user10070: I understand that the Bitcoin QT wallet is already encrypted to some extent when I use a password. Is it best-practice to further encrypt the wallet file for long term storage?

user107314: From Bitcoin Wiki:

Wallet encryption uses AES-256-CBC to encrypt only the private keys
that are held in a wallet. The keys are encrypted with a master key
which is entirely random. This master key is then encrypted with
AES-256-CBC with a key derived from the passphrase using SHA-512 and
OpenSSL's EVP_BytesToKey and a dynamic number of rounds determined by
the speed of the machine which does the initial encryption (and is
updated based on the speed of a computer which does a subsequent
passphrase change).

This means that it doesn't encrypt metadata or pubkeys.
If you want to achieve a greater degree of security and privacy, I recommend to further encrypt the wallet file.

10070: <p>I understand that the Bitcoin QT wallet is already encrypted to some extent when I use a password. Is it best-practice to further encrypt the wallet file for long term storage?</p>
 107314: <p>From <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Wallet_encryption" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Bitcoin Wiki</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Wallet encryption uses AES-256-CBC to encrypt only the private keys
that are held in a wallet. The keys are encrypted with a master key
which is entirely random. This master key is then encrypted with
AES-256-CBC with a key derived from the passphrase using SHA-512 and
OpenSSL's EVP_BytesToKey and a dynamic number of rounds determined by
the speed of the machine which does the initial encryption (and is
updated based on the speed of a computer which does a subsequent
passphrase change).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This means that it doesn't encrypt metadata or pubkeys.
If you want to achieve a greater degree of security and privacy, I recommend to further encrypt the wallet file.</p>
