Bitcoin wallet - why do i need it for cold storage? Why do I need a bitcoin wallet for cold storage?  Can I just write down randomly generated public address and private key pairs, and keep these on paper?  I am confused by the apparent need for a wallet stored on a thumb drive or some other data storage device that may become corrupt.  So why do I need the wallet?
You can indeed do this. It has multiple environmental factors though which make this a bad idea.


Paper is easily damaged and very degradable.
You could make a mistake. If you do intend to do this maybe its best to quadruple check it.
Lack of extra security - unless you have it locked away in a safety deposit back in the city undergrounds, someone who knows it is there could steal it. Data drives give you extra level of security with wallet encryption.


There are probably other reasons but these are the main three, if you do decide to just do this there are a few techniques you could use to improve these factors..

Try laminating it, will give the paper exponentially longer lifepan.

Miss out a character that only you will remember, replacing a single character of a private key is easy if you know where it goes but hard if your not you, obviously just don't forget it!