybitcoin's original post: [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=134277.0 Hardware Wallet Roundup]
* [https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/wallets/ Buy Bitcoin Worldwide] - information about using Bitcoin hardware wallets for cold storage.
* Various Hardware Wallets and Reviews: [http://www.offlinewallets.com/hardware-wallets Offline Hardware Wallets]
* [https://www.weusecoins.com/bitcoin-ledger-wallet-review/ Ledger Wallet Review]

[[Category:Security]]
[[Category:Wallets]]
[[Category:Hardware]]

Mining hardware comparison

2016-04-17T08:08:06Z

Jordan:

{{seealso|Non-specialized hardware comparison}}
Below are statistics about the Bitcoin [[Mining]] performance of [[ASIC]] hardware and '''only includes specialized equipment that has been shipped.'''

GPUs, CPUs and other hardware not specifically designed for Bitcoin mining can be found in the [[Non-specialized_hardware_comparison]].

'''Notes:'''
* Mhash/s = millions [[hash per second|hashes per second]] ([[Protocol_specification#Hashes|double sha256]] raw speed performance; may not be very energy efficient with some models)
* Mhash/J = millions hashes per joule (energy efficiency; 1 joule of energy is 1 watt during 1 second: 1 J = 1 W*s)
* W = watt (maximum power consumption, i.e. energy per unit of time: 1 W = 1 J/s)

== ASIC ==

'''Be sure to research any of these vendors and machines intensely before spending any money.'''

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Bitcoin [[Protocol_specification#Hashes|double SHA256]] ASIC mining hardware
! data-sort-type="text" | Product !! data-sort-type="number" | Advertised Mhash/s !! data-sort-type="number" | Mhash/J !! data-sort-type="number" | Mhash/s/$ !! data-sort-type="number" | Watts !! data-sort-type="currency" | Price (USD) !! data-sort-type="date" | Currently shipping !! class="unsortable" | Comm ports !! class="unsortable" | Dev-friendly
|-
! [[AntMiner]] S1 <ref name="AntMinerS1"/>
| 180,000 || 500 || 800|| 360 || 299<ref name="nopsu">Power supply not included</ref> || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{No|GPL infringement}}
|-
! [[AntMiner]] S2 <ref name="AntMinerS2"/>
| 1,000,000 || 900|| 442|| 1100|| 2259|| {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{No|GPL infringement}}
|-
! [[AntMiner]] S3 <ref name="AntMinerS3">[https://bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020140917060843699l3bEXYxL06C0 Ant Miner S3 product page] Retrieved 2014-08-06</ref>
| 441,000 || 1300|| 1154|| 340|| 382<ref name="nopsu"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{No|GPL infringement}}
|-
! [[AntMiner]] S4 <ref name="AntMinerS4">[https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020140926075515819D846Og240603 Ant Miner S4 product page] Retrieved 2014-10-01</ref>
| 2,000,000 || 1429|| 1429 || 1400 || 1400 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{No|GPL infringement}}
|-
! [[AntMiner]] S5 <ref name="AntMinerS5">[https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=000201412231604153619o9X1obn0693 Ant Miner S5 product page] Retrieved 2015-02-04</ref>
| 1,155,000 || 1957 || 3121 || 590 || 370 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{No|GPL infringement}}
|-
! [[AntMiner]] S5+ <ref name="AntMinerS5Plus">[https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=0002015081407532655504JMKzsM067B Ant Miner S5+ product page] Retrieved 2015-09-16</ref>
| 7,722,000 || {{#expr:1/0.445 * 1000 round 0}} || {{#expr:7722000 / 2307 round 0}} || 3,436 || 2,307 || {{Yes}} || Ethernet || {{No|GPL infringement}}
|-
! [[AntMiner]] S7 <ref name="AntMinerS7">[https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020150827084021471OHYdwd9D06A0 Ant Miner S7 product page] Retrieved 2015-09-16</ref>
| 4,860,000 || {{#expr:1/0.25 * 1000 round 0}} || {{#expr:4860000 / 1823 round 0}} || 1,210 || 1,823|| {{No}} || Ethernet || {{No|GPL infringement}}
|-
! [[AntMiner]] U1 <ref name="AntMinerU1"/>
| 1,600 || 800 || 55 || 2 || 29 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! [[AntMiner]] U2+ <ref name="AntMinerU2"/>
| 2,000 || 1,000 || 115 || 2 || 17 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{No|code}}
|-
! [[AntMiner]] U3 <ref name="AntMinerU3">[https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020150109104550452NTD3NdYY0669 Antminer U3 product page] Retrieved 2015-02-06</ref>
| 63,000 || 1,000 || 1658 || 63 || 38 || {{Yes}} || USB || {{No|code}}
|-
! [[ASICMiner]] BE Blade
| 10,752 || 129 || 28<ref name="bcprice"/> || 83 || 350<ref name="nopsu"/><ref name="bcprice"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Patch|samples}}
|-
! [[ASICMiner]] BE Cube
| 30,000 || 150 || 55 || 200 || 550<ref name="nopsu"/><ref name="bcprice"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Patch|samples}}
|-
! [[ASICMiner]] BE Sapphire
| 336 || 130 || 17<ref name="bcprice"/> || 2.55 || 20<ref name="bcprice">Actual price is in bitcoins. USD value estimated.</ref> || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|samples}}
|-
! [[ASICMiner]] BE Tube <ref name="AM tube">[https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=735728.0 ASICMiner Tube Sales Thread]</ref>
| 800,000 || 888 || 2500 || 900 || 320<ref name="nopsu"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || Proprietary || {{Patch|samples}}
|-
! [[ASICMiner]] BE Prisma <ref name="AM prisma">[https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=791827.0 ASICMiner Prisma Sales Thread]</ref>
| 1,400,000 || 1333 || 2333 || 1100 || 600<ref name="nopsu"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || Proprietary || {{No}}
|-
! [[Avalon]] Batch 1
| 66,300 <ref name="AvalonPowerUsage"/> || 107 || 52.34 || 620<ref name="AvalonPowerUsage"/> || 1299<ref name="avalon"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet, Wifi || {{No|code}}
|-
! [[Avalon]] Batch 2
| 82,000<ref name="avalon" /> || 117 || 54.70 || 700 || 1499<ref name="avalon" /> || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet, Wifi || {{No|code}}
|-
! [[Avalon]] Batch 3
| 82,000<ref name="avalon" /> || 117 || 54.70 || 700 || 1499<ref name="avalon" /> || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet, Wifi || {{No|code}}
|-
! [[Avalon2]]
| 300,000 || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || 3075 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB or Ethernet || {{Yes|code, docs, samples}}
|-
! [[Avalon3]]
| 800,000 || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB or Ethernet || {{Yes|code, docs, samples}}
|-
! bi*fury
| 5,000 || 1,176 || 24 || 4.25 || 209 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|docs, samples}}
|-
! BFL SC 5Gh/s
| 5,000 || 166 || 18.24 || 30 || 274 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|docs, samples}}
|-
! BFL SC 10 Gh/s
| 10,000 || {{Patch|}} || 200 || {{Patch|}} || 50 || {{Yes}} || USB || {{Yes|docs, samples}}
|-
! BFL SC 25 Gh/s
| 25,000 || 166 || 20.00 || 150 || 1249 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|docs, samples}}
|-
! BFL Little Single
| 30,000 || {{Patch|}} || 46.22 || {{Patch|}} || 649 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|docs, samples}}
|-
! BFL SC 50 Gh/s
| 50,000 || 166 || 50 || 300|| 984 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|docs, samples}}
|-
! BFL Single 'SC'
| 60,000 || 250 || 46.18 || 240 || 1299 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|docs, samples}}
|-
! BFL 230 GH/s Rack Mount<ref name="bf250">[https://products.butterflylabs.com/homepage-new-products/250-gh-s-rack-mount-bitcoin-miner.html "250 GH/s Rack Mount Bitcoin Miner"]. Butterfly Labs. Retrieved September 2, 2014.</ref>
| 230,000 || {{Patch|}} || 500|| {{Patch|}} || 399 (used) || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Patch|docs}}
|-
! BFL 500 GH/s Mini Rig SC
| 500,000 || 185 || {{Patch|}} || 2700 || 22484 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Wifi || {{Yes|docs, samples}}
|-
! BFL Monarch 700GH/s<ref name="bflmonarch">[https://products.butterflylabs.com/homepage-new-products/700-gh-bitcoin-mining-card.html "700GH/s Bitcoin Mining Card"]. Butterfly Labs. Retrieved September 25, 2014.</ref>
| 700,000 || 1428 || 508 || 490 || 1379 || {{Yes}} || PCIe, USB || {{Yes|docs, samples}}

|-
! BitFury S.B.
| {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{No|Discontinued}} || RPi GPIO || {{No}}
|-
! Bitmine.ch Avalon Clone 85GH
| 85,000 || {{Patch|}} || 13 || 650 || 6489<ref>Depends on user configuration available from http://www.bitmine.ch</ref> || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet, Wifi, USB || {{No|code}}
|-
! Black Arrow Prospero X-1
| 100,000 || 1000 || 270 || 100 || 370 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Patch|docs, samples}}
|-
! Black Arrow Prospero X-3
| 2,000,000 || 1000 || 333 || 2000 || 6000 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Patch|?}}
|-
! Blue Fury
| 2,500 || 1000 || 17.8 || 2.5 || 140 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! BTC Garden AM-V1 310 GH/s<ref name="btcgarden">[https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=622439.0 "BTCGarden Sales Thread"]</ref>
| 310,000 || 954 || 1003 || 324 || 309<ref name="nopsu"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || RPi GPIO || {{No}}
|-
! BTC Garden AM-V1 616 GH/s<ref name="btcgarden" />
| 616,000 || 951 || 1760 || 648 || 350<ref name="nopsu"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || RPi GPIO || {{No}}
|-
! [[CoinTerra]] TerraMiner IV
| 1,600,000 || {{Patch|}} || 1066.67 || 2100 || 1500 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Yes|docs, code, samples}}
|-
! Drillbit
| {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! HashBuster Micro
| 20,000 || 869 || 29 || 23 || 688 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|docs, samples}}
|-
! HashBuster Nano
| {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|docs, samples}}
|-
! [[HashCoins]] Apollo v3
| 1100,000<ref name="HCA">[https://www.hashcoins.com/buy-asic-miners/buy-apollo/ "HashCoins Apollo v3"]. HashCoins.</ref> || xxxx || {{Patch|}} || 1000<ref name="HCA"/> || 599<ref name="HCA"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{No}}
|-
! [[HashCoins]] Zeus v3
| 4,500,000<ref name="HCZ">[https://www.hashcoins.com/buy-asic-miners/buy-zeus/ "HashCoins Zeus v3"]. HashCoins.</ref> || xxxx || {{Patch|}} || 3000<ref name="HCZ"/> || 2299<ref name="HCZ"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{No}}
|-
! HashFast Baby Jet
| 400,000 || 909 || 71 || 440 || 5600 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet, USB || {{Patch|docs}}
|-
! HashFast Sierra
| 1,200,000 || 909 || 169 || 1320 || 7080 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|docs, samples}}
|-
! HashFast Sierra Evo 3
| 2,000,000 || 909 || 294 || 2200 || 6800 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Patch|docs}}
|-
! Klondike
| 5,200 || 160 || 260 || 32 || 20 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Patch|samples}}
|-
! [[KnCMiner]] Mercury
| 100,000 || {{Patch|}} || 50.04 || 250 || 1995 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! KnC Saturn
| 250,000 || 400|| 66 || 300<ref name="nopsu"/> || 2995 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! KnC Jupiter
| 500,000 || 400|| 80 || 600<ref name="nopsu"/> || 4995 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! KnC Neptune <ref name="KnC Neptune">[https://www.kncminer.com/categories/miners "KnC Neptunes 3TH first ever 20nm Chip"] KNC Miner</ref>
| 3,000,000 || 1429 || 231 || 2100 || 12995 <ref name="KnC Neptune">[https://www.kncminer.com/products/neptune "Neptune Online Store"] KnC Miner</ref>|| {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! LittleFury
| {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Patch|}} || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|docs, samples}}
|-
! Metabank
| 120,000 || 705 || 56 || 170 || 2160<ref>Actual costs higher outside Russia</ref> || {{No}} || {{Patch|}} || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! NanoFury / IceFury
| 2,000 || 800 || {{Patch|}} || 2.5 || {{Patch|}} || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|code, docs, samples}}
|-
! NanoFury NF2
| 3,700 || 740 || 74 || 5 || 50 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|code, docs, samples}}
|-
! Red/BlueFury
| 2,600 || 1040 || 4 || 2.5 || 640 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! ROCKMINER R3-BOX<ref name="rockminer">[http://shop.rockminer.com/ "Rockminer Store"]</ref>
| 450,000 || 1000 || 2250 || 450 || 200<ref name="nopsu"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! ROCKMINER R4-BOX<ref name="rockminer" />
| 470,000 || 1000 || 2238 || 470 || 210<ref name="nopsu"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! ROCKMINER Rocket BOX <ref name="rockminer" />
| 450,000 || 937|| 750 || 480 || 599<ref name="nopsu"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || RPi GPIO || {{Patch|}}
|-
! ROCKMINER R-BOX<ref name="rockminer" />
| 32,000 || 711 || 500 || 45 || 65<ref name="nopsu"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! ROCKMINER R-BOX 110G<ref name="rockminer" />
| 110,000 || 917 || 1250 || 120 || 88<ref name="nopsu"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! ROCKMINER T1 800G<ref name="rockminer" />
| 800,000 || 800 || 2462 || 1000 || 325<ref name="nopsu"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! Spondooliestech SP10 Dawson<ref name="SP10">[http://www.spondoolies-tech.com/products/sp10-dawson-mid-june-batch "SP10 Dawson June Batch"].</ref>
| 1,400,000 || 1120 || 492 || 1250 || 2845 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! Spondooliestech SP20 Jackson<ref name="SP20">[http://www.spondoolies-tech.com/products/holiday-special-sp20-jackson-shipping-from-stock "SP20 Jackson"] Retrieved 2015-02-06</ref>
| 1,700,000 || 1545 || 1299 || 1100 || 1309<ref name="nopsu"/> || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! Spondooliestech SP30 Yukon<ref name="SP30 Yukon">[http://www.spondoolies-tech.com/products/sp30-yukon-september-batch-1 "SP30 Yukon September Batch 1"].</ref>
| 4,500,000 || 1500 || 1068 || 3000 || 4121 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-
! Spondooliestech SP31 Yukon<ref name="SP31 Yukon">[http://www.spondoolies-tech.com/products/sp31-yukon-shipping-from-stock "SP31 Yukon"] Retrieved 2015-02-06</ref>
| 4,900,000 || 1633 || 2361 || 3000 || 2075 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Patch|code}}
|-
! Spondooliestech SP35 Yukon<ref name="SP35 Yukon">[http://www.spondoolies-tech.com/products/sp35-yukon-power-shipping-from-stock "SP35 Yukon"] Retrieved 2015-02-06</ref>
| 5,500,000 || 1506 || 2460 || 3650 || 2235 || {{No|Discontinued}} || Ethernet || {{Patch|code}}
|-
! TerraHash Klondike 16 <ref name="Klondike16">[https://terrahash.com/product/4-5-ghsec-module/ "4.5 GH/sec Modular Board (Klondike 16)"].</ref>
| 4,500 || 140 || 18 || 32|| 250 || {{No}} || USB || {{Patch|samples}}
|-
! TerraHash Klondike 64 <ref name="Klondike64">[https://terrahash.com/product/18-ghsec-modular-board/ "18 GH/sec Modular board (Klondike 64)"].</ref>
| 18,000 || 140 || 20 || 127 || 900 || {{No}} || USB || {{Patch|samples}}
|-
! TerraHash DX Mini (full)
| 90,000 || 140 || 15 || 640 || 6000 || {{No}} || USB || {{Patch|}}
|-
! TerraHash DX Large (full)
| 180,000 || 140 || 17.14 || 1,280 || 10500 || {{No}} || USB || {{Patch|}}
|-
! Twinfury
| 4,500 || 1174 || 20 || 3.83 || 216 || {{No|Discontinued}} || USB || {{Yes|code, samples}}
|-

|}
<references>
<ref name="AntMinerS1">[https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020140107162747992Ce5uBuxW06D6 Ant Miner S1 product page] Retrieved 2014-03-11</ref>
<ref name="AntMinerS2">[https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020140429083756017VwGm90Xx06B5 Ant Miner S2 product page] Retrieved 2014-05-24</ref>

<ref name="AntMinerU1">[https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=000201401071629535717ycyGoWo06FE Ant Miner U1 Product page] Retrieved 2014-03-11</ref>
<ref name="AntMinerU2">[https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020140227111546291QgbvQbVr06FB Ant Miner U2+ Product page] Retrieved 2014-03-11</ref>
<ref name="AvalonPowerUsage">http://garzikrants.blogspot.com/2013/02/avalon-miner-power-usage.html</ref>
<ref name="avalon">[http://avalon-asics.com/ "Avalon ASIC"]. Avalon. Retrieved January 30, 2013.</ref>
</references>

== FPGA ==

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Product !! Hash rate [Mhash/s] !! Efficiency [Mhash/J] !! Efficiency [Mhash/s/$] !! Power [W] !! Price [$]
|-
! Avnet Spartan-6 LX150T Development Kit
| 100<ref>Fpgaminer (May 19, 2011). [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=9047.0 "Official Open Source FPGA Bitcoin Miner"]. Bitcointalk.org. Retrieved February 7, 2013.</ref> || || 0.10 || || 995<ref>[http://avnetexpress.avnet.com/store/em/EMController?action=products&catalogId=500201&storeId=500201&N=0&langId=-1&slnk=b&term=AES-S6DEV-LX150T-G&hrf=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.em.avnet.com%2Fen-us%2Fdesign%2Fdrc%2FPages%2FXilinx-Spartan-6-FPGA-LX150T-Development-Kit.aspx&intcmp=EMA-BUY-AES-S6DEV-LX150T-G "AES-S6DEV-LX150T-G Parts"]. Avnet Express. Retrieved February 7, 2013.</ref>
|-
! Bitcoin Dominator X5000
| 100<ref name="bd" /> || 14.7 || 0.22 || 6.8<ref name="bd" /> || 440<ref name="bd">NewMeat1 (August 18, 2011). [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=37904.0 "Custom FPGA Board for Sale!"]. Bitcointalk.org. Retrieved January 30, 2013.</ref>
|-
! BitForce SHA256 Single
| 832<ref name="single">[http://www.butterflylabs.com/product-details/ "BitForce SHA256 Single – Technical Specifications"]. Butterfly Labs. Retrieved January 30, 2013.</ref> || 10.4 || 1.38 || 80<ref name="single" /> || 599<ref name="single" />
|-
! Butterflylabs Mini Rig
| 25,200<ref name="mini">[http://web.archive.org/web/20120514032732/http://www.butterflylabs.com/products "Products"]. Butterfly Labs. Archived from the original on May 14, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2013.</ref> || 20.16 || 1.64 || 1,250<ref name="mini" /> || 15,295<ref name="mini2">[http://www.butterflylabs.com/order-form-bitforce-sha256-mini-rig/ "Order Form – BitForce SHA256 – Mini Rig"]. Butterfly Labs. Retrieved January 30, 2013.</ref>
|-
! Digilent Nexys 2 500K
| 5<ref>The Seven (June 3, 2011). [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=9047.msg164438#msg164438 "Re: Official Open Source FPGA Bitcoin Miner (Smaller Devices Now Supported!)"]. Bitcointalk.org. Retrieved February 7, 2013.</ref> || || 0.03 || || 149<ref name="dig">[http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=NEXYS2 "Nexys™2 Spartan-3E FPGA Board"]. Digilent. Retrieved January 30, 2013.</ref>
|-
! Icarus
| 380<ref name="ica">Nzghang (November 9, 2011). [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=51371.0 "FPGA development board 'Icarus' – DisContinued/ important announcement"]. Bitcointalk.org. Retrieved January 30, 2013.</ref> || 19.79 || 0.66 || 19.2<ref name="ica" /> || 569<ref name="ica" />
|-
! KnCMiner Mars
| 6,000 || ??? || 2.15 || ??? || 2,795
|-
! Lancelot<ref name="lan">Nzghang (May 6, 2012). [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=79835.0 "FPGA development board "Lancelot" - accept bitsteam developer's orders."]. Bitcointalk.org. Retrieved January 30, 2013.</ref>
| 400<ref name="lan1">Black Arrow (Jun 11, 2013). [https://www.cardreaderfactory.com/shop/lancelot.html "Lancelot - Heavy Duty Dual Spartan6 Bitcoin Mining Device"]. cardreaderfactory.com. Retrieved Jun 11, 2013.</ref> || || || 26 || 350<ref name="lan1">Black Arrow (Jun 11, 2013). [https://www.cardreaderfactory.com/shop/lancelot.html "Lancelot - Heavy Duty Dual Spartan6 Bitcoin Mining Device"]. cardreaderfactory.com. Retrieved Jun 11, 2013.</ref>
|-
! ModMiner Quad
| 800<ref name="mmq">[http://www.btcfpga.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=50 "ModMiner Quad"]. BTCFPGA. Retrieved January 30, 2013.</ref> || 20 || 0.75 || 40<ref name="mmq" /> || 1,069<ref name="mmq" />
|-
! Terasic DE2-115
| 80<ref>Fpgaminer (May 4, 2011). [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5379.msg105544#msg105544 "Re: FPGA mining"]. Bitcointalk.org. Retrieved February 7, 2013.</ref> || || 0.13 || || 595<ref name="de2">[http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?No=502 "Altera DE2-115 Development and Education Board"]. Terasic. Retrieved January 30, 2013.</ref>
|-
! X6500 FPGA Miner
| 400<ref name="x65" /> || 23.25 || 0.72 || 17.2<ref name="x65" /> || 550<ref name="x65">[http://store.fpgamining.com/ "FPGA Mining Store"]. FPGA Mining. Retrieved January 30, 2013.</ref>
|-
! ZTEX USB-FPGA Module 1.15b
| 90<ref name="miner" /> || || 0.27 || || 325<ref>http://shop.ztex.de/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=62</ref>
|-
! ZTEX USB-FPGA Module 1.15x
| 215<ref name="miner" /> || || 0.52 || || 406<ref>http://shop.ztex.de/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=66</ref>
|-
! ZTEX USB-FPGA Module 1.15y
| 860<ref name="miner">http://www.ztex.de/btcminer/</ref> || || 0.65 || || 1,304<ref name="1.15y">http://shop.ztex.de/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=74</ref>
|}
<references/>

* [https://www.weusecoins.com/en/mining-guide/ Getting Started With Bitcoin Mining]
* [https://www.bitcoinmining.com/ Bitcoin Mining]
* [https://www.bitcoinmining.com/bitcoin-mining-hardware/ Bitcoin mining hardware]
* [https://www.hobbymining.com/mining-hardware/ Guide on Bitcoin mining hardware]

First-time buyers guide

2016-03-01T19:35:20Z

Jordan: add BBWW

This is a guide on how to make your first purchase with Bitcoin without any prior knowledge of the subject.

This guide '''does not''' go into detail explaining what Bitcoin is or isn't. Most information not necessary for making a purchase are avoided. Similarly, more complicated ways of getting bitcoins are also avoided in order not to confuse further.

==Step one - What is Bitcoin?==
Bitcoin is a new form of internet currency. It allows for person-to-person payments that don't go through a third party. If you want to find out more, read on, or check [http://www.weusecoins.com/ this page out].

==Step two - get yourself an Address==
===What are Addresses?===
Bitcoin payments operate like bank transfers. Each person has their own "account", called a Bitcoin Address. An address looks like this:

1MauqJEVKx7mohEXXaHXnn96RFvLEGnVjV

A person can have as many Addresses as they wish and store them together in an electronic Wallet. So lets get you your first Address!

===Online wallets===
You can get an Address in a very easy way by registering for a Wallet at one of the following sites:

* https://blockchain.info/wallet/new - input a password and a captcha, follow the given URL (note - save it! If you lose it, you lose your funds) and you will find your Address in big letters on the left middle side of the site.
* https://easywallet.org - just go there and you will be redirected to your new wallet. Save the URL, if you lose it, you will lose your funds
* https://www.zenwallet.org - just go there and you will be redirected to your new wallet. Save the URL, if you lose it, you will lose your funds
* https://www.instawallet.org - just go there and you will be redirected to your new wallet. Save the URL, if you lose it, you will lose your funds

===I have the Address, what do I need it for?===
Well, an Address is like a bank account - before you can spend any money, you need to put some money in. You can use your Address to store more funds than you need for just one purchase, so you won't have to do the following steps each time you want to buy something.

==Step three - geting some bitcoins==
As Bitcoin is a form of currency, it costs money. The easiest ways to get bitcoins are:

* https://www.bitinstant.com/ - Go onto the website. Under "Pay to" select "Bitcoin Address", under "Pay from", select your convenient method of purchase. In the table below be sure to input your Bitcoin Address, amount of money you want to convert and so forth. Proceed along with instructions.
* https://blockchain.info/wallet/ - If you have created an eWallet on this site, you can get some bitcoins instantly either through PingIt Deposit or Phone Deposit. It's as easy as putting your phone number in to the site and sending a more expensive SMS.

==Step four - make a payment==
I assume you have funds on your Address now. Good!
===Find out the payment details===
Find out what Address you need to pay your money TO and HOW MUCH you need to pay. It might be as easy as sending 1 bitcoin to 1MauqJEVKx7mohEXXaHXnn96RFvLEGnVjV, or a bit more complicated, as sending 123.12345678 bitcoins to 1MauqJEVKx7mohEXXaHXnn96RFvLEGnVjV. As you most likely will be doing this on your computer, just copy and paste everything.
===Send the money===
Go to the website you used to get your Address from. Find the location where you can input your recipient's Address and amount and send the payment. It shouldn't be fairly straightforward.

==Step five - the next level==
You have gotten your feet wet with Bitcoin, but do you want to find out how deep the rabbit hole goes? This part of the guide is for people that want to advance their knowledge a step further than just a casual use.
===Get a client===
eWallets are good if you are on the go or dealing with pocket change. If you want to control your own security and be independant, you will need a Client. A Client is an application that manages your Wallet independently from third party software on your computer. With it, you become your own bank.

There are many [[Clients]] out there. The one developed by the core team is the Standard Client, also known as Bitcoin-QT. You can download it from [http://bitcoin.org/ here]. After you start it, it will synchronise itself with the Bitcoin Network. It might be a long process and take up a couple gigabytes of your hard drive space, but this is the way to ensure nobody is trying to cheat.

Once that is done, the Client will control your Wallet file. Be sure to protect it with a password and back it up regularly. It is stored in a file called "wallet.dat" in your [[Data_directory|Bitcoin data directory]]. If you lose it or it gets stolen, you lose your money.
===Get onto an exchange===
There are [[Buying_bitcoins|many ways to buy bitcoins]]. Traditionally, the most popular method of obtaining bitcoins is through an [[Category:Exchanges|Exchange]]. Pick any one that is trading in your local currency, register and trade. If you have doubts as which one you should use, your best bet would be [https://mtgox.com/ MtGox]. It has been around for awhile, supports a lot of currencies and is generally trusted.
===Buy bitcoins locally===
There is a number of people wanting to trade bitcoins locally. You can get in contact with them through the [https://localbitcoins.com/ Local Bitcoins website].
===Mining?===
[[Mining]] used to be a viable way of earning Bitcoins by just running an application on your computer. Right now you probably won't earn much, unless you are willing to put in a lot of money up front. As Mining is still one of the core reasons why Bitcoin is secure, this section is present here.
===Last steps on your way===
There are many more aspects to discover about Bitcoin, too many to cover in this guide. If you have completed each step in this guide, you are already capable of using Bitcoin in most situations. To learn more, read this Wiki, ask questions on the [http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/ StackExchange], go onto the [https://bitcointalk.org/ forums], or read a comprehensive [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=88149.0 master thesis on Bitcoin by ThePiachu]. You now know everything you need to free your money from banks and fiat currencies.

See also:

* [http://wheretobuycryptocoins.com WhereToBuyCryptocoins.com]. Shows exchanges, markets, faucets, sites to spend cryptocoins and more.
* [https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/ Buy Bitcoin Worldwide] - Get help finding a Bitcoin exchange.

Securing your wallet

2016-01-22T21:13:41Z

Jordan: Add BBWW wallets page

==Introduction==

Unless you are using a [[hardware wallet]] it is strongly recommended to read this page.

Wallet security can be broken down into two independent goals:
# Protecting your wallet against loss.
# Protecting your wallet against theft.

In the case that your current wallet hasn't been protected adequately (e.g. put online with a weaker password):
# Making a new secure wallet, using appropriate long-term protection.

''For a brief overview see also: [[Wallet Security Dos and Don'ts|Wallet Security Dos and Don'ts]]''

==Paper Wallets==
Main page: [[Paper wallet]]

[[Paper wallet]]s can be used to store bitcoins offline in non-digital format. Using securely generated paper wallets significantly decreases the chances of your bitcoins being stolen by hackers or computer viruses.
Fundamentally, a paper wallet is merely a physical record of a HD wallet private seed.

== Hardware wallets ==
[[Hardware wallet]]s are a major step to enhanced security and usability.

See the [[Hardware wallet]]s page for more information on which hardware wallet solutions are currently available.

==Importance of security updates==

No software is perfect, and from time to time there may be security vulnerabilities found in your Bitcoin client as well.
Be sure you keep your client updated with the latest bug fixes, especially when a new vulnerability is discovered.
We maintain a [[CVEs|list a known vulnerabilities]] on this wiki - you can watch that page to get updates.
Note that you ''don't'' need to be running the latest major client version: some clients, including the popular Bitcoin-Qt, have older versions available with bugfix-only updates.

==Securing the Bitcoin-Qt or bitcoind wallet==

Bitcoin transactions send Bitcoins to a specific public key. A Bitcoin address is an encoded hash of a public key. In order to use received Bitcoins, you need to have the private key matching the public key you received with. This is sort of like a super long password associated with an account (the account is the public key). Your Bitcoin wallet contains all of the private keys necessary for spending your received transactions. If you delete your wallet without a backup, then you no longer have the authorization information necessary to claim your coins, and the coins associated with those keys are lost forever.

The wallet contains a pool of queued keys. By default there are 100 keys in the [[key pool]]. The size of the pool is configurable using the "-keypool" command line argument. When you need an address for whatever reason (send, “new address”, generation, etc.), the key is not actually generated freshly, but taken from this pool. A brand new address is generated to fill the pool back to 100. So when a backup is first created, it has all of your old keys plus 100 unused keys. After sending a transaction, it has 99 unused keys. After a total of 100 new-key actions, you will start using keys that are not in your backup. Since the backup does not have the private keys necessary for authorizing spends of these coins, restoring from the old backup will cause you to lose Bitcoins.

Creating a new address generates a new pair of public and private keys, which are added to your wallet. Each keypair is mostly random numbers, so they cannot be known prior to generation. If you backup your wallet and then create more than 100 new addresses, the keypair associated with the newest addresses will not be in the old wallet because the new keypairs are only known after creating them. Any coins received at these addresses will be lost if you restore from the backup.

The situation is made somewhat more confusing because the receiving addresses shown in the UI are not the only keys in your wallet. Each Bitcoin generation is given a new public key, and, more importantly, each sent transaction also sends some number of Bitcoins back to yourself at a new key. When sending Bitcoins to anyone, you generate a new keypair for yourself and simultaneously send Bitcoins to your new public key and the actual recipient's public key. This is an anonymity feature – it makes tracking Bitcoin transactions much more difficult.

So if you create a backup, and then do more than 100 things that cause a new key to be used, and then restore from the backup, some Bitcoins will be lost. Bitcoin has not deleted any keys (keys are never deleted) – it has created a new key that is not in your old backup and then sent Bitcoins to it. A backup is therefore recommended roughly every 50 transactions (or address creations) just to be safe.

== Making a new Bitcoin-Qt or bitcoind wallet ==

If a wallet or an encrypted wallet's password has been compromised, it is wise to create a new wallet and transfer the full balance of bitcoins to addresses contained only in the newly created wallet. Examples of ways a wallet may be compromised are through password re-use, minimal strength passwords, computer hack or virus attack.

There are a number of ways to create a new wallet with Bitcoin-Qt or bitcoind but this is a process that has been tested with bitcoind 0.6.3. We use the copy command to minimize the chance of any data loss but you are warned to make backups of any wallet.dat that holds a balance for you.

:1. Shut down the Bitcoin program.
:2. Find and make a backup of the "compromised" wallet.dat file and rename it, perhaps adding a short description:
:::wallet.dat -> wallet-compromised.dat
:Depending on your OS, the wallet file will be located at:
:::Windows: %APPDATA%\Bitcoin\
:::Linux: ~/.bitcoin/
:::Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/
:3. Start the Bitcoin program and it will create a new wallet.dat. You may then encrypt the wallet as desired and make a new backup.
:4. Once you've made a new wallet, you can obtain one or more addresses and copy them into a text editor. After obtaining the new address(es), shut down the Bitcoin program, make a backup of the new wallet.dat file and copy it to a new file named wallet-new.dat.
:5. Copy the wallet-compromised.dat file back to wallet.dat, start the Bitcoin program and transfer your balance to the new address(es) you put in your text editor. Once the balance is back to 0 for your compromised wallet, you may want to wait a couple minutes or for a confirmation or check block explorer to be sure the transactions have been broadcasted. Then you may shut down the Bitcoin program.
:6. Rename wallet.dat to wallet-compromised.dat.
:7. Rename wallet-new.dat to wallet.dat.

You should now have a new wallet with all the bitcoins from the old wallet.

==Making a secure workspace==

Unless you are using a [[hardware wallet]], you must take care that the system is free of malware, viruses, keyloggers, remote access tools, and other tools that may be used to make remote copies of your wallet, Bitcoin-related passwords, or Bitcoin private keys. When your computer is compromised, the precautions taken below may provide additional protection.

A [[hardware wallet]] typically holds the private keys on its internal storage that is not accessible by any malware. The device signs the transactions internally and only transmits the signed transactions to the computer. The separation of the private keys from the vulnerable environment allows the user to spend bitcoins on a compromised computer without any risk.

===Debian-based Linux===

==== Store all into an encrypted folder (Tomb) ====

Tomb is a simple tool to manage encrypted storage on GNU/Linux. Among its features are bind-hooks to set up a tomb's contents in the place where other programs expect them, for example in our case mount -o bind the .bitcoin directory in a user's home.

First install tomb from https://files.dyne.org/tomb (homepage is on http://www.dyne.org/software/tomb)

Among the requirements: zsh, cryptsetup, pinentry-curses, gnupg, sudo.

Recommended: wipe, dcfldd, steghide, qrencode.

Then create a tomb (we name it bitcoin) with three commands:

<code>tomb dig -s 100 bitcoin.tomb</code>

<code>tomb forge bitcoin.tomb.key</code>

<code>tomb lock bitcoin.tomb -k bitcoin.tomb.key</code>

Then open it

<code>tomb open bitcoin.tomb</code>

This will require you to input again the password you selected.

Once open the tomb contents are in /media/bitcoin.tomb

Move there your bitcoin wallet:

<code>mv ~/.bitcoin /media/bitcoin.tomb/my-safe-wallet</code>

Then create a file "/media/bitcoin.tomb/bind-hooks" and put a single line:

<code>my-safe-wallet .bitcoin</code>

Which means that every time the tomb is open, the directory my-safe-wallet needs to be bound to ~/.bitcoin. Just make sure an empty ~/.bitcoin directory exists in your home.

Now close the tomb and store its keys safely, make sure you memorize the password. Have a look at Tomb's documentation, there is a number of things you can do like steganography or printing out keys on a paper to hide and such.

That's it. Every time you like to access your wallet open the tomb and the .bitcoin will be in place. One can also store the bitcoin binary inside the tomb and even start the bitcoin client using the exec-hooks. Tomb's manual page "man tomb" explains the possibilities.

The advantage of this approach over an encrypted home is that it becomes extremely portable across computers and even online shells: a Tomb is just a file and its key can be stored far away, on different shells, usb sticks or mobile phones.

==== Secure the whole user home directory ====
The first step is to make a [http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/add-a-user-on-ubuntu-server/ new user]. In order for that new user to have an encrypted home directory, you'll first need the encryption utility. Run:

<code>sudo apt-get install ecryptfs-utils</code>

Now you're ready to create a new user

<code>sudo adduser --encrypt-home new_user_name</code>

You'll need to come up with a [[#Choosing_A_Strong_Password|secure]] new password for that user.

When you get to the prompt 'Enter the new value, or press ENTER for the default', just keep hitting ENTER.

Then switch user to the new user. To get to the new user you can use the switch user icon for your system, which on Ubuntu is in the 'System/Quit' screen, or if there is no switch icon on your system you can log out and log back in as the new user.

Since the home folder of this user is encrypted, if you're not logged in as that user, data that is saved there can't be browsed, even by a root user. If something goes wrong with your system, and you need to decrypt the new user's files, you'll need its decryption key.

<code>ecryptfs-unwrap-passphrase</code>

It will ask you for your user's password and give you the decryption key. '''WRITE DOWN OR SAVE THE CODE IT RETURNS''' because you will need it if you ever have to pull your data off while the OS is not working. (You can run it again later if you need to, but run it now so that you can get your data if your Linux install gets botched.)

The encrypted folder data is not encrypted while it's in memory, and so if it's ever sent to the swap partition it can be stolen from there unless that too is encrypted - be aware that this will mean you cannot use Hibernate anymore, as the bootloader won't be able to restore the hibernation data.

<code>ecryptfs-setup-swap</code>

Then click on a folder in the new user to display the file browser, then keep going up folders until you see the new user home directory, then right click to bring up the Properties dialog, then click on the Permissions tab, then in the Others section, set the folder access to None.

For secure browsing, open Firefox, and then go into the Edit menu and click Preferences. Starting from the left, click on the General tab, and in the 'Startup/When Firefox starts' pop up menu, choose 'Show a Blank Page'. Then click on the Content tab, and deselect 'Load images automatically' and deselect 'Enable JavaScript'. Then click on the Privacy tab, and in the 'History/Firefox will' pop up menu, choose 'Never remember history'. Then click on the Security tab, and in the Passwords section, deselect 'Remember passwords for sites' and deselect 'Use a master password'. Then click on the Advanced tab, then click on the Update tab, and then in the 'Automatically check for updates to' section, deselect 'Add-ons' and 'Search Engines'.

When JavaScript is disabled, the [http://sourceforge.net/projects/bitcoin/files/Bitcoin/bitcoin-0.3.23/bitcoin-0.3.23-linux.tar.gz/download Linux download page] will not download automatically, so you'll have to click on the 'direct link' part of the "Problems with the download? Please use this 'direct link' or try another mirror." line.

===Mac===
This solution '''does not scale'''; the amount of needed space can grow beyond the image size.

===Windows===

Due to the frequency with which Windows computers are compromised, it is advised to encrypt your wallet or to keep your wallet on an encrypted disk image created by third-party software, such as [http://www.truecrypt.org/ TrueCrypt] (open source) or [http://www.jetico.com/encryption-bestcrypt/ Jetico BestCrypt] (commercial). This also applies to the storage of passwords, private keys and other data that can be used to access any of your Bitcoin balances.

Assuming that you have installed the Windows Bitcoin client and run it at least once, the process is described below.

To mount the Bitcoin data directory on an encrypted drive
<ol start=1 type=1>
<li>Use the third-party disk image encryption program of your choice to create and mount an encrypted disk image of at least 5GB in size. This procedure stores the entire block chain database with the wallet.dat file so the required size of the encrypted disk image required may grow in the future.</li>
<li>Locate the Bitcoin data directory, and copy the directory with all contents to the encrypted drive.
For help finding this directory, see [[Securing_your_wallet#Locating_Bitcoin_s_data_directory|Locating Bitcoin's Data Directory]].</li>
<li>Create a Windows shortcut that starts Bitcoin with the <code>-datadir</code> parameter and specifies the encrypted drive and directory.
For example, if you installed Bitcoin in the default directory, mounted your Bitcoin encrypted drive as <code>E:\</code>, and stored your Bitcoin data directory on it as <code>Bitcoin</code>, you would type the following command as the shortcut Target:
<blockquote><code>C:\Program Files\Bitcoin\bitcoin.exe -datadir=E:\Bitcoin</code></blockquote></li>
<li>Open Bitcoin's settings and configure it NOT to start automatically when you start Windows.
This is to allow you to mount the Bitcoin encrypted disk image before starting Bitcoin.</li>
<li>Shut down Bitcoin, and then restart it from the new shortcut.</li>
</ol>

After doing this, any time you want to use Bitcoin, you must first mount the Bitcoin encrypted disk image using the same drive designation, and then run Bitcoin from the shortcut that you created, so that it can find its data and your wallet.

=== General Solutions ===

Your wallet.dat file is not encrypted by the Bitcoin program by default but the most current release of the Bitcoin client provides a method to encrypt with a passphrase the private keys stored in the wallet. Anyone who can access an unencrypted wallet can easily steal all of your coins. Use one of these encryption programs if there is any chance someone might gain access to your wallet.
* [http://www.7-zip.org/ 7-zip] - Supports strongly-encrypted archives.
* [http://www.axantum.com/axcrypt/ AxCrypt by Axantum]
* [http://lrzip.kolivas.org lrzip] - Compression software for Linux and OSX that supports very high grade password protected encryption
* [http://www.truecrypt.org/ TrueCrypt] - Volume-based on-the-fly encryption (for advanced users)

There is also a list of [[OpenSourceEncryptionSoftware|open source encryption software.]]

Decrypting and encrypting the wallet.dat every time you start or quit the Bitcoin client can be ''tedious'' (and outright error-prone). If you want to keep your wallet encrypted (except while you're actually running the Bitcoin client), it's better to relegate the automation to a [http://lorelei.kaverit.org/bitcoin.sh small shell script] that handles the en/decryption and starting up Bitcoin client for you (Linux and OSX).

There is also a method to print out and encrypt your wallet.dat as a special, scannable code. See details here: [[WalletPaperbackup]]

==== Password Strength ====
Brute-force password cracking has come a long way. A password including capitals, numbers, and special characters with a length of 8 characters can be trivially solved now (using appropriate hardware). The recommended length is '''at least''' 12 characters long. You can also use a multi-word password and there are techniques to increase the strength of your passwords without sacrificing usability. [http://www.baekdal.com/tips/password-security-usability The Usability of Passwords]

However, simply using dictionary words is also insecure as it opens you up to a dictionary attack. If you use dictionary words, be sure to include random symbols and numbers in the mix as well.

If you use keyfiles in addition to a password, it is unlikely that your encrypted file can ever be cracked using brute-force methods, even when even a 12 character password might be too short.

Assume that any encrypted files you store online (eg. Gmail, Dropbox) will be stored somewhere forever and can never be erased.

===== Choosing A Strong Password =====
Make sure you pick at least one character in each group: 

Lowercase: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Uppercase: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Number: 1234567890
Symbol: `~!@#$%^&*()-_=+\|[{]};:'",<.>/? (space)

<9 char = unsuitable for use
09 char = insecure
10 char = low security
11 char = medium security
12 char = good security (good enough for your wallet)
13 char = very good, enough for anything.

You might want to read [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/662/what-is-your-way-to-create-good-passwords-that-can-actually-be-remembered What is your way to create good passwords that can actually be remembered?] and [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/6095/xkcd-936-short-complex-password-or-long-dictionary-passphrase XKCD #936: Short complex password, or long dictionary passphrase?]

== Backing up your wallet ==

Backing up your wallet is not necessary if you use a wallet with implemented [[BIP 0032]] (hierarchical deterministic wallet). Today, only [[TREZOR]], [[Electrum]] and [[CarbonWallet]] fully support BIP 0032.

For advise on the backup process see [[Backingup_your_wallet|Backing up your wallet]].

==Erasing Plain-text Wallets==

In most operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, simply deleting a wallet.dat file will ''not'' generally destroy it. It is likely that advanced tools can still be used to recover the wallet.dat file, even after it has been deleted.

The Linux '''shred''' command can be used to overwrite the wallet file with random data prior to deleting; this particular copy of the file will then be practically impossible to recover. Using shred (and similar tools on Windows) however does not guarantee that still other copies don't exist somewhere hidden on your HD. That will depend on your system configuration and what packages you have installed. Some system restore and backup tools, for instance, create periodic snapshots of your filesystem, duplicating your wallet.dat.

In Mac OS, the equivalent of '''shred''' is '''srm''' (introduced in Leopard). Using the Finder to remove files, clicking "Secure Empty Trash" in the Finder menu will shred the contents of the trash can. As with any OS this doesn't guarantee that there are not other copies elsewhere on your system.

For Windows, the built-in command ''cipher /W'' will shred all previously-deleted files. [http://www.cylog.org/utilities/cybershredder.jsp CyberShredder] can securely deleted individual files.

==Online and Mobile Wallets==

Thus far, this article has been discussing the security of a wallet file for Bitcoin-Qt or bitcoind that is under your sole control.

Online wallets have a number of pros and cons to consider. For example, you can access your wallet on any computer in the world, but you are essentially storing your private keys or wallet with the provider of the online wallet.
Depending on the level of security of such service, your bitcoins may be lost if the service is compromised.

The invention of [[hardware wallet]]s makes it possible to use online wallets in a more secure manner.
A hardware wallet keeps your private keys apart from the computer and internet. An online wallet compatible with a hardware wallet (such as [http://mytrezor.com myTREZOR.com]) then does not need to store any sensitive data (private keys, passwords or email addresses) and only serves as tool for broadcasting transactions signed in the hardware wallet out to the blockchain.

Mobile wallet applications are available for Android devices that allow you to send bitcoins by QR code or NFC, but this opens up the possibility of loss if mobile device is compromised. It may be possible to encrypt and backup the wallet or private keys on a mobile device but it is not advisable to store a large amount of bitcoins there without doing your own research and testing. Mobile wallets are useful for small spending and not for storing your bitcoin savings.

==See Also==

* [[Data directory]]
* [[How to import private keys]]
* [https://www.weusecoins.com/en/getting-started/ Where to get a Bitcoin wallet]
* [https://www.weusecoins.com/ What is Bitcoin?]
* [https://www.bitcoinmining.com/ Bitcoin Mining]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmOzih6I1zs Video: What is Bitcoin Mining]
* [http://startbitcoin.com/how-to-create-a-secure-bitcoin-wallet/ Secure Bitcoin Wallet Tutorial]
* [[How to set up a secure offline savings wallet]]
* [http://arimaa.com/bitcoin/ Bitcoin Gateway - A Peer-to-peer Bitcoin Vault and Payment Network]
* [http://blog.cyplo.net/2012/04/01/bitcoin-wallet-recovery-photorec/ Find lost wallet eg. after disk format, using Photorec]
* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dNZ7N_lQXHQp0jWkeN7dW4bWNMpcTBRM4iEoSuQwLho/edit# The Ultimate Guide to Web Wallet Security]
* [https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/wallets/ Bitcoin Wallet Information at Buy Bitcoin Worldwide]

[[Category:Security]]

[[de:Sichere deine Geldbörse]]
[[ru:Bitcoin и безопасность]]
[[es:Cómo asegurar su monedero]]
[[zh-cn:保护你的钱包]]

Hardware wallet

2016-01-22T21:04:45Z

Jordan: Add CH

A '''hardware wallet''' is a device that stores a part of a user's [[wallet]] securely in mostly-offline hardware. They have major advantages over other wallet types:

* the key is often stored in a protected area of a microcontroller, and cannot be transferred out of the device in plaintext
* immune to computer viruses that steal from software wallets
* can be used securely and interactively, as opposed to a [[paper wallet]] which must be imported to software at some point
* much of the time, the software is open source, allowing a user to validate the entire operation of the device

This page is an attempt to summarize all the known developments of hardware wallets that can use Bitcoin as part of their operation.

== Purchasable hardware wallets (ordered chronologically) ==

=== Pi Wallet - cold storage ===
[[File:Piwallet.jpeg|300px|thumb|left|Pi-Wallet]]
[http://www.pi-wallet.com/ Pi-Wallet Shop]

[http://www.pi-wallet.com/pages/what-is-pi-wallet Further informations about Pi-Wallet]

The Pi-Wallet is comparable to an offline Notebook.

However it combines all features of the Armory bitcoin client (e.g. offline transaction signing) with the advantages of a tiny computer.

To sign offline-transaction you will need an (unused) USB stick.

 

=== [[TREZOR]] The Bitcoin Safe ===
[http://bitcointrezor.com BitcoinTrezor.com]

[[File:Trezor-tx.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Confirming the transaction with TREZOR]]

[[TREZOR]] is a secure bitcoin storage and a transaction signing tool. The private keys are generated by the device and never leave it thus they cannot be accessed by a malware.

It uses a deterministic wallet structure which means it can hold an unlimited number of keys (BIP32/BIP44). A recovery seed is generated when the device is initialized. In case TREZOR gets lost or stolen, all its contents can be recovered using this seed (private keys, bitcoin balance and transaction history) into a new device or another BIP39/BIP44 compatible wallet.

TREZOR also introduced a unique way of PIN entering preventing keyloggers from recording it even when entered on a compromised computer. An encryption passphrase can be set on top of the PIN protection. More passphrases can be used for plausible deniability.

[http://BuyTrezor.com E-shop BuyTrezor.com] | [http://doc.satoshilabs.com/ TREZOR Documentation]

 

=== BTChip HW.1 - USB Smartcard Hardware Wallet ===
[https://www.hardwarewallet.com HW.1 Home Page]

[[File:Btchip_dongle.jpg|220px|thumb|left|HW.1 inserted in a laptop]]

HW.1 is an implementation of a deterministic (BIP 32) Hardware Wallet on a USB smartcard.

It is typically used as a blind secure device for multi signature transactions - holding a set of derived private keys and signing transactions without requiring user confirmation.

Power users can rely on it to confirm all transactions with a second factor scheme turning the dongle into a keyboard typing what the user is supposed to have signed, as a protection against malware.

It is also possible to customize HW.1 for more specfic needs, such as creating a prepaid card without revealing the deterministic seed before it is received by the user, or securing bitcoin transactions on a server.

[https://buy.hardwarewallet.com E-shop] | [https://btchip.github.io/btchip-doc/bitcoin-technical.html Technical Documentation]

 

=== Ledger Nano - USB Smartcard Hardware Wallet ===

[[File:ledger_wallet_photo.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Ledger Wallet USB]]

Ledger Nano protects your Bitcoin data within a smartcard. Its micro-processor certified against all types of attacks (both physical and logical), and has been used in the banking industry for decades (think credit card chips). The device connects to your computer through the USB port and will do all the Bitcoin cryptographic heavy lifting such as signing transactions inside its secure environment. You can therefore use your Bitcoin account with maximum trust, even on an insecure or compromised computer.

The second factor verification of the transaction signature can be done either with a paired smartphone (Android, iOS) or a physical security card.

The Ledger Wallet Chrome application (available also on Chromium) provides an easy onboarding as well as a seamless user experience, and the Nano is compatible with numerous third party software: Electrum, Mycelium, GreenAddress, Greenbits, Coinkite and Copay.

[https://www.ledgerwallet.com/products/1-ledger-nano Ledger Nano product page] | [https://github.com/LedgerHQ Source and specifications]

 

=== Ledger Unplugged - NFC Smartcard Hardware Wallet ===

[[File:ledger_unplugged_photo.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Ledger Unplugged NFC]]

The Ledger Unplugged is a credit card sized NFC hardware wallet. It embeds an open source Java Card app and is compatible with all NFC enabled Android phones.

The device can be used with Mycelium or Greenbits. In case of loss, you can restore it on any Ledger Wallet (Nano or another one) or all other compatible solutions (BIP 39).

[https://www.ledgerwallet.com/products/6-ledger-unplugged Ledger Unplugged product page] | [https://github.com/LedgerHQ/ledger-javacard Source code]

 

=== [[BWALLET]] TREZOR clone ===
[http://mybwallet.com MyBWALLET.com]

[[File:BWALLET_Trezor_Clone.jpeg|200px|thumb|left|Chinese clone of Trezor]]

[[BWALLET]] is a clone of Trezor by a Chinese company.
Trezor code is open source and this device operates like a Trezor.
However, this product has been [https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2tyier/bwallet_review_by_trezor_developer/ reviewed by Merek aka Slush(Trezor developer)] and he has found some problems which makes this device less than 100% compatible, for example it doesn't work with [http://mytrezor.com myTREZOR.com] website and it does not work with Trezor official firmware.

[http://www.coincola.com/shops/54c1fc24963d3759182b2c7f?locale=en Buy BWALLET]

 

=== KeepKey: Your Private Bitcoin Vault ===
[https://www.keepkey.com www.keepkey.com]

[[File:keepkey.jpg|300px|thumb|left|KeepKey showing a bitcoin transaction that needs to be manually approved.]]

KeepKey is a USB device that stores and secures your bitcoins. When you entrust KeepKey with your money, each and every bitcoin transaction you make must be reviewed and approved via it's OLED display and confirmation button.

KeepKey has a unique recovery feature utilizing a rotating cipher to restore private keys with a BIP39 recovery seed. This means it is not necessary to store your private keys on KeepKey: the recovery process is secure enough so that KeepKey can be used as a transaction device for paper wallets.

[https://www.keepkey.com www.keepkey.com]

 

=== BlochsTech card: Your user friendly Bitcoin wallet ===
[http://www.BlochsTech.com www.BlochsTech.com]

[[file:BlochsTech Bitcoin card hardware wallet.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Graphic printed on front of BlochsTech cards.]]

The BlochsTech open Bitcoin card is an open protocol secure hardware Bitcoin wallet your grandmother could use.
For shops it's faster to accept than slow QR code based wallets and more reliable as it works offline.

Currently it's of course in a novelty phase like Casascius coins (of which thousands were sold),
however in the long run it is fully capable of functionally replacing the VISA system in all nations.

[http://www.BlochsTech.com www.BlochsTech.com]

 

== Not purchasable hardware wallets ==

=== BitcoinCard Megion Technologies-Card based wallet ===
[[File:Bitcoincard-medley-large.jpg|400px|thumb|left|Bitcoin Card]]
[http://www.bitcoincard.org/ Bitcoincard Home Page]

[http://blog.bitinstant.com/blog/2012/6/19/our-discovery-in-vienna-the-bitcoin-card.html Excellent review by evoorhees]

Incorporates a e-paper display, keypad, and radio (custom ISM band protocol.) Unfortunately it is fairly limited in terms of transaction I/O, requiring a radio gateway or another bitcoincard wherever funds need to be transferred.

 

=== BitSafe - allten/someone42's hardware wallet ===
[[File:Bitsafe-wallet-sizecompare.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Bitsafe wallet]]
[https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=127587.0 BitSafe Hardware Wallet Development - BOM Ready - 50 kits being prepared]

Signing transactions only, requires USB host software for transactions & USB power. Has a OLED display and Confirm/Cancel buttons. Evolved out of someone42's prototype below, and has significant contributions from someone42 as well.
 
=== someone42's original prototype ===
[[File:Someone42-wallet-prototype.jpg|300px|thumb|left|someone42's original prototype]]
[https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=78614.0 Hardware Bitcoin wallet - a minimal Bitcoin wallet for embedded devices]

Signing transactions only, requires USB host software for transactions & USB power. All work is rolled into the above BitSafe wallet currently.
 
=== Other/Defunct but with good discussion: ===
* natman3400's BitClip Jun 2011 [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=24852.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=24852.0]
:Seems to have gone defunct around Dec 2011. Some good ideas though and seemed to have started on execution.
* jim618 hardware wallet proposal Apr 2012 [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=77553.0 Dedicated bitcoin devices - dealing with untrusted networks]
:Great discussion and good ideas from jim618. Also linked the following video:
* Prof. Clemens Cap's hardware wallet? (video:)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IavQ-Wc8S1U Clemens Cap about electronic bitcoin wallet at EuroBit]
:Clemens Cap of Uni Rostock explains the Electronic Bitcoin wallet device he's working on. It's based on adafruit microtouch device.
* ripper234's discussion based on Yubikeys Aug 2012 [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=99492 Having a YUBIKEY as one of the parties for m-of-n signatures]
:The use of Yubikeys. They only support symmetric crypto, so you'd have to trust the host device.
* kalleguld's hardware wallet proposal Oct 2012 [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=115294.0 Proposal: Hardware wallet (Win 3 BTC)]
* Vaporware: Matthew N Wright's ellet [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=85931.0 ANN The world's first handheld Bitcoin device, the Ellet!] (Vaporware)

== Smart Card based wallets ==
This type of device requires complete trust in the host device, as there is no method for user input.
See [[Smart card wallet]]

== Related Resources ==
* [https://bitcoinnewsmagazine.com/best-bitcoin-hardware-wallet-2015/ Best Bitcoin Hardware Wallet 2015] - reviews of all bitcoin hardware wallets.
* [http://99bitcoins.com/trezor-vs-ledger-hands-hardware-wallets-review/ TREZOR vs. Ledger] - User reviews and Reddit feedback
* slush's Hardware wallet wire protocol discussion: [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=125383.0 Hardware wallet wire protocol]
* kjj's Todo List discussion for client protocol requirements: [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=19080.msg272348#msg272348 in topic Re: Split private keys]
* paybitcoin's original post: [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=134277.0 Hardware Wallet Roundup]
* [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=135090.0 This thread] about editing this very wiki entry.
* [https://www.coldhardware.com/ ColdHardware.com] - information about using Bitcoin hardware wallets for cold storage.
* Various Hardware Wallets and Reviews: [http://www.offlinewallets.com/hardware-wallets Offline Hardware Wallets]
* [https://www.weusecoins.com/bitcoin-ledger-wallet-review/ Ledger Wallet Review]

[[Category:Security]]
[[Category:Wallets]]
[[Category:Hardware]]