Transfer ETH to 3rd part wallet with keystore - MEW does not recommend

Question

Hi I have searched the similar questions and can’t find an answer.

I have mined eth about 2 years ago and have a balance in my wallet set up on geth.

I now want to transfer this to my brd wallet however I no longer have geth or want to install and download the blockchain just to transfer using mist. I am a very beginner user and forgot all that I learnt when I was mining.

My BRD wallet does not seem to support the transfer using the keystore file.

MEW strongly discourages using the keystore.

How am I to transfer if I don’t want to use geth/mist coz of the time for the download, etc., and all the 3rd party wallets strongly discourage using the keystore.

I am stumped, please help.

Answer 1

Using keystore files (and private keys, mnemonic phrases, etc.) on websites is discouraged because there's a higher risk of them being stolen. The DNS servers of the website could be hacked (which happened multiple times on MEW), or you could be on a fake website without realising it.

A relatively safe way to use keystore files is through MyCrypto's desktop application, which you can download here: https://download.mycrypto.com. It does not require you to download the entire blockchain before you can transfer funds (like with Geth or Mist). Of course double check the URL when you download it. For extra security, you can verify the GPG signed checksums of the desktop application by following this guide, but this requires some technical knowledge.

If you want, you can run the desktop application on an offline, airgapped computer, sign a transaction offline and use another computer to broadcast the transaction. This way, your keystore file is never exposed to a computer connected to the internet in any way. There's a guide for how to do that here.