Bitcoin Forum

Does anyone know exactly what year did electrum wallet originate?

From Electrum’s about page:

https://electrum.org/#about

Wow im surprised by this.  So that would mean that probably was the most popular wallet to keep btc around then?


Also those ppl that bought btc like around that time or before it, was the exchanges the most popular place to keep btc?  Then electrum was pretty close up there?  What other wallets were available similar to electrum at the time?  Also was security with electrum pretty good back then when it came out?

Holy shit, that's really early. I thought it started in 2013.

I used to think it started just after that bipwas released in 2015...

It was the main implementation before it was possible to rpc into bitcoin full nodes... I'm surprised they started on python2, python3 was out by that time as I started learning it that year...

Actually, Bitcoin Full Node (Bitcoin Cli, now Bitcoin Core) at that time (2011-12) is the best way to store bitcoins since the Blockchain isn't that huge to be a problem for most (geek, technical or fan-base) users.
But mostly all late-comers (including me) were using bitcoins in online "game/gambling" that offers free bitcoins via faucets and didn't even cared about its value at that time, it's something like this: you can play games for free/low-cost using a new/unknown digital cash.
Most bitcoins were stored (or forgotten) in those High/Lo & Faucet sites.[/2011]

About other available clients, I'm not qualified to answer since I started trading Crypto a year before I joined BCT (not too late before the big HYPE).

Not sure but, Electrum's security today isn't really that reliable since it requires a third-party host/node.
That's why they've added the newbie-friendly 2FA option with additional cost in exchange for security in 2015(?), or anyone can set-up his own 99% safe cold-storage wallet. (http://docs.electrum.org/en/latest/coldstorage.html)

CLI stands for command-line interface and "bitcoin CLI" was not the name of it, it was called bitcoin-qt then changed to bitcoin-core.

Electrum's reliance on third party servers has not changed, it still relies on them nearly the same as it has always relied on them. it is a SPV node after all and you can't expect the same level of security as the full nodes offer.

It is quite clear that the majority of users keep their coins on exchanges, because of that we have the biggest hacking of one exchange in history. If people know how important is to have full control of its private keys, then Mt.Gox hacking would not cause the damage of some 850 000 BTC which are largely irretrievably lost.

Although some progress has been achieved in this regard, many still use exchanges as their main wallets. Sometimes this is not bad move, in the light of recent events with Electrum, beginners are safer with online wallets. They not read, think or have enough knowledge to recognize threats, and as a result, they lose money and trust in cryptocurrency.

At some point, I think it's not because they lack information or ability to learn, but because they prefer simplicity to security. A lot of members that I know here, tend to use exchange wallet as their main wallet because it's easier to use when they want to cash out. And claiming that it's safe enough to store here. Sometimes ignorance is the main problem which unfortunately difficult to change.

Yes, you can. Running a full node isn't necessarily any more secure than an SPV wallet.

It isn't security where SPV wallets fall behind full nodes... it is privacy. An "evil" Electrum server can't steal your bitcoins, but they can certainly spy on most everything you do with Electrum.

i avoided using the word "wallet" for a reason. the security is not only about someone stealing your private keys and your bitcoins. it can also be about the servers lying to you. for example imagine a normal chain split taking place and you were accepting a payment there. the server can tell you that you are already on a good chain while that chain is already orphaned. in this scenario you think your transaction is confirmed and has X number of confirmation which it might have even be double spent when the chain split happened.
of course there has been a lot of attempts are fraud proofing SPV clients but it still is not perfect. i am not familiar with all the scenarios, this was just an example.

I wasn't here in 2010, but reading some Satoshi posts I'm under the impression that he/she/they did in fact used wxwidgets... I'm glad it was switched to QT! (And most altcoins copied that wallet)...