How do Bitcoin Users Manage Their Private Keys?

• Bitcoin has emerged as the most recognisable cryptocurrency due to its usages as a speculative asset,medium of exchange and store of value. The fundamental characteristics of trustless and secure soundmoney have made it appealing to people. As a result of the immutability of Bitcoin, monetary lossescaused by user security mistakes such as lose possession of private keys may hinder Bitcoin usage. Wesurveyed 339 Bitcoin users to explore the interaction between individuals and the technology of Bitcoinof how they safeguard their Bitcoin private keys. The results showed that users employed technologiesto enhance the protection of their Bitcoin private keys, such as encryption and multi-signature. However,a proportion of users employed less secure approaches. The study results suggest that users preferencrypting their private keys rather than multi-signature due to convenience and ease of use. Hardwarewallets were moreover the most used wallet by the participants. 

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Datavetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Computer Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency

Private key

Wallet

Backup

INF303 Informationssäkerhet

INF303 Information Security

Information Systems

Informationssystem (IS)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)