Bitcoin Forum

Poll question.. just curious

I have used Multibit (Java BTC wallet) so i didn't have to download the chain.
That was after trying for a couple days to download the chain when i first started out way back years ago.

I also don't like using services that i have to trust that can be hacked. (online wallets)

So yeah.. have any of you actually got the whole thing downloaded ? How long did it take ? LOL
I bet many tried and gave up like me.

Thanks for voting and remember 1 BTC in your wallet is worth more than 2 on the Blockchain !

Secure your private keys noobs !

No. My internet isn't the fastest and all my computers are ancient. My online empire would be paralysed for days if I started up with Core.

When I first started, the blockchain was a lot smaller. I remembered it was under 20G. I downloaded everything in 2 days.

Yes, before I thought core is the most secure wallet,  I downloaded the whole blockchain. But now No, It is wasting my time! I need to use the wallet whenever I need! electrum is secure enough which I am using ! It is able to serve my requirement .

Does it keep your keys on your own machine ?

I don't trust online wallets.. avoid them guys.
Some wallets are a mix of different tech eh

Electrum is not an online wallet, it is a desktop wallet and according to me the safest one, you can keep two copies of it, one for cold storage and one for hot wallet on the desktop and you can spend funds from the cold storage by transferring the signed transactions and broadcasting them from your desktop wallet, the keys of your cold storage can remain cold and safe from hackers.

As for the main question, no, I haven't downloaded the whole blockchain, it's too big and would cost me a lot of bandwidth.

No.  Core is NOT the most secure wallet.  Core is just the protocol reference implementation.  There are other wallets that provide significantly better security including offline signing, HD address generation, and air gapped private keys.

To answer your question, Yes at first I did download the whole bloody thing and it took my over 3 days, with my slow internet. I think it is one of the major flaws, if you can call it that, in Bitcoin. People with poor internet infrastructure should not even attempt it. They should create some Bip protected paper wallets and store bigger amounts in there and then use the online wallets for small amounts.

People with fast uncapped internet, will not understand this frustration.  ::)

Yes; however I usually sync it and I keep several up to date copies on various computers.

remember ALL bitcoins are measured ON the blockchain..

thus, to clarify the OP's scentiments

1 BTC linked to your solely known private key, is worth more than 10 BTC on a third party service held private key

That made me chuckle a bit.

Anyway, on topic. Yes, I downloaded the whole blokchain several times on several systems. It took my VPS 4-5 days with a 100Mbit/s conneciton, but its bottleneck is the CPU. A 4. Gen i5 with SSD on 32MBit/s downstream took ~a day IIRC. I also started syncing an old single core laptop for armory but stopped after a few days because it was not making much progress with the verification and database building for armory.

no, but i've done my backup(actually i need to re-do it because this thing always grows more), so i have my personal blockchain secured and i can easily sync after  asecure erase

The blockchain doesn't take more than a few hours to download since it can do so simultaneously from several peers. Bitcoin does have to verify each block individually when synchronizing and this can take sometime. It wouldn't help if your disk read/write speed is very slow.
In terms of security and convenience for online desktop wallets, Electrum is the best. However, a common weakness that SPV client shares is that they trust miners fully. If you take in large amount of transaction volumes (operating a business), you may need to consider shifting to another wallet. SPV client trust miners to enforce the network rules and this was a problem during the fork in the 4th July fork.

No I haven't I don't think my internet would be able to handle it nor my computers.

It will take a couple of days if I ever did try to download it.

Nope. If you transfer the entire data directory. The chainstate gets copied over with the data directory and Bitcoin Core do not need to validate the previous block again. After a short initial verification, Bitcoin Core will start and you need to synchronize to the latest block. This will be significantly faster though.

You will still need to copy over your updated wallet.dat though.

No, didnt even download it, it is too big IMO. So i just use MultiBit instead

I have installed the full blockchain on several devices in my house and it takes around 1 day to get the full blockchain on my HDD. I need the full blockchain as I like running a full node to support the network.

no i didn't ever do that and for this moment i still use online wallet for save my bitcoin because i never have huge bitcoin so i think that isn't necessary

it doesn't matter how much you have. offline storage is the best storage. do you have more or less than 1 bitcoin? something that has not much value now will have a lot value after a few years. better safe than sorry.

I'm still holding off on doing this until I can find a way to get more space available.

I'm not do it, but I have ever to do it

My internet connection is not possible to do that, at that time, estimated blockchain downloading can be done for weeks and finally I gave up, better look for other alternatives wallet but still safe, for example multibit, but for now I am still using electrum

Yes, I have been tired to online wallet which is vulnerable to get hacked, especially blockchain wallet and exchange wallet which can run out your money anytime. I use electrum so far, it's for for me who don't have enough have a big storage and big bandwidth.

I downloaded the whole blockchain a few month ago (~50Go) with BT Core. Now that i transfered most of my bitcoin on a paper wallet and the remaining satoshi on an online wallet, i deleted it.

50Go is too much for my tiny laptop...

On my Laptop it took like 30 hours to download it lol.. but mostly because of Harddrive..
On my PC it took me 12 hours

Yes, I have downloaded the entire blockchain and run a full node at home. I do not however use that instance of Bitcoin Core as a wallet - only for supporting the network and development.

I downloaded it to be part of the network, the more the marrier, any bitcoiner should have a full client on their computer IMO :)

I have downloaded it and synced it ever since June 2011. Only recently did I buy a Trezor for better protection. You don't need to download anything anymore and your private keys are secure. This will give me freedom to let go of my full node in case the blocksize gets increased to an amount that will challenge my harddrive capacity. It also makes it possible to check my balance via smartphone (read only) using sentinel. Nice! The future is bright ahead with a hardware wallet. I'm still going to use Core for the time being, but with such a miniscule amount it makes me sleep much better at night. I believe only mining pools and exchanges, or perhaps some super-nodes are going to run a full node in the future.

I also use MultiBit, because Blockchain size is too damn big that my computer can't handle it.
So, usually I use online wallet and also Mycelium in my phone.
But, I wish I could use Bitcoin core in the future with my new computer. :)

Yes cause it is easy the apps to use :) and its cool

i need to search what Trezor is soon..
also WOW i had no idea so much of you have or still do use ref wallet.
i did not expect that !

@Frank
10 to 1 ?
Yeah true LOL

I also chose not to use Electrum or Armory for some reason but i forget why technically.

I downloaded it once, but since last year I use Electrum to avoid the overuse of HD and network.

I haven't yet

I might do it this weekend when I got some free time

I do use Bitcoin Core. I run up the machine and sync the wallet every 3 days or weekly depending on need/time. I don't mind it at the current space especially when I have so much free space on my HDD at the moment. I do not see a reason for someone not to download the whole blockchain if they are able to do so.

No I haven't! When I first started using Bitcoin like the most of the users I tried with the Core first. None of my two laptops were powerful enough to run it, download the blockchain fast and to still have a usable environment for other daily things to do on the computer.

So I just gave up and I downloaded Multibit. Later I have switched to Electrum!

Bitcoin core user here from the beginning.

Yes, mainly for research purposes.

Used to - but unfortunately download speeds are rather slow where I am so it's not worth the time and effort to maintain. Now I mainly use a mix of Electrum and online hot wallets if the need arises. Aside from network security I don't really see a need to have the blockchain - especially given that there are currently enough nodes operating.

I use multibit HD and do not download the blockchain. Really I would like to, but it is too storage consuming for my "old" dual core pc with only about 250 GB HD. A lighter wallet has some risks but I cannot really afford to have that blockchain in my HD doing virtually nothing.

Blockchain downloads should come in milestones: 1 year back, 2 years back and so on, in order for people not to have to download the full blockchain to really own their coins.