Paper Wallet

A paper wallet is a physical document containing a cryptocurrency private key and its public address, usually printed as QR codes and text. Because paper cannot be hacked remotely, it was an early form of cold storage: coins sent to the printed address stay retrievable only by whoever can read the printed key.

In the classic workflow, a user generated a key pair with an offline tool, printed it, and deposited bitcoin to the address; years later they would sweep the funds by importing the private key into wallet software. For example, gifts of bitcoin around the mid-2010s were often handed over as printed or engraved paper wallets.

Paper wallets have fallen out of favor for good reasons. Printing is risky, since printers and computers can retain copies of the key; the format holds a single key rather than a recoverable hierarchy of addresses; spending typically requires importing the key into an online device, exposing it at that moment; and partial spends with older Bitcoin tooling could accidentally lose the remainder to a change address the user never backed up. Paper also burns, fades, and gets thrown away. Modern practice replaces paper wallets with hardware wallets backed by a seed phrase written on paper or stamped in metal, which keeps the offline-backup idea while fixing the sharp edges. A common misconception is that a seed phrase written on paper is a paper wallet; a paper wallet holds a raw private key, which is a different and more fragile arrangement.