Why Offline Bitcoin ?

Computer security is hard. Physical security is much easier to accomplish.

Using Offline Bitcoin allows you to store your wealth securely in an offline vault. Your own vault that you control physically.

You can transfer needed amounts to online wallets on your phone or computer. Bitcoin is just like cash, you should only carry around spending money.

What is an offline Bitcoin transaction ?

An offline Bitcoin transaction is one created with a computer that is not attached to the internet (or any network). Assuming the installation process was secure the computer will not be prone to attack from hackers.

To create a Bitcoin payment the offline machine can create a Bitcoin transaction which can then be carried by a USB key or other means to a machine that is online and the transaction can be broadcast.

  • 1. How do I create an offline transaction ?

    Use the PRO BA.net Bitcoin Vault App Available on the Mac AppStore (Search for BANET)

  • 2. Retrieve the transactions for your bitcoin address. Use the button Send Bitcoin (the regular online send bitcoin) paste your source address and click view history

    You need to cut and paste this info into a text document and transfer it to a USB key.

  • 3. Create your transaction on your offline machine. Use the button Offline Generate.

    To do this you'll need the private key of the address you want to send from a destination address and the amount you want to send.

    Cut and Paste the values into the form and generate a transaction. Cut and the paste the generated transaction HEX from the form field into a text file and place it on your USB key.

  • 4. Submit the transaction to the Bitcoin network. Use the button Offline Send.

    Note that at no point in this process is any private key data exposed through the transaction data. It is perfectly safe to transfer the signed or unsigned transaction via email. The biggest threat to an offline wallet is a USB-key virus that executes when plugged in.

    However, such viruses would have to be highly targeted, and can be mostly mitigated by disabling USB-auto-run on the offline computer.

    Take Time to get Comfortable with the Process

    It is normal to be uncomfortable using new software to store your savings, especially with advanced features. Make a few offline transactions with new addresses/keys and small amounts of bitcoins.

    After a couple of offline transactions you will be doing them in less than a minute. You will be able to say that you are your own bank!