Re: [bitcoin-dev] Paper Wallet support in bitcoin-core

[Dan Libby <dan@osc.co.cr>]

On 09/29/2017 11:07 AM, Andrew Johnson wrote:
> One consideration of exposing this in QT is that it may encourage users
> to generate paper wallets(which are generally used and recommended for
> cold storage) from online machines, rendering them moreso lukewarm
> rather than cold, since the keys weren't generated in an air-gapped
> environment.  

true that.  Though there's nothing stopping a diligent person from
installing bitcoin-core on a dedicated offline machine.  The blockchain
wouldn't need to be synced at all for key generation purposes.

> When using bitaddress.org <http://bitaddress.org>
> locally(we /are /all only using it locally and not directly from the
> online webpage, right? ;) ) you've at least made the effort to seek out
> the repo, clone it locally, and use it on an offline machine and not
> retain any data from that session.

yeah, so I noticed this issue about Paper Wallet generation not being
possible with bitcoin-core exactly because I was recommending to a
non-technical user to use paper wallets, but then I also had to point
out that really bitaddress code should be downloaded, audited, etc,
before use.  Things that are actually impossible for a non-technical user.

So I figured that instead I would make a simple script for them that
would use bitcoin-core to generate the addresses... and that's when it
dawned on me that it won't actually work with present day RPCs that are
all tied to internal wallet.

hence, this proposal.

> I'd suggest that any UI in QT include some sort of a modal dialog that
> informs the user that this is not a secure cold storage address unless
> it was created on an offline machine and printed on a non-networked
> printer, and the prompt must be accepted and dismissed before the wallet
> will provide the requested keys.

yes, agreed.