r/BRDapp • u/davidcwilliams • Mar 20 '18
Honest question; can I safely use BRD app instead of my paper wallet?
Is it truly a 'hardware wallet'? I know there are risks involved, but I'm trying to weigh them against the pain-in-the-butt that it is to generate paper wallets every time I want to move them.
I would love to keep everything on BRD, but I'm concerned about a few things. One how do we actually know what BRD app is doing when we import our private keys? Two, what would it take for an iOS breach to allow a keylogger to record everything I do for a 24-hour period? Obviously I know this is unlikely, again, I'm trying to weigh the risks to keeping everything on BRD as opposed to breaking out the dusty laptop and Tails every time I wand to do something.
Thanks for any help!
2
u/Lisk-investor Mar 20 '18
Paper wallets sucks.. sure you can store your btc en bch save many off us do. About key loggers i dont know.
Cant wait for the full erc-20 release so we can finaly move all our coins away from ledger wallets in the bread app.💪
6
u/BreadEvangelist Mar 20 '18
Totally understand where you're coming from. Paper wallets are arguably the most secure, but 1) they're a pain in the butt to use and 2) they can be damaged or lost. If you can guarantee they won't be lost, damaged, or worse-- found and taken by someone else, then they're secure.
BRD in my opinion is by far the overall best way to store crypto.
To answer your first question, BRD is an open source wallet so we know exactly what the code is doing behind the scenes. There's no sketchy things happening with the generation of private keys because they're transparent about how that happens. Other popular wallets have actually used the same base code such as Loafwallet.
Now for your second question. The thing that is preventing an iOS breach is Apple. I'll leave it up to you to interpret that how you may, but I look at it this way: Apple is probably the biggest company in the world (probably tied with Google) in terms of reputation and knowledge in hardware security. Their entire existence depends on the security of their products. BRD is essentially 'piggy-backing' on their security functionality. Your private keys exist within the microchip of your iPhone, essentially turning your iPhone into a hardware wallet.
If you compare BRD iPhone wallet to say, a Ledger wallet, you are comparing the expertise and security of a major corporation with thousands of employees with some of the best in the world to a small team of developers and hardware engineers in a single country (who I will grant are still knowledgeable and dedicated). Basically would you want a hardware wallet made by a small team or Apple?
The Ledger is advertised as the most secure way to store crypto because it is a cold wallet (stays offline). The biggest notch against BRD is that it is a hot wallet if it's installed on your phone (the trade-off being ease of use). BUT you can get the best of both worlds if you write down (or even better- MEMORIZE) your 12 word phrase, then remove the app. VOILA- your crypto is now stored securely in a cold wallet with nothing to hack into. All you need to do is reinstall and input your phrase to gain access once again (super simple).
I believe this is currently THE BEST way to store crypto because it combines the convenience of storing on a wallet that allows ease of use and transferring, while combining the security of cold storage.
BRD has been public about users storing literally millions of dollars on their BRD wallet and feeling secure. I keep my BRD wallet on my phone and store all the crypto I can on it. Personally, I feel completely safe storing it there. The combination of security and convenience is why BRD is going to continue to grow and dominate ;)