Certified Bitcoin Professional Practice Exam

When backing up your Bitcoin wallet, is it true that copying your addresses means your bitcoins are safe?

1. True

2. False

3. Only if you have a hardware wallet

4. Only if you are using cold storage

The correct answer is: False

Backing up your Bitcoin wallet by simply copying your addresses does not ensure that your bitcoins are safe. The primary reason for this is that the actual ownership and access to bitcoins are not determined by the wallet addresses themselves, but rather by the private keys associated with those addresses. When you create a wallet, it generates a set of private keys that allow you to spend the bitcoins linked to the corresponding addresses. If someone obtains your private keys, they can control and transfer your bitcoins, regardless of whether they know the wallet address itself. Therefore, without securely backing up your private keys or using a complete wallet backup that includes these keys, you run the risk of losing access to your bitcoins in case of wallet failure or loss. Thus, simply copying addresses without the private keys does not offer any real protection or assurance of safety for your bitcoins. The correct approach to back up a Bitcoin wallet is to securely store the private keys or use recovery phrases associated with the wallet.