Translations: German 🇩🇪
What’s wrong if you use a regular computer?
When making Bitcoin transactions, it’s ideal if your computer has no malware. Obviously.
If you keep your Bitcoin seed phrase (usually 12 or 24 words) off the computer with a signing device (eg a hardware wallet – its main purpose), then you might think it’s not that important to have a “clean” computer – not true.
A malware-infested computer may read your Bitcoin addresses, exposing your balance to an attacker – they can’t take bitcoin just from knowing the address, but they can see how much you have, and calculate from that if you are a worthy target. They may also somehow work out where you live, for example, and extract fingernails or children from you to get you to pay a ransom.
What is the solution?
I encourage most Bitcoiners to use a dedicated malware-free computer (with internet access) for making Bitcoin transactions. I suggest people use an open-source operating system like Linux Mint, but use Windows or Mac if you must – that’s better than using a regular, well-used computer that invariably has malware hidden in it.
One obstacle that people come across is installing a new operating system on such computers. This guide is to help with that.
There are many varieties of Linux and I have tried several. My recommendation for Bitcoiners is Linux Mint, because it is easy to install, very fast (particularly on bootup and shutdown), not bloated (every extra piece of software is a risk), and has rarely crashed on me or behaved weirdly (compared to other versions like Ubuntu and Debian).
Some may be very resistant to a new operating system, preferring Windows or Mac OS. I understand, but the Windows and Apple operating systems are closed source, so we have to trust what they’re doing; I don’t think that’s a good policy, but it’s not all-or-nothing. I’d much prefer people use a dedicated freshly installed Windows or Mac OS computer rather than a well-used computer (with who knows what malware has accumulated on it). One step better is to use a freshly installed Linux computer, which is what I’ll be demonstrating.
If you’re nervous about using Linux because of the unknown, that’s natural, but so is spending some time to learn. So much information is available online. Here is an excellent short video introducing the basics of the command line that I highly recommend.
Choose a computer
I’ll start with what I think is the best option. Then I’ll give my opinion on alternatives.
Ideal option:
My recommendation, if you can afford it, and if the size of your bitcoin stack justifies it, is to get a brand new entry-level laptop. The most basic model built these days is good enough to handle what it’s going to be used for. The processor and RAM specs are not relevant, because they will all be good enough.
Avoid:
- Any tablet combo, including Surface Pro
- Chromebooks – often the storage capacity is too low
- Any computer with an eMMC drive; If it has an SSD drive, that’s perfect
- Macs – they are expensive, and the hardware doesn’t gel well with Linux operating systems in my experience
Instead, look for a Windows 11 laptop (Currently Windows 11 is the latest release. We’ll be getting rid of that software, don’t worry.). I searched on amazon.com for “Windows 11 Laptop” and found this good example: