“Paper wallets” in the context of ATMs are single pairings of a public address and private key that print out on receipt paper before you insert cash. When you press “Create New Wallet” at the ATM the machine will print you one of these. Paper wallets are useful as a temporary transfer medium if you are using a desktop computer at home or haven’t yet setup a mobile wallet. They are also useful in cases when you can’t scan your mobile address. Some customers will also tap “Create New Wallet” by accident, usually when trying to type an address in manually. Note: Paper wallets from an ATM are printed on thermal paper intended for temporary handling and transfer only. Do not use these for long-term storage of digital currency.
You can identify one of our paper wallets by the large QR codes that take up most of the available space, plus the labels “Public Key” and “Private Key”. These are good terms to know as the “Public Key” (actually the public address) is where the bitcoin or lite coin was sent. It’s also how you can look up the balance in any block explorer.
The “Private Key”, on the other hand, is the secret random number that was generated at the ATM. The private key is what you will need to spend your coins from this address. ONLY the holder of that private key can spend those funds; Athena does not store or have access to that key and cannot spend the contents of that paper wallet. Therefore, DO NOT LOSE or damage your paper wallet and do not let anyone else see the private key! We are unable to refund any digital currency purchases, including those sent to a paper wallet, even if they have been lost or stolen. Also, please make sure the paper wallet prints correctly (images and text are visible) BEFORE inserting any cash into the ATM.
Make sure that the paper wallet prints correctly before inserting cash! QR images and text should be clearly visible. If it isn’t, press the red X to cancel this session and choose another delivery method.