Is there a way to tell that our bitcoin is safe after we put it in a hardware wallet for cold storage after 3 or 5 years? If I consolidated 1 bitcoin into an address using a hardware wallet, and put it in cold storage. Can I know after 3 to 5 years that the bitcoin is safe?
So far the research I have is: can I go to https://www.blockchain.com/btc/blocks and search for that address, and see that it was still used once (for the time I put the bitcoin in), and therefore know that the bitcoin is safe?
Yes, you can use, for example, two or three different blockchain explorers to check the balance for your Bitcoin address(es).
Or you can set up a watch-only wallet on any PC or phone - import the Bitcoin-addresses but not the private keys and the wallet cannot spend the money, only monitor. The money will be shown by the wallet as &quot;watch-only&quot; or &quot;non-spendable&quot; (depending on the wallet). It will show you any transactions involving money at that bitcoin-address.