LBRY is a blockchain-based content platform, which uses the LBC cryptocurrency in its operation.
If you are interested in holding large sums of LBC, you might be interested in using offline paper wallets. Below I will walk you through the basic steps.
1. Buy or receive some LBC
First you need to get a hold of some LBC of course. I did this using Bitrex. I needed to follow their KYC (know your customer) process including sending a picture of my ID, but after that initial trouble, the process was very quick. I funded my account with a wire transfer, bought some bitcoins and immediately bought LBC with the bitcoins.
2. Create a paper wallet
I downloaded this Wallet Generator: https://github.com/lbryio/lbc-paper-wallet/
It warns you “PLEASE DO NOT USE YET – MAINTENANCE IN PROGRESS” but I tested the program and it worked without issues.
The steps were:
- Download the archive
- Unzip
- Run the index file
- Move your mouse to generate randomness
- Go to the paper wallet tab
- Check Bip38 encrypt (not compulsory but lets you password protect the wallet)
- Insert you password for the wallet. Do not forget it.
- Click randomly generate.
- Hit “print” and either print the file with your printer or save it on some offline device.
3. Send money to the paper wallet
Scan the Public Key QR code of your paper wallet using any QR code reader app. This will give you the address to which you need to send your funds. Just click “Withdraw” at Bitrex for example and provide the public key there.
4. When you want to spend funds from your paper wallet do this
Install a wallet application on your phone. I installed Coinomi. Create an empty wallet for Coinomi. Then choose “wallet connect” from Coinomi and scan the Private Key of your paper wallet. Coinomi will now ask for your Bip38 password. Then it will sweep the funds from the paper wallet to your Coinomi wallet. From there you can send them forward.
5. If you just want to verify the amount of LBC in a wallet
To verify what the current LBC balance of a particular cold wallet is, you can simply go to the LBRY block explorer here and paste in the public address from you paper wallet: https://explorer.lbry.com/
Don’t be scared if the block explorer doesn’t see your address before a transaction to it has been made. It will only show up after the address has been used in a transaction.