Bitcoin Forum

Hello,

i bought some bitcoin from Belgacoin.com, this was sent to my address, but it's not showing up in my bitcoin core wallet.
Does it need to be syncronised first or are there additional steps i have to take?

It's behind 49 weeks and i can't download on my current network due to some kind of restrictions.
Help please!

Yes it needs to be synchronized if your using the bitcoin core wallet.   Until it reaches X date where the BTC was sent to you it will not show.

I suggest after syncing looking into cold wallets, and lightweight wallets.  Lightweight makes it much easier to receive/send without syncing.

Well you could look at an alternative solution if you really need to access the coins right now. You would need to download and install Electrum (https://electrum.org/). 
This is a lightweight client which doesn't require much bandwidth. What you need to do is open Bitcoin QT and extract your private key (from the address that will receive the coins).
The command for exporting the private key is "dumprivkey InsertYourAddressHere".
Then you need to import it into Electrum. It should be easy, especially if you do it the first time that you open Electrum (https://electrum.orain.org/wiki/Frequently_Asked_Questions#Can_I_import_addresses_from_other_Bitcoin_clients.3F).

you can always check your bitcoin address's balance online in one of the many block explorers like for example:
www.blockchain.info
http://btc.blockr.io
https://www.blocktrail.com/

you just need to enter your "bitcoin address" in one of those to see the balance and transactions if you want to make sure that you have received the bitcoins before your wallets syncs.

always buy bitcoin from somewhere that you trust

if this is a recent transaction it will show up when the 49 week will be synched otherwise it will show up early than that

i would search if they have really sent to bitcoin first, buy looking at blockchain.info or another explorer

Import your private key ( using dumpprivkey in core wallet console ) to Simplified Payment Verification (SPV) Wallets such as multibit or bither.
SPV wallet downloads only block headers from other nodes, hence synching is much faster.

For even faster synching, import your private key to a trusted  centralized wallet (which are using centralized server for blockchain query), like  greenaddress wallet or or electrum or mycelium (mobile)

Explore different bitcoin wallets which best serve your needs
https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

I wouldn't bother with SPV based wallets. Electrum looks great, I like the HD features, but honestly a noob will probably do better with a blockchain.info address.
If he starts stacking serious Bitcoin at the end of the day the safest way is Core, which hopefully soon when pruning gets properly implemented will not be such a pain in the ass to sync with.

Please don't use Blockchain.info. You can go with either Multibit HD or Electrum. Both are user-friendly. When you create a wallet, you will get a seed, save it safely. It is needed to restore your wallet if something happens to the application or computer.

you should clarify why blockchain.info should be avoided; blockchain.info, in terms of volume of BTC stolen from through various exploits and vulnerabilities, come out in first place. in addition, blockchain.info has more downtime than should be expected of them, especially considering the service they provide.

You might be better off with Multibit than with Electrum. To me, Multibit is more user friendly and it looks and feels better to use. Electrum is kind of minimalist.

I have used Multibit for a long time and had to switch over to the Electrum because Electrum was first to support Trezor.

Of course, try both and see what you prefer.

you have to wait until your wallet full sync. or you can try to export your private key to blockchain.info
then move your bitcoin to multibit or electrum. os you don't have to wait for your wallet sync

While Bitcoin core is syncing, you should still be able to do a dumpprivkey in the console window.  You can then sweep and import into a lite wallet like electrum. 

This is a good suggestion.  It would allow you to get the BTC on a lightweight client.

Only thing is be VERY careful with private key.  That allows anyone who has it to control that btc address.   So store it safely, and encrypted if possible.

Multibit HD is not free! but Electrum is. you need to pay small amount in order to be able to send every transaction from Multibit HD while electrum is free and never charge you for using it.

Yes you are right, however we are talking about cents. But if somebody is sending many transactions a day I guess it can add up. This doesn't seem to be OP's case though.

OR backup your wallet/private key and import it into some other wallet (Be careful while import/export your wallet/private keys)

i know about that. and my issue is not with the amount. i don't like to be forced to pay for something that should be free in the first place, so i choose Electrum instead and donate to it happily (even more than what i would have paid in those fees in total).

but it is just me and there are still a lot of other users who prefer Multibit. it is just a matter of choice and preference.

Yes, as you said, it's a matter of preferences. All in all, they are all great wallets with minor differences. Nevertheless, it's great to have so many choices so each person can choose the wallet that suits him/her the best.

You don't think the people that make Multibit deserve to be compensated for their work? Imagine your boss saying to you, "the work you do should be free, so don't expect me to pay you."

This is good advice.

I personally don't have any problem yet, with Electrum.

Why there are some people suggest blockchain.info wallet for better to use :-\ bc.i wallet is long time ago has been removed from bitcoin.org wallet list, for web wallet i suggest to use BitGo and don't store big amount on that.

There is nothing more easy than buy bitcoin from tested webs, like bitstamp is. Or ask here before you try it any where. On that smaller webs it can be dangerous.

I personally use Multibit.

... The Classic version 0.5.18

Never heard of this HD Version. But apparently it siphons BitCoin off your sent tx. Not cool!

Classic version does not do this.

https://multibit.org/releases.html

it has an additional 1000 satoshi fee which goes straight to the developer, which if you ask me, is well deserved. 1000 satoshi isnt even that much, i dont know why people complain about a fraction of a penny.