Paper Wallet

After a paper wallet is generated, its owner can receive cryptocurrency transactions by sharing their address with others. Transactions can be made by either manually inputting the keys or by scanning the QR codes with a smartphone.

Some paper wallet providers give users the option to generate new addresses and keys while being offline. To do so, users are required to download the wallet generator as an HTML file and execute it while being disconnected from the Internet.

Due to the possibility of generating addresses offline, paper wallets are often considered as an alternative for cold storage. Their security is also related to the fact that they present a completely analog format, meaning they are immune to hacker invasion or other attacks that can only be performed in the digital environment.

Paper wallets were very popular between 2011 and 2016, but their use is now being discouraged due to the many risks associated with it. Owing to the physical fragility of paper, they are subject to being damaged or destroyed fairly easily. It is also important to consider the security of the devices used to generate them, i.e., a clean computer and a printer that does not store file data after printing.