A paper wallet is a physical piece of paper that contains public keys well as private keys. Public keys are a string of characters that help users recognize crypto funds on the network while private keys are the passwords that are used by investors to access their crypto assets.

The private keys in the paper wallet are stored secretly by the investor as giving access to one’s private keys implies giving access to one’s crypto assets. Since a paper wallet is like physical paper, the funds are therefore offline and cannot be hacked digitally. Paper wallets can also be treated as cold wallets or offline wallets.

A private key helps in the facilitation of transactions, which means that the wallet might as well receive crypto assets but will not be able to send the same to other wallets without the private key. Private keys can be kept safe using the paper wallet as long as that paper is safe. Although paper wallets have their own security features, there are a few risk factors associated with them. Factors such as damage to print quality, damage due to wear and tear, the possibility of misplacing the document, etc., might also lead to loss of the virtual assets. Therefore, one must keep their paper wallets safe.