Frequently asked questions
17 October 11
How is this service different from other e-wallet services ?
Currently e-wallet services store your Bitcoin private keys on their own servers. This means you have to trust the e-wallet supplier that they won't use those private keys to spend your coins. You also have to trust their security is tight enough that an attacker can't access your Bitcoins. Several wallet services have already been attacked and their users have lost money.
StrongCoin stores your private key on our servers but only in an encrypted form. The encryption is done in the browser with a password you supply. We never see your password and therefore we can't use your private keys. An attacker who gained access to our servers would only see an encrypted private key and would not be able to spend your Bitcoins.
How secure are your servers ?
StrongCoin is hosted on Heroku you can read about their security policy Heroku Security Policy The main points to note are :-
- Regular Security Audits
- Unix best practices
- Certifications and Accreditations
We are able to leverage Heroku security audit policies and best practices to provide a world class security for StrongCoin .
What's your backup policy ?
Due to the nature of the Amazon EC2 servers that host StrongCoin via Heroku we can leverage Amazon highly available and redundant storage infrastructure. We are very unlikely to lose you data. We also supplement this with a daily backup routine.
What are your fees ?
We charge 1% for outgoing payments a minimum of 0.004 BTC. This includes the best mining fee to get your transaction swiftly into the blokchain.
What's a paper wallet ?
Paper wallets are a popular way to store your Bitcoins offline. It's a useful backup to have for your own piece of mind no matter what happens to StrongCoin .
The paper wallet has you private key encrypted with AES which is compatible with openssl. Just supply your password to decrypt the keys with any AES openssl compatible implementation.
What happens if I forget my password ?
Please do not forget your password. We don't have access to your private keys and we can't get access even if you wanted us to. If you forget your password you won't be able to spend the coins connected to an account (Bitcoin address).
We have a clue field where you can supply a reminder for your passwords. Ultimately it may be best to write you password down and store them somewhere safe.
Can a keylogger still grab my password ?
Yes. You must be very careful where you access StrongCoin . We do have a Javascript keyboard next to password fields that can bypass keyloggers.
Please use StrongCoin from a machine that you are sure is clean of viruses and trojans.
Can I export my private keys ?
Yes. You can either use the paper wallet mechanism or for each account you can supply the password and we'll decrypt your private key for you in the browser.
When I make a payment why doesn't my balance change straight away ?
The balance is based on the transactions in the blockchain. It usually takes about 10 minutes for a payment to be added to the blockchain and then your account balance will be up to date.