Quote from: Saint-loup on January 18, 2023, 11:24:48 PM

If there is no solution for poor people, it's sad and it's a big fail for Bitcoin because it was supposed to help unbanked ones IIRC, and some poor countries like Salvador want to try to use it as an official currency.

If you have an electronic device, which you must to be able to use bitcoin, then you can create a wallet safely.

The options are safe, cheap, easy. You can pick two.

Hardware wallets are safe and easy, but they are not cheap. Paper wallets or other cold storage is safe and cheap, but they are less easy. Hot wallets are cheap and easy, but they are less safe.

If cost is the biggest factor for you, then you can rule out hardware wallets. However, you can still use hot wallets for small amounts relatively safely by taking standard security precautions. I keep a small amount of bitcoin in a hot wallet on my phone and have done for years, topping it up whenever I spend from it. I only ever keep a small amount on my phone, but I have never once been hacked. Hot wallets can still be relatively safe if you use them properly.

And if you want cold storage, then you can do that for free by just taking a bit of time to learn about what you are doing and how to do it. All the tools needed - Tails or some other Linux distro, Electrum, pen and paper - are either free or very cheap.

Quote from: Phyna4 on Today at 11:22:26 AM

One disadvantage of using a paper wallet for storing Bitcoin is that it is prone to physical damage, such as being torn, burned, or otherwise destroyed.

Hardware or electronic wallets are prone to the exact same damage, as well as general degradation of their components or storage medium.

Quote from: Phyna4 on Today at 11:22:26 AM

Overall, paper wallets are considered less convenient and less secure than other forms of Bitcoin storage, such as hardware wallets or software wallets.

Less convenient, maybe, but generated properly a paper wallet is exponentially more secure than a hot software wallet.