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How to create and redeem paper wallets!

Introduction

This guide will explain how to create a DOGE paper wallet that you can create for yourself, or give it away to someone you like as a gift. There will also be instructions on how to redeem a paper wallet, which you can include with the gift, so the receiving party will know how to access the coins.

This guide is meant to be easy to read and follow, to be and beginner-friendly. If you have any questions, post a comment and I'll do my best to answer all the questions.

Writing a guide like this takes time and effort; tips are appreciated.
My crypto addresses can be found here.



Contents



1 Creating a paper wallet

A paper wallet is simply piece of paper that contains two things: 1) wallet address, and 2) private key.

The wallet address is the public address. This is the address that the DOGE is sent to, and share with others.

Every wallet address has a private key. This key is the proof that you are the owner of that wallet address, and with it, you can access the coins on that wallet address. Never ever share your private key with others (if you do, you will lose all your coins).

You can have basic paper wallets and fancy paper wallets.

A basic paper wallet is just your wallet address and private key in text on a piece of paper.
A fancy paper wallet is a bit more fancy; it has more design elements (DOGE logo), and QR codes for easier scanning (instead of typing the text over).


1.1 Basic paper wallet with Coinb.in

To create a basic paper wallet, I will use Coinb.in - a wallet software that supports Dogecoin, and can also be used making it more secure. Instructions in this section will contain using the online version of Coinb.in; see the instructions for the offline version down below.

  • Go to Coinb.in. It's wallet software that also supports Dogecoin, and can be used offline making it more secure.

  • In the top menu, select 'Help' → 'Settings'.

  • In the Settings page, change the Network from Bitcoin (mainnet) to Dogecoin (mainnet), and click on 'Submit' to save the changes.

  • The wallet software is now set to use Dogecoin. Do not refresh (F5) the page, as it will reset the settings to the defaults (Bitcoin). If the settings are reset, make sure to change them back to Dogecoin first.

  • In the top menu, click on '+ New' → 'Address'. The New Address page will open.

  • Leave the 'Address Options' as they are. So, only 'Compress' is checked.

  • Click on the 'Generate' button to receive a random wallet address and to see its details on the screen.

  • Click on the arrow next to the 'Generate' button, and select 'Print'.

  • A new browser tab will open, and you are now able to print your wallet information. Modern browsers will allow you to save the document as a PDF, so you can have a digital copy of the wallet information. Select 'Save as PDF', and click Save/Print to do so.

  • You now have a PDF file that has your wallet details. Make sure to save this file somewhere safe, and don't share your private key with anyone. I would recommend making backups, to make sure you do not lose your private key. You can also of course print the paper wallet, and gift it to someone!

  • To create more paper wallets, just press the 'Generate' button again, and repeat the remaining steps.

  • After creating the wallet, you only need to know the wallet address. Only use the private key when you want to access the coins, so when the paper wallet is redeemed.

  • If you are going to gift the paper wallet, you of course need to send some DOGE to the wallet address. The easiest way would be doing so from an exchange that allows DOGE transactions (there will be a withdrawal fee, so take that into account).

  • You can make multiple transactions to one address, so you can send coins to the same address more then once.

1.2 Fancy paper wallet with Dogecoin Core

A Dogecoin Core paper wallet looks a bit more fancy (screenshot). and you can create up to 12 wallets at once.

  • If you don't have the Dogecoin Core wallet software yet, download and install it.

    Download the wallets from: https://dogecoin.com/#wallets.

  • After installing the software, open/run Dogecoin Core.

  • The first time you are using Dogecoin Core, it will ask you where it can save the Dogecoin blockchain data. Keep the default settings and click 'OK'.

  • Dogecoin Core will appear on the screen, and will start syncing the blockchain. We are only interested in creating a paper wallet, so you can ignore the blockchain syncing.

  • Select 'File' (menu) → 'Print paper wallets'.

  • You will see a warning that network activity is detected, meaning that you are connected to the internet. Read the warning. It will recommend you to go offline. That's what I also would recommend, to make this process more secure. Go offline by disconnecting from the internet or enable airplane mode.
    ↳ [Screenshot]

  • After clicking 'OK' on the warning pop-up, the 'Print Your Paper Wallets' screen will open.
    ↳ [Screenshot]

  • An wallet address and private key have already been created. If you only want 1 address, you can continue to print the paper wallet. If you want more than 1 address, adjust the 'Many Wallets?' as you desire, and click 'So Print' to print them.
    ↳ [Screenshot]

  • After clicking on 'So Print', depending on your operating system, you will have the option to save the document as a PDF. On Windows, select 'Microsoft Print to PDF' to save the paper wallets as a PDF file.

  • You now have a PDF file that has your wallet details. Make sure to save this file somewhere safe, and don't share your private key with anyone. I would recommend making backups, to make sure you do not lose your private key. You can also of course print the paper wallet, and gift it to someone! In that case, you can cut and trim the paper wallet to make it look nice.

  • To create more paper wallets, just press the '+Very New Address' and 'So Print' buttons again, and repeat the remaining steps.

  • After creating the wallet, you only need to know the wallet address. Only use the private key when you want to access the coins, so when the paper wallet is redeemed.

  • If you are going to gift the paper wallet, you of course need to send some DOGE to the wallet address. The easiest way would be doing so from an exchange that allows DOGE transactions (there will be a withdrawal fee, so take that into account).

  • You can make multiple transactions to one address, so you can send coins to the same address more then once.



2 Redeeming a paper wallet with Dogechain.info

If you have a paper wallet (maybe as a gift?), you can access the coins by redeeming it with the private key.

There are quite a few ways to redeem a paper wallet, I will describe an easy method to keep it beginner-friendly. At the bottom, there is a link that covers creating a transaction using Coinb.in (for more experienced users).

This guide will use Dogechain.info to redeem a paper wallet. I have chosen for Dogechain.info because it's user-friendly and easy to use for beginners. Dogechain.info is a blockchain explorer and a software wallet. Make sure to use dogechain.info - do NOT use dogechain.com.

You can also use Dogechain.info at any time to see the balance of a DOGE address. To see the balance on your DOGE wallet address, enter your wallet address in the search box at the upper right corner on Dogechain.info.

  • Go to Dogechain.info.

  • In the top menu, click on 'Dogecoin Wallet'.

  • The wallet software of Dogechain.info will appear. You have three options: 1) Create wallet, 2) Log in, 3) Redeem paper wallet. Click on the third option: Redeem paper wallet!

  • The 'Redeem paper wallet' screen will appear and ask you for a private key.
    ↳ [Screenshot]

  • Enter your private key in the text box. If the private key is a valid key, the border of the text box will be green (if not, it will be red). After entering your private key, click on the 'Redeem paper wallet' button.
    ↳ [Screenshot]

  • In the next screen, the wallet address tied to the private key will be shown. Below that you'll see the balance on that address.
    ↳ [Screenshot]

    It will ask you what you want to do. You only have 1 option: 'send coins to another address and sweep this address'. What sweeping means is that a new transaction will be created and all the coins in your wallet address will be send to the address that you enter in the screen.

    So, enter the address that you want to send the coins to. Double check, triple check the address. If the address you entered is a valid DOGE address, the text box border will be green (if not, it will be red). This can be any DOGE address; it can be another address that you own, or an exchange address in case you want to sell the DOGE.
    ↳ [Screenshot]

  • A message about the transaction fees is shown at the bottom. Every DOGE transaction has a small fee, in this case the current Dogechain.info transaction fee is 1 DOGE. This amount will be subtracted from the total amount in the wallet. So, if your wallet address has 5 DOGE, the entered DOGE address will receive 4 DOGE.

  • Click on 'Sweep paper wallet' to sweep the private key and send the DOGE to the address that you entered.

  • The transaction is created after clicking on the button. You will see a transaction ID, and a link to view the transaction details.
    ↳ [Screenshot]

  • Your transaction needs to get confirmed before it will be visible for the receiving address. Click on 'here' to view the transaction details.

  • The 'Status' field will show the status of your transaction.
    A new transaction will have the status 'New transaction'.
    ↳ [Screenshot]

  • Wait a little bit as the transaction gets confirmed. The status will change to 'Processing...' when its getting confirmed.
    ↳ [Screenshot]

  • After a few minutes, your transaction will have enough confirmations to get the status 'Confirmed transaction'. That means that the transaction is successfully finished.
    ↳ [Screenshot]

  • If you have send the coins to an address on an exchange, it can take a while longer to appear on the exchange. Be patient, the DOGE will appear after some time.

That's it. :).



3 Extra info

3.1 Offline Coinb.in

It's possible to use Coinb.in offline, by downloading the source files, disconnecting from the internet and opening the source files in your browser.

  • Go to Coinb.in.

  • At the bottom of the page, there is a download link (https://github.com/OutCast3k/coinbin/archive/master.zip). Click on the link to download the wallet software.

  • Extract the .zip file to access its contents.

  • Disconnect from the internet.

  • Open the index.html file in the folder where you have extracted to in a browser.

  • Follow the steps as described above to create new paper wallets.

3.2 Redeeming with Coinb.in

It's also possible to redeem with Coinb.in. While this is a better method (you have more control over what happens), it has more steps and is less beginner-friendly. This guide describes all the necessary steps.


3.3 Why not use walletgenerator.net?

I first wanted to use https://walletgenerator.net, as it has a much nicer paper wallet design. The issue however is that back in 2019 a vulnerability was found. You can read about that here.

Furthermore, the GitHub repo of walletgenerator.net has not been updated since 2018. I have no idea if walletgenerator.net is reliable and secure, but I would not recommend using it.

Also, in the GitHub repo, there is a download link in the README. If you download that .zip file, and check the contents, you will see 1 file - Readme.md - urging you to not use it!
↳ [Screenshot]

So, that's why I am not using walletgenerator.net.


3.4 Paper wallet flaws

Just to be complete, I want to include the flaws that a paper wallet can have.
A list of the flaws can be found here.

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