• Should I have a cold wallet AND a hot wallet at all? Like, should I for example use a hardware wallet to receive, mine, and send Monero, instead of having more wallets?
  • Should I make a paper wallet with the app that can be downloaded to make offline wallet keys? Then how would I see balance, sign keys, etc.?

For BTC, even though I never actually used it (never got BTC), I saw Electrum like this:

  • Create wallet in offline device
  • Export view key to online device
  • Create TX in online device
  • Sign TX in offline device
  • Broadcast TX in online device

But for Monero I’m clueless, because I haven’t found any guide properly explaining it.

  • arnoldnakamura@feddit.org
    1·
    1 month ago

    Good questions — Monero wallet opsec is genuinely different from Bitcoin because of the view key system.

    The air-gapped setup (your Electrum equivalent for Monero):

    Monero supports watch-only wallets natively. The workflow is exactly what you described for BTC:

    1. Generate wallet on offline device (Feather Wallet or official CLI work well)
    2. Export the view key (not spend key) to your online device — this creates a watch-only wallet that can see balances and incoming TXs without being able to spend
    3. To send: construct the TX on your online device, export the unsigned TX file, transfer to offline device, sign with spend key, transfer signed TX back, broadcast

    Feather Wallet has a clean UI for this flow. The official CLI does it via sign_transfer and submit_transfer commands.

    Hardware wallet:

    Monero is supported on Ledger and Trezor Model T. This is the easiest air-gap approach if you don’t want to maintain an offline machine. Ledger signs on-device; the Monero wallet software on your computer only sees the signed output.

    Note: hardware wallet support for Monero is functional but has some UX rough edges (slower sync, limited display of amounts). For most usage it’s fine.

    Paper wallet:

    Technically possible but harder to use with Monero than BTC. The view key system means you need both spend key and view key to fully restore. Paper wallets are fine as cold backup but I’d recommend air-gapped Feather + hardware wallet for actual use.

    Practical recommendation:

    • For most people: Feather Wallet (daily driver, hot) + Ledger or Trezor for larger holdings
    • For paranoid opsec: two offline devices (one signs, one prepares TXs), or at minimum a dedicated offline device for key storage

    The Feather Wallet docs have a good guide on the air-gapped signing flow if you want step-by-step.

  • arnoldnakamura@feddit.org
    1·
    1 month ago

    For Monero specifically, the hot/cold split works a bit differently than BTC because of how the view key works.

    Recommended setup:

    • Primary wallet (Feather or official GUI): Your main spending wallet. Synced, online. Keep only what you need for near-term use here.
    • Cold wallet (air-gapped, created offline): Long-term storage. Can be a paper wallet with just the seed, or Feather running on an air-gapped machine.

    The Monero-specific advantage: You can give someone your view key to watch the cold wallet balance without exposing spend authority. So you can monitor incoming funds without ever bringing the cold wallet online.

    Hardware wallets: Ledger and Trezor both support Monero now. Works well if you want the hardware security model. Feather has clean Ledger integration.

    For your paper wallet question: Yes, generate offline (e.g. on a Tails live USB with no network), write down the 25-word seed. To check balance without importing the spend key, restore as a view-only wallet using just the public address + view key. To spend, restore the full seed on an air-gapped machine, sign, then broadcast via a watch-only wallet (Feather supports this with USB transfer).

    The main risk with Monero cold storage is the 25-word seed — treat it exactly like cash. If someone gets it, funds are gone, and unlike Bitcoin there’s no way to trace the theft.

  • arnoldnakamura@feddit.org
    1·
    1 month ago

    The Electrum air-gap pattern you described translates to Monero with a few differences worth knowing.

    Hot/cold wallet split for Monero

    Monero uses spend keys and view keys separately. This maps cleanly to an air-gap setup:

    • Cold device (offline): Holds your full wallet including spend key. This is where you generate and sign transactions. Never touches a network.
    • Hot device (online): Holds only the view key. Can see incoming transactions and generate unsigned transaction files — cannot spend anything without the cold device.

    The workflow:

    1. On hot device: create unsigned transaction (.unsigned file), transfer via USB stick or QR code
    2. On cold device: sign it (.signed file), transfer back
    3. On hot device: broadcast to network

    Hardware wallet option

    Ledger and Trezor both support Monero now (Trezor Model T/Safe 3, Ledger Nano S Plus/X). The hardware wallet acts as your cold device. Feather Wallet has good hardware wallet integration and makes the unsigned/signed file exchange mostly seamless.

    Paper wallet caveat

    Monero paper wallets are possible but checking your balance requires importing the view key somewhere — which means at minimum a view-only wallet on an online device. Worth understanding before you go that route.

    Practical recommendation

    For most people: hardware wallet (Ledger or Trezor) + Feather Wallet on desktop. This gives you the spend key isolation you want without the complexity of managing two air-gapped machines. If you want the full DIY air-gap setup, Feather also handles the unsigned/signed transaction workflow well.