Post
Topic
Board Beginners & Help
Re: Safest storage for bitcoins?
by
jgm
on 09/04/2013, 14:06:56 UTC
wut how do i print out bitcoins on paper? and how do i get them back in the computer when i want to spend them?

You're not printing out bitcoins, you're printing out the keys to your bitcoins.

Think of the bitcoin system as a large vault filled with safety deposit boxes.  Each safety deposit box has an address; that's your bitcoin address (also known as public key).  Each safety deposit box also has an entry code: that's your private key.

When you create a paper wallet all you're doing is taking your public and private keys and writing them down.  The bitcoins stay where they've always been.