<p>If you use an online wallet you put your entire trust in the service provider. If the service provider is hacked, goes down or, disappears into the night then so does your BTC, permanently. They own all the private keys.</p>

<p>The risk of attack is generally considered to be greater for an online wallet provider than it is for a wallet on a personal PC since online wallets are believed to house so many more BTC's under one roof, although, if their security is good it may be easier to take over one single user's PC sitting at home if their security is not so good but the reward then is usually much lower. Online providers have been hacked and cleaned out more than once in the past.</p>

<p>The same risk applies to online exchanges. You should not keep more balance online than you absolutely need to at any one time.</p>

<p>The most sincere advice I can offer at a personal level is to use a reputable wallet from the official source at <a href="http://bitcoin.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://bitcoin.org/</a> and choose one that suits your needs.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-13T14:08:10.143Z
2018-03-13T14:15:03.253Z
2018-03-13T14:15:03.253Z
Willtech
<p>I would only store as much in an online wallet as you would carry cash in your wallet...</p>

<p>Just like cash - online wallets are very practical - but not 100% safe.</p>

<p>Remember online wallets are NOT REGULATED. They are not like a bank - they do not have auditors or compliance officers etc... In fact they can just be some undergraduate sat in his bedroom.</p>

<p>If you are going to keep more than this - say what you earn in a week/month then do some due-diligence on the company - at least check they are more than a one-man-band and there is some hope they get someone to PEN test them (i.e. an external expert to try to hack them).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-07T11:56:02.513Z
2018-01-07T11:56:02.513Z
Anon User
<p>Holy war question in fact.</p>

<p>Yes, using online wallets means that you trust their developers. But the same situation is in standalone applications - you should trust their developers.</p>

<p>Many online wallets do not store your private keys. But it does not mean that they do not have an ability to steal/lose your funds</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-02T09:49:46.890Z
I think we can trust Bitcoin Core much much more then any other private wallets. Because it is opensorce and community supported.
alexey2baranov
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-01T11:18:08.617Z
2017-11-08T09:07:02.963Z
2017-11-08T09:07:02.963Z
amaclin
<p>I want to know if it is safe to use online wallets? Can we trust online storages which stores our privkeys, passphase and wallet.dat files?</p>

<p>I read that at least one android wallet was hacked so I think this is not safe when private keys stored into foreign remote storage. Maybe I misunderstood something?</p>

<security><e-wallet><wallet-security>
How safe is it to use online wallets?
alexey2baranov
# How safe is it to use online wallets?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-01)

I want to know if it is safe to use online wallets? Can we trust online storages which stores our privkeys, passphase and wallet.dat files?

I read that at least one android wallet was hacked so I think this is not safe when private keys stored into foreign remote storage. Maybe I misunderstood something?

**Tags:** security, e-wallet, wallet-security


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-03-13. Score: 0

If you use an online wallet you put your entire trust in the service provider. If the service provider is hacked, goes down or, disappears into the night then so does your BTC, permanently. They own all the private keys.

The risk of attack is generally considered to be greater for an online wallet provider than it is for a wallet on a personal PC since online wallets are believed to house so many more BTC's under one roof, although, if their security is good it may be easier to take over one single user's PC sitting at home if their security is not so good but the reward then is usually much lower. Online providers have been hacked and cleaned out more than once in the past.

The same risk applies to online exchanges. You should not keep more balance online than you absolutely need to at any one time.

The most sincere advice I can offer at a personal level is to use a reputable wallet from the official source at <http://bitcoin.org/> and choose one that suits your needs.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-01-07. Score: 0

I would only store as much in an online wallet as you would carry cash in your wallet...

Just like cash - online wallets are very practical - but not 100% safe.

Remember online wallets are NOT REGULATED. They are not like a bank - they do not have auditors or compliance officers etc... In fact they can just be some undergraduate sat in his bedroom.

If you are going to keep more than this - say what you earn in a week/month then do some due-diligence on the company - at least check they are more than a one-man-band and there is some hope they get someone to PEN test them (i.e. an external expert to try to hack them).


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### Answer by username_3 on 2017-11-01. Score: 0

Holy war question in fact.

Yes, using online wallets means that you trust their developers. But the same situation is in standalone applications - you should trust their developers.

Many online wallets do not store your private keys. But it does not mean that they do not have an ability to steal/lose your funds

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I think we can trust Bitcoin Core much much more then any other private wallets. Because it is opensorce and community supported.  

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