Best Bitcoin wallet uk Litecoin QT

How do I send my bitcoins? Where do I send them?

...and variants:

• "What is the best wallet?"
• "How do I secure my BTC / LTC?"
• "How do I put away the coins?"
• (also applies to Litecoin and others)

It depends!

As with most things, there is a trade-off between convenience, security and other things.

Before making a decision, consider the following:

• How much are your bitcoins worth?
• How often will you need to access them?
• Will you want to access the bitcoins quickly?
• Can you set up a safe and secure back-up solution?
• Do you have a fast computer and a good internet connection?

Below you will find the most common solutions that differ in various aspects.

Don't forget to read the section about !

Bitcoin-QT

Bitcoin-QT is the reference client, created and maintained by an opensource community.

Pros:

• No need for a third party
• Most resources online for support
• Secure

Cons:

• Slow start (first time sync & sync time if not used for a while)
• Resource intensive (10+Gigs of disk space, disk I/O, processor)
• Regular backups needed

Download from:

Blockchain.Info

A well balanced trade-off between security and convenience. Blockchain.info is a web wallet that is very simple and convenient to use. You have the option to export the private key to your addresses, therefore if the site should ever go down, you won't lose your bitcoins.

• Easy to start
• No software to install
• Access from anywhere
• Easy to backup

Cons:

• Risk of third party hack (low but does exist)
• Less privacy

Open a secure web wallet at:
And don't forget to export your private keys!

Multibit

MultiBit is a secure, lightweight, international Bitcoin wallet for Windows, MacOS and Linux.

• Not very resource intensive
• Faster syncing

Cons:

• Protocol level trade-off of security for speed
• Can be buggy at times (blockchain reset problem)

Download from: https://multibit.org/

Electrum

Easy to use Bitcoin client. Uses a passphrase as seed for all of your Bitcoin addresses.

Cons:

• Relies on a third party for the blockchain (but private keys still not shared)
• Can be buggy at times (balance display problems)

Download from:

Brainwallet

Brainwallet is a site that allows you to generate addresses using passphrases, generate, send raw transactions.

• No syncing
• Good for offline/cold wallets
• Works with many chains

Cons:

• No 'balance' - you have to use blockchain to check manually
• Less practical for everyday use
• Not really a wallet, just a tool for raw access

Available at:

Litecoin

If you have litecoins and NOT bitcoins, none of the above options will work for you except Brainwallet.

If you need more than a Brainwallet, you will probably want the reference client that is very similar to Bitcoin-QT (except it being Litecoin of course).

Download from:
Bitcoin vs Litecoin:

Security

None of the 'secure' solutions are really secure if you don't know what you're doing.

• If your computer has spyware or trojans, your bitcoins could be stolen
• If you do not make regular backups and the wallet is lost, you lose your bitcoins
• If you secure your wallet with a password and forget it, the bitcoins are lost
• If someone gets your password by phishing, your bitcoins are lost
• If you send bitcoins to someone you don't trust or haven't identified, you could lose the bitcoins
• If you pick the wrong passphrase, the bitcoins may get stolen
• If you do not understand what you are doing, you may make a mistake and lose the coins

Consider a combination of wallets